Muppeteer Fran Brill's official retirement

[MelissaY1]

So by then, for Fran and Steve, it's "go bye bye!"



Well as I mentioned in an earlier thread, Carroll has been quoted as stating that he would perform BB until he can no longer hold up the head, so I really think whenever it happens, we'd see it coming. So far I don't see any signs of that aside from Matt doing the Bird at the end of the "Proud to be Me" segment, but that happens every once in a while, especially since JTE is no longer on the show. They need to get Matt's Big Bird on the show every once in a while.

The funny thing is that Carroll is the one who had an understudy and he's still active as Big Bird. On the other hand, Fran's never really had anyone perform her characters when she wasn't available and as for Billy Backhurst as Ernie I didn't know about him until I saw "Bert's Training Wheels." So this is obviously a new thing as well. I missed out on the SSL productions sadly. Anyway, just thought I'd point out that bit of irony there.

Didn't Matt Vogel perform Big Bird in the Journey to Ernie segments?

 

[MelissaY1]

I got to admit, I don't really like the sound of some of the members acting like this is really terrible news. Retiring from roles happens, especially since the show's 45 years old and she was there since the beginning. It's a little disappointing, but she's been with the show around as long as Carol. It's unprecedented for a kid's program to last this long with absolutely no signs of slowing down, and the fact we have as many cast members still with the show as long as it is still running is amazing itself.

That said, I don't get the "as long as Prairie Dawn's not replaced by Abby" sentiment. Abby's a completely different character with a completely different schtick. Her job was not to replace characters, but to add a marketable female presence to the show. And yes, it came off a bit forced. But, frankly, so wasn't Zoe. Even down to the making her Orange to compliment Elmo bit. I'd say that Abby is gunning to replace Zoe, with more Elmo and Abby focused episodes. Elmo and Zoe are a much better pair with better chemistry. I ship Zoe X Elmo even though I am incredibly opposed to pairings.

Seriously. Try to watch Elmo in Grouchland and not see there's something between the two. Like in a little kid way.

I never said Fran retiring is bad news, I wish her the best and totally "get it". I just attended a puppetry class with Marty Robinson a few weeks ago at the NY Public Library for the Performing Arts, and while he made no mention of Fran's retirement, he did say that the long standing performers are always training for who will take over next, and that performers move on for a variety of reasons. I think the reason that some of these performers have lasted as long as they have on the show is amazing, and quite a legacy in any profession, so I don't think it's upsetting at all. Just sad to see such a talent not with the show anymore.

 

[D'Snowth]

I wasn't going to say anything, but since Drtooth did, I agree, I think people are taking the news of Fran's retirement a little too hard; like Drtooth said, these things happen, but we've yet to hit a false note with both ends of the Muppet spectrum. Yes, it took time to get used to Steve as Kermit and Ernie since Jim's passing; yes it took time to get used to Eric as Bert, Grover, Fozzie, Piggy, Animal, and now Sam and David as Cookie Monster since Frank's retirement; yes it's taking time to get used to David as Scooter and Janice since they've been revived; yes it's taking time to get used to Bill as Rowlf and Dr. Teeth since they've been revived as well; yes it's taking time to get used to Matt as Floyd, Uncle Deadly, and Count since Jerry's passing; yes it's taking to get used to Ryan as Elmo since Kevin's resignation... but keep in mind, the performers take things like this into consideration, and do their best to try replacements or understudies to take on the characters to make the transitions as easy and seamless as possible. It's just gotten ridiculous lately. Steve was under a lot of mental and emotional pressure when it came time to take on Kermit and make it his character since Kermit was so much a part of Jim, but he's done a very good job at keeping Kermit and Ernie alive, that I think even Jim himself would be proud of what Steve's done with them. But more importantly, we gave Steve a chance. Yes, we were sad to lose Jim, and no Steve isn't Jim, but we still gave Steve a chance. We were also accepting of Eric taking on Frank's characters and now Matt taking on Jerry's characters, but anymore it seems anytime a performer leaves us for one reason or another, much of the forum was in an uproar over it. Artie? Everybody was like, "Dood! Dat ain't Steve! Who is this guy? He sux! Bring back Steve!" When Kevin resigned, people immediately ignored the news that Kevin's resignation was permanent and were all, "Kevin will come back soon, I hear rumors that he's going to, so yay, Elmo will be back to normal!" (There was one member in particular who kept doing this, but I won't name names.)

Yes, it's disorienting when a character changes performers, but when you have characters who survive for this long, you have to expect. it The characters may last forever, but the performers don't. That said, yes, losing Fran is significant, since she was one of the last of the original performers, but like Drtooth said, it's not the end of the world. If she chooses to retire, she has a right to do so: she's been performering for decades, and she's at an age now where she can retire if she wants to, and maybe she'd like to take it easy now that's able to, and just enjoy life while she can. We shouldn't dwell on her no longer being a part of the Muppet family, we should respcet her decision and think fondly on all the joy her charactefd have broguth us overthe lyhears.

 

[dwayne1115]

That speech was brought to you today by the letters S and the Number 6.

 

[fozzieisfunny]

we should respcet her decision and think fondly on all the joy her charactefd have broguth us overthe lyhears.

I'm sorry.. Were you having keyboard problems?

Anyways, I didn't really see what the big whoop was, either. I mean, it's obvious her characters will be recasted.

 

[Muppet Master]

Anyways, I didn't really see what the big whoop was, either. I mean, it's obvious her characters will be recasted.

Is it that obvious I mean they are not exactly large characters, Zoe probably will be, but Prarie is a mixed bag.

 

[fozzieisfunny]

Is it that obvious I mean they are not exactly large characters, Zoe probably will be, but Prarie is a mixed bag.

Yeah, but I feel like Abby is kind of invading Zoe. ZOE was the one who played with Elmo, not ABBY! I feel like at one time or another, her characters will be recast but not at the moment or any time soon.

 

[Muppet Master]

Yeah, but I feel like Abby is kind of invading Zoe. ZOE was the one who played with Elmo, not ABBY! I feel like at one time or another, her characters will be recast but not at the moment or any time soon.

Again, I do not watch SS anymore, but by reading Prarie Dawn's muppet wiki page, and how it has a part that says she spoke her first words in nearly a decade in one of the more recent seasons, then she is probably not likely to be recast anytime soon, and I think Zoe will probably be as well, but I do not know at all.

 

[D'Snowth]

I'm sorry.. Were you having keyboard problems?

No, not keyboard problems, forum problems; ever since the upgrade, I have to keep reminding myself to switch to BB Code Editor for posting, because for some reason, the default Rich Text Editor can't seem to register my posts as fast as I type them in the message box (sometimes up to a minute or two for the sentence to finish typing on screen after I've already typed it).

 

[Drtooth]

Carol joined the show in 1969, and Fran joined the show in 1970. Just wanted to point that out.

Ahem... "AROUND" as long as Carol. The key word is around, meaning almost as much but not quite.

I never said Fran retiring is bad news, I wish her the best and totally "get it".

There are a couple posts I've read that had "this is terrible news" (or something to that effect) as the first reaction. I find that a little odd, since the news is just she's just leaving the show instead of something bad happened to her. I'll agree the news is weird to come out of the blue like that, though. It probably would have thrown me off more if Zoe's appearances on the show weren't getting a little thin. Though I still chalk that up to forcing Abby and Elmo together.

I wasn't going to say anything, but since Drtooth did, I agree, I think people are taking the news of Fran's retirement a little too hard; like Drtooth said, these things happen, but we've yet to hit a false note with both ends of the Muppet spectrum. Yes, it took time to get used to Steve as Kermit and Ernie since Jim's passing; yes it took time to get used to Eric as Bert, Grover, Fozzie, Piggy, Animal, and now Sam and David as Cookie Monster since Frank's retirement; yes it's taking time to get used to David as Scooter and Janice since they've been revived; yes it's taking time to get used to Bill as Rowlf and Dr. Teeth since they've been revived as well; yes it's taking time to get used to Matt as Floyd, Uncle Deadly, and Count since Jerry's passing; yes it's taking to get used to Ryan as Elmo since Kevin's resignation... but keep in mind, the performers take things like this into consideration, and do their best to try replacements or understudies to take on the characters to make the transitions as easy and seamless as possible.

Really seems that they've taken that into account a lot better recently, Sesame Street especially. Steve as Kermit is one thing. But it took years for solid recasts of Jim's other characters. Remember when we all applauded Rowlf's grunt and Dr. Teeth's "Shalom" in MFS? For the most parts, his characters all have speaking roles in the last few projects. Not quite the level they were back when Jim was around, but much more so since. Recasting Frank's Sesame Street roles actually took the show back from Elmo. Who's the Muppet that Sesame Workshop actually brings to appearances and promotions the most now? Cookie Monster. Heck, I'd say Cookie's starting to take over the show from Elmo now. Not bad at all.

Jerry was savvy enough to know he wasn't going to perform forever and trained Matt to perform his characters while he voiced them. We did not even lose The Count for more than inbetween seasons. Ditto Kevin, Ryan and Elmo. Elmo has a slightly decreased role, but more along the lines of those Frank characters I mentioned. Now we also have another performer for Ernie because Steve is a busy guy. Better to have these people work with understudies now than to have a huge gap in the cast for a while. We've actually started to lose new characters as far as The Muppets are concerned. Going back to Muppets Tonight where the show was mainly new characters with a rare classic one in the background, that was unthinkable then.

That said, I wonder if they knew Fran was going to retire and had someone in mind taking over Zoe or Prairie. Zoe may have had a slightly diminished role as of late, but Prairie only pops up once every so often.