Rizzo on Jim Henson Hour

[goshposh]

Why wasnt Rizzo on the Jim Henson Hour? He was an established character and Steve Whitmire was there the entire time. Now that I think of it why werent more classic characters featured on the Jim Henson Hour?

 

[frogboy4]

Why wasnt Rizzo on the Jim Henson Hour? He was an established character and Steve Whitmire was there the entire time. Now that I think of it why werent more classic characters featured on the Jim Henson Hour?

Yeah, and what about Rowlf?

Actually, I think I know the answer to this and have always respectfully disagreed with it. I've heard it reported that Jim Henson did not like to repeat himself so he wanted to mix it up with the cast of the Hour as not to be merely an updated version of the Muppet Show.

I feel that was the downfall of the program that was made well after his death - Muppets Tonight. I just disagree with that standard. People tune it to see their favorite characters. It's not that we don't like the new ones, but sometimes a resentment forms toward the newer characters because it appears they have replaced a more established and beloved Muppet.

So to answer your question in my thinking, Rizzo was missing from the Henson Hour to make room for Bean Bunny. I would like to have seen both in the same world.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Yup, it's the age old quandary. Artists want to change and move on from what they've done before. And for the most part fans are willing to go along. But they really want to see the characters they grew to love in the first place and know will be enjoyable. And after all the fans are the reason the art was successful in the first place.

 

[maniacal muppet]

Yeah, and what about Rowlf?

Rowlf was actually in a few segments. He played a Merlin character in one sketch. And in the special, "Dog City", he played a narrator like character. Hope this helps

 

[MWoO]

I think originally Kermit wasn't even going to be in the show as much.

I think the reason for Fozzie and Piggy not really being on the show was because Frank Oz was moving away from regular performing. Rizzo was new enough though that he should have been on the Jim Henson Hour, and I don't know for sure but I don't really remember any new characters for Richard Hunt wither. So, perhaps part of the reason for lack of older characters was simply because the performers were not there full time. You did have Gonzo there a lot as well as Kermit, and for some reason Link (I guess you need at least one pig).

It seems to me that the formula that works is established characters AND new characters. At the very least you need Fozzie, Gonzo, Kermit, and Piggy. They are the core group. On the side you can mix and match old and new, add in Pepe and Rizzo and so on. But you really need those main four in a show to keep people happy. Muppet tonight had half a good idea, but they needed Kermit to be more involved, which he was near the end, and really Eric Jacobson could have saved that show if he had taken on Fozzie and Piggy back then. The characters were absent too much.

 

[Erine81981]

I guess i didn't really care as long as Kermit was there i was happy. He's always been one of my favorites and all but in all i guess it would of been cool to see Rizzo there.

 

[frogboy4]

Rowlf was actually in a few segments. He played a Merlin character in one sketch. And in the special, "Dog City", he played a narrator like character. Hope this helps

Yeah, but hardly considering Jim Henson was on the set so much that Rowlf should have had much more of a presence. I remember the Dog City bit, but not so much the Merlin one. Gotta go check that out again. I've been saving up the old stuff and watching it bit by bit until new stuff comes along.

 

[minor muppetz]

On The Jim Henson Hour, Steve Whitmire was given quite a few new-ish characters, yet Rizzo wasn't developed on the series. It seems like the writers/ producers wanted Rizzo to be a star since he was introduced in the fourth season of The Muppet Show, and Rizzo seemed to appear in the background of nearly every major Muppet production during the 1980s (in addition to appearing in a number of storybooks, even mentioned by name), yet he was hardly on The Jim Henson Hour, and afterwards he started to become a main part of the cast. But Rizzo did appear in the background in the Monster Telethon episode, during the "Sweet Vacation" number.

 

[minor muppetz]

Ironically, it's been said in interviews that at Steve Whitmire's last meeting with Jim Henson, Jim was frusterated over Steve not having any main characters besides Rizzo and Bean. What about Steve's other Jim Henson Hour characters? If Rizzo was so main, then why wasn't he on the show, where his character could have been developed more?