The MuppetCast - Show #58 - A Tribute to Jim (2008)

[stephenjlizard]

I'm extremely proud to present The MuppetCast's 2008 tribute to Jim Henson. This year's tribute show, I think, has a distinctly different feel from last year's, but I hope you will find it equally fitting

I just wanted to again thank everyone who helped by sending in material for this episode; the tribute (and in fact The MuppetCast) wouldn't be the same without all of us working together!

I'm anxious to hear your thoughts on the show!

 

[The Count]

Hi Steve. First of all, thank you for this episode, tribute, and the MuppetCast as a whole. Would've prefered to hear the version of Turn The World Around from the memorial instead of from TMS, guess that was meant as a not-so-subtle Season 3 promo plug. It was very welcome to hear Frank Oz's thoughts on a wealth of questions posed to him during the interview. All the emails were great and the songs chosen suited the theme of the tribute. Rully liked that you got the audio version of It's Not Easy Being Green, it sounds better with the instrumental version of the song in the background. So many quotes there to learn from and live by.

Thanks again for everything Steve. Now then, my only question is...
Do you have something silly to end the show with?

*Hears the blast.
Crazy Harry...
Harry Belafonte: Already somebody's trying to put me down. They said don't go in there, Crazy Harry's in there.
Scooter: Oh no, they weren't talking about you... They meant... Crazy Harry?
*Manic laughter as the spacious Swanson Studios is rocked by the bomber's blackened orbs.
Mwahahahahaaaaaaa!

 

[minor muppetz]

I knew it! I knew Frank Oz would be the surprise guest (okay, so earlier posts also had me thinking it'd be either him, Jane Henson, or Brian Henson, but throughout this week I felt more convinced that it'd be him).

 

[dwayne1115]

I was really shocked you got Fank to do it, and like I said in the PM i sent ya Steve you two really clicked.

 

[MeepBorkMeep]

Listening to the Muppetcast now, it's beautiful so far. Another great tribute and Frank was great. : )

I did have one question; what songs are playing during the email readings? They're beautiful.

 

[Dr. Bombay]

Steve, what a great job! All though I could've done w/o the immediate crying I did when you played the Henson kids reading the letter from their dad which is the exact same part I cried at last year Seriously, though, I'm glad you played that clip because the words Jim wrote are so true and simple yet profound.

And I was so astounded and pleased that Frank shared his thoughts with us about Jim. That was awesome!

Man, it's been an emotional couple days as yesterday marked the 13th anniversary of the passing of Elizabeth Montgomery which I always commemorate by watching her Biography and the newsclips from the day she passed...I hadn't ever commemorated Jim's passing before because I never had any material to do so...next year I'm going to have to double up on the tissue.

Great, great podcast and thanks for all the hard work you do!

 

[Luke]

Brilliant steve, i think thats the first time Frank has done anything Muppetwise for ages and he did so on your fan podcast which is tremendous - it's obvious to see that all Henson related people have seen the work going into these shows and the professional quality and decided to join in. You should be proud of yerself Mr, a vert touching and worthy tribute for Jim.

 

[theprawncracker]

Steve... this was the best show I've listened to in a long time. I was so touched by this, I laughed, I cried, I laughed even harder. The ending was absolutely PERFECT. I couldn't think of a more perfect way to end it. And, as always, Frank was just awesome. I was so impressed with him and now I have an even higher degree of respect for him, so now my respect for him is monumentally high!

Thanks for reading my e-mail and thanks for doing this tribute for Jim. Like Luke said, you should be very proud, this is was just amazing. Thank you again.

Now I'm off to go buy my copy of TMS 3! ! !

 

[stephenjlizard]

Wow...thank you all for your feedback so far, it's been wonderful to read over these responses! I wanted to respond to a few specific questions and comments, too:

Count - I didn't think of "Turn the World Around" as being a DVD plug, but I can see where it might look like that. Actually, the parts with Mr. Belafonte were included at the request of a few listeners, and I hope you'll agree that it seemed to work out Swanson Studios, spacious? Boy, I wish!

MeepBorkMeep - the music used in the background during the email part was taken from one of my new favorite soundtracks, "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium". It's really great music (and even has a tracked titled "Kermit", so how can you go wrong?)!

Dr. B - I'm glad you were so touched right from the beginning, but honestly I thought I held off the really waterworks-inducing stuff until the end, lol! I wanted to use that "What the heck, I'm dead and no one can argue with me" line too, as I thought that tied up a great little intro. Glad you like it too!

Again, thanks so much to everyone for your comments and your continued support. The JH Legacy got in touch with me earlier yesterday and let me know how much they enjoyed it too. As I always say, and I truly mean it, it's a very humbling and wonderful thing to be able to do this show every week, and I'm grateful to everyone who listens and supports it. The people who have become involved with this (at every level) are some of the kindest, friendliest, and most generous people I have ever met, and I feel privileged to serve this community of professionals, performers, and fans.

 

[Baby Gonzo]

That was a terrific show! I was not expecting Frank Oz to be the special guest of the week, so I was quite surprised when you introduced him. The ending was perfect too. At first, it seemed like it was going to be a downer and then the music played just like think Jim would have wanted it to.

This podcast didn't leave me the emotional mess the last Jim Henson tribute did. But it was very touching. Great job, as usual!