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TMS outline- Red Skelton!

Gorgon Heap

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I didn't realize how little work this one actually required. Last night and tonight I got to reading my file of all my TMS outlines, completed and in the works, and my ideas for more, and realized this one was almost done. So I finished it.

I included a character from a little-seen Muppets and Ed Sullivan special called "The Great Santa Claus Switch": Lothar, the fortune-telling fez-wearing Frackle, who lives in the Magic Pot. He was performed by Jim Henson in a sort of ogre-ish voice, a cross between Rowlf and Link Hogthrob's voices and a wonderfully dry wit. He also had a habit of referring to his boss, self-proclaimed 'king of evil' Cosmo Scam, with alliterative addresses, such as "O master of mirth" and "O misguided magician". For more info and pictures, see the following links:

http://members.tripod.com/themuppetshow2002/id29.htm

http://www.geocities.com/muppetchristmas/images/sullivan-pages3-4.jpg

And now, without further ado, here it is!

SPECIAL GUEST STAR: RED SKELTON

STYLE: MID SECOND SEASON (circa Bernadette Peters/Rudolf Nureyev episodes)

COLD OPENING:

Scooter: “Red Skelton! 30 seconds to curtain, Mr. Skelton!”

Red is wheezing as he does in his “Guzzler’s Gin” bit.

Scooter: “Oh, practicing for your ‘Guzzler’s Gin’ bit, huh?”

Red: “No Scooter, it’s this coffee! No offense.”

Scooter: “Oh, I’m sorry. That’s our mistake. George!”

George the Janitor walks in.

Scooter: “George, there’s been a mix-up.”

George: “Oh.” (grabs the cup, dips brush in it) “The, uh, stairs need a new coat of varnish.”

He leaves. Red is surprised.

Scooter: “Can I get you anything else?”

Red: “Yeah, some water. But make sure it’s water!”

OPENING THEME:
S & W: they’re eating in rhythm
Statler (eating chips): “CHEW, CHEW, CHEW, CHEW-CH-CHEW”
Waldorf (drinking with a straw): “SLURP!”
Gonzo: a Snerf comes out of the trumpet

OPENING NUMBER: “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows”- Robin sings

Statler: “That was a great show! Brilliant! Wonderful!”

Waldorf: “Hey, that was just the opening number.”

Statler: “You had to spoil it for me, didn’t you?”

BACKSTAGE: Scooter comes in with a crate. Inside is a gift from his uncle: The Fortune 500 Fortune-Telling system. Scooter tells Kermit that it’s the latest, hi-tech, state-of-the-art system in fortune telling! It comes complete with the ‘magic pot’, and Lothar, “your friendly fortune-teller”. Lothar is initially less-than-friendly.

Lothar: “Go away, I’m takin’ a nap! That’s the last time I travel coach. Feels like I was sent in a crate.”

Scooter: “You were sent in a crate.”

SKETCH: Red, accompanied by the Muppet swayback horse, plays Deadeye in a cowboy saloon

Statler: "Red Skelton is hilarious!"

Waldorf: "Yes, a real scream!"

Statler: "Phenomenal!"

Waldorf: "How do you suppose he wound up on this show?"

Statler: "They probably grabbed him when no one was looking!"

S & W: "Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!"

BACKSTAGE: Lothar is on the phone with Cosmo (Scam, that is)

Lothar: “I’m doin’ fine in the new job... Well, it hasn’t been the same for me either, Cosmo...”

Gonzo asks Lothar whether or not his act will be met with success. Lothar brings him words of wisdom: “Wear protective clothing, preferably body armor.”

Sam has been watching the whole ordeal and remarks that the practice of seeking wisdom from this freak is “childish, disgusting, and immoral. It’s weird… it’s… strange… mysterious…” Then, when he’s sure no one is looking, he asks Lothar if he will ever succeed in making the show cultural and morally upright.

SONG: “I Believe in You”- Catgut sings to a real cat

DRESSING ROOM: Scooter watches as Red does pantomimes describing different types of audience members of “The Muppet Show”

BACKSTAGE: Lothar runs into an old associate: Thog, who can’t remember who Lothar is.

Lothar: “Remember, you and Thig used to work with me?”

Thog: “Who’s Thig?”

Lothar: “Thig, as in Thig & Thog!”

Thog: “Who’s Thog?”

Lothar: “That’s you- oh never mind.”

Vet’s Hospital- Uncle Deadly is the patient

UK SPOT: “Raindrop Prelude”- Rowlf plays Chopin, eventually needing his raincoat

SKETCH: Red, as Clem Kadiddlehopper, tries to sell unscented perfume to Miss Piggy, queen of the jungle

“It’s called Nothing. Ladies, if you want to impress your man, wear Nothing.”

Muppet News- "Dateline: The Muppet Show. An embarrassing situation occurred today when the Muppet News reporter took his seat at his news desk unaware that the legs of his chair had been partially cut through with a saw, thereby causing the chair to-" CRACK! "Aaah!" CRASH!

BACKSTAGE: Piggy asks Lothar if Kermit will ever come to his senses. Lothar: “Yes, but you still haven’t got a prayer, O porcine princess.” Cue karate chop.

SKETCH: The Great Gonzo sings "My Old Kentucky Home" while being fired out of a giant slingshot

BACKSTAGE: Kermit wonders aloud, "Will I ever find out why I do this every week?" Lothar: "Now you know better than to ask me that, O aggravated amphibian."

CLOSING NUMBER: “Poor Everybody Else”- Red, as Freddie the Freeloader, sings with Fozzie (also dressed as a hobo)

Curtain: Red, Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Scooter, Robin and Lothar (in pot)

Statler: “I wonder what Lothar would see in our future.”

Lothar (pops up in the box): “I see two ancient old men, sitting angrily in a red theater box watching unraveling madness on a stage.”

S & W: “OH NO!”

Lothar: “I tell it like it is, O sniping seniors.”


Let me know what you think!

More outlines on the way as soon as I can write 'em.

David "Gorgon Heap" Ebersole
 

sarah_yzma

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WONDERFUL! I love Red Skelton! You have such a knack for writing! It's amazing
 

Skeeter Muppet

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Oh, that was a hoot! I loved the inclusion of Lothar. With the way you wrote him, I think he would have fit in really well into the show full or part-time.
 

Gorgon Heap

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sarah_yzma:

Holy cats! You and I have the same birthday!

Hey, did everyone get the S & W bit in the opening credits? Think of the one from the Peter Sellers episode where Statler coughs in rhythm and Waldorf ends the rhythm by blowing his nose.

David "Gorgon Heap" Ebersole
 

Gorgon Heap

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Pics of Lothar alone:

http://members.tripod.com/themuppetshow2002/3fcc8ab0.jpg

http://members.tripod.com/themuppetshow2002/3f4c89e0.jpg

He would've been a great recurring character on TMS. One of his phrases from "Santa Claus Switch" I constantly find myself using: when Cosmo Scam has succeeded in kidnapping Santa Claus, Lothar dryly and sarcastically replies "Hooray for the home team." Priceless!

My other favorite Lothar quote is when Cosmo is talking into the Magic Pot only to discover that Lothar is perched on a nearby wall. Cosmo: "Why can't you stay in your pot where you belong?!" Lothar: "It's just the gypsy in me I guess."

David "Gorgon Heap" Ebersole
 

Daffyfan4ever

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I agree. But those pics of Lothar won't show on my computer. I wonder what I'm doing wrong. :confused:
 

Gorgon Heap

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Daffyfan2003 said:
I agree. But those pics of Lothar won't show on my computer. I wonder what I'm doing wrong. :confused:
Neither can I. Must just be a Tripod thing. Just use the original link. Lothar is the purple dragon-looking guy with sleepy-looking eyes and wearing a red fez.

David "Gorgon Heap" Ebersole
 

Gorgon Heap

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Daffyfan (and anyone else who doesn't know what Lothar looks like)-

Right-click on the picture links and go to Properties, Copy the web address, then Paste it in the address bar. That works, I tried it.

David "Gorgon Heap" Ebersole
 

Gorgon Heap

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Coming soon: The Muppet Show with special guest star GROUCHO MARX!

David "Gorgon Heap" Ebersole
 
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