Well, I finally heard Steve's Statler

[Thijs]

Does Van Neuter really have to come back? Hmm, I hope we won't see him again ever. I'd like to see Dave Goelz performing Beau again. Some other chars I'd like to return are Link (I know so many muppetfans who can imitate him, so why don't we bring him back: his voice can't be that hard), Camilla, Annie Sue and Sweetums.

 

[sarah_yzma]

yes i miss camilla!

Sarah

 

[DarthGonzo]

Well, there's doesnt seem to be any reason why Camilla cant come back. But since Gonzo seems to be spending most of his time with Rizzo these past ten years, I guess they dont feel Camilla is needed.

I still dont see why Dave doesnt play Beau anymore. It's not like he's not around. I think it's a shame when characters like Beau, Zoot and Bean are completely ignored by the performers who have no reason to ignore them in the first place. As for Janice, I'd rather see Brian preform her than no one at all.

I was slightly surprised that Sweetums didn't speak in AVMMCM, considering how often he was talking on Family Fued. I didnt mind Lew Zealand's new voice, even if it wasnt Jerry. Like I said, I'd rather see these characters with slighty-off voices than have them be retired or something.

 

[sarah_yzma]

i thought bill was dead on with Lew.....i didn't even know it was him until later!

Sarah

 

[Chilly Down]

Originally posted by DarthGonzo
I still dont see why Dave doesnt play Beau anymore. It's not like he's not around. I think it's a shame when characters like Beau, Zoot and Bean are completely ignored by the performers who have no reason to ignore them in the first place.

The puppeteers have absolutely nothing to do with that decision. The writers decide which characters get used and which don't. Dave has actually pushed for several years for Beau to get back in the spotlight. Dave was probably the one who decided to have Beau in the background for MFS and VMMCM. So don't blame Dave...thank him!!

Also, I think Richard's Statler had a very distinctive wheeze. In fact, I couldn't put my finger on the defining characteristic of his voice till you used that word. So...thanks! I think Jerry's voice is just deeper overall. Since Jerry originated Statler with S & V, I think he just went back to that voice.

Vocal imitations can be a tricky thing. I thought Bobo sounded just like Rowlf in MFS, but when Rowlf was finally voiced in the making-of Weezer video, I thought he didn't really sound like Rowlf--he sounded like Bobo! I still don't think Dave sounds all that much like Waldorf, but I will agree that (for all that Jim's characters seem to sound the same) it's very easy to imitate some of Jim's voices and very hard to do others.

I didn't like Kevin's Sam the first time I heard it, but I did on the second viewing. In fact, I liked all the voices overall better on the second viewing! I've grown accustomed to all the voices over time and accept them. The performers give life to the characters, so the voices become less important.

 

[WiGgY]

I haven't gotten a chance to really hear Bil's Rowlf, but from what I did hear, it's pretty good. Definatly better than anyone will be able to do, and I think if he takes that voice and applies it to Dr. Teeth it would be great! He also does a pretty good lew, though I think in AVMMC he lost control of it a bit, like Steve lost control of Kermit and went into Rizzo sometimes. I loved Brian's Scooter as soon as I heard it! It was dead on when he said "The ham is jammed". He also kind of lost it a little in latter scenes though like when he went into the speech about how "Fozzie's right" that was way too slow for Scooter. His Janice was pretty bad, but I bet with more work he could get it right. I'd love to hear Steve's Link and Kevin's Sam wasn't that bad for a short line hear and there. Over all Steve MUST do Statler's voice.

 

[Chilly Down]

I feel there's been undue negativity directed towards Jerry in this thread. Honestly, I have more problems with all the other matchups mentioned here than with Jerry's Statler. But I guess that's just me.

And to be honest, I never even noticed any difference between Steve's Statler and Jerry's Statler. (I should go back and listen again before I make any final decision, though. Which one played him in VMMCM?)

Incidentally, Bill wouldn't play Dr. Teeth. He's now the responsibility of John Kennedy. I liked his "Shalom!" in MFS...I want to hear more.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Reply

Just a few comments here. About Bill's Rowlf, I really can't make a judgement about how he sounds, since he's usually silent. If he'd speak more, I might be able to decide. It's hard to tell when all he says is "Hi, Kermit." And Chilly, we're not trying to be negative towards Jerry or anything. I've just stated that I've preferred Richard's Statler. Keep in mind, we would still like to have Jerry perform his other characters such as Pops, Robin, Crazy Harry, Floyd Pepper, etc.

 

[WiGgY]

Yes, it's not about being negative, it's about Steve sounding a bit more "right" to us. Jerry is a great performer and if he had done Statler on the Muppet Show it would be fine. But many people got use to Richard's Statler and when Jerry took him back it was like a huge shock to the system. When Steve took over Kermit, he sounded like Kermit. When Eric took over Fozzie, he sounded like Fozzie. Jerry just doesn't sound like the Statler we know and that's not being negative, it's being truthful. Richard's voices are just too darn hard to get right.

About Dr. Teeth, I haven't heard him enough to make a judgement. I mean, I'm sure anyone can do one word really well. But to really get the character is different. I'd like to see more of Dr. Teeth and maybe get him back into the shows and movies more.

One thing I loved about AVMMC was that it brought back many characters. Not just Scooter and Janice, but Kermit, Piggy, and Fozzie as well. They hadn't been very in character before AVMMC. Kermit has to be sarcastic sometimes and he has to get all frazzled because that's Kermit! He's not always nice. Steve can actually do a good Kermit if he's given the right script.

When the new muppet show comes out we should see the same kind of mix we saw in AVMMC. Jonny and Sal should be in there, but not as main characters like on MT. Pepe should be a secondary character like Gonzo was and he and Rizzo should be paired up more for certain things that involve sneakiness. Fozzie and Piggy should be and can be main characters along with onzo and Kermit. We should also bring back the Electric Mayhem. MT wasn't the muppet show so I see why the EM wasn't used there, but if this new show is suppose to use the classic characters again, then it should use the classic band.

One last thing. Bring back Clifford! But don't bring back MT Clifford. Bring back the cool hip Clifford from the JHH and MFS. I loved that Clifford! And bring back Leon too! I only saw him on that Cosby special but he looked like a cool character and had a great voice. Kevin is really talented and if they bring back those two characters and Kevin still does Sam, you have 3 characters for him to do as well as bvack ground stuff. I think that's enough to justify hiring him full time.

 

[DarthGonzo]

Who else thinks IAVMMCM pretty easily showed that the Henson company has every intention of taking Scooter and returning him to the forefront as a major secondary character?

After Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, Pepe, Gonzo and probably Bunsen and Beaker, it seems the next character with the most lines and screen time was Scooter. Isnt that wild considering how MIA he was up until 1999?

Ok, show of hands...who else thinks Scooter is going to end up becoming Brian's most important character?

Additionally, it seems funny to think that one EM member who said the most in the Xmas movie and has the potential to have the most dialouge in future muppet shows and movies is Janice! Once again, wild.

Richard would be happy all his characters are finally in good hands.