What Muppet Fans Are Thinking About

[minor muppetz]

A few days ago I saw an episode of The Simpsons that featured Sammy Hagar as himself, and I've noticed that Sammy Hagar kind of looks like Lips. Especially on The Simpsons, where his skin is yellow (though it seems like the puppet is only yellow due to lighting, if the pics of the original Palisades figure prototypes are any indication. In fact, the newly-rebuilt Lips on The Muppets looks less yellow and more green or brown-ish... And when looking at the pic in The Muppets Character Encyclopedia, I can see a little brown in him).

I wonder if he was meant to look like Sammy Hagar. Though I just searched for a picture of the musician, and noticed that he kind of also looks like how Steve Whitmire looked when Lips was first around. I remember on the old Electric Mayhem fan page that it said Lips "doesn't really resemble a rock star unless you can think of a blonde afroed trumpet player who doesn't open his eyes". At the time I thought that line meant that he doesn't resemble any kind of rock star (though I thought he did have the rock star look) but now I wonder if it meant he didn't look like any specific rock star (and that page did say that he sort of resembled Whitmire).

And I remember, during the Palisades Toys era, somebody asked Ken Lilly if he considers Lips part of the band or not, and he said he didn't, stating that any extra member is a Sammy Hagar. I guessed that meant that Hagar joined a band late and is more on-and-off again (I'll have to check to see what band Hagar was part of), but this is an interesting coincidence. Unless Ken Lilly saw the resemblance and that's what he was going after with that line.

 

[minor muppetz]

In the last day I thought of a Muppet fans fantasy that I often think about every once in awhile. Every once in awhile, I fantasize about going to a flea market and finding a special secret room selling every Muppet product ever made. My fantasy mind keeps it a little more realistic by limiting it primarily to merchandise sold in the US, and maybe by leaving out some of the rarest pieces of merchandise (so no Dr. Teeth repaint). I just fantasize about going to a flea market, wearing a Muppet shirt and maybe buying a Muppet item or two, and then the clerk sees what a fan I am and shows me the secret room, for hardcore fans only. I can't remember if I've ever had any actual dreams about this situation or not.

 

[ShMuppetgal96]

Every once and a while I like to imagine I'm a production assistant or a wrangler on a Muppets project or Sesame Street, and I hang out with the performers during lunch or afterwards. Yesterday it was me inviting a few to my imaginary apartment for dinner.
Other times I'm just friends with some of them through the fan sites and get invited to sets and events like ToughPigs or Muppet Mindset.

 

[WemblinFool18]

I had a dream last night in which Steve Whitmire was best friends with my favorite actor, John Hurt, and they invited me to dinner with them. I wish that was real.

 

[minor muppetz]

Or was the entire second season (well, what we got of it, anyway, considering only nine episodes were produced) completed before ABC canceled it? The second season did air an entire TV season after the first season, and I think I had read about some of the season 2 guests being planned as early as 1996.

Well, I found the answer to my question. Last week, Tough Pigs posted scans from every page if Muppetzine, and I saw one issue that had an article confirming that ABC ordered a second season. So ABC planned to air season two, the episodes were most likely completed, then the show got canceled and the remaining episodes were run on The Disney Channel.

One thing that I assumed was that ABC started the second season and then officially canceled after the ninth episode of the season was produced, but the article says that ABC only ordered nine episodes for the second season. Hmm, not too different from ABC extending The Muppets to a full season but only ordering six additional episodes.