Who owns Gorch?

[lowercasegods]

I think that the Jim Henson company still owns the rights to the characters. I don't know if NBC would need permission from Henson to release a collection. It would be weird to release these segments on video without calling the collection The best of the Muppets on SNL (the muppet name could help sell the video), unless NBC was actually willing to get permission from Disney just to use the name (Hit won't try to get permission just to keep kermits small scenes in Emmit Otters Jug-band Christmas, Although NBC is probably a bigger company, but also competition with ABC, which is owned by Disney).... or if they decided to include the muppets recent appearance on the show, justifying use of the Muppets name (and causing them to have to get permission from both henson and Disney). Of course, they could attempt to put Kermit, Fozzie, Pepe, Gonzo, and Animal on the cover as the selliing point.

Yes, most of the original cast and crew hated the Muppets, but that doesn't mean that the current staff dislikes them (especially since the muppets recently made a guest appearance in 2004). I wonder if the attitutes of the original cast or writers regarding the muppets have changed since 1976. Just because they didn't like the muppets back then doesn't mean that they don't like them now.

If the gorch segments were released, I think they should at least include every regular sketch (the ones that took place on the set), and the best ones that took place backstage.

Oddly enough, Saturday Night Live has only released a few "best of sketch" videos. There have been some Mr. Bill videos, but not much else. There was a best of coneheads video, but that is only three episodes of The best Of saturday night live with one coneheads sketch each. There was also a Best of waynes World video done in a similar way (I think), and there was a Toonches The cat video, but I am not sure if that is all Toonches skits or if other segments are there as well.

Admittedly, none of the 1975 cast is around anymore, and now that Al Franken has moved on, the last of the original writing staff is departed as well. Hopefully you're right, and any prejudices towards the Muppets have gone the way of disco. And the guest spot they had on SNL is probably a sure sign of old wounds healing. But up until the past, say, five years, I'd always felt that those prejudices were what kept the Gorch sketches from getting there own best of video. Seeing Mr. Bill land one before them was a real slap in the face to Muppet fans. But perhaps there can yet be an agreement met between NBC, Disney and JHC and we might yet enjoy a complete collection of Gorch. Hey, petitions haven't hurt us Muppet fans yet!

 

[minor muppetz]

Seeing Mr. Bill land one before them was a real slap in the face to Muppet fans.

I wouldn't consider it to be a slap in the face for muppet fans because an all-mr. bill video was released while a Gorch video hasn't. Sure, the muppet fans might complain a little, but Mr. Bill was more popular that the Muppets were on Saturday Night Live. The Muppets are more popular outside of SNL, while Mr. Bill hasn't really done as much outside of Saturday Night Live but was more popular as an SNL sketch. Oddly enough, Mr. Bills creator, Walter Williams, didn't really want to merchandise Mr. Bill. I am not sure if he had control over the video releases, but the only Mr. Bill product I am aware of that he approved of was a Mr. Bill book, Mr. Bills Family Album.

Coincidently, back in 1999, I bought a copy of a Mr. Bill video and The Muppets Take Manhattan on the same day.