Your Favorite Background Character

[Xerus]

I like that unseen guy from behind the curtain. Sometimes Kermit goes to the curtain and asks if everything's okay back there and you'll hear a guy going, "Oh, yeah yeah yeah!" I always laugh whenever I hear that line. I believe that was Frank Oz voicing that guy.

 

[CBPuppets]

It was...he sounded like Cookie Monster.

 

[FrogInTheGlen]

That was Gaffer, puppeteered by Kathryn Mullen

Thanks....I never knew that he had a name!

 

[Frozann]

Blue Frackle. Period.

Well, it's unclear about definition. I'd go with characters in crowd:
- Afghan hound, nice design
- Frackles. Have I mentioned Blue Frackle particularly?
- Mildred
- Pigs

 

[Gelfling Girl]

Afghan Hound, Beakie (not to be confused with Beaker), and Gaffer.

 

[animalrescuer]

I have to say that my favorite background characters are Beauregard, Lubbock Lou and his Jug Huggers and all the animals on the show: penguins, rabbits, rats, dogs...anything along those lines.

 

[SeanC]

A lot of my Muppet fascination tends to swing towards background or rarely used characters. Not sure why this is - maybe said characters' lack of screentime makes their appearances all the more special. It's wonderful that such detail and care was put into even minor characters, something that displays perfectly the skill and perfection of Henson and his team.
A few people have picked Boppity and he'd be high on my list too. A really nicely designed monster who appeared quite a lot but was mainly confined to crowd scenes or sharing the screen with other, more well known characters. I really like him, though, and would love to own a replica. People who've read my posts will also know that I'm a big fan of Fletcherbird ( lovely design and beautifully performed ), but as he was the main Muppet in at least two songs and had very prominent roles in a couple of others, I think he falls just slightly outside the definition of 'background character'. The Gawky Birds, characters I also regard as fascinating, are more in line with the definition. They never spoke but looked absolutely fantastic, particularly in the Bruce Forsyth episode. Actually, I clearly have a thing for Muppet birds as I also love the Whaddayasay Bird, plus the others that appeared in that same sketch. And then there's the duck who turned up in a few episodes too. And let's not forget the penguins. To be honest, I think pretty much every minor character had its merits, from the Javas ( quite brilliant ) to the Hugga Wugga ( hypnotically excellent ) to The Luncheon Counter Monster ( quite... hungry ).
The main Muppet gang were all brilliant, but equal care and attention was given to the the wonderful creatures who hid in the background and fleshed out their world. That's what makes 'The Muppet Show' a genuine television classic.

 

[Frozann]

Oh, in fact, if there was a replica of Blue Frackle, I, despite expensive for me price, nearly impossible payment and shipping, would like to get my own. He has real clever design. Whenever you see him, you can feel something warm inside.

 

[LamangoNumber2]

Oh wow...My first ever thread on Muppet Central Forums is still around... Way back when before my hard drive died...

 

[Mary Louise]

I love Beauregard. He's so sweet and so simple. If someone asked me which Muppet I would like to meet, he'd win, hands down!