Your Thoughts: Kermit and Fozzie on The View

[pattywack]

Great interview! I'm so glad there was a ton of Fozzie time

 

[Ruahnna]

I haven't weighed in in a while on the frog-pig dynamic (except on the fanfic section) but I'm going to have to side with those that say the topic of the romance is tiresome because Kermit ONLY says the same old tired things over and over and over.

First, they ask him about it. He hems and haws and makes references to being flattened if he gives an answer she doesn't like, then he denies the relationship and insults her--usually with a fat joke. Wow--what a charming guy. (I would also like to add that, deep down, most people don't respect someone who is smitten with someone in private and bad-mouths them in public. Ewww--skanky.) Now we know why if you want to get a prince you kiss a TOAD, not a frog.

Although I'm perfectly happy for the storyline to center around Kermit and Miss Piggy--as the SUCCESSFUL movies have done--I think the reason that relationship has lost some of its spark has more to do with the muppeteers than with the characters. I don't get the feeling--as I did when Jim was not only Kermit but in charge of things and Frank was Piggy and the driving perfectionist behind a lot of the best scenes--that the muppeteers have a roadmap. Since the people doing the muppets and the people in charge of what the muppets are doing are now two COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SETS OF PEOPLE, I think it ties the hands (or would that be bodies?) of the muppeteers. They can't comment on things because (1) They don't know or (2) They can't say. This will continue to be a problem for our dear muppet friends, but I can't see any foreseeable way to fix. Like it or not, we are stuck with people calling the shots that are not the people who have lived close to our felt buddies for many years and KNOW them intimately.

But I digress. Those of you who are claiming that Miss Piggy is getting over-exposed obviously weren't watching the muppets during the late 70s and early 80s. Some of you weren't even born then, and have no point of reference between "then" and "now." THEN, you couldn't go ANYWHERE without seeing Miss Piggy--with or without that geeky green guy she was dating--and she was at the absolute height of her popularity, as were the muppets. And you did have to go somewhere--there was no internet, no proliferation of cable networks. Every Hallmark store in the country devoted an entire section to muppet products. Real, reputable magazines wanted to interview the characters and the muppeteers. There were muppet posters, records (huge CDs you had to play on a machine called a record player that scratched out the sound with a needle), bridge cards, t-shirts (had one--mine was blue), greeting cards and Christmas cards (sent them) and even cookbooks (still have mine--it's not brilliant but the recipes aren't bad). All this for a show that wasn't even produced on one of the "Big Three" cable network. (On a side note--remember the big whoop about ST:TNG not being controlled by a network, but being shopped out to individual stations? Well, the Muppets did it first--and they had to go to ENGLAND to do it!)

Part of what made this work was the fact that Jim, both as Kermit and as the fearless leader, could speak what was happening and what was going to happen. In essence, when Kermit told you something--about his relationship with Piggy or about their latest project--it had the weight of authority behind it. Our current muppeteers--even though many of them were part of the muppets then--have never had that luxury since Jim died. Steve has never had the chance to say, through Kermit, what HE would like to have happen. That's not Steve's fault, but it undermines the character of Kermit because we had come to expect Kermit to speak with authority and now he can't.

I have said on more than one occasion that us old folks have a different perspective on things than some of you young folks. And having said that, what speaks to me may not speak to you the same way. Despite the fact that the muppets were ground-breaking in so many ways, they spoke to an audience that was still fairly traditional. Miss Piggy was a superstar, but she was--at heart--an old-fashioned pig. And Kermit, for all of his show-biz ways, was pretty traditional, too. Back then, people that liked each other thought more about getting married and less about, um, er, "trying the relationship out for an indeterminate period of time." Kermit's flirting with pretty lady co-stars and Piggy's fawning over a variety of attractive male co-stars were seen as harmless deviations from a standard. And it was fun, in that context, so see Kermit get so steamed when his one-and-only got all giggly and flirty with some hunky guy. And it was fun to see Piggy go into karate-chopping mode when Kermit made goo-goo eyes at anyone other than her. Now, in an effort (I can only assume) to make the muppets more hip and contemporary, they've attempted to, um, update the relationship. So now I get to see Kermit--who used to turn me all melty when he made those googly eyes at Piggy--make fun of the one he used to adore. (Look--he can claim he doesn't like her NOW--but there's no use claiming he never did. We saw it. It happened.) Sometimes, I have the same reaction to his string of insults and fat jokes that some of you did to listening to Denise Richards whine. TMI! TMI! Why the heck can't you all just ride off into the sunset in a horse-drawn buggy like you used to!

Ahem. (Puts hand to flushed face.) Pardon me. I seem to have dragged us into more philosophical realms than I intended. I believe I will go lie down now....

 

[CensoredAlso]

Personally, I could care less about the show.

I don't enjoy hearing any of the opinions on that show, liberal or conservative. I don't feel the show represents women very well.

And I agree, Ruahnna, the fat jokes (which are meaner than they used to be) need to stop. Instead of Kermit secretly liking Piggy, he sometimes gives off the impression now that Piggy is purely an embarrassment he has no interest in at all. And I'm a fan of their relationship, it was touching and groundbreaking, I don't like seeing it this way.

 

[frogboy4]

I have much love for the pig!

I'm 34 and remember seeing the first Muppet Movie in the theater so I consider myself one of the "old folk" too.

My statement about Piggy is not an absolute! Why is it (especially on fan forums) that you have to pick an extreme side one way or the other?

The Muppets have always been about including different personalities - I just wish that some of those would come to the forefront more often than the usual Kermit - Piggy stuff. That happened on the View and the women wasted the opportunity. Piggy should have probably done that show instead. That show suits her better.

It always seems like the Kermit and Piggy team in interviews. I think it’s refreshing to see some other colorful Muppets. I love the pig, but she doesn’t have to have every Muppet interview opportunity. I have missed the bear so much. Especially with Kermit.

I hope Corgi comes out with the Piggy poser. I'll sell both kidneys on Ebay for the chance to own that gorgeous pig!

 

[TheJimHensonHour]

Just saw the clip on youtube while repetative I thought it was very cute and well done.
I'm here for the Muppets I don't care who they're talking to as long as the Muppets are getting attention.

 

[Vic Romano]

If I have a general complaint, it's that it was too short. However, the girls (like 'em or not) were very respectful of The Muppets, which isn't always the case as a lot of hosts seem to talk down to the Muppets. I felt they really treated Kermit and Fozzie with dignity, and I really liked that.

As far as puppeteers are concerned; I have grown leaps and bounds in liking Steve's Kermit. I'm finally at a place where I completely accept Steve as Kermit's performer.

Eric also is a great performer. I'll be the first to admit that I'd have difficulty telling the difference between his and Frank's characters. They sound alike, and most importantly, they act alike. The only problem I feel I have with Eric, is that his actual movement of the puppets seems stiff, but I may be easily convinced otherwise if someone feels differently.

 

[Beauregard]

Mind if I just pop in and say that while I am one of the biggest fans of the ushy-gushy (right behind, Ru, Lisa and Layla), I too think that in terms of interviews, it is old and unimaginative for them to always always always ask the same same same questions. That's the only thing they wanna know, how is the relationship?

And Kermit always, always gives the same answer. And it ceased being amusing "I'm a professional, she thinks we're in a relationship" years ago.

There's nothing original there. It was funnier when Kermit admitted to liking his pig in leather, but now it's getting old...

At least they asked about the show, though! And they did have huge respect for the Muppets. Not like the idiots from that radio show yesterday who tried to make the Muppets talk about Aids and fingers.

 

[MeepBorkMeep]

The Muppets basically aren't made for interview situations involving people who aren't very aware of the Muppets. Whoopi Goldberg is, but the rest of them didn't seem very comfortable.

The Muppets were, however, great interviewees when faced with hundreds of die-hard Muppet fans, at Muppetfest and the thing in Long Island. This may have something to do with the obscure references they were allowed to make, or the pairings. No interview show now would interview both Gonzo and Elmo at the same time, but they had amazing chemistry.

I think the only recent-ish Muppet interview I liked was Jon Stewart, and that was probably because Jon is so used to talking to guests he doesn't identify with and still making it very entertaining.

 

[Drtooth]

And I agree, Ruahnna, the fat jokes (which are meaner than they used to be) need to stop. Instead of Kermit secretly liking Piggy, he sometimes gives off the impression now that Piggy is purely an embarrassment he has no interest in at all. And I'm a fan of their relationship, it was touching and groundbreaking, I don't like seeing it this way.

Yeah. There's just something wrong with the Kermit, Piggy dynamic. And I think it's something that's scripted. The way I've always seen the relationship is Piggy is overboard in love with kermit, and Kermit wants to deny the relationship. Maybe he'd make the occassional jibe about her, but he deep down cares for her. Wheter it be as a friend or a lover, dispite the fact they clearly point towards the latter (especially in merchandise).

I also take it is that he gets annoyed by Piggy's overzealous love and becomes pretty angry when he's trying to do something else (much like he gets annoyed and angered by any other character doing whatever they do while he's trying to work- see Peter Sellers episode).

But what it seems now is that he's trying so hard to say the relationship is a rumor, he almost openly hates her.

But it comes back to my feeling that every performance is heavily scripted or guided by Disney. It would be great if for once, you hear him talk more about the other characters on the show.

 

[Super Scooter]

I really like Kermit and Piggy's relationship, but I think it gets old in the interviews sometimes. After all, they've been saying this since the 1970s. Kermit is no different in interviews about Miss Piggy now than he was when Jim was performing him. On Henson's Place, Piggy insisted they were a couple, while Kermit seemed to deny the relationship. He kept saying "I don't want to talk about it." On screen, they're a great couple. Off screen, they're just friends (or at least, Kermit thinks so). They're like Don Lockwood and Leena Lemont from Singin' In the Rain, only with Kermit and Piggy there's a bit of actual affection between the two.