Your Thoughts: Kermit and Miss Piggy on America's Got Talent

[Muppet Loverr]

...What?


You just insulted Frank Oz, ERIC JACOBSON (the ONE saving grace from last night), Jim Henson's SON, and the company that is bringing the Muppets BACK. Kudos.


Oh, yes, OBVIOUSLY. Because they aren't being booked on high-profile television shows like America's Got Talent. No, no, they're not garnering OVER FIVE MILLION views on their official YouTube videos (which I STILL don't think you've seen). Of course they're not running an extremely popular official website introducing them to a new age of fans while remaining true and classic to their original fans. They're definitely not recieving awards such as a Webby, Emmy, or Grammy. No, no, the public hates them, you're right.


...Whatever. Excuse ME, mister so called old-school Henson fan, but Letters to Santa was CLASSIC. It was brilliantly wonderful. Did you see that? Were you watching the same special? Did you witness the brilliant, elaborate musical numbers? Did you notice that Kermit, Fozzie, and Gonzo were a trio once more? Did you happen to hear the Electric Mayhem had more than a line each? Did you perchance notice that SCOOTER, ROBIN, ROWLF, THE ENTIRE ELECTRIC MAYHEM, BEAUREGARD, POPS, SWEETUMS, and LEW ZEALAND all appeared (most with speaking roles)? What the on earth isn't classic about that? Tell me, please. People don't care about the Muppets? WHATEVER. After Letters to Santa aired, I had TONS of people come up to me and tell me how much they LOVED it. Muppet fans are reporting non-Muppet fans coming up to them and telling them how much they enjoyed last night's appearance. The public LIKES THE MUPPETS. They always have. They just NEED TO SEE THEM MORE.


...Shut. Up. You obviously have NO idea what you're talking about. You have NO idea who these characters are. You have NO idea what it takes to BE a character. Any Tom, Dick, or Harry can do a Beaker impression and wiggle him around. Same with Kermit. But it takes practice and time and... wow. I can't believe have to explain this to you. Steve simply said that he didn't know where Beaker came from inside Richard. WHY is that NOT perfectly logical? WHY can't a performer take PRIDE in someone ELSE's character and dedicate himself to making it the SAME as before? Ridiculous, sir. Ridiculous.


Once again, you obviously have NO idea what you're talking about. If ANYONE understands the Muppets is people like Steve, Eric, Jim Lewis, Bill Baretta, and Kirk Thatcher. NOT you. Riddle me this, how do YOU understand the Muppets, and people who have worked with them for YEARS not? Unbelievable. I'm... just disgusted.


SHUT UP! How can you say that? HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT? How can you...? Wow. WOW. How can you call yourself a Mupept fan? Steve Whitmire SAVED Kermit the Frog. Steve Whitmire IS KERMIT THE FROG. He has been for nineteen years, and he STILL IS. You just can't get off your high horse and accept the fact that Steve is GOOD. You just can't get out of the past and accept that the Muppets are a LIVING entity. They thrive on recasts WHEN A PERFORMER CAN NO LONGER PORTRAY THE CHARACTER. You need to get over yourself and realize that just because Jim Henson didn't do it, it doesn't mean it's not good.


How do you know that? Hmm? Frank Oz has stated MANY times that he left to pursue his career in directing. It was a LIFE decision, not a spur of the moment, ****** off at the state of things decision.


I'm going to say this now... but if you are going to post this CRAP, you should get off the forum now. I'm not the only one who's going to "attack" you for saying unfounded crap like this. Again, you don't know WHAT you're talking about.


Go to Muppets.com and eat your words.


...Who the **** are you to tell me what I should consider myself? You do NOT have the authority to do that. You do NOT understand the Muppets--this post proves that. You obviously don't care about them anymore, so why are you still posting here?

Thank You CLAP CXLAP

 

[GoblinBabe]

::Sorry guys, kinda of late response but I don't have TV and had to wait for Hulu to post it.:::

When I heard Kermit utter that first note, my ears cringed. That was not Kermit, and I sincerely hope its not a permanent Kermit. And I am sad that he did a not so good job on one of my favorite songs, "Don't go Breaking my Heart". Since Jim has passed, I am a huge fan of Steve/Kermit, and I was so exciting when I heard the Muppets were going to be America's got Talent. But like I said, that first note was a Huge disappointment. I did love when the "In Case Piggy throws a fit" CD played. I thought it was very emotional watching the background.

I was also very disappointed on how short their screen time was. I don't watch AGT on a regular basis, I just wanted to see the Muppets. I thought it was good that they got screen time, Just wish it could have been longer.


Miss Piggy looked fabulous as always.

 

[Convincing John]

Eric Jacobson (sir) was amazing as Miss Piggy. The singing voice, yes, but more importantly all the subtle movements were there! I've been watching a lot of classic Pig while making music videos these days, and there were so many things I noticed her do, that Eric was doing with the pig. Head nods, hair flicks, arm movements, shoulder shrugs, the moment when he turned around and looked at the screen and you could see her emotions running high. Delightful.

Yes! You're right on, Beau!

Frank's got his own set of "moves" with his characters, and they differ of course between who he plays/played. You noted some essential "Piggy moves" Frank used all the time that Eric nailed. The hair flip thing was one that I noticed right off the bat.

Also, take a look at the screenshot Tough Pigs has up right now. Ignore Kermit (who looks bored in that shot) for a moment, just focus on Piggy. Doesn't that look like a classic "Piggy pose" Frank would do (or has done)? There's that head tilt, the direct look into the camera and that smile. That's a screenshot, I believe, but if I didn't know better, I'd have thought Frank were puppeteering. Eric's performances are Frankworthy (hey, there's a new word for you) just as Steve's performances are Jimworthy (another new word).

Both Muppeteers are top notch in my book. Don't know what the scoop is on this Artie fellow. Never heard of him. (The Wiki article on him doesn't help much).

I just wish someone would provide an explanation with what happened Kermit-wise.

Convincing John

 

[Luke]

From the sound of the Frog's voice it leads me to believe it was Artie who was one of the chosen Kermit performers for the audition they had a few years back. I got to see the actual in-house tapes of what the replacement performers did, and I must say it was astounding.

Even though I believe its better just to have "one voice" even if there were to be multiple performers, cruise ships and disney parks are one thing and there may well be people who can do a respectable job there but this was prime time NBC they did a Kermit "swap" .. after all the good stuff with Disney this doesn't really show much regard for the characters legacy does it.

No offence to the performer who obviously tried their best, but for such a major performance you would have thought they would have just written Kermit out, or re-written it with (steve as) Kermit doing his bit recorded on video. There must have been other options.

I am surprised at certain people in this thread, firstly those who thought it was a passable Kermit performance .. especially some of the more longterm members who should really be able to spot stiff puppetry by now and for anyone to say the performance was more Jim-ish (aside a few words) is very strange, i don't see how Kermit sounding like Scooter in parts and even changing tone various times throughout is "Jim-ish" or "Steve-Ish" .. it was just wrong, lol. It isn't a time for bashing Steve's Kermit either .. like it or not, Steves been doing Kermit for 20'ish years are he is the voice people have now grown used to. Eric has been fantastic replacing Franks characters and has worked for years to perfect them ... he never just made the change casually, which is what Disney now seems to be ok with doing.

 

[Beauregard]

I wonder if a part of the problem is that over the last year things have been steadily going UPhill for a change, instead of downhill or on the neither-up-nor-down keel, and so we expected better of them than to pull a stunt like that. Two or three, even a year ago, it wouldn't have come as such a shock.

However, I'm holding onto the believe that they were backed into a corner and didn't have any other option than for the 'show to go on' with Alternate-Kermit -- in which case, good job -- but let's not allow it to become a precedent for handing the frog to any Dead Tom, Dick, or Old Harry.

Besides, if Lady Gaga can appear wearing Faux Frog, maybe Piggy was trying to get away with the same daring style accessory attempt!

 

[Luke]

As i said upthread no matter what we thought of Artie's performance (that most of America didn't catch on that anything was askew), we should be thankful that he was able to fill in and keep things going.

DW, take a look at the Youtubes .. full of comments that Kermit sounded off. Sounds like most of America knew Kermits voice a lot better than we thought they did.

 

[Beauregard]

*laughs* Yes! This is my favourite comment on the Youtube video! "You know how Fozzie and Kermit were twins in GMC, this is what their dad sounds like."

It's great though to see a lot of people there still clamouring for a new show or project! "Who wants to sign a petition to bring the Muppet series back on television lol? I really miss the old show! :-("

 

[majortom1981]

Even though I believe its better just to have "one voice" even if there were to be multiple performers, cruise ships and disney parks are one thing and there may well be people who can do a respectable job there but this was prime time NBC they did a Kermit "swap" .. after all the good stuff with Disney this doesn't really show much regard for the characters legacy does it.

No offence to the performer who obviously tried their best, but for such a major performance you would have thought they would have just written Kermit out, or re-written it with (steve as) Kermit doing his bit recorded on video. There must have been other options.

I am surprised at certain people in this thread, firstly those who thought it was a passable Kermit performance .. especially some of the more longterm members who should really be able to spot stiff puppetry by now and for anyone to say the performance was more Jim-ish (aside a few words) is very strange, i don't see how Kermit sounding like Scooter in parts and even changing tone various times throughout is "Jim-ish" or "Steve-Ish" .. it was just wrong, lol. It isn't a time for bashing Steve's Kermit either .. like it or not, Steves been doing Kermit for 20'ish years are he is the voice people have now grown used to. Eric has been fantastic replacing Franks characters and has worked for years to perfect them ... he never just made the change casually, which is what Disney now seems to be ok with doing.

I dont mind the voice being off because Its the muppets. I am just glad they are even doing a guest appearance . Disney could just let them die and even close down muppets 3d. I am gratefull for them even having a guest appearance.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Ed closed this thread with the concern that some of the heated discussions would inevitable go down a negative path. However, after careful thought, we’re re-opening the discussion with the belief in each of you that no matter what you thought about the performance last night that we can discuss the pros and cons in a healthy manner.

Thanks, Phil. I got to admit, I was a little upset about the closing of the thread. Anyway, that's all over now and I'm glad we reopened this because I had more thoughts on the new or substitute Kermit (Artie Espinoage or something like that, according to Muppet Wiki). I sort of agree with the possibility of Steve having an understudy, because as sad as it is to think about it, he might be starting to pursue other projects as well. One thing I forget to take into consideration is that Steve has been involved with the Muppets long before he started performing Kermit, so he might be pursuing a new career and in the meantime training others to take on his characters. I was also thinking that it might be alright to give a new puppateer a chance. When Steve started performing Kermit on the 'Jim Henson Tribute' special it was quite weak, but look at him now. Still, I'm hoping Steve will continue as Kermit for quite a while. It's sad that we don't have Henson, or Frank Oz or Jerry Nelson for that matter. Losing Steve as well would be a big disappointment. I wish we knew for sure what was going on with that.

 

[Super Scooter]

Oh, I just wanted to add that I don't think the puppetry was bad at all. The performer is very gifted in that respects. It may have seemed stiff only in comparison to Steve Whitmire, whom I believe to be one of the best puppeteers there is. Don't believe me? Go watch an episode of Fraggle Rock where Wembley just sort of tags along, watch nothing but Whitmire's performance, and you will see a great puppeteer. And who else could bring Blarney the Dinosaur to life?

But, again, the puppetry for Kermit on America's Got Talent wasn't bad, I don't think. I just don't think you can toss someone in there like that rather randomly. I have no doubt that this performer could go far with the Muppets... just not with Kermit.

Again, hope everything's ok with Steve.