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

[Luke]

Artie is a die hard Muppet fan and a human being. I can’t speak for him, but if it were me, I'd feel pretty hurt and betrayed by the Muppet Central community. In the spirit of all that Jim Henson stood for, I think that some people here owe Artie an apology.

I get where your coming from and of course people are happy for someone from here who gets to be a Muppeteer .. there have been a couple. As professionals though, i don't think the Muppeteers would be looking for any "favors" .. as long as it isn't a personal critique but an honest opinion i think if they were to be looking in here thats what they would appreciate.

 

[Luke]

Does anybody know whether the singing was pre-recorded or live? Because the Muppets rarely sing live. If the singing was pre-recorded, then I wonder how far in advance it was... If the replacement was more-or-less last minute I would have expected Kermit's singing to have been done by Steve.

From what i gather, performance itself was looped and Kermit walking upto the host was "as live". This is why it seems there is something more to it as Steve would have looped, its the usual practice when a performer isn't available.

 

[Super Scooter]

From what i gather, performance itself was looped and Kermit walking upto the host was "as live". This is why it seems there is something more to it as Steve would have looped, its the usual practice when a performer isn't available.

The looped singing sounded awful, though, and nothing like Steve. It's all very confusing.

 

[Luke]

I don't think it was a bad performance either. The voice wasn't 100% perfect and we can nit-pick the puppeteering, but overall it was good. However, in this fan's opinion, it simply was not the right performance. And that's the issue.

I disagree ... these are the Muppets. The most famous puppets in history owned by Walt Disney. If the voice wasn't 100% and the puppetry wasn't perfect (as you say) IT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ON PRIME TIME TV!

Regardless of who did it, even if it had been Steve .. there needs to be quality control. Looking at Youtube even the average viewer noticed the change, its bad for the brand. I think the blame here lies with Disney.

It's not like there was no way out of this - in any performers contract there are illness clauses, and if Steve wasn't ill but just busy elsewhere he could have looped. They've done this since MCC/MTI .. and i would bet there have been plenty of appearances when we've seen things looped by main Muppeteer, puppeteered by a stand-in and never even noticed before. Possibly if Steve was busy they just decided to keep Kermits lines minimal and not bother looping, but again that comes down to Disneys quality control and i agree with you ... 1 Muppet, 1 Voice.

 

[Vic Romano]

I think a poll is in order here, something tasteful of course, not a "what do you think happened" type thing. Just a "Did you like the Muppets performance on AGT?".

 

[MelissaY1]

I don't think Henson owes us an explanation. But Disney does.

Seriously, though, this kind of deserves an explanation. I mean, when Eric took over Frank's characters, we kind of expected something like that because Frank was phasing himself out anyway. But Steve's been so busy with the Muppets, it's a complete shock to see someone else fill in like that. It would be nice to know just what's going on.

I don't think anyone's demanding that intimate details of Steve's life be revealed, not that that was your suggestion. But I'm sure pretty much everyone is concerned about Steve. It wouldn't take much of an explanation at all. "Steve is fine. Wasn't able to make the show. He'll be back soon." That wouldn't kill anyone to say, would it? ... I just said it and I'm fine. Unless that can't be said, which is why people are freaking out.

I agree it would be nice to know what's going on. I of course also hope Steve is well, but if this is some sort of career move by either himself, Disney or whatever, it's beyond our control. If this is the direction they are taking we as fans have to accept it. If they continue to get negative feedback they may be less apt to put this "new" Kermit in future appearances. Again I'd rather have a different Kermit than no Kermit at all which was mine and I'm sure other people's fears here when Jim passed on....

 

[theprawncracker]

Again I'd rather have a different Kermit than no Kermit at all which was mine and I'm sure other people's fears here when Jim passed on....

Yes, we all would, and yes, I'm sure everyone felt that way, but we don't know that Steve has gone anywhere. There's no reason to be worried about no Kermit at all. There's just reason to be worried about no Steve. That's all we're saying.

 

[frogboy4]

Artie is a die hard Muppet fan and a human being. I can’t speak for him, but if it were me, I'd feel pretty hurt and betrayed by the Muppet Central community. In the spirit of all that Jim Henson stood for, I think that some people here owe Artie an apology.

Artie's a good guy and likely a good puppeteer too, but fans here don't owe him an apology for being fans -especially since nobody knew it was him. We still haven't received confirmation, but if it's true I'm happy he got to live his dream. No amount of criticism can take that achievement from him.

The responses have come from an honest place. There's no shame in that. There is no betrayal. That's a really harsh "un-Muppety" sort of accusation in itself so let's not go down that road.

The frog's performance was a fair effort, but not the quality Jim Henson built and Steve has honored for the past 19 years. I'm with Luke and others here. One Muppet - one Muppeteer. In the end it doesn't matter how good a replacement is, there needs to be consistency to build a strong brand. Now more than ever.

I know that some members have encouraged silence or for us to move on, but I disagree. Passions have run a little high, but as fans we should vocally support a certain level of quality. These are the Muppets we're talking about. Not Muffits or Shmuffets. This was a misstep. They happen. I hope they don't happen again.

 

[GonzoLover85]

I was a little disappointed with the performance as well. But, in Disney/Steve/Artie's defence, it's just one performance, if it becomes a recurring theme, then we'll have a problem. Everyone is entitled to having a bad night once in awhile, even Kermit.

I say we should all take a few deep breaths and chalk this one up to a bad night and hope for the best in the future.
Afterall, the 55th Anniversary is right around the corner, as is the Halloween special.

 

[frogboy4]

I have a question to pose -

How would fans feel about live Muppet performances at the Disney parks (only) with different performers? For some reason, that's where I think things might be headed.