Your Thoughts: Muppet Central's 17th Birthday

[Phillip]

Happy birthday! Muppet Central is now 17 years old. The site debuted 17 years ago on January 28, 1998.

Back when the site first started The Jim Henson Company still owned all of their original properties including the Muppets and Sesame Street. Two new feature films were in development simultaneously, Muppets From Space and Elmo in Grouchland. The Children's Television Workshop was gearing up for their upcoming 30th anniversary and The Jim Henson Company was developing an ambitious sci-fi series that would eventually become Farscape. Even though many changes have occurred throughout the EM.TV and Disney years, we’ve been honored to be a small part of it and to provide a place for fan discussion and interaction.

We want to thank all of the staff, past and present who have given so much of their time and giftings to make Muppet Central a great place. Every member here is a vital part of what makes Muppet Central special. Thanks for doing your part in keeping Jim Henson’s vision of the Muppets alive. We believe great days are ahead.

While we’re celebrating 17 years, we are also looking towards the future. Answer the below questions and let us know your predictions for 2015:

(1) What do you think the future holds for the Muppets especially with the lackluster performance of "Muppets Most Wanted" at the box office last year? On February 17, it will have been 11 years since Disney bought the Muppet characters so they aren't the new property anymore, especially with money makers like Star Wars and Marvel now in the family.

(2) What would you like to see Sesame Street produce or release in 2015? Sesame Street continues to rebound well with the departures of beloved veterans in Fran Brill in 2014 and Kevin Clash and Jerry Nelson in 2012. With a rare new Sesame Street special ("The Cookie Thief") debuting next month, a new on-line streaming service and lots of DVDs, Sesame Workshop continues to innovate for children's television.

(3) What are your hopes for new productions from The Jim Henson Company in 2015? Last year's SyFy series "Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge" was fantastic but the show has not been picked up for renewal by SyFy. The new Doozers series is currently only available on Hulu in the US. There are some other exciting Henson projects in development that we are watching closely in the upcoming year.

Happy birthday everyone!

 

[The Count]

Happy birthday Muppet Central! 17 years of fun, fics, fantasy, frolicksome, er... foot, fetuccini, fish, Freds, and the frog.

Lots of memories and stories as MC has reached such a milestone. But to answer the questions posed...

1 I have full faith that there'll be a third new Muppet movie released in 2017, making it the ninth so far. There just has to be. We have the Original Jim trilogy of The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, and The Muppets Take Manhattan. There's the Middle Adaptation trilogy of The Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island, and Muppets From Space. And now we have The Muppets and Muppets Most Wanted from the current Muppet Studios era, a third movie is needed. After all, where'd you think Star Wars got the idea to release their movies in trilogies, each movie three years apart from each other?

2 What I'd like to get as a new release from Sesame Workshop is a character encyclopedia akin to the one last year for the Muppets. It's a great book full of clever little in-jokes and character profiles spanning the history of the franchise, I'd love this to be done for the other branches of the Henson family like SST, FR, and an encompassing JHC volume for all other Henson/Muppet-ish productions.

3 If there's any way to make Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge Season 2 a reality, count me in. I've become a huge fan of these type of shows on Syfy (still hate that name) now that I'm on my third season of Faceoff, their eighth, and have watched that plus Heroes of Cosplay and Wizard Wars and JHCC and love every single second.

One of the promos for MMW proclaimed 2014 as the year of the Muppets... Here's looking forward to 2015 as the year of Muppetdom.

 

[charlietheowl]

Happy birthday! Almost old enough to vote.

1. I have no idea what 2015 holds for the Muppets, it's very hard to read into Disney's plans for them. I'd love to see a TV special, one that puts them front and center (unlike the Lady Gaga one), because I think TV is really where the Muppets can thrive.

2. I'm not as knowledgable about Sesame Street as some of the other posters here, but it seems like the show's in a good place. Hopefully "The Cookie Thief" will be successful and the show can produce more stand-alone specials.

3. Anything Fraggle Rock related. I have no confidence in the Henson company being able to pull off even another viral video, but I'd love to see one. Here's hoping for the best.

 

[WalterLinz]

Wow, 17! Happy birthday Muppet Central, I'm so happy that you're going strong.

1. (It's so funny that we have so many threads about this topicXD) I am so looking forward to what The Muppet gang has in store this year...I haven't heard anything about those new Disney Junior shorts yet...look, I know these aren't meant to be the saving grace of the franchise, I'm just so happy that The Muppets are gonna be back on the small screen and the fact that this will maybe give The Muppets a chance to have their own show again.

2. I'm so amazed that Sesame is still going strong for over 44 years. I can't wait to see what they have in store for future seasons, maybe it'd be nice if there could be more specials centering around other characters like the upcoming Cookie Thief.

3. I absolutely adored the first season of Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge. And what @The Count said, I'm totally in for a 2nd season!

 

[Muppet Master]

Happy birthday, I will only answer the first question. Since the interview with Kirk where he says there are great things coming for muppet fans, I hope that will see a new TV special, internet videos, or a series, the one I would most want would be the last one, but still excited.

 

[Muppet fan 123]

Happy birthday, I will only answer the first question. Since the interview with Kirk where he says there are great things coming for muppet fans, I hope that will see a new TV special, internet videos, or a series, the one I would most want would be the last one, but still excited.

I'm so glad you quoted that! I'm glad you enjoyed that. I'm super excited to have been able to help provide that news with the Muppet fan community.

Let's get this straight: The last movie didn't do great, but there are many things to blame. It's safe to say that there won't be a movie at the moment, but we do know that this isn't the end for the Muppets. Disney is huge. There are hundreds of other places they can go. If it didn't work on the big screen, then maybe it'll work on the small screen. Just like Kirk said, this isn't the end, but it's certainly going to be different, which might even be a better thing for fans.

 

[dwayne1115]

I'm so glad you quoted that! I'm glad you enjoyed that. I'm super excited to have been able to help provide that news with the Muppet fan community.

Let's get this straight: The last movie didn't do great, but there are many things to blame. It's safe to say that there won't be a movie at the moment, but we do know that this isn't the end for the Muppets. Disney is huge. There are hundreds of other places they can go. If it didn't work on the big screen, then maybe it'll work on the small screen. Just like Kirk said, this isn't the end, but it's certainly going to be different, which might even be a better thing for fans.

I did not realize you where the one who did the interview! Good job!



Happy Birthday MC I'm looking forward to another 17 years here on the forums.

 

[Muppet fan 123]

I did not realize you where the one who did the interview! Good job!

Thank you! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

 

[muppetlover123]

I just want more Muppets everywhere!

 

[LouisTheOtter]

First of all - Happy 17th Birthday, Muppet Central! I've enjoyed being part of this community for the past three years (and lurking for several years prior to that) and I appreciate all the hard work you folks do to celebrate all things Muppet and Henson.

In response to your questions:

1. I expect it to be a dry year in terms of "Classic Muppet" content, with the exception of the Disney Junior bits (which I'm very excited about seeing and which could be very 'Net-friendly) and any potential 60th anniversary celebrations.
It's not necessarily due to the fair-to-middling MMW box office take, but partly because some of the principals are tied up with other things (such as James Bobin) and Disney's efforts are concentrated in other areas (Avengers sequel, Star Wars reboot, Finding Dory, etc.)
But I'm willing to be patient. We know that the Muppets have a solid, loyal fan base, we know that the entertainment community (both performers and media) loves them, and - as has been mentioned previously - we know Disney has a ton of avenues to show them off. I'm not panicking.
I remain hopeful that we'll see another film, or at least a TV-movie or direct-to-home-video special, in a year or two, and I hope the new production centers on a character like Pepe or Rowlf just to change things up. The bottom line is that we've gotten two terrific films in the past four years, chock-full of old and new Muppet friends, and if they were basically a combined $100-million audition reel to get TMS back on the air, I'd honestly be fine with that.

2. This might sound minimalist or defeatist but I honestly have no advice for Sesame Street. I think they've done a marvelous job of balancing new and classic characters and tropes. And, seriously, Cookie Monster as a breakout star with his own movie-themed segment AND a new TV-movie coming up? That's just too amazing.

3. As for the Henson Company, I hope there could be a new home for the Creature Shop Challenge (my wife and I enjoyed it a lot) and perhaps some Fraggle Rock viral content a-la the recent wave of Muppet Web videos. I know it's harder for them in terms of budget constraints et al, but I remain optimistic that something is possible in that regard.