The Muppets

[Daniel]

New commercial making the rounds!



Brilliant. I've seen similar attempts, but this is hands down my favorite. Very sweet. Hits all the right spots. From hearing the theme, to seeing the characters quirks. Fozzie's mom! It's been a hot minute. I have no need for the product, but if I did, that would have sold me! Muppetational.

[ShyViolet]

So adorable! And yes definitely well done! Thanks for posting.

I have such mixed feelings on the new Kermit actor. I think that in certain ways he’s better than Whitmire (I liked him too, but sometimes he just sounded too high for me); his pitch is mostly good and I like the rhythm of his speech. But sometimes he’s also WAY too deep. That aspect is just so conspicuous that it affects his overall performance, unfortunately. (At least for me.)

The others all seem ok, except Fozzie still too high and nasally. But I can deal with that. . And I also loved seeing his mom!

I liked seeing Pepe in the other spot. I really hope they use him a lot. (Oh, and I hope to see more Rizzo too...although I don’t even know if his character’s still around nowadays. )

[Ben]

Well Rizzo was Whitmire's too, so...

I think, as with Star Wars, that it’s time to switch the music, and time to dim the lights...and shine them away from the original gang and onto the new guys.

The Muppets are not The Muppets, anymore (in best Bambi's Dad voice). And truth be told they haven’t been since Jim died (wow, 1990 feels a very long time ago now). But there was enough true Muppet feeling and genuine sentiment to run through those first few years, not to mention original performers, that they still felt pure enough.

Since their sale to the German company (the "deal" that saw Frank leave), the magic began to fade, and now we have "new Muppets", or Disney's Muppets, and us old-time fogeys will have to start being less Statler and Waldorf, and try to be more supportive of the new crew, even if in our hearts we know they’re not the same or even doing their best stuff even though they’re trying and doing their best.

The scary thing will be when Vogel truly becomes the new Kermit long enough that *Jim* will be the one that sounds "off" to most viewers! And, of course, Jim himself had about three different Kermit voices as he found and evolved the character (the primary one that we all think of as "Kermit" being the final three seasons of The Muppet Show and the first two movies), and early on he didn’t actually sound too different from Vogel.

I do think Vogel isn’t "clear" enough, and sounds too smarmy/sleazy/slurry, but I do also feel it’s time to say that The Muppets are dead. Long live Disney's Muppets!

[ShyViolet]

Yeah, I see what you’re saying, Ben.

Since their sale to the German company (the "deal" that saw Frank leave), the magic began to fade, and now we have "new Muppets", or Disney's Muppets, and us old-time fogeys will have to start being less Statler and Waldorf,

Hmm...I don’t know, I’m kinda like that a lot of the time anyways. Ha. J/K

[Daniel]

Rizzo is still very much around! I've seen him pop up on Muppet Babies... he's a favorite of mine, too!

[EricJ]

I think, as with Star Wars, that it’s time to switch the music, and time to dim the lights...and shine them away from the original gang and onto the new guys.

The Muppets are not The Muppets, anymore (in best Bambi's Dad voice). And truth be told they haven’t been since Jim died (wow, 1990 feels a very long time ago now). But there was enough true Muppet feeling and genuine sentiment to run through those first few years, not to mention original performers, that they still felt pure enough.

The Muppets (literally) died out with Jerry Juhl. Jim Henson was interested in how offbeat he could create his world-building, and what fantasy effects puppetry would let him do, but it was head Show writer Juhl who cemented the naive mix of friendship and the looney alternate-universe where you took it for granted that anything talked.
Anything after Jim & Jerry has been too much like "Muppets Take Manhattan", where the gang tries to get by in the real world, and they're NOT from the real world. They're from the first Muppet Movie's world, where roads have giant forks in them, and everyone runs up to the roof if you say "Drinks are on the house".

But the reason we've been getting new series and Portal commercials is exactly what I (and some of the performers) was complaining about in the '11 Disney movie:
Kermit and The Muppet Show have gone from being just a classic rerun, to THE classic-rerun symbol of the entire 70's, and "the only good thing" most Millennials remember about the decade, especially if they weren't there too see it.
Recently, there was a Slate essay on the new state of American humor--defending the new "angry" humor in standup and cable in the wake of the Shane Gillis scandal--and, as example of What Humor Used to Be, the columnist uses...a disk of 70's Muppet Show episodes someone gave him as example of "what America was watching back then". (And stale first-season episodes at that...Let's face it, the Show was hurting until the second-season reboot.)
Take a guess at the age of the columnist, it's not pretty : https://slate.com/culture/2019/09/2019- ... ancel.html

[ShyViolet]

Oh wow, I actually just read that essay the other day, and was SO discouraged by the “standards” the writer seemed to think were valid ones when it comes to judging what constitutes “true” humor. He doesn’t even give one single reason why cynical/ironic/insular humor today is supposedly “much better” than not only the original Muppet Show but apparently everything before 1990. All he says is: “A, B, and C are soooo much better than the lame crud from decades ago. Why? Because I say so!”

He also states that the Muppets were always aimed mainly at children, particularly the original Muppet Show from the 70s/80s.

What?????

[ShyViolet]

Rizzo is still very much around! I've seen him pop up on Muppet Babies... he's a favorite of mine, too!

Oh wow that’s great to hear, Dan! I do remember him making a very brief cameo at the end of the 2011 movie (also didn’t he have a small part in Most Wanted?). He’s so adorable! I even had his stuffed animal at one point. Lol.

[Daniel]

Both films combined were lacking in Rizzo! Which reminds me of this:

[ShyViolet]

Ohhh this is SO amazing, Jim being interviewed on Arsenio Hall in 1989. It’s absolutely hilarious and so sweet!

Arsenio was a really great host...also I still can’t believe he also played Winston in The Real Ghostbusters. (They replaced his voice when he left to host his show).

Even though he did a great job as Winston, it’s still so weird to me that he actually beat Ernie Hudson for the part! (I think it was because they wanted someone younger-sounding.)


https://youtu.be/JcIYsmdpEd0


EDIT: Just FYI....there’s a little bit of adult “innuendo” thrown around here and there.

[Ben]

Great to see Jim, but those are some strange questions and his line of enquiry is weird; more than once or twice Jim looks like he’d rather be anywhere else! The second part is more relaxed, but Hall is a terrible host!

The next video to play on that list is a gem though, the near 40 minute interview with Jim, Frank and Michael Frith. Check that out!

[Daniel]

Pretty cool. Woof woof woof!

[ShyViolet]

Just so sweet.

[Ben]

How funny that both Rand and I picked up the DVD for this! I haven’t seen it for years!

[Daniel]

Haven't seen any new Portal commercials lately, but before the holiday season and especially during, they were everywhere!




Always put a smile on my face. So well done and heartwarming. Nice to see Robin.