The Muppets

[Daniel]

Oh Rizzo, how I miss thee...

[Ben]

Aye. And aye.

[ShyViolet]

Same! I even had a Rizzo plushie back in the day.

[Daniel]

Does anyone know if this is based on the original Muppets Haunted House script by @KirkThatcher and Jim Lewis (which was meant to be a special in the late 90s, but then became the Muppet Monster Adventure video game)?

It is not! Wholly new and original idea and script!!

Such a fun game!

[Daniel]

From yesterdays SNL: (mild language)



My favorite sketch of the night! I was busting!! Someone finally gave Statler and Waldorf what for. "Everybody here paid good money to hear this little dragon and his friend do they thing" Ho! What sealed it was seeing Kermit do his squashed up face. I especially liked it when Statler got the black eyes, real nice touch. Puppetry was pretty impressive, although there were a few missed lip syncing moments. In a way, that Kermit voice is better than Matt I'm sad to say. Not perfect, and reminded me more of Fozzie, but there was a charm about it. Loved this so much.

[Ben]

Great Kermit and Lily Tomlin! Loved the S&W PTSD after they got smashed. Weak ending, but that’s SNL for you. One of the better sketches though, and funny what it was funny!

[Daniel]

Barbra Streisand recorded a cover for "Rainbow Connection" in 1979 but it was never released. It has since been paired with Jim Henson's original vocals. Additional info followed by the duet:

On Friday, Streisand dropped a new track off her forthcoming album, Release Me 2, a duet between her and Kermit the Frog on "The Rainbow Connection."

Streisand originally recorded a solo version of the song in 1979 for her album Wet. She was the first artist to cover the Oscar-nominated ballad, which was originally written and recorded for 1979's The Muppet Movie. Streisand ended up cutting the song from her album due to lack of space on the vinyl LP alongside her duet with Donna Summer, "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)."

While selecting tracks for Release Me 2, Streisand had an idea to create a virtual duet by uniting her 1979 vocal with Kermit's original rendition."The opportunity to duet with a legend like Kermit was irresistible," Streisand said in a statement. "I think of him as ageless and ever-GREEN!"

Pretty amazing. Aside from sounding autotune, it's actually hauntingly beautiful. Always nice to hear Jim again!

[Ben]

"EverGREEN", love it. Second best Babs story for me (after hearing how she sang in a friend’s kitchen when they worked on a movie together. Like you do.)

Kind of a shame the fidelity on Henson's vocal is clearly more limited. I know there are better remastered takes than the one used there, and you can hear the cuts, but it’s a nice idea and arrangement otherwise.

[Randall]

I caught this on YT yesterday. Dang, hearing Jim's voice still brings tears for me when I listen to this song.

I was surprised how scratchy Kermit's vocals are, but I still loved this duet.

[gaastra]

Great muppet caper is getting a fathom events theatre re-release for it's 40th birthday aug 8 to 11th..


https://www.fathomevents.com/events/The ... nniversary

[Ben]

<<<——— I love TGMC, dontchaknow?

Multiple visits to the set with my Dad on that one, including Fozzie saying hi to me one morning, and my sister holding up shooting of The First Time It Happens number at the Dubonnet restaurant (which is actually more of a supper club than a restaurant). The crew's kids were picked to ride along with the Muppets in the park, though I can’t remember why I didn’t go along to that; being only six or seven in 1980 I was probably still a little too young, but that would have been cool. Plenty of other memories, though, and I still have the shooting script (named "Muppet Movie II"), a stills contact sheet (with my Dad watching Gonzo leap out in front of Bo's cab!) and many various odd notes and bits signed by Jim and Frank (including the poster). Good times!

Interesting that Universal still hold the theatrical rights to this, as they did in 1981 originally, but also somewhat surprising that Disney doesn’t seem to have a say or stick their logo on it. Maybe we'll get a new disc by the end of the year with the awesome Muppets Go To The Movies special that promotes this on TV at the time? Not going to happen but goodness knows all the original Muppet movies could do with nicer, uncut, extras editions, especially the first one.

[Daniel]

Way cool mementos!

[Daniel]

Kermit was in the Capital Fourth special last week on PBS. Here are his segments:



He was definitely the highlight! Although his voice is still iffy, thought he sounded a little better here, more rubbery.

[Ben]

Matt kind of stars off every sentence okay, but then gets deeper and deeper as he goes on. And Rainbow Connection is starting to get a little flogged to death now, as much as I will never fail to enjoy hearing it (however shaky the arrangement and rushed the performance may be ), while he’s getting better at just "standing" but still doesn’t have the life to him that Henson and Whitmire had.

The "yaaaaay" at the end didn’t feel organic at all, and just like "a thing" tagged on the end, like "that’s what Kermit does", but it was just over the top and his voice cracking didn’t help, not than he can help that.

Sorry…harsh truths and perhaps overly critical, but he’s supposed to be Kermit! And Kermit is supposed to be his own personality, not a performer doing an impression.

[Daniel]

"Disco Frog" would've been a nice change of pace.