I wish all my friends were more like Sesame Street, because Sesame Street has been celebrating its own birthday by giving us a ton of great presents. One of these, which I just finished consuming, is the two-disc DVD set 40 Years of Sunny Days.

Every season of the show is represented with at least one segment on this set, which pretty much guarantees you'll see some stuff you've known all your life, some stuff you've seen a time or two before, and at least one thing you've never seen.

For example, I had never seen the very first appearance of Telly Monster, in his initial incarnation as "the television monster." That's here, and it's almost worth the price of the DVD just to see it. That voice! Those swirling eyes! Boy, Telly's come a long way.

Then there's an appearance from the Fonz, and Bob and Linda performing "Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood" with an elevator operator, and some clips from the Hawaii episodes. (My goodness, but Mr. Hooper was hairy!) Oh, and Batman shows up at some point. It's a pretty comprehensive selection that goes way beyond the obvious.

The disc covering the first 20 seasons is a bit longer than the one covering seasons 21-40, and I'm guessing nobody's going to have a problem with that, as it's the old stuff that most people buying a Sesame retrospective DVD are looking for. So you got your Teeny Little Super Guy and your "Put Down the Duckie," and it all looks really fantastic, but there's plenty of great stuff from recent years, too. Mr. Noodle... Destiny's Child's cover of "I Got a New Way to Walk" with Zoe, Elmo, and Grover... season 40's groovealicious "Dance" iPod commercial parody... and "Can't Say the Alphabet Enough" by Gabi, Maria, and Gina, which I happen to love.

The extras are delightful too. There's a pretty healthy dose of "Behind the Street" footage that shows the cast and crew working on the show, and most of these focus on scenes that are included on the discs. As some folks on the Tough Pigs forum have noted, it seems like few people outside our little world of Muppet geeks would really be interested in a lot of this stuff, but that just proves that the Sesame people know we're out there and they want us to be entertained. (Hi, Sesame people! Thanks for the cool DVDs!)

My one and only fan-geek complaint is that I wish some of the clips were longer. I'm mostly talking about the street scenes... We get a few minutes of Snuffy being revealed to the grown-ups, and Gabriella's birth, and the hurricane, and so on, but it sure would have been nice to see a little bit more. It seems like we get an impression of what the episodes are about, and then it moves on to the next clip just as things are getting good.

My favorite part of the Snuffy story is when Phil Donahue comes in and hugs everyone, but that's not included. My favorite part of the baby Gabriella story is when Oscar sadistically withholds the news of the new baby from everyone, but that's not included either.

But that doesn't prevent this from being a dynamite DVD set. If you don't already have it, I suggest adding it to your Christmas wish list. If you do already have it, I suggest buying it for all your friends and family for Christmas. If they ever watched Sesame Street, chances are they'll dig it, and they'll thank you for getting "Ladybug Picnic" stuck in their heads.



Click here to talk about the 40th anniversary DVD on the Tough Pigs forum!

Labels: DVD, review, Sesame Street

Boom! Kids' Muppet Peter Pan #3 by Grace Randolph and Amy Mebberson flies into comic book stores tomorrow, Wednesday, November 25th, and in a development that should surprise no one, it is a good comic book.

This one picks up right where we left off last issue, with all the characters spread out over Neverswamp. Peter Pan/Kermit introduces John/Scooter and Michael/Bean to the Lost Boys, Captain Gonzo is hunting for Peter, and Wendy/Janice is trying to figure out where the heck she is.

I won't tell you who the Lost Boys are, though you can probably guess by now. I've been wondering how writer Grace Randolph would choose to depict the Indians from the Peter Pan story in this adaptation, and her solution is delightful. The Electric Mayhem shows up as "the Hippen Grovee tribe," who welcome Janice into their fold. If you're a Mayhem fan, you should like this issue... They get the first 10 pages of the story! [Note: A reliable source at Boom! Kids has informed me that artist Amy Mebberson was largely responsible for conceptualizing the Hippen Groovee characters, among her many other creative contributions to the book]


There's some really interesting stuff with the Peter Pan & Wendy dynamic in this issue, with Wendy coming to realize that maybe a boy who never grows up might not be the most responsible person ever.


It's a bit startling to see Kermit and Janice getting mad at each other, but it's surprisingly compelling, and adds another dimension to the storytelling on top of just being a silly spoof. And as you can see, Mebberson's art continues to convey the characters' emotions nicely without ever doing anything so cartoony that they don't look like the puppets. And just look at that beautiful Piggy on cover B up there... zowie.

And then the whole thing ends with a cliffhanger even more urgent than last month's, involving the lovely Piggytink and a really mean pirate rat. To be continued!


Click here to yell at Kermit on the Tough Pigs forum!

Labels: comics/magazines, review

Maybe you heard: The season premiere of Sesame Street aired yesterday. (What season are they on now, anyway? I'm not sure.) It was episode 4187 -- that's the four thousand, one hundred and eight-seventh episode -- and when 7:00 AM rolled around, I was sitting too close to my TV impatiently waiting for the show to begin. It was exactly like it was when I was four years old, only I was slightly stubblier.

I've been doing jumping jacks of anticipation for season 40, but I'll confess that when I heard that the show was switching to a "block programming" format hosted by Murray Monster, I was a little nervous. Of course I trust the Sesame people to know what holds a child's interest better than I would, and I think Murray is great, but I was crossing my fingers and hoping it wouldn't feel like a completely different show. In fact, it feels a lot like Sesame Street, which is good, because it would have been very difficult for me to type this with my fingers still crossed. Here's what we saw in this show:

● A new theme song sequence. I think it's actually the same arrangement of the theme as last year but with a nifty new animated chalk drawing motif.



It's interesting to note that the itty-bitty Zoe puppet is seen here... In early 2009 we heard that they were switching permanently to the smaller Zoe, but in recent interviews she's been back to her normal, non-freakishly-small self. I wonder if she'll grow and shrink throughout the new season, kinda like Oprah.

● The street story. When Big Bird complains about the cold on Sesame Street, he's ambushed by Frank Flapman from Flychert Real Estate, who insists that what Big Bird needs is a new habitat. (Habitat! That's the Word on the Street! Take a shot!) Flapman is played by Lin-Manuel Miranda of Broadway's In the Heights, and as he takes Big Bird on a virtual tour of various habitats, he raps about them. Man, how great would it be if all real estate agents rapped their descriptions of their properties? I'd love to hear a rhyme for "Jacuzzi bathtub."

So Big Bird decides to migrate ("migrate" being a sort of secondary Word of the Day, apparently) away from Sesame Street and go to live in the rain forest. He says goodbye to everyone, and everyone is completely baffled, but then it becomes clear that Big Bird doesn't quite realize how far away the rain forest is. Hooper's doesn't deliver there, and Snuffy won't be around, so Big Bird decides to stay, and he sings a nice-but-forgettable song about how Sesame Street is his habitat, and then everyone's happy again. "Welcome back, Bird," says Snuffy, which is a lovely thing to say even though that he didn't actually go anywhere.

This was a fine street story: I'm always happy to see all the humans, and it's great to have the season start off with a Big Bird-focused show. It was lacking in silliness, but we still have the rest of the season for that.

● Cameron Diaz and some Muppet animals explain habitat. Have we ever seen that raccoon before? He looks less Muppety than his pals there, somehow.

● The Letter of the Day. Today it's H, and Murray talks about H words before introducing a film about kids looking for H words. Is it me, or did they used to spend more time focusing on the Letter of the Day?

● Abby's Flying Fairy School. The new show-within-a-show took up a pretty large chunk of the episode, as an animated Abby and her fairy friends chased down Niblet, the class pet gerbilcorn. It's definitely kids' stuff, but it's bright and colorful, and it had a few pretty good jokes. (Fairy kids: "We'll never find him!" Teacher: "Never? Do fairies say never?" Fairy kids: "NEVER!") "Gerbilcorn" is supposed to indicate the fact that Niblet is a gerbil with a horn, but it kind of sounds like a brand of pet food. The fairies end up jumping into a crayon drawing in their pursuit of Niblet, and I was halfway expecting them to take a wrong turn and end up in Elmo's World.

I'm sort of hoping Flying Fairy School doesn't show up every day, so as to make room for other material, but it's charming enough. But wow, it's weird to see Abby blinking.

● Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures. I think this was recycled from last year, but I had never seen it: Bert and Ernie are detectives investigating a maltese duck. Pretty good, but I hope we see the puppet Ernie and Bert on the show soon, even if it's in an existing sketch.

● Elmo's World. It's a plague of frogs! And Kermit makes a very brief cameo! That's pretty amazing right there. But hey, if this is a new episode, it looks like Elmo's World is still being shot in a standard 4:3 ratio, while the rest of the show is in widescreen. I hope Elmo asks about aspect ratios sometime this year so we can figure that one out.


And that's pretty much it. I was entertained by this episode, and while I hope they vary the format a bit from day to day, I have no major complaints. Oh, and I almost forgot... Michelle Obama showed up to teach kids how to bury things.



Yay! Golly gee whiz, I want to be the First Lady when I grow up, so a tomato will cheer for me. So did you see the show today? What did you think? Drop by the Tough Pigs forum to let us know!

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Labels: review, Sesame Street

The Muppet Show Comic Book: The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson #4 is due in stores this week, thus concluding the second chapter of Roger Langridge's Muppet epic. Thankfully for everyone involved, Langridge keeps the momentum that he's built up over the previous 7 issues to give us a story that ties up all of our loose ends while still keeping that Muppet Show voice that the kids seem to like.

In this issue, Rizzo and Kismet the Toad and the Seven Dwarfs are racing to see who can find Peg-Leg Wilson's treasure first, no matter how much of the Muppet Theater they have to obliterate. Meanwhile, Animal is still acting like he's one of the Boston elite, Miss Piggy is after Kismet the Toad's blood, and Kermit is left trying to keep the show running (while keeping a roof above their heads). It's a lot to cram into one issue, but Langridge managed it without a hitch. Unfortunately, some mainstays had to take a back seat, like Pigs in Space. Short skits of Vet's Hospital, Muppet Labs, and Gonzo's daredevil act are the only on-stage scenes, as well as one sketch featuring Robin and Sweetums discussing stamp collecting is featured, which is definitely the dud of the issue. But I'm alright with that, because I'm a sucker for some satisfying closure. And closure is what we get with all these strange plotlines that were set up way back in issue #1.

So how does this story compare to the first 4-issue arc of The Muppet Show Comic Book? Well, they're the same size. Is that what you meant? Or did you want to know about the stuff inside? Yeah, I can talk about that stuff. The done-in-ones from the first arc definitely had more in common with The Muppet Show, but the more recent miniseries was much more satisfying. Beyond the fact that it allowed Langridge to tell larger stories, and beyonder the fact that it gave us an additional reason to look forward to the next issue, the beyondest is that Langridge has had the time to hone his artistic style and voice to the point where it doesn't feel like he's copying the Muppets anymore. Instead, he's put himself in the same category as Jerry Juhl, being a real visionary behind The Muppet Show (comic).

The other fantastic thing about the latest issue is how it sets up the next story arc: On the Road. I am absolutely loving the anticipation of getting something Muppety every month (which is only second to the satisfaction of actually having something Muppety in your hands every month). Of course, before the Muppets hit the road, we'll have the Pigs in Space one-shot to look forward to. (See what I mean? Looking forward to stuff is the second-best feeling ever!)

The Muppet Show Comic Book: The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson #4 will be at your local comic book store on Wednesday, November 11.
Click here to talk about your stamp collection on the ToughPigs forum!

Labels: comics/magazines, review

Last Wednesday, October 28, saw the release of Muppet Peter Pan #2, another fine Muppet comic book from Boom! Kids, written by Grace Randolph with art by Amy Mebberson. If you haven't already, I recommend shooting yourself out of a cannon pointed at your local comic book store to pick it up.

In issue 1, Peter Pan/Kermit showed up to take the Darling children to his homeland of Neverswamp. This month, we meet Peter's arch-enemy Captain Hook, and his crew of pirates. (I'm not sure his name is really "Captain Hook" in this story... I noticed Janice calling him "Captain Gonzo," but I didn't see anyone actually calling him Hook.) If the Muppets ever did a full-blown movie or TV special adaptation of Peter Pan, I reckon the role of Hook would be played by a human guest star, but Randolph casts Gonzo, who's quite effective. I mean, he's not especially villainous, but he's funny.


The crew of Hook's ship includes a few other folks we know, like these guys:


Meanwhile, Miss Piggy as Piggytink continues to be written as a sympathetic-but-feisty character, just the way we like her.


As you can see, Amy Mebberson's art is lovely, and I just realized that I really like the way she draws the Muppets' eyes. They look just like real Muppet eyes! In particular, there's a brief scene in this issue with some very obscure old characters, and she gets them all exactly right.

As I said in my review of issue 1, I'm not all that familiar with the original Peter Pan story outside of other adaptations, so I don't really know how much plot there is or how quick the pacing is, but Muppet Peter Pan feels like a pretty loose adaptation, and one that takes its time. It's really more concerned with being silly and entertaining than sticking to the source material, and it's a successful strategy.

That doesn't mean nothing happens... In fact, the issue ends with a bit of a cliffhanger, so we'll all have to come back next month. And that's perfectly fine with me.



Click here to be sympathetic but feisty while talking about Muppet Peter Pan on the Tough Pigs forum!

Labels: comics/magazines, review

How do most average schmos mark their 40th birthday? They might have some cake, get some crappy novelty gifts like a “40 Isn’t Old If You’re a Tree” t-shirt, and endure a lot of jokes about being over the hill. But Sesame Street is no ordinary schmo. It’s one of the greatest TV shows of the last five centuries, which is why it deserves a big fancy book like the brand-new Sesame Street: A Celebration – Forty Years of Life on the Street by Louise Gikow. That's a pretty long title, but then, Sesame Street is a pretty long street.

The first thing you’ll notice about this book is that it’s massive. It’s a coffee table book, yeah, but you might just have to get a bigger coffee table to accommodate it. And if you were to hand the book to a small child of Sesame Street-watching age, he would most likely wobble unsteadily for a moment before adorably toppling over. This is a good thing: The bigger a book like this is, the more comprehensive it's likely to be, and we've been waiting for a Sesame book that we can not only sink our teeth into, but devour hungrily, Cookie Monster-style.

The second thing you’ll notice about the book is that the pictures are amazing. Even if you’ve read the previous behind-the-scenes books, seen the various TV specials about the show, and downloaded Muppet Wiki directly into your brain, I gurantee you will come across pictures you’ve never seen before.

It’s just as well the book is too big for me to take on the subway, because I would constantly be disturbing my fellow passengers with exclamations upon seeing all these cool and rare photos. Hey look, it’s Brian Meehl in China, wearing Barkley's head and feet! Hey look, it’s a promotional shot of the entire Muppet and human cast having a huge party on the “Around the Corner” set! Hey holy crap, it’s a shot of Jim Henson trying on Bert and Frank Oz trying on Ernie at an early workshop session!

The third thing you'll notice is that the book is equally perfect for the casual fan and the hardcore geek. About half of it is all the expected stuff, like how the show got started, how Maria and Luis got married, yada yada yada. That's all well and good for most of the book-buying public. But those of us who know how to spell "Snuffleupagus" without looking it up need more, and this book delivers. There are sections about how the set is built, how the music is recorded, the cartoons seen on the show, the various studios the show has occupied... and there are lots of tidbits throughout the book that I never knew: Slimey the worm's voice is that of sound effects editor Dick Maitland! Caroll Spinney still uses the exact same monitor when performing Big Bird that he used in the first season! Bobby Payne performed Telly in his first appearance! And so on.

And consider the fact that by the halfway point of the book, Sesame camera operator Frank Biondo has already been mentioned, like, eight times. That's right -- cameraman Frank Biondo is a major character in the book, and that is awesome. These shout-outs come during the pages that describe production on recent and yet-to-be-aired episodes, which really make you feel like you're there. Louise Gikow was a great choice to write this book, as she’s more than just a casual fan, she's an insider, having worked with the Jim Henson Company and Sesame Workshop on numerous projects.

I was initially a bit disappointed that there wasn’t a 40th anniversary TV special, but now I think this book is actually better. At 300 pages, it can delve into a little bit of everything instead of just showing us the same old boring clip of Ernie singing “Rubber Duckie” again.

As I said, it’s great for both geeks and normal people, and anyone can pick up the book and either read it straight through from beginning to end, or open it to any random page and find something to love. If you get sick of reading, you can stick the bonus DVD in your DVD player and watch the show’s first episode. Sure, you’ve already seen it, but it’s always fun to watch orange Oscar yell at Gordon #1.

So this is a book for anyone, basically, who’s ever heard of Sesame Street. I'm so glad it exists, and from cover to cover, it reminds me how glad I am that Sesame Street exists.



Come back later this week for part two of our interview with this book's own author Louise Gikow! And click here to give Sesame Street a crappy novelty 40th birthday gift on the Tough Pigs forum!

ToughPigsRyan@yahoo.com

Labels: books, review, Sesame Street, Sesame Workshop

On those few occasions when we’re not talking about Muppets or Fraggles or Gordon’s mustache, chances are we’re taking a long, hard look at Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. Usually that ends with a discussion about a flash-in-the-pan straight-to-DVD special that will be forgotten after your morning mimosa, but this time it surprised us with the cinematic epic that is Where the Wild Things Are.

In case you’ve been living under a pile of monsters lately, Where the Wild Things Are is Spike Jonze’s adaptation of the classic Maurice Sendak book. The story revolves around Max, the wolf costume-wearing, ADD-riddled child who runs away from home and into a fantastic world of his own imagination. In this new land, he meets a clan of beasts voiced by an unlikely cadre of celebrities: James Gandolfini, Paul Dano, Catherine O’Hara, Forest Whitaker, Chris Cooper, and Lauren Ambrose. Naturally, Max becomes their king and has a whole lot of fun Wild Rumpusing and making us wish we were 12 again.

Jonze does a phenomenal job at putting the audience into such a strange world while still making it feel natural. The Wild Things are fully fleshed-out characters (which must’ve been difficult when your source material is a picture book) who would have been comfortable in any pre-teen’s imagination.

Of course, a big part of the success of the film’s realism is due to the Creature Shop. The creatures are essentially full-bodied puppets with CGI faces. But after maybe two seconds of trying to imagine people inside the costumes, you’ll forget about the science of filmmaking and fall backwards and upside-down into movie magic. The puppetry was flawless and natural, while the CGI was used lightly enough to be hardly noticeable. In fact, as far as I’m concerned, Spike Jonze actually held auditions for real Wild Things to cast in his movie, because those things look pretty dang life-like.

Of course, the real magic of the film is how it really makes you feel like a kid again. And I’m sure that the one thing that everyone reading a Muppet blog would agree on is that there’s nothing greater than a film that puts adults like us in that ageless mindset. It’s why the Muppets and Sesame Street have stayed so fresh and entertaining over the years, and it’s all thanks to the brilliant minds of Spike Jonze and the visionaries at Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.

This is far from the first time the world of Wild Things and the world of the Muppets have crossed paths. Maurice Sendak was on the National Board of Advisors for the Children's Television Workshop during Sesame Street’s early days. He also contributed several sketches for Sesame Street, and Where the Wild Things Are was read by Bob on the test pilot (though it’s sadly absent from the Old School DVD). The book also appears in Sarah’s bedroom in Labyrinth, and Sendak got a “Special Thanks” credit at the end of the film. And of course, there’s always Doglion.

But don’t take LeVar Burton’s word for it! Here are some reviews of the film from some of the toughest critics in the biz (“biz” is what we call “business” in the biz).

Beautiful. I want to go see it again as soon as possible.
-ToughPigs’ Own Anthony

I really felt like a kid.
-ToughPigs’ Own Scott

The movie was so, so good. Beautiful puppets, too. And everything.
-ToughPigs’ Own Marianne

I can't wait to see it again.
-ToughPigs’ Own Michal

The movie was amazing!
-ToughPigs’ Own Max

It brought back such rich childhood memories. Fantastic film. I couldn't believe how intensely emotional it was for a so-called kids flick. Just beautiful.
-ToughPigs' Own Daniel
Click here to let the Wild Rumpus start on the ToughPigs forum!

Labels: Creature Shop movies, review

Let’s say, hypothetically, that you’ve got problems at home. You have a little Girl Who Likes Dinosaurs, facing off every morning with your little Boy Who Likes Trains. They do nothing but fight over what to play, because she’s only interested in DinoPark and he only cares for his Thomas PVCs.

Fortunately for you, the Jim Henson Company has devised a solution: television! More specifically, Dinosaur Train, the first show designed to bring together children with diverse interests by catering to dinosaur and train aficionados alike. Finally, a little peace and quiet after breakfast.

In fact, Dinosaur Train, which debuted in September, revels in diversity. Although you may look different, enjoy unusual talents and pastimes, and eat a diet that should almost certainly include your siblings, Dinosaur Train promises that you and your natural enemies can live together in harmony. The show stars three baby Pteranodons – Shiny, Tiny, and Don – and their brother Buddy, a Tyrannosaurus who just happened to hatch in their nest alongside them. And until Buddy inevitably succumbs to the call of the wild, the foursome has set out to explore the Mesozoic together.

These explorations involve the chums embracing new differences (Buddy’s a better tracker, but Tiny can hide in crawl spaces), and itching to learn more about a particular dinosaur in each episode – the fastest one, the largest one, or that thing with feathers. Invariably, intellectual curiosity leads the gang to… wait for it… the Dinosaur Train! The kids will chat with the Barney Fife-like conductor before stepping off to visit with Mrs. Velociraptor or Mrs. Argentinosaurus (somehow it’s usually the mom) and her child, play a few games, learn a bit of dino-trivia, and take the train home. Enter the live action paleontologist Dr. Scott and a gaggle of human children to elaborate on a couple of details, plus a businesslike fellow in a fedora popping in with downers such as, “Point of fact: Dinosaurs did not put on fashion shows.” Rinse and repeat.

The show gives kiddie and adult viewers plenty to enjoy. We get catchy songs and off-the-cuff rhymes (check out the teacher guide and video page for the rockabilly theme song and further treats) along with a kicky score, sparkling views of the Pteranodon family’s seaside nest, and a fully fleshed-out cast. Buddy and Tiny, clearly the stars, find non-irritating ways to conduct their investigations, using the word “hypothesis” at least once per episode. Shiny acts and talks uncannily like Lucy van Pelt. And Don may be a bit slow on the uptake, but his habit of collecting odd curiosities and his affinity for spontaneous silly dances have thoroughly won my heart.

Dinosaur Train-watching only becomes harrowing if you expect a logical, feasible story about plausible characters set in a fact-based environment. I can accept the idea of a family of friendly, talking cretaceans, and even their vaguely anthropomorphic games like Dinosuar Hopscotch and Dinoball. Matters start to get sticky, though, when the show’s double agenda of depicting a relatively peaceful society, as well as some degree of scientific accuracy, necessarily undermines itself.

Countless creatures on the show – from Troodons to frogs – exchange lighthearted chit-chat with our heroes, who could easily start eating them, or each other, any minute. To learn a species’ full rap sheet we need the basics: How many football fields long, and elephants heavy, is it? Is this creature a carnivore, omnivore, or herbivore (or more specifically, a fish-hunter like the Pteranodons)? Rather than avoiding the subject of food, Dinosaur Train jumps through hoops to address it. To get around potential ickiness, the fish on the show conveniently don’t talk, and Tyrannosaurs’ favorite dish is the shadily procured “carrion,” an ambiguous pile of bones and viscous red goo. Could Shiny’s elderly Aunt Cloise have gotten mixed in there? Too late now.

Another device that fits the show’s storytelling methods, as well as my penchant for finding loopholes, is the way each species occupies its own corner of this veritable zoo. Valerie the raptor can only leave Velociraptor Valley by taking the Dinosaur Train through a Time Tunnel (even traveling within one’s own time period always incurs a Time Tunnel, and probably a Time Tunnel Toll). Why doesn’t traveling back to the Triassic ever disrupt the space-time continuum? More pressingly, why can’t multiple species coexist on the same soil? What kind of scientific authenticity, not to mention healthy social model, is this? It’s as though the U.N. sat down and laid out its very own prehistoric partition plan, so that Pteranodon Terrace wouldn’t include enough T-rexes to constitute a majority voting block.

I ask this as though 3-6 year olds really give a hoot, and they surely don’t. In the Dinosaur Train universe, relationships between the characters carry far more weight than their place on the food chain. In my favorite episode so far, Dolores Tyrannosaurus and her daughter Annie stop by for a visit, with mauling nowhere on their agenda. Buddy enjoys sharing his T-Rex talents with Annie so thoroughly that Tiny, feeling unneeded, sulks off on her own; Buddy wins Tiny back by reminding her that as siblings and best friends, they have far more commonalities than differences – and therein lies the true charm of Dinosaur Train. In episodes to come, Dolores and Annie will welcome our adventurers into Rexville as equals, and meanwhile I’ll welcome them all equally into my living room.

Click here to discuss Dinosaur Train on the ToughPigs forum!

Labels: Jim Henson Company, other Muppet/Henson shows, review

Hey, did you see the Sesame Street special Families Stand Together, which aired a couple weeks back on PBS? It was scheduled for a Wednesday night, but then Barack Obama went and decided to talk about health care or some crap like that, so it got preempted on many PBS stations. What's the big idea, Obama? I thought you liked Sesame Street! Who do you think you are, anyway -- the prime minister?!?!


But heck, who cares? Only old people still watch TV on their televisions! If you haven't seen the special, you can click this link right here to watch it on Sesame Workshop's website.


So, the point of the show was to help families deal with financial crisis in the recession, so I can't make fun of it or I'd be a big jackass. (Although I have to say the title's not very memorable -- I keep calling it "Families Standing Up" or "Families Hanging Out" or "Families Falling Off the Monkey Bars.") And anyway, it's a very good special.

It's hosted by Al Roker and his wife Deborah Roberts, who are hanging out on Sesame Street on the day of the big "Community Market," which is apparently a fancy name for a flea market. I love that Elmo and Grover and Chris all act like Al Roker is their best pal whom they've known for years. There are many reasons I'd like to live on Sesame Street, but that's a biggie -- the fact that I'd automatically be friends with any celebrity guest who dropped by.

Speaking of biggies, Al Roker sure looks different since he lost all that weight, doesn't he? I can't help but feel like he's the wrong shape somehow... he's kind of like a Stretch Armstrong that's lost all its elasticity. I wasn't expecting so much Grover in this special, but it's great to see so much of him. He has some great, Grovery bits with Chris, as he tries to buy a community at the community market and looks for a job.


Meanwhile, Elmo's family has run into trouble: His mom has lost her job. And so, as we see in scenes interspersed throughout the special, they're making a few changes in their lifestyle and cutting a few corners. But that doesn't mean they can't have a good time as a family! You know, I have to wonder how much money they've spent on fish food for Elmo's goldfish Dorothy over the past 12 years. That's one old fish.

So then there are real, human families who are not as loveable as Elmo and his parents, but who have also found themseles in tough situations after losing jobs and such. I really don't know how a child might respond to all this stuff, but the dominant theme is always "It's going to be okay because we're still a family," which is nice without being too unrealistic. It wouldn't really do any good to tell them, "Soon we're going to be able to take that trip to Disney World after all!" because it probably won't happen, but telling them they're going to be okay is probably... okay. There's a song about that too, but unfortunately it was super-bland.


So, yeah. This was a good TV special, and thank goodness Sesame Street is around to do stuff like this (I was surprised to see that they got some help producing this show from Worldwide Pants, which is David Letterman's company. I always got the impression Letterman didn't even like Muppets!). Of course, it would be even better if the economy hadn't gotten so bad and they had never had to do this special in the first place, but for all the tickle hands and silly Elmo birthday DVDs, it's great to see Sesame still doing something so important.


Oh, but I just want to point out one thing: Toward the end of the show, the kids from one of the featured families are selling lemonade for 25 cents a cup. Al Roker pays them a quarter and takes a cup... and then Deborah takes a cup too, but they never pay for it! It's a hot cup of lemonade! THE ROKERS STEAL LEMONADE FROM FINANCIALLY STRUGGLING CHILDREN -- PASS IT ON!

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Labels: review, Sesame Street, Sesame Workshop

Guess how many Muppet comic books are coming out this week? If you said "two," you're absolutely right! If you said "five," you're wrong! If you said "raisin bran!" I'm not even going to dignify that with a response. Anyway, you can read my review of Muppet Peter Pan #1 right here, and then scroll right down or click here to read Joe Hennes's review of The Muppet Show Comic Book: The Treasure of Peg-leg Wilson #3! Whee!


So, Muppet Robin Hood ended last month, and this Wednesday sees the release of Muppet Peter Pan #1, written by Grace Randolph and drawn by Amy Mebberson. While Robin Hood had its moments, it didn't convince me that two Muppet comics per month are really necessary... I would have been satisfied with continued "adaptation" comics, but I wasn't exactly dancing jigs of excitement in my bathtub in anticipation for each new issue.

But Muppet Peter Pan? Now this is a good Muppet adaptation comic. First of all, there's the art. Amy Mebberson's renditions of the Muppet characters look just like the Muppets, but they're so expressive you can practically hear the tone of the puppeteers' voices. If you've been merely tolerating the cartoony art of The Muppet Show Comic Book and the messy art of Muppet Robin Hood while staring out the window dreaming of a Muppet comic with on-model Muppets, your wait is over. Just check out Sam the Eagle on the first page:


It looks just like Sam! Of course, the writing is important too, and I have no complaints with Grace Randolph's script this issue. I guess I could complain about the fact that Sam here is obsessed with American patriotism, when that was only one aspect of his character on The Muppet Show, but then I would be a Big Fat Complaining Guy. This comic's version of Sam feels like our favorite bald eagle. And all the other characters feel like themselves too, even Bean Bunny, who joins Janice and Scooter as the Darling children who get to meet Peter Pan.

Speaking of which, one of my favorite things about all the Muppet comics is that we get to see obscure and semi-to-completely forgotten characters have a moment in the spotlight. Bean's a funny character who really hasn't gotten to do much in the last, oh... 20 years of Muppet productions.

Kermit is Peter Pan, of course, and Piggy is his fairy sidekick Piggytink. I can't say I'm intimately familiar with the original Peter Pan book (or play? It was a play first, right?) so I don't know how closely the Peter Pan "origin story " in this issue follows what was in the book, but I've never seen any other version of Peter Pan that presented the first meeting of Peter and Tink, so it's cool to see it here.


A question we ask a lot around here whenever there's a new Muppet thing is: "Is Piggy Piggy?" It's been so tricky for recent writers to get her right, but she sounds just like herself here, even if she is a fairy. She gets a little cranky at one point, but she's not just cranky. And she looks purty.

I can't help but compare this thing to Muppet Robin Hood, and here's what I've come up with: Whereas Muppet Robin Hood felt like a retelling of the Robin Hood story with Muppet characters crammed into all the roles, Muppet Peter Pan feels more like the Muppets we know and love putting on a performance of the Peter Pan story. Does that make sense?

So, yeah. Read Muppet Peter Pan and you will believe a frog can fly.

Now scroll down or click this link to read Joe Hennes's review of this week's other Muppet comic book, The Muppet Show Comic Book: The Treasure of Peg-leg Wilson #3. And click here to fly to the Never-Swamp on the Tough Pigs forum!

Labels: comics/magazines, review

Hey, you know what's great? The Muppet Show Comic Book. We're already seven issues in, and it doesn't look like it's going to slow down anytime soon. And that's just fine and dandy with me, because I'll never get tired of Roger Langridge's fast-paced antics or wacky character designs. No wonder so many animated movies draw their inspiration from the Muppets; it works so well for the illustrated Muppets themselves.

The penultimate issue of The Treasure of Peg Leg Wilson arc continues all of those stories that were going on through the last two issues: the rats are digging for buried treasure (along with a sudden infestation of dwarves), Animal wouldn't hurt a flea, and Kismet the Lizard is still causing havok backstage (and no, the coincidence of a "replacement Kermit" in this comic hasn't been lost on us). Add a collection of on-stage acts, and it's starting to feel a little overcrowded in 22 pages. In fact, I'm having trouble remembering which of these stories is supposed to be the main one. But I'm not sweating it, because the calamity of disorganization is just the kind of chaos a Muppet Show comic book demands.

I was tickled to see "Animalopoly": a one-page board game that both entertains and informs the reader about what Animal's been up to lately. Strangely enough, his ups and downs mimic my Uncle Tito's stint in rehab to a T. I tried playing the game and lost. Not because of any unfortunate dice-rolls, but because I was playing a fake board game by myself at 9:00 on a Saturday night.

Of all the subplots, the one I'm having the most trouble connecting with is the one with the titular Peg Leg Wilson. Ol' Peg Leg makes his first appearance in this issue, giving us a full page of backstory. And although it contains some of Langridge's signature silly poetry, I'm left wondering why we should care about this guy (other than the fact that he's filthy rich) or why we're spending a page on him and not, say, Lew Zealand.

Naturally, this issue of The Muppet Show Comic Book is just as great as the rest. Even my gripes aren't all that gripey. And if I had my way, I'd find a way to have Roger Landridge grow an extra pair of arms so he could churn these out twice a month.

Oh, and Miss Piggy is a Cylon.
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Labels: comics/magazines, review

Being a Muppet fan in the Midwest can sometimes be a disheartening existence. One looks on with awe and seething jealousy while Muppet fans on either coast attend MuppetFest, make Whatnots at FAO Schwartz, or bask in the singular glow of Frank Oz’s trademark cantankerous charm at a Sesame Street panel discussion. But for once, I have a leg up on you suckers, because from September 8th until October 25th, the Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis, Minnesota is producing a new show called “Bert and Ernie, Goodnight!” Eat it, monkeys.

However, being the benevolent Minneapolitan (it’s a word) that I am, I went to see the show intending to share it with the Muppet fan community at large here on ToughPigs. So, armed with a notepad and bedecked in my best Cookie Monster T-shirt (I wasn’t going to wear a Bert and Ernie T-shirt – that’d look weird!), I eagerly made the trek to CTC this past Saturday. As I was circling the block, looking for parking, I saw a little girl wearing an Elmo shirt, and even the sight of that red little demon was cheering to me – kids were excited about seeing a Sesame Street show!

The Children’s Theatre Company has long been regarded as one of the leading children’s theatres in the country. Indeed, in 2003, they were awarded the Regional Theatre Tony Award – their attention to detail and commitment to quality is fantastic. After buying my rush ticket and walking up the stairs to the theatre, I was dumped into the merchandise area. Mixed amongst the Bert and Ernie dolls, figures, and generic rubber duckies were some items exclusive to the show – a T-shirt (no adult sizes – nuts) and a small soccer ball. A friendly usher tore my ticket when my Muppet sense began tingling and right in front of me I spotted a glass case with two real, live Bert and Ernie puppets inside. Seeing Muppets up close and personal is always a lovely experience – being able to closely inspect the careful detail and care with which these familiar characters are crafted. On a definite Muppet high, I happily located my seat.

Inside the theatre, I found myself squarely in the center of an undulating, chattering sea of CHILDREN. Oh yeah … Sesame Street’s for kids, isn’t it? And these kids were jazzed! It did my heart good to feel that 40 year-old characters that I grew up with could still be seen as rock stars to the Pull-Ups set. A polite smile to the boy behind me who was compelled to kick my seat, and we were off!

Now, to preface, this is not a show where Sesame Workshop has shipped puppets off to a regional theatre and entrusted locals to bring the classic characters to life with little to no puppetry experience. Instead, for the first time ever, actors are being allowed to professionally portray Sesame Street characters – no giant foam heads, no orange or yellow facepaint, no false Muppet noses (though I hope for the sake of his friends and family that Bradley Greenwald’s unibrow isn’t real). And Bert and Ernie could not be in better hands, played by Bradley Greenwald and Reed Sigmund, respectively. Greenwald and Sigmund are well respected in the Twin Cities, having been seen together in a memorable production of “A Year With Frog and Toad”, also at CTC. They both have epic shoes to fill – Jim Henson and Frank Oz, who played Ernie and Bert for over 20 years in their heyday, were comic geniuses and close friends. Within the first few minutes, though, it was clear that both actors had nailed the finer points of their characters – Sigmund suitably loose and sloppy as Ernie, and Greenwald perfectly crisp and stately as Bert. Any doubt I had at live actors playing Bert and Ernie (and I must admit, there was some) evaporated as I watched them settle into the rhythms that are so distinctly and idiosyncratically “Bert and Ernie”.

The show is a hybrid of new and classic material, incorporating familiar songs like “I Don’t Want To Live On the Moon”, “Doin’ the Pigeon”, and “Dance Myself To Sleep” (among others), with two new songs, “How Can I Sleep” and “Bert’s Lullaby”. A through-line involving Ernie’s attempt to write a poem gives the show a satisfying arc, but even just watching Greenwald and Sigmund do classic Bert and Ernie sketches would have been a treat. Considerable effort was made to enthrall the young ones while still delighting the older set who came to the theatre with considerable nostalgia in tow. References to Bert’s paperclips, Ernie counting fire engines, and monsters that go “wubba wubba” showed that attention was certainly paid to Sesame Street’s lauded 40-year history (save for one mildly baffling line where Bert tells Ernie to “put the duckie down” – wouldn’t it have been easy to switch around the words and pay homage to one of the biggest Sesame Street hits of the 80’s? But I digress.).

Bert and Ernie are the only actors onstage for the entire 75 minutes, but they are joined by some friends. Puppet pigeons and sheep join the pair for the iconic songs centered around the animals. Delightfully performed by a troupe of teen puppeteers, the puppets lend the show a “Muppety” feel of authenticity. My sources tell me that shortly before opening, Mr. Elmo himself, Kevin Clash conducted a workshop with the young puppeteers and was quite impressed with what he saw. For good reason, too – the entire show, while being uncharted territory for two such seminal characters, is incredibly respectful and affectionate towards its roots.

While enjoying flesh-and-bone portrayals of traditionally felt-and-fur characters, I found myself thinking of the recent recast drama that has been swirling around the Muppet community. Why was I so willing to readily accept two actual humans playing Bert and Ernie, but uncomfortable with Kermit not being portrayed by Steve Whitmire on America’s Got Talent? The answer, I think, lies in intent. By humanizing Bert and Ernie, this portrayal is automatically something different than other Muppet endeavors – it moves into the realm of homage and playing a variation on a theme. It is not asking an audience member to accept Bradley Greenwald as THE Bert – instead, we see him as A Bert. Even a younger audience member can enjoy these actors having a ball pretending to be Bert and Ernie, and then go home and watch the “real” Bert and Ernie, in all their technicolor, fuzzy glory, on television. Tossing an actual puppet to a new performer and asking them to take up the mantle of a legendary character with countless hours of work documenting its history is daunting, and doomed to fail by comparison. Being the first of their kind to portray Bert and Ernie this way, Greenwald and Sigmund are allowed to create fresh, important takes on time-tested characters and allow us to see them in new ways (hey, have YOU ever seen The Pigeon done by a human being? It’s revelatory.). In the end, “Bert and Ernie, Goodnight!” succeeds in balancing the familiar with the fresh, while adding to the history of the characters and not trying to rewrite it.

If you find yourself in the Twin Cities area, get yourself to the Children’s Theatre Company before October 25th and see this wonderful show. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to try to keep the Midwest Muppet renaissance going, and try to convince the Guthrie Theater to stage Fraggle Rock.Special thanks to David Beukema for this fantastic review!

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Labels: guest bloggers, review, stage

The final issue of Muppet Robin Hood hits the stands this week. (Solicitations say Wednesday, September 9th, but because of Labor Day weekend, stores will most likely have it on Thursday, September 10th. Call your local comic book store to confirm.) This marks the end of BOOM Studios' first "Muppet Fairy Tales" arc, but did it hold up? Will it be the Muppet comic for all other Muppet comic books to aspire to? Probably not, but it wasn't half bad. It might even be half good! I don't know, I haven't read my review of it yet.

Writer Tim Beedle does a competent job at plotting and capturing the Muppets' voices, but he really shines at bringing the craziness of the Muppets' world. I'd love to say more about specifics, but there are several scenes that will definitely work better as a surprise. I will say this: In this issue, you will see the most unexpected recurring Muppet character you can think of (no, it's not Bozark), and you will see a brilliant two-page sequence featuring the Swedish Chef that reminisces something Monty Python might have done.

Unfortunately, it's not all action and whoopie cushions. Beedle is still being weighed down with the task to actually, y'know, tell the story of Robin Hood. There are a few sequences, just like in the other three issues, filled with dialog used to further the plot. But I have faith that Beedle would do a fantastic job at writing an original story with the Muppets. If BOOM ever decides to publish a second Muppet Show comic (please never let Roger Langridge stop writing the TMS comic!), Beedle might prove to have the chops to write a story with that old-school Muppet feel that we all love so much.

Artist Armand Villavert, Jr. is still the weakest link for Muppet Robin Hood (for the sake of not repeating myself, feel free to check out previous reviews for my opinion on Villavert). But BOOM made some fantastic choices for cover artists. Amy Mebberson and David Peterson have drawn some of the most fantastic pieces of Muppet art I've seen, and I'm chomping at the bit to see Mebberson's work on the upcoming Muppet Peter Pan comic. I'm also antsy to see if BOOM can coerce Peterson into taking a break from his Mouse Guard comic to do some interior art for any future Muppet comics.

So the question remains: As a whole, was Muppet Robin Hood any good? If you asked me, I'd say yes, it was a good comic, and enough fun to make it worth your dollars. But if you asked some other members of the ToughPigs forum, they might say that the characterization was too far off and the art was painful to look at, so it wouldn't be worth your time, let alone the money. So let's split the difference: I'm going to recommend buying the inevitable trade collection of Muppet Robin Hood. Assuming it's similar to BOOM's other collections, the trade will most likely be digest-sized and only cost $10. Ten bucks for a fun Muppety romp through Sherwood Forest? Sounds like someone hit the bullseye.Click here to try out for the Merry Men (and Women!) on the ToughPigs forum!

Labels: comics/magazines, review

The Muppet Show Comic Book: The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson #2 will hit comic book stores this Wednesday, August 26th. As we've come to expect, writer & artist Roger Langridge has once again written and artisted a very entertaining comic.

Unlike the first four-issue Muppet Show series, Peg-Leg Wilson contains several ongoing stories, so we get a recap on this issue's first page. It's delivered in song by this banjo-picking Muppet, whom the Muppet wiki refers to as "Hillbilly Singer," and his presence here nicely fulfills the obscure character quota for this issue.


So Kermit is still acting suspiciously un-Kermit-like, and in this issue we find out why. What's less clear is which version of Kermit Miss Piggy would prefer.



By the way, who do you think that Muppet girl on the right is supposed to be? I don't recognize her as a puppet ever seen on The Muppet Show.

Then there's Animal, who's also acting strangely... Last month it was revealed that Muppet Labs is behind his personality shift, but this month his Electric Mayhem bandmates try to bring the old Animal back. They miss their old insane, feral, dangerous pal (Who wouldn't?), and they miss his drumming skills even more, so they hire a hypnotist named Creepy McBoo to snap him out of his well-behaved stupor.

Creepy McBoo! If there's one thing Langridge is good at, it's silly names (see also last issue's Ninja Rogers). As for this month's obligatory "Which performer would play which character?" game, I'm hearing Steve Whitmire for this guy. Like, you know that "Girlfriend of the Whirling Dervish" song in the Marty Feldman episode? That's the voice I'm hearing. Which is a very important point in this review, so I'm glad I made that clear.

Elsewhere, we have a musical number that offers a clever variation on "Mahna Mahna" which I will not spoil...


I really like the way Langridge draws Mahna Mahna. He's a crazy-lookin' character to begin with, so he's a good fit for Langridge's style. Other bits include a Bear on Patrol sketch, a Muppet Labs scene, and a page of "Scooter, Boy Detective," which feels like an onstage segment of the show but really carries forward the backstage plots.

I do hope that issue #3 has a few more "onstage" bits that stand independent of the storylines, but as with last month's review, I don't really have any complaints about this issue. I don't think it made me laugh quite as much as Peg-Leg #1, but your mileage may vary. Oh, and here's one other thing I wanted to mention... There's a reference in this issue to "Rainbow Connection" being 30 years old. So if there was any doubt, this comic book definitely takes place right now, and not in the 1970s. I like the idea that the Muppets have been doing this show continuously for the past few decades... or did they stop for a while and then return to it? Either way, it's always fun to see these talented entertainers putting on a show.

Finally: For all you Miss Piggy fans, check out this panel from the issue's closing number:

Hubba hubba!

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Labels: comics/magazines, review, The Muppet Show

Muppet Robin Hood, the red headed stepchild of The Muppet Show Comic Book, is half over, with the third issue being released this Wednesday. Thankfully, the comic hasn't headed into train wreck territory, but it continues to pale in comparison to Roger Langridge's comic, which is destined to sit right next to this one on the shelf.

Thankfully, Tim Beedle's script remains strong, keeping most of the Muppets in-character, while letting the Robin Hood story move forward. I say "most" because someone's got to discuss the plot while the wackier characters make funny faces in the background. Johnny Fiama, who was revealed to be Prince John in the second issue, talks and acts like Prince John (with the exception of a stray "cannoli" reference here and there), though the rest of his inner circle, which comprises of Sal, Sam the Eagle, and Gonzo, are allowed to be themselves. Three out of four: that ain't bad!

On the other side of the coin (and on the other side of Sherwood Forest), Robin Hood and his Merry Men are still characterized very well. In this issue, Scooter stands out by delivering a line that's all but ripped from The Muppet Movie script. (In my head, it was even delivered with a good ol' fashioned "Scooter Fist".)

Muppet Robin Hood continues with the Muppet comics' tradition of including as many obscure characters as humanly possible. In this case, they use the Archery Contest as an excuse to toss characters both old and new into the fringe. A few of them came as a real surprise, and I hope we see more in the next issue. I'm holding my breath for Doglion, Bill the Bubble Guy, and the Avocado.

And it's not just the obscure characters who show up. Pepe the King Prawn lives up to his name as King Richard. It seems that he's been busy touring with the Electric Mayhem Crusades. Bunsen and Beaker also appear as, um, scientists. I know, hard to believe. Of the main characters, that leaves just Statler and Waldorf to make an appearance. I'm going to hazard a guess that they'll be on hand to heckle at Robin's hanging. That seems like something they'd do, those sadists.

My biggest gripe about this comic hasn't changed: it's still artist Armand Villavert, Jr., who continues to do an adequate job. His art isn't horrible, as he manages to capture some of the characters spot-on, but he completely drops the ball on others. For example, Gonzo looks like "fan art", and not in a caricaturish kind of way (like Sam, who may not look exactly like the puppet, but the design allows him to show his expressions more blatantly) . His Dr. Teeth in particular is frighteningly awful. But on the other hand, his Pepe looks great, and I'm still loving his Sam and Janice. He also does some great renditions of the one-off characters, whom I'll refrain from naming in the spirit of spoilers. They're easily recognizable, yet not static. But in the long run, Villavert needs to work on his character designs a bit more if he's being considered for any future Muppet comic projects.

I'm keeping with my original recommendation for this comic, which is that I think it's absolutely worth buying, but it might be more readable in its inevitable collected format. And as much as I'm enjoying it, I'm glad there's only one issue left, and then we can look forward to Muppet Peter Pan (and, of course, our overly nitpicky review).
Muppet Robin Hood #3 will be available on Wednesday, August 5 at your local comic book store.

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Labels: comics/magazines, review

Last month, The Muppet Show Comic Book ended forever. Until this month. This month, The Muppet Show Comic Book: The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson begins its four-issue run with a brand-new #1 issue. It's written and drawn by Muppet comics superhero Roger Langridge, and as its name suggests, the story arc is about the Muppets searching for a pirate’s buried treasure in the Muppet Theater. The Muppets haven't seen this much booty in years!

Issue #1 has a lovely cover A:


But cover B is truly fantastic:


If I weren’t already buying the Muppet Show comics every month, that cover would definitely pull me in. What the heck is going on with Animal?! (Also: Did he tie that tie himself?) Animal's seeming identity crisis is the ongoing mystery in this, part one of the story, which is called "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral."


There are a few ongoing storylines here, which is probably for the best... There are still three issues after this one, so it's best not to rush any of them. In story A, Scooter finds a treasure map. Some rats overhear him talking about it, and they want the treasure for themselves, so they start digging.

In story B, Animal is just not himself. He's wearing a suit, and correcting people's grammar... and worst of all, he's drumming like a wuss, which greatly worries the other members of the Electric Mayhem. How will it affect the band's big number in the show? Each issue of the original four-issue run of The Muppet Show Comic Book focused on one character, telling "Kermit's Story" and "Fozzie's Story" and so on, and it looks like this subplot is essentially going to be "Animal's Story" stretched over four issues.

In story C, Kermit is acting pretty strange himself.


"Sweaty orange guy." I love that. I have a pretty good idea what's going on with Kermit based on cover images that have been released for future issues, but I won't speculate here, in case a) You haven't seen them yet, and b) I turn out to be wrong.

As for the onstage acts, this issue has the most consistently entertaining batch since the previous issue #1. There's a Muppet Sports sketch, with a Louis Kazagger who somehow looks more like Howard Cosell than the puppet Kazagger. The sport in question is long-distance toast-hurling, which is bloody brilliant.

There's a Swedish Chef bit that's only one page, but which is sublime in its brevity. And it has an explosion.

Also: Pigs in Space, Fozzie, a musical number about the sinking of the Lusitania starring two obscure characters, and more. And all of it is entertaining and Muppety.

I guess this review is going to be shorter than usual, but I really have nothing negative to say about this issue. The ongoing plots are all funny and intriguing, and while they're all left "To Be Continued," there is a conflict that's resolved by the end of the issue, so there's some sense of closure. The treasure itself actually doesn't play much of a part... All we find out about it is that it exists, and Scooter and the rats want it, but I have no doubt it'll be satisfyingly fleshed out in later issues. I can't wait for the next one!

Oh, and more thing: For those of you playing the "Which new character would be performed by which Muppeteer?" game, I just want to say that "Ninja Rogers" in this issue would totally be a Jerry Nelson character.



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Labels: comics/magazines, review, The Muppet Show

Labels: Christmas, review

Back in May, MacFarland Publishing released Kermit Culture: Critical Perspectives of Jim Henson’s Muppets, an academic anthology using the Muppets as the stock in their smartypants soup. Some of the essays relate directly to the Muppets (for example, “Gonzo, (the Great) Cultural Critic”, which analyzes and compares the methods of Gonzo and Sam the Eagle), while some use the Muppets as a gateway into a larger issue (for example, “The Uniquely Strong but Feminine Miss Piggy”, which studies Piggy as a non-stereotypical woman). In any case, this is the kind of book that seems to be written specifically for us: the Muppet fanatics who have nothing better to do than overanalyze the films and episodes we’ve seen dozens upon dozens of times.

I must admit, when I first heard about this book, I (selfishly) wondered why we at ToughPigs weren’t contacted to contribute. I mean, we write about Muppets every day. Wouldn’t we have a unique perspective, not to mention an overabundance of research materials, to crank out an essay or two? But two pages into reading the first article gave me my answer: I am not nearly smart enough to write an academic essay. These 16 writers do have the chops, which do a great job at covering both the Muppets as well as the issue at hand.

One blatantly absent part of most of the writers’ research was one for which they can’t be blamed. Aside from the readily-available films, they mainly focused on episodes from the first three seasons of The Muppet Show, which are not-so-coincidentally the only ones out on DVD. A few episodes from the Time-Life releases are cited, but two-thirds of the series is all but ignored (thankfully, the Muppet Wiki serves as a reliable source for most of the essays). There’s nothing we can do but blame Disney for not hurrying up and getting these DVDs out, but this might serve as a glaring omission when re-reading the book after we’re all more familiar with seasons 4 and 5.

Because this is an academic anthology, I expected it to be rather heavy (content-wise, not weight-wise… try saying it like Marty McFly), and it didn’t disappoint in that regard. The fact that this review is coming out over a month after its release might give you some idea of how long it took me to get through it. Some articles dragged on to a painful degree, with an overabundance of five-dollar words and unnecessary elaboration. The worst culprit of this was Hugh Davis, who wrote “The Muppets and Shakespeare.” Now, you’d think that an essay comparing The Muppets and Shakespeare would be fascinating, but instead it reads like a list copied from the Muppet Wiki of Shakespeare references in Muppet productions stretched out to 10 pages. Go ahead and click on the link above to the Wiki's Shakespeare article. And now you’ve read everything Hugh Davis had to say.

On the other hand, some of the articles are rather compelling. “The Muppet Show Re-Forms the Fringe” by Anissa M. Graham (who also served as one of the editors) illustrates the different ways guest stars would interact with the Muppets. Some were in on the chaos, some were victims of the chaos, and some invited the Muppets into their own chaos. It’s an interesting way to categorize the episodes, and Graham did a fine job at keeping it interesting. Likewise, Ginger Stelle’s “Starring Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchit: Muppets as Actors” discusses the idea that the Muppets are actors unto themselves, as opposed to puppets who can become anyone the puppeteer chooses. Both of these subjects are exactly the kind of thing I (and presumably, my fellow fanatics) would obsess over after a few too many viewings of the Alice Cooper episode.

Eagle-eyed ToughPigs readers might recognize one of the authors as being our own Andrew Leal. Andrew has guest-written for ToughPigs, and he serves as an administrator on the Muppet Wiki. Of course, since I know Andrew personally, I was deeply afraid that it might not be good, and because we’ve got a reputation for being jerks, I’d have to be honest and say so. Thankfully, Andrew’s article, “Muppets and Money” (which serves as the caboose to the anthology train), is one of the highlights of the book. He took a subject that could very well have been another list of facts about the Muppets’ history with economics and turned it into a quasi-narrative about how Jim funded his career, as well as money’s role in the fictional universe of The Muppets. Nice work, Andrew, and we’re happy to have you on our team!

At the $35 asking price for "Kermit Culture", I’m hesitant to recommend it, because I’d say only about 50% is worth the price of admission. For the uber-fan like myself, it’s a must-read. For the casual fan, it’s your call. For the casual fan who happens to be a college professor who might use the book as a textbook, you should have ordered yours yesterday. The bottom line is: Nothing pleases me more than the fact that an academic anthology all about the Muppets exists.
Click here to visit McFarland Publishing's website where you can order Kermit Culture.

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Labels: books, review

[Important note: The review below claims that The Muppet Show Comic Book #4 would be released on June 24th. This information was taken from the official Boom! Studios website, but has since proven to be completely untrue. Tough Pigs apologizes to Muppet fans, comic book fans, and our elderly Aunt Cloise for any confusion caused by Boom! making us dirty liars. The Muppet Show Comic Book #4 will, in fact, be released... someday. Who can tell with these silly comic book companies?]

This Wednesday, June 24th, is the release date for The Muppet Show Comic Book #4, by the series' regular writer and artist Roger Langridge. This is the last issue of the Muppet Show comic... until next month, when it returns with a new #1 as The Muppet Show Comic Book: The Treasure of Peg Leg Wilson for another four-issue run.

So the series is ending, but it's not really ending, it's just starting over again, four months after it started the first time, and going four more months until it ends again and then starts again. This kind of insanity is actually considered normal in comics.
So, the first thing I want to say about issue 4, which is the "Miss Piggy's Story" issue, is that I love both covers. Cover A, as seen above, has Piggy looking every bit as glamorous as Marilyn Monroe. Cover B is a Sound of Music deal, with Piggy's fellow Muppets apparently none too thrilled with her Julie Andrews impression.

One thing we've been wondering about since this series began is whether it would have guest stars. It seemed unlikely, as it'd be pretty hard to get Tom Hanks or Meryl Streep into a comic book. But this issue begins with Kermit and Scooter trying to track down a guest star for the show. And who are they trying to get?


That's right -- "Kim Jarrey." They throw around a bunch of other silly spoof names, and I don't know if it's because of some kind of crazy legal issues or just because it's funny that they don't use real names, but it works. It would probably be a little jarring to hear them talking about current stars anyway, as there haven't really been any indications as to whether this comic book series takes place now, in the 1970s, or somewhere in between.

Unfortunately, all the good guest stars are too expensive for The Muppet Show's meager budget, so they end up with Madame Rhonda, a psychic. Also she's a pig, but that's neither here nor there.


Would The Muppet Show really book a psychic as a guest star? How much can she really bring to a variety show? Well, they once scheduled Angus McGonagle, the Argyle Gargoyle Who Gargles Gershwin, which is a pretty limited talent, so I'll buy it.

As always, the comic alternates between backstage drama and onstage acts, but this time nearly all the acts are tied in to the theme of psychic ability. It's a departure from previous issues, and I could have done with a few more un-themed sketches, but it's still fun.

There's a Sam the Eagle bit, with Sam written completely in character. Sometimes I get a little tired of modern Muppet writers emphasizing only Sam's patriotism -- on the show, he was concerned with morality and sophisticated entertainment as much as Americanism. But Langridge manages to get that across even with Sam standing in front of a huge American flag.

But isn't this supposed to be Piggy's story? Well, Madame Rhonda is the driving force of this issue's backstage story, but Piggy quickly becomes its center. Madame Rhonda tells all the Muppets their fortunes, and they all fall for her schtick, but when Piggy gets her palm read, she misinterprets Rhonda's warning and becomes convinced that Kermit is going to leave her for another woman.


The thing is, there aren't that many female Muppets, so Langridge proceeds to draw Piggy seething while Kermit talks to just about all of them, including one character I never thought I'd see in comic book form. But that's the beauty of these comics... A Muppet who wouldn't be worth the time and expense to rebuild for a quick cameo in a TV special can appear in one frame of a comic with no fuss. What a great medium! Unlike Madame Rhonda.

That's all I'll give away about the backstage plot, but there are some other nifty things going on here, including a Veterinarian's Hospital sketch, and a Pigs in Space, which provides another example of Langridge's knack for clever uses of the comic book format to do things that can't quite be done onscreen.


Oh, and speaking of characters we never thought we'd see again... Guess who shows up on page fourteen?


It's the Talking Houses from season one of The Muppet Show! So that's clearly meant for the true fans in the audience, as most people in the world would have no memory of those guys.

Also notable: Toward the end of the story, the action moves to a location outside the Muppet Theater. As far as I can remember, this is the first time the comic has done this. And the TV show almost never did it... In fact, the Loretta Lynn episode is the only instance I can remember.

So the big question here is, How is the characterization of Piggy? Latter-day Muppet writers have had a hard time pinning her down, because it's so tempting to just make her go around yelling and hitting people. In this comic book, Piggy does get angry and violent, but it's all for the love of her frog, which is not as frustrating as the one-dimensional Piggy who karate-chops everyone, no matter how contrived the reason. And she gets to act in sketches and do musical numbers, which is something TV movies and specials haven't really allowed for, but it's good because it's so easy to forget that Piggy is an accomplished performer.

So, yeah. This is an okay Miss Piggy.


And that does it for the first run of Muppet Show comics. I've enjoyed these character-focused issues, and while I think there's still some potential in that format (Floyd's story? Beaker's story? Animal's story?), I'm looking forward to the Peg Leg Wilson arc, and I'm still pretty thrilled to have new Muppet stuff on a monthly basis.


Click here to discuss this issue and geek out about the Talking Houses on the Tough Pigs forum!

Labels: comics/magazines, review, The Muppet Show

Here's a secret: one of my all-time favorite Muppets isn't one that is seen regularly like your Grovers or Gonzos. Chances are you don't own any merchandise or DVDs with him in them. He doesn't even speak the Queen's English. I have a soft spot in my heart for Moishe Oofnik, Rechov Sumsum's resident hobo.

Fun Fact #1: Moishe might be the only Sesame Street Muppet to have gotten drunk on-screen.

Thankfully for me and the rest of Moishe's fan club, SISU Entertainment just released "Meet Oofnik the Grouch", a new DVD featuring everybody's favorite Israeli garbage-dweller. The DVD boasts three full episodes of Rechov Sumsum, plus bonus clips. The total running time came to about an hour, which already trumps the domestic Sesame DVDs, which usually come to about half that.

Fun Fact #2: "Meet Oofnik the Grouch" translates into "Meet Grouch the Grouch." It's like using your "PIN number" at an "ATM machine".

This being a foreign production, the video is naturally in Hebrew with English subtitles. While that wouldn't bother you or me, that's the one factor that might turn kids off. Vicariously, that might turn you off too if you're the one who little Timmy keeps asking "What did he say? Now what did she say? Now what did he say? Can I have more caffeine? I like turtles!"

Moishe, as you would guess, is just like his American counterpart, Oscar. They're both jerkfaces, they both live in trash cans, and they're both probably one step away from going postal on all of their neighbors.

In the first episode, Moishe demonstrates what he does when he's angry: he plays his noisemaker, which calms him down (why a Grouch would want to calm down is beyond me). Noah, the orange monster, has another method for cooling off, but he won't show it since he's not actually mad. In classic Grouch form, Moishe emasculates Noah for not being capable of anger, which of course makes him infuriated. Then Noah reveals his secret method as he begins adding numbers ("One and one are two, two and two are four..."), and the magic of mathematics sedates him into a near slumber. Though Moishe has been defeated, he still gets props for being able to piss off a kid in just 10 seconds flat.

The next episode features Avigile, a purple girlie-girl monster who speaks in the third person, much like another dude we know. Avigile tells Moishe that she wants to play with him, but like any self respecting Grouch, he tries to get rid of her by telling her that he's bringing out the dreaded "karambula." Avigile, shaken with fear, runs away to the safety of the grocery store where the clerk informs her that a karambula is just a star fruit. She introduces Avigile to some other fruits, and then Avigile goes back to Moishe's hovel to tell him that she still wants to play. Unfazed, Moishe then tries to scare her by threatening to bring out the "pasiflora," which Avigile coincidentally just learned is just a passion fruit. She then laughs right in Moishe's face, boasting that she's smarter than the homeless guy. And then I guess they played a game or something, we'll never know for sure. Moishe will apparently stoop pretty low to get rid of annoying children, even to go as far as threaten them with fruit.

Fun Fact #3: Monsters hate vitamin C.

In the third episode, everyone is playing "The Dwarf and the Giant," which is pretty much Secret Santa, but with a slightly politically incorrect name. Moishe is excited to get a Stinky Garbage Cake, which is made of mango peels, spinach, and rotten cucumbers. Unbeknownst to Avigile, Moishe is her "dwarf" and buys her a jar of the very best Spoiled Sardine Jelly. The ungrateful brat deduces who bought her the gift and says that it's the worst present she's ever gotten, with Moishe standing right next to her! Even though he already spent good money on the Grouch delicacy, Moishe disguises himself as Groucho Marx and forces himself to buy Avigile a "nice" gift. Kids these days, they're never happy.

There's a good deal of extra Moishe Oofnik sketches on the DVD in case you're not happy with just three. (C'mon, the guy is on the cover! Give the Grouch his screen time!) There's a sketch about Moishe wearing a watermelon peel as a hat, one where Moishe asks everyone in town to make as much noise as they can so he can fall asleep, and one where he thinks that kids never have anything important to say (and then ignores Avigile's warnings that the sign over his trash can is about to fall on his head). One sketch in particular involves Moishe trying to teach the kids at home that everyone is the same, which seems to be a valuable lesson for kids in the Middle East. He is then immediately countered by every person in town who tells Moishe how they're nothing like their neighbors. And then they all fought a war over the Gaza Strip, which is why you should always listen to Moishe Oofnik, kids.

Because the DVD contained full episodes, a few dubbed versions of our Sesame Street made the cut, with one Muppety skit for each one. A sketch I've never seen featuring Oscar, Grungetta, and a few other Grouches as cavemen inventing the word "Scram" (subtitled as "Get Lost", which is obviously not one word) was in the first episode. Bert singing "I've Got to Be Clean" also appeared, which proved to us that Bert has a lovely singing voice, even when he's singing in Hebrew. The last had another new-to-me sketch about Two Nosed, a kingdom of people with two noses ("They can sneeze twice at the same time!" What an astonishing mutant power!), where the king and queen won't allow their daughter to play with Elmo. They said it was because he only has one nose, but we all know it was because Two Nosed is constantly at war with Elmo's World.

All in all, I had a great time watching and rewatching this DVD. Moishe Oofnik is hilarious in his jerkitude and filthiness. And because it's a foreign product, every sketch is brand new to us. If you don't mind a little light reading while you watch your Sesame, this DVD is highly recommended.

Click here to visit SISU Entertainment's website, where you can order this DVD, as well as other Rechov Sumsum and Shalom Sesame DVDs and merchandise.
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Labels: DVD, review, Sesame Street

Last week saw the release of Muppet Robin Hood #1, and this week -- Wednesday, June 3rd to be exact – will be the release date of The Muppet Show Comic Book #3. It’s a great time to be a Muppet fan who can read. If you’re a Muppet fan who can’t read, you should ask the guy at the comic book store to read the issue to you. He’ll do it. He’s a nice guy.

Issue #3 is once again written and drawn by Roger Langridge, who previously told us a Kermit story and a Fozzie story and now gives us an issue focusing on Gonzo… although it’s interesting to note that Gonzo’s not really the protagonist, but rather the source of conflict in the story. Well, I thought it was interesting, anyway. Maybe you think it’s incredibly boring.

Langridge’s designs for the Muppet characters have not been embraced by all fans, and his Gonzo in particular drew some criticism for being off-model. I think it’s recognizable enough, but if you hated the way Gonzo looked in the first two issues, you might want to avoid this one, because he’s all over it.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, so let’s start at the beginning. Issue #1 began with the Muppet Newsman, and Issue #2 kicked off with a Statler and Waldorf bit. The new issue starts with everyone’s favorite permanently squinting old guy, Pops the doorman, as he greets a newcomer to the Muppet Theater.


This works really well because Pops’s original role on The Muppet Show was to open every episode of season five by greeting the guest star at the door. Not only is it funny, it feels right. I’m going to make a prediction right now and say that a future issue of this comic will start with Scooter knocking on a guest star’s door as he did in seasons two through four.

But that guy’s not the guest star, he’s Osbert J. Smedley, an insurance agent visiting the theater for some risk assessment. This seems exactly like a backstage plot from the TV show. Smedley reminds me of Dave Goelz's Inspector LaBrea character from the Dizzy Gillespie episode, and as I read the issue and played the usual "Which performer would this be?" game, that's the voice I was hearing.

For medical purposes, Smedley needs to know identify the species of every Muppet Theater employee. (It’s a very specialized policy.) There’s just one problem: Nobody’s sure what Gonzo is.


Wait a minute! Didn’t Muppets From Space establish that Gonzo is an alien? Well, it did, but come on -- Who likes or cares about Muppets From Space? I’m actually really glad the Muppet people let Langridge do this… Honestly, the Muppets don’t have continuity. Sometimes they begin a production as strangers to each other, sometimes they all live together in a boarding house, sometimes they all live in a hallway. Nothing is set in stone.

And anyway, I hated the revelation that Gonzo was from another planet. So I’m totally in favor of applying some Wite-Out to that and saying Gonzo’s heritage is still a mystery. In this story, it’s up to Scooter to figure it out, and it won’t be easy. This is almost as much a Scooter story as it is a Gonzo story, and it’s nice to see the guy get so much screen time.

That’s the backstage plot. As before, there are lots of fun onstage acts sprinkled throughout the issue as well. There’s a chicken musical number, there’s a Pigs in Space sketch. There’s also a brand-new segment starring Gonzo, called “Gumshoe McGurk, Private Eye!” It’s a neat idea, but it doesn’t quite take off. A Muppet spoof of detective story clichés is a setup full of potential, but as it plays out it’s just not that funny. There’s really nothing here that’s even specific to Gonzo’s character – you could pretty much plug any other Muppet into this bit and it wouldn’t make much difference.


On the other hand, a Gonzo bit called “Twinkle Twinkle Little Rat” feels a lot like something from the first few seasons of The Muppet Show. It’s nuts. And hey, it has Rizzo! Rizzo was barely a character in the final season of the TV show, but in this issue he plays a pretty substantial role, with his real personality and everything, and it works quite well.


I’m going to go ahead and make the bold statement that The Muppet Show Comic Book #3 is better than #2 was. The jokes are funny, the familiar Muppet characters are plentiful, and the Gonzo story has a satisfying resolution. Also, it’s still fun to spot the British turns of phrase that pop up in Langridge’s dialogue. Scooter even says “No offence” at one point, spelling it with a “C” just like that.

There’s not one number in particular that makes innovative use of the comic book layout this time around (like “The Ubiquitous Quilp” in #1 and the car song in #2), but Langridge continues to take advantage of the medium by letting the Muppets do things they can’t do on TV. For example, we almost never get to see the Gonzo puppet do a full-body tap dance.


Speaking of Gonzo, it's nice to see him doing silly daredevil acts again. That's the guy he was created to be, but with the last few Muppet productions taking place way outside the variety show format, he hasn't gotten to act so much like himself. Here he gets to be the Great Gonzo again.

And here once again we have a lovely new episode of The Muppet Show, all between two staples and available for less than the cost of a venti mocha latte. Next month is the Miss Piggy issue… Here’s hoping it’s up to Piggy’s own lofty standards.


Click here to shoot yourself out a cannon while talking about this comic on the Tough Pigs forum!

Labels: comics/magazines, merchandise, review, The Muppet Show

So what’s all this I keep hearing about “going green?” People are going on and on about how recycling is good and carbon footprints are bad… or is it the other way around? Are my feet made of carbon? I don’t understand. You know what I need? I need somebody to explain the “green” movement to me as if I were three years old.

Well, I’m in luck, because there’s a new Sesame Street DVD out now called Being Green, which is all about saving our planet and crap like that. I couldn’t wait to find out about environmentalism, so I drove my Hummer to the video store, left it idling while I ran in to buy the DVD, then drove home and turned on all the lights in the house while I watched it.



With so few episodes of Sesame Street produced these days, these direct-to-video specials are like extra bonus episodes, and this one isn’t about to waste any of its running time... There are no opening credits, just the title, and then boom!, we’re on Sesame Street, where Elmo and Abby Cadabby are playing Hide and Seek.


Hey, remember when Zoe was Elmo’s best friend? Lately it sure looks like he’s ditched her for Abby. Man, Elmo’s so fickle. Or maybe Zoe was playing Hide and Seek with them, and she was so good at hiding that they never found her.

Anyway, the game is soon interrupted by a guy wearing a big, puffy globe. Why, it’s comic actor Paul Rudd, in the role of Mr. Earth! And he’s hosting the Earth-a-thon, a TV show that’s happening right here on Sesame Street!


So here are two things I like about this special: 1) They never try to pass Rudd off as being the actual planet Earth, or even the Spirit of the Earth or something silly like that. He comes right out and admits he’s “an actor in a ridiculously awkward Earth costume,” and it allows him some room to be loose and irreverent. 2) Every time anyone mentions the Earth-a-thon, they have to sing it, like this: “THE Earth-a-THOOOOON!” I highly recommend you do the same while reading this.

Elmo’s all like, “What the heck is an Earth-a-thon?” and Rudd explains that they’re taking calls from all over from people who want to help the Earth. Then he has to explain to Elmo and Abby what the Earth is. Man, those kids are stupid.

Of course, a telethon needs volunteers to answer the phone, and fortunately for us, three familiar monsters are standing by: Telly, Rosita, and Cookie Monster. One has to wonder: Who thought it would be a good idea to trust Cookie Monster with this job? I don’t think it’s an enormous spoiler to say that before the end of this DVD, the telephone will find its way inside Cookie’s mouth. (One of my favorite parts has Cookie struggling to focus on pledges rather than cookies while Rosita yells at him: “You’ve got to pull yourself together, Cookie!”)


The special goes back and forth between Paul Rudd and the Muppets on the street doing the Earth-a-thon – sorry, I mean “THE Earth-a-THOOOOON!” – and various films and cartoons with an environmental theme. So it’s a lot like an episode of the show. Some of the segments I had definitely seen before. Yep, they’re recycled, which is perfect for this video.

There’s a clip about kids planting trees in Turkey… one about some other kids making paper out of old clothes… and one about kids in New York City working on a garden. That one looks to be from the early-to-mid-90s, and I swear one of the kids is a young Rosario Dawson, who shows up onscreen for about one second.


And then there are some segments that look like they might be new, including a cartoon about people of all the colors of the rainbow joining together to help the Earth… At this point in my notes, I wrote “Sign me up for WORLD PEACE!” Oh, and one with an all-kid band doing a surprisingly rockin’ song about… well, I don’t remember what it was about. Compost heaps, maybe?

But hey, what’s going on here? We’re 17 minutes in and Elmo is still red! I thought the whole point of this video was that Abby accidentally turns Elmo green! Where’s Elmo screaming frantically, as seen in this amazing “Being Green mashup” video on YouTube?



(Speaking of that YouTube clip: I love that Sesame Workshop made this official promo for the DVD that looks exactly like something a fan would come up with just for kicks. It’s really smart to use internet video tricks to sell projects to fans on the internet… Muppet Studios did something similar with that “Glad All Over” lip-synching video to promote Letters to Santa, and I have a feeling we’ll be seeing more stuff like it in the future. Too bad none of the clips seen in the Being Green mashup are actually present on the DVD.)

A-ha, here we go. Elmo is inspired by the words of Mr. Earth, and says he wants to be green, so Abby obliges with a wave of her wand: “Make Elmo more green than we’ve ever seen!” At first, Elmo thinks it’s fun being the color of green paint and green beans, but when it becomes clear that Abby doesn’t know how to change him back (“Um, well, here’s the thing,” she says, “and you’re gonna laugh… I don’t know how to do that.”) he FREAKS THE HELL OUT. As seen above.


Will Elmo ever return to his normal color? Well, I’m not going to tell you, because that would COMPLETELY SPOIL THE ENDING, and I would never want to do that.

But I will answer the obvious question: When does the song “Bein’ Green” show up? And the answer is… never! Well, that’s not exactly true. When Elmo thinks he’s going to be green forever, he starts to sing the song, but Paul Rudd interrupts him after about a line and a half to sing a song about how it is, in fact, easy being green. I don’t mind that Kermit doesn’t show up. I wouldn’t expect him to, these days. But the title of this DVD is clearly meant to evoke the song, so would it have killed them to at least let Elmo finish a verse?


Misleading title aside, this is an entertaining special. Paul Rudd is clearly having a blast in that uncomfortable Earth suit, and I’m guessing a few of his funnier lines were ad-libbed. All the Muppets get to do what they do best – Oscar even shows up for one scene, in which he’s mean to Telly. Oscar being mean to Telly was a staple of Sesame Street during my childhood, so that moment was particularly enjoyable for me. Much more enjoyable than for Telly, anyway. They even manage to squeeze in a closing musical number... It’s pretty low-budget, but the performers really sell it, so you almost don’t notice.


But what about the “green” agenda? Will it inspire kids to save the planet? I don’t know… A four-year-old who hears Elmo saying it’s cool to pick up trash is probably not going to run out and adopt a highway. But it couldn’t hurt to plant the seed, much like those Turkish kids planted those trees. And maybe in time, as that seed matures, the kids who watch this video over and over will grow into responsible adult trees who try to reduce their carbon emissions instead of douchebag trees who throw empty bottles out the windows of their tree cars.

And you know what? Since I watched this special, I’ve been thinking a little more about turning off lights and not wasting water. I’m green! Thanks, Elmo and Paul Rudd!

Click here to freak the hell out about Elmo turning green on the Tough Pigs forum!

Labels: DVD, review, Sesame Street

As the only company putting out any Muppet content, BOOM! Studios is publishing a sister comic to The Muppet Show Comic Book. This Wednesday, they’re making Disney look bad by releasing Muppet Robin Hood, the first in a 4-issue miniseries (written by Tim Beedle and illustrated by Armand Villavert, Jr.) retelling the story of Kevin Costner fighting against Severus Snape. Of course, it’s hard to put anything up against the terrific quality of Roger Langridge’s Muppet Show comic, but would Robin Hood back down against that challenge? Heck no! I mean, I assume not. Maybe he turns out to be a sniveling coward by the fourth issue.

Your first thought when seeing this comic on the shelf might be one of déjà vu-ity. That’s probably because this is far from the first time Kermit has donned the be-feathered cap of Mr. Hood. He cavorted with the Merry Men in the Lynn Redgrave episode of The Muppet Show, and in 1980 he was illustrated in those famous tights in a book simply titled “Robin Hood.” And in the “it hardly counts” category, Baby Kermit appeared as a wee version of Robin Hood in Muppet Babies’ Classic Children’s Tales. Did the public really demand another iteration of the Muppets as the Robin Hood characters? Was BOOM! Studios even aware of these other variations? Should we even bother buying new comics that tell the same story we’ve heard so many times before? Well, yeah. It’s got Muppets in it.

The most refreshing part of the comic was the characterization of Kermit the Frog. He’s got a tough job, being responsible for moving the story along without becoming too much of a boring narrator. Tim Beedle does a great job at making Kermit funny, while keeping his characterization in a comfortable middle place between Jim Henson and Carey Elwes. And that's not an unpleasant place to be, folks.

You’ll notice that I’m calling the green dude “Kermit,” and not “Robin.” That’s a pretty sensitive subject, considering the multiple meanings of that name for the Muppets. Thankfully, Beedle nipped that one in the bud by turning it into a running gag for us fans to enjoy, rather than confuse or ignore. It kinda makes you happy that there’s not a Muppet named David of Doncaster, doesn’t it?

The bulk of the story covers Kermit’s initial meeting with the Sheriff of Nottingham, followed by the introduction of Little John and the Merry Men. Sam the Eagle and Sweetums are typecast as the Sheriff and Little, respectively, which is a nice break from the obvious choices of Gonzo and Fozzie, respectively. The Merry Men are a fun mix of fan favorites, including Lew Zealand, Janice, and Scooter, all of whom will be fun to see run amok in the next few issues. Respectively.

Another nice surprise is the background references and character cameos thrown in for Fans Like Us. One character in particular hasn’t been seen since season 1 of The Muppet Show. How’s that for a tease?

My only complaint is about the art. Armand Villavert’s work is competent for the most part, but some of his character illustrations might not sit well with fans. I thought his Kermit was top-notch, but Gonzo and Sweetums (both of whom are understandably difficult to draw) look a bit odd, and not odd in the ways they'd probably prefer to appear. On the other hand, his Rowlf and Janice come out perfectly, making me wish (as I always have) that they had more screentime (pagetime?). Of course, we were spoiled by the three cover art images by David Petersen, Shelli Paroline, and David Alvarez. If BOOM! is smart (and it sure seems like they are), they’ll get those cats to draw some interior art for future Muppet comics.

All in all, I enjoyed the first issue of Muppet Robin Hood. It’s a good addition to the long list of Muppet literary parodies that BOOM! seems to want to continue publishing (coming up next: Muppet Peter Pan). Normally I’d complain about the Muppets not being allowed to be themselves, but we’ve still got The Muppet Show Comic Book coming out every month, and Tim Beedle gets my seal of approval for letting everyone speak with their own voice, so I’d welcome this comic to my bookshelf or longbox.

Plus, it’s got Muppets in it. Go buy it.
Muppet Robin Hood #1 is solicited for May 27, 2009, but because of Memorial Day weekend, some stores may not have it in stock until May 28. Contact your local comic book store for more information.

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Labels: comics/magazines, review

Issue #2 of Boom! Studios’ Muppet Show Comic Book will be released tomorrow, Wednesday, April 29th. The publisher has already sold out the first printing and announced a second, so you might want to make sure you get to the comic book store on Wednesday if you want to grab a copy. The Muppets are the new superstars of comics! They should definitely fight Wolverine as soon as possible.

The first issue of the series got rave reviews all over the internet, and was loved by both diehard Muppet geeks and casual fans who couldn’t even tell you which one is Statler and which one is Lew Zealand. So the expectations are pretty high for the second outing, which is written and drawn once again by Roger Langridge.

As always, I abhor spoilers, so I don’t want to give too much away, but I will say that Issue #2 follows the same format as its predecessor – It’s an episode of The Muppet Show in comic book form, with a combination of onstage acts and backstage story. Where last month’s story focused on Kermit, this one is all about Fozzie.

The book kicks off with a fun Statler and Waldorf exchange…


… followed by another two-page splash that serves as the “This is what we call the Muppet Show!” intro. I was pretty jazzed to see Thog…


…as well as a Very Brief Cameo from a post-Muppet Show character. But I never did quite figure out why the Electric Mayhem are dressed as beatniks. Then we get into the story, which involves Fozzie coming face-to-face with failure. That’s nothing new for Fozzie, but boy, he sure would love it if he could get the approval of the Muppet Theater’s audience.


I’m pretty sure that’s supposed to be Sweetums standing there, but it looks like he shrank in the wash.

Among the highlights of the issue are a musical number that seems just like some old, obscure British song they might have done on the TV show, a “sketch” that would be right at home alongside some of The Muppet Show’s weirdest bits (and which makes very interesting use of the comic book page layout in a way that could never be reproduced on television), and some familiar segments like “Veterinarian’s Hospital,” which leads to my favorite panel in the whole issue:


So I guess the big question is: Is The Muppet Show Comic Book #2 as good as #1? The answer, I would say, is: Aaaaalmost. It was so exciting to see the first issue hit the bullseye so spectacularly, but it’s inevitable that the follow-up doesn’t seem quite so novel.

Also, this time around there were a few jokes I didn’t understand (specifically one involving Statler), although that may be my own dumbitude rather than flawed writing. There were a few moments in reading the dialogue where I found myself thinking, Waaait a minute! Would [name of Muppet character] really say that? That kind of thing is less noticeable in print, I think, but it's still important to nail down the voice of the characters. Also, when the resolution of the backstage plot arrives, it seems a bit rushed and just isn't as satisfying as last issue's.

I suppose those are pretty minor complaints. It’s still great to spend time with the Muppets and watch them struggle to put on a show, and Roger Langridge has given us another good ink-on-paper episode. Again I have to wonder if I would like this stuff as much if it were the script for a live-action Muppet Show redux, and again I have to think I wouldn't, really. But it sure is a nifty comic book.

So far Langridge has done a commendable job with Kermit and Fozzie stories, and I’m curious to see what he comes up with for next month’s Gonzo-focused issue, and even moreso for the following month's Piggy-centric issue. Miss Piggy has proven to be the most difficult character for recent Muppet writers to get right, so I’ll be crossing my fingers and hoping Langridge’s Piggy can carry her own backstage plot. But no matter what, it’s just nice to have a new Muppet production that most (or all?) of the fans can agree on.


Click here to talk about ubiquitous quilps on the Tough Pigs forum!

Labels: comics/magazines, merchandise, review, The Muppet Show

Does this really exist? A comic book based on a TV show that ended production 28 years ago? Did I really go to my local comic book store and find this thing on the "new releases" rack?

Yeah, I guess I did.

The first issue of the new Muppet Show Comic Book was released last Wednesday, and publisher Boom! Studios has reported that they've already sold out and will be doing a second printing. The people have spoken, and they are hungry for Muppets.

Now, it's worth noting that this publication is exactly what it says it is: The Muppet Show Comic Book. It's not about the Muppets having adventures between shows; they're not going to a haunted house or the moon, or becoming superheroes, or anything like that. It's really just an entire, brand-new episode of The Muppet Show in comic book form. That seems like a simple enough idea, but I don't think anybody's ever done it before.

I'll admit I'd read almost nothing by writer/artist Roger Langridge before this, but now I can't imagine anyone else doing a better job. It starts with a Muppet Newsflash, as the Muppet Newsman delivers a few typical gags, then warns us that The Muppet Show is making a comeback as a comic book.

And already we're off to a good start. This is clever stuff, and I can absolutely hear the Newsman doing these jokes. (Although he'd probably say "pants" rather than "trousers." There are a few other turns of phrase that pop up that sound a bit odd, but I'll allow it because Roger Langridge is from New Zealand.)

Turning the page, we get a nearly two-page spread full of Muppets under the Muppet Show logo, so this is clearly the start of the show. Langridge even throws in Nigel, George the Janitor, the "You Are My Sunshine" guy, and J.P. Grosse. This guy's not messing around. (But why does Scooter have teeth?)


Then there's a Statler and Waldorf bit, followed by a backstage scene. The only thing missing is a guest star, but that's not even a problem. I'm sure I'm not the first person to point this out, but in many of these panels, the Muppets are only seen from the waist up, which is, of course, the way we see them on the show. I don't know much of a deliberate choice that was on Langridge's part, but it's a nice touch.

Hey, you know what seems like a terrible idea? A musical number in a printed medium. I mean, it's ridiculous, really... but ridiculous has never stopped the Muppets from doing anything. And so we get this lovely thing:

And this is not just a musical number, it's a musical number about (spoiler alert!) a bunch of Muppets exploding. The timing's good, too. It doesn't get much more Muppet Show than this.

I guess if you were looking for things to complain about, you could say that those toads don't really look like Muppets, and that's true. They look like cartoon toads. And some of the characters in the comic are drawn a little looser and more exaggerated than you might expect. But they're all recongizable, so who cares if Fozzie's nose is a little long, or Robin has eyebrows? When we see these guys on our TV screen, it's the puppeteers' performances that bring out the characters, but in a comic book there're no voices and no puppetry, so Langridge uses the art to let the Muppets express themselves.


I don't want to give too much away here, but I will say that there's a backstage story that runs throughout the issue, and it's about everyone trying to figure out why Kermit is feeling sad. It's all wrapped up satisfyingly by the end, and there are some sweet moments between Robin and Kermit. My biggest critique of the issue would be that Robin sounds unusually mature here... I guess he's always been a little precocious, but at times here he sounds more like Kermit's therapist than his five-year-old nephew.

But it's fun to see Scooter get as many lines in one issue as he's spoken in the last 17 years, and a sketch with the Koozebanians, and an appearance by the Swedish Chef, whose dialogue doesn't make any more sense in word balloon form:

Yep, Muppet-on-Muppet violence. That's a nice balance to the sweetness of the Kermit story, and that kind of balance is one of the hallmarks of the Muppets at their best.

It's tempting for me to just list all the stuff I liked about this comic, but I'm not going to do that because I think you should buy it and discover it for yourself. But the point is, I liked it. Next month's issue will be a Fozzie-centric story, followed by a Gonzo issue, and so on. Starting in late April, Boom! Studios will be also be publishing a four-issue series called Muppet Robin Hood. Which is cool, I guess, but honestly I'd could do with or without the literary adaptations, just as long as we get more Muppet Show comics.

And yet, as much as I dug this comic, I should point out that I do not want to see a new television series called The Muppet Show that takes place in the Muppet Theater. Whenever I hear fans or semi-fans say, "They should bring back The Muppet Show!", my response is, Well, no, they shouldn't. I'm all for the Muppets returning to series TV, but to attempt an exact duplicate of the series that was the apex of Jim Henson's career... That's just not a good idea, and it would only invite unfavorable comparisons: Scooter doesn't sound like Scooter! The Miss Piggy puppet's not as pretty! The new "Veterinarian's Hospital" sucks without the original performers! And so on.

But with this comic book, none of that matters. As I read Scooter's word balloons on the page, he sounded exactly like Scooter in my head. Roger Langridge's cartoon version of Miss Piggy looks like a cartoon version of Miss Piggy, so I wasn't thinking for a second about whether the puppet's wig was too short or too long or too curly or too flat. If they tried to produce this issue's script as an episode of a new TV series, I don't think it would work as well. But for 20-odd pages, we have the chance to enjoy a new Muppet Show, and that's good news for Muppet fans.

Click here to talk about exploding toads on the Tough Pigs forum!

ToughPigsRyan@yahoo.com

Labels: comics/magazines, merchandise, review, The Muppet Show

posted by Ryan Roe  # 7:00 AM

Back in November, Hyperion Publishing released Pepe the King Prawn's first book, It's Hard Out Here For a Shrimp. As you may or may not remember, I gave the book a not-so-pleasant review. Oh, why mince words? I thought the book stunk. Literally. It actually smelled like Pepe.

Pepe's book was only the second Muppet book of a series (preceded by Kermit's Before You Leap, published by Meredith Books) that will someday fill a bookshelf of book spines that will be looked at, but rarely removed. The latest in the series is Miss Piggy's The Diva Code: Miss Piggy on Life, Love, and the 10,000 Idiotic Things Men Frogs Do. To be honest, it was difficult to read this book with the prior knowledge of what came before, but if anyone knows how to bounce back from failure, it's the Muppets.

The first thing I did when I received the book is flip through and look for pictures. The image on the cover is pretty, and thankfully not recycled from another production (as far as I know). However, the images inside the book are black-and-white reproductions of old poser photos. And not even the good kind of old (read: frizzy-haired Piggy, giant hat Piggy, etc.), but recent pictures that hold exactly zero nostalgic feelings. At least the Pepe book had some new cartoony illustrations. But I digress, this is a book containing words, and nowhere does it advertise that there will be photos at all. Let's see how the wordy part measures up.

Miss Piggy provides her own introduction (for who else would be able to give her a proper fanfare?), followed by "A Note About the Typeface". These are the only portions of the book written in conversational paragraphs, which makes them the most enjoyable parts of the book. Especially the typeface portion, because let's face it, nobody cares about typeface, especially a Diva.

The next section delivers on Miss Piggy's list of 10,000 Idiotic Things Men Frogs Do. Aside from the overuse of striking through the word Men, this part was actually, dare I say, funny. It's not hilarious, but I admit, I squeaked out a titter or two. Naturally, Piggy only makes it through 42 of her promise of 10,000 tips, which elicits a complaint from Kermit the Frog (who has apparently been transcribing this whole time), at which point the Frog quits and leaves Piggy to her own machinations. Unfortunately, when Kermit leaves, so does the quality.

The remainder of the book reads just like Pepe's. Every page has between one and four one-liner jokes (leaving a lot of white space), and though some are clever, few of them are funny. The main difference between the two books is that Pepe's book is all about how men can be deceiving, manipulative, and selfish in a relationship, while Piggy's book is all about how women can be deceiving, manipulative, and selfish. The content gives me little faith that anyone, myself included, has any idea how to coexist with the opposite sex (whatever the species).

The most unfortunate part is that there is a perfectly good book "written" by Miss Piggy, all about life, love, celebrity, and dealing with your frog. The book is called Miss Piggy's Guide to Life, written by National Lampoon founder Henry Beard. Guide to Life takes advantage of the brilliant mind of Beard, the inspiration of Frank Oz, and the amazing photography of John E. Barrett to create a genuinely funny, yet practical book that captures Piggy's voice as well as your full attention. As much as it pains me to even hint at not supporting new Muppet merchandise, I suggest you search online for a used copy of Guide to Life and purchase it in lieu of The Diva Code. Sorry, Jim. Sorry, Mom.

But don't take LeVar Burton's word for it; here's ToughPigs' own Brad with some thoughts of his own: The Diva Code should have just been called "101 Miss Piggy Jokes" (and, aside from a 3rd grader, who sits down to read a joke book?)... I feel the writing is perfectly in-character and that Pepe and Piggy’s voices are spot-on, but I see these books and ask “what’s the point?” and “who’s the audience?”. Maybe you can get more enjoyment out of the content of these books if you tear out each page, fold them up, and bake them into Chinese cookies; or take the various one-liners and Photoshop yourself some creative Muppet posters or T-shirts around the funny slogans. I don’t expect to see anyone sitting down with a nice glass of wine to read through the pages of The Diva Code and there’s never going to be a book club (or even a book report) that covers It’s Hard Out Here For A Shrimp. They just aren’t that kind of book. It's a shame.

Well said, Brad. And that begs the question: Who is the audience for these books? Joke book enthusiasts? Desperate self-help seekers? Or are we, the die-hard Muppet fans, this book's core audience, and I just told you not to bother buying it? Sorry Hyperion, but you've got to do better than this.
Click here to discuss the 10,000 Idiotic Things Men Frogs Do on the ToughPigs forum!

Labels: books, review

As I mentioned here a few days ago, the Sesame Street Muppets appeared on ABC's Scrubs on Tuesday night. If you missed it, you can watch it online for free over at ABC.com, at least for a while. Also, if you haven't seen this online promo with Elmo and Zach Braff, you should check it out.

Labels: Muppets on TV, review, Sesame Street

The following review was written by Tough Pigs' close, personal friend Peter Papazoglou. Here, Peter shares his thoughts on the Jim Henson Company's live stage musical version of Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas, which completed its run at the Goodspeed Opera House in Haddon, Connecticut on January 4. Take it away, Peter!

I have a confession to make. Until a couple of hours ago, I had never seen Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas. Worse yet, it’s not for lack of opportunity; I’ve had in my possession for over three years now not only the HIT! Entertainment-released DVD (gifted to me by my then-girlfriend, now-fiancé, and sometime-Tough Pigs contributor Leah) but also a copy of the much sought after original cut of the 1977 HBO special.

When I shared my secret with Tough Pigs’ own Joe and Ryan last month, they were, of course, shocked. After all, in certain Muppet fan circles, this surely amounted to nothing less than blasphemy. But luckily for me, they had a touch of the Christmas spirit about them, and rather than run me out of Riverbottom, they took their seats beside me as I was introduced to Russell and Lillian Hoban’s story in a brand new way - on stage.

And having finally seen the television special, I can confirm that Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, the new musical produced by the Goodspeed Opera House in association with the Jim Henson Company, adeptly and (for the most part) faithfully adapts its source material.

The story, for those of you fellow cretins unfamiliar with it, tells of Emmet Otter and his ma, Alice, two of the poorest residents of rural Frogtown Hollow, where bartering is common practice and even fifty cents can make a difference. Since the death of Pa Otter, the two have barely managed to sustain themselves with odd jobs and a laundry service. But just as they resign themselves to another year without gifts beneath the Christmas branch, word comes out of nearby and newly electrified Waterville that Doc Bullfrog is hosting a talent contest with a first prize of fifty dollars cash.

In a plot twist that borrows from O. Henry’s short story, “The Gift of the Magi,” Alice and Emmet, both inspired by Pa Otter’s legacy of foolhardiness, decide to enter the contest so they can afford a treasured gift for the other - for him, a guitar with mother of pearl inlays; for her, a down payment on a used piano. But when Alice hocks Emmet’s tool chest to buy fabric for a dress to perform in and Emmet puts a hole in Alice’s only washtub to fashion a makeshift bass for his jug band, they put their only sources of income at risk. So when the Riverbottom Nightmare Band, a devilish but talented rock quintet (whose incongruous style foreshadows the juxtaposition of the funky Electric Mayhem with the vaudevillian setting of The Muppet Show) wins the contest, Emmet and Alice are left to put a brave face on their impending destitution.

This being a Christmas story, all ends well for the Otters when Jane, who had previously sacrificed her place in the talent contest roster to Alice, who had showed up moments too late to register, realizes that the songs performed by Alice (“Our World”) and Emmet’s Frogtown Jubilee Jug Band (“Brothers”) could be performed in counterpoint as “Brothers in Our World,” just in time to convince Doc Bullfrog to hire the newly formed quintet to perform nightly at the Riverside Rest.

What’s that? You don’t remember Jane? Oh, come on. Jane. You know...little girl? About eleven, maybe twelve. Short. Brown hair. Human?

That’s right. Human.

I guess I forgot to mention Jane. You see, it’s Christmas in Jane’s world, too - the first since her mother’s passing - and she’s pushing her father, Russ, away. What has this got to do with Emmet Otter, you ask? Well, it was (conveniently, of course) her favorite book when she was a child, one that her mother had read to her and left a heartfelt inscription in. So when her father suggests he read it to her, she grudgingly concedes.

And before you can say deus ex machina, Jane is magically transported to Frogtown Hollow, where nobody seems to notice that she’s the only one around without her species as a last name. So, quite naturally, she sings a song, solves a plot complication that wouldn’t have existed if she had never showed up in the first place, saves the day, and then - get this! - wakes up.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, in a plot line lifted straight from a short story I wrote when I was eight years old, in which Alice (of Wonderland fame) fell into the wrong rabbit hole and ended up in Sherwood Forest instead, our heroine wakes up at the end of the story to discover that the whole thing was just a dream; she had never been to Frogtown Hollow at all. What a cop-out.

I want to be clear. What bothers me about Jane is not that Timothy A. McDonald and Christopher Gatelli, who adapted the work for the stage, felt that the story needed a framing device. After all, the original special was bookended by scenes featuring Kermit the Frog, who could obviously not be reused here due to copyright issues. It’s that the playwrights don’t trust their material.

Because the rest Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas is wonderful and remarkably complex. Like all good Christmas stories, it weaves together themes of commercialism, charity, and sacrifice. But unlike so many stories written for today’s children, its protagonists are passionate and reckless, sympathetic but tart. Its lessons are far from simple; the villains, after all, walk away with first prize. And its grief is real. Emmet and Alice don’t miss Pa in some abstract way; they reminisce about him and obsess about him. They blame him for their predicament and look to him for a way out. Nothing about Emmet Otter is simple, so it’s a testament to the strength of the source material that the play shines in spite of the framing device, which is at best an unnecessary way to give children a way into the story.

It doesn’t hurt, of course, that the production is beautifully designed.

Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas uses a costume-based approach for the majority of the main characters, who wear full-body outfits that only expose the actors’ make-up laden faces. The costumes, impeccably designed by Gregg Barnes (Fred Lizard, Harrison Fox, and Wendell Porcupine are favorites), achieve the aesthetic of the original puppets while also allowing the actors the physical versatility to perform their roles. The only snag, and it’s a minor one, is that the furry, mittened hands are distracting, pushing the costumes just a bit in the direction of the theme park variety.

More minor characters like Doc Bullfrog, Yancey Woodchuck, and Old Lady Possum are performed as bunraku-style puppets, with their performers either hidden among the scenery or dressed in black against a black background. Doc Bullfrog, in particular, is meticulously recreated and expertly performed by Tyler Bunch. And Yancey Woodchuck is built so that his puppeteer, the talented David Stephens, can effortlessly change from rod-operated hands to live ones to play the banjo on “Barbeque” at the talent show.

The remaining characters are performed as hand puppets based on the original Muppet creations. These include Howard Snake, who is seamlessly handed off from one onstage character to the next; Catfish, who spews water in other characters’ faces after appearing in the most unexpected of locations; George and Melissa Rabbit, and a quartet of gibberish-speaking squirrels who steal the show in their quest to grow a Christmas tree from scratch overnight. Even woodland creatures that appear only momentarily in the television special have been faithfully recreated for the stage: the ducks on the river in “The One Bathing Suit,” the egret at the end of “Ain’t No Hole in the Washtub,” and the owl at the end of “When the River Meets the Sea,” to name a few.

It is of note that while the majority of the puppets were recreated for this production at a larger size, so as to be more easily viewed by the audience, the puppets of Alice and Emmet that bookend the production are, in fact, the refurbished puppets from the original production.

The sets by Anna Louizos are versatile and make adept and surprising use of the small stage, most impressively conveying the illusion of Alice and Emmet rowing along the river on their way to and from Waterville. And the lighting by Brian MacDevitt effectively conveys the woodland mood while also carefully obscuring the puppeteers as necessary, particularly in the talent show climax in the second act.

As with recent adaptations of children’s films, the book and score for Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas has been expanded in order to fill the longer running time required of a stage musical. Composer/lyricist Paul Williams does an admirable job of matching the style of his new musical numbers to the ones ported over from the original score. And the revisions to the book do quite a bit to flesh out the history of Alice and Pa Otter, explaining, for example, the significance of Emmet’s wanting to give his mother a piano for Christmas. The additional material also serves to more fully develop the residents of Waterville and Riverbottom. And while the television special is remarkably efficient in its exposition, the pacing in the musical is definitely an improvement over the original, which now feels a little rushed by comparison.

Although there is some consolidation of minor characters (Yancey Woodchuck, for example, serves as the fruit stand owner in the stage version; and Will Possum’s role has been greatly reduced, split between Yancey and Old Lady Possum), only Shirley and Nat Muskrat (and their act, Carrots the Dancing Horse) appear to have been cut entirely. Most minor roles have been expanded, especially musically. Harrison Fox, performs the bouncy new song “Waterville” ; his jealous wife, Gretchen, attempts to sabotage the talent show with an incognito aria; and the heretofore unnamed Mrs. Mink gets two musical numbers - the brand new “At the Music Store,” the most lackluster and, frankly, unnecessary of the additional songs (which was also hindered by unfortunate staging that caused her to be constantly upstaged by the set), and the delightfully burlesque “Born in a Trunk,” which was written and recorded for but ultimately cut from the original special. Even Jane gets to sing with the scene-stealing squirrels, and “Trust” is one of those moments where you almost forget that she doesn’t belong in the story in the first place.

Aside from Jane and Russ, two brand new characters round out the cast. The first, Madame Squirrel, now leads the formerly haphazard acrobatic squirrels. The more notable addition, however, is the ghost Pa Otter, who appears to sing the lovely ballad, “Alice, Keep Dreaming,” when his widow has been disqualified from competing in the talent contest and is at her lowest. Tony Award nominee Alan Campbell, who appropriately doubles as Russ, captures Pa’s mischievous and compassionate spirit in his subtle, understated performance.

The rest of the cast is similarly talented, bringing vitality to roles that could easily suffer under the weight of their costumes or become mere caricatures. It is, unfortunately, the younger characters who have the most trouble. Instead of seeming like children, Daniel Reichard as Emmet, Jeff Hiller as Charlie Muskrat, and Daniel Torres as Harvey Beaver, all seem a little older, at least in part because of their height. And in trying to play the correct age, they sometimes come off as slower than they ought to be.

Out of the Frogtown Jubilee Jug Band, only the intentionally dimwitted Wendell Porcupine is spared this fate, in part because performer Robb Sapp so fully captures the character and voice created by Dave Goelz. Still, they all do admirable jobs, and their performances, especially Reichard’s, ring emotionally true if a little physically and vocally awkward.

And finally, even though it is, by definition, Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, the show at the Goodspeed Opera House belonged to understudy Lisa Howard as Alice Otter, a role usually played by Cass Morgan (Howard usually performs Gretchen Fox). If Reichard’s Emmet runs a bit on the older side, Howard’s Alice is a more youthful creation than Frank Oz and Marilyn Sokol’s original, artfully melding the character’s maturity with an impish playfulness on display in numbers like “Ain’t No Hole in the Washtub.” Howard inhabits the role completely and is especially heartbreaking in “When the River Meets the Sea” (arguably the best song in Paul William’s score), in which she sings, in her lilting soprano, of birth fulfilling itself in death, invoking the truest meaning of Christmas.:

Like a baby when it is sleeping
In its loving mother's arms
What a newborn baby dreams is a mystery
But his life will find a purpose
And in time he'll understand
When the river meets the sea

Word on the street is that Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas may return as a perennial Christmas performance, with the hope of expanding nationally. If the production at the Goodspeed Opera House is any indication, it’s poised to be a classic. Let’s just hope its creators trust the story of Emmet and Alice Otter to tell itself, unencumbered by the modern trappings that threatened to drag down the first incarnation of this beautiful tale.

Our thanks to Peter for his review. Click here to discuss the Emmet Otter musical on the Tough Pigs forum!

Labels: Christmas, guest bloggers, Jim Henson Company, other Muppet/Henson shows, review

There’s a great story out there; someone just needed to tell it. Well ok, it’s been told before, but why haven’t we gotten that story with all the sordid details?

That’s what we’ve been saying for years. Sure, we’ve gotten the general Sesame Street origin before: Joan Ganz Cooney wanted to use the previously bad-for-kids medium of television to teach kids, hired Jim Henson and company, and created 40 years worth of history. But not many people have bothered to get into the nitty and gritty of the story. Until now. When someone did. Get the nitty.

TV Guide’s own Michael Davis did his homework (which consisted of over 200 interviews conducted over the last 5 years) and wrote the comprehensive history of Sesame Street in his new book, Street Gang.

But we don’t just get the history of Sesame Street, we get a thorough history of children’s television (including enough info on Captain Kangaroo to warrant its own book) and the stories of the most important people involved, including Joan Ganz Cooney, Jim Henson, John Stone, Jeff Moss, Joe Raposo, and some other people whose names start with the letter J.

The prologue starts the book on a surprisingly depressing note. Our tale starts with Joan Ganz Cooney attending Jim Henson’s funeral. It’s a fresh viewpoint on a story we’ve all heard many times before, and it successfully gets the reader emotionally involved before we read anything remotely related to television development and production. Davis shows us right away that for as many uplifting effects the story has, there is just as many upsetting. Street Gang is bookended with stories about death, as the end of the book deals with the inevitable passings of Jeff Moss, Jim Henson, Joe Raposo, Jon Stone, Northern Calloway, and Richard Hunt. As a Muppet fan, I’m sad to revisit this part of Sesame history, but I’m ecstatic to see their stories written with the brutal honesty they deserve.

If you have at least a passing interest in the history of children’s television, then the first half of the book will be like a triple malt sundae to you. It’s compelling, thorough, and it reads as if Michael Davis leaves no stone unturned. Even if he mentions someone mundane like the Kukla, Fran and Ollie cameraman, he’s going to give you a quick bio on him before moving on. Thankfully, Davis is able to do this without sounding like he’s meandering or losing the point of the story at large. I found this portion of the book to be very intriguing, but there’s just one small problem: You might not.

Although there’s more raw information in those first 150 pages than you can shake a stick at (assuming you’re one for stick-shaking), there isn’t much about Sesame Street or the Muppets. And let’s face it, you’re probably on this site in the first place because you’re a Muppet fan. Or because you’re my dad (Hi, Dad!).

There are some great bits in the first half of the book involving Jim Henson and Jon Stone, and lots more that set the stage for the premiere of Sesame Street, but if you bought this book because it’s got a big picture of Oscar on the cover, you might only really start to enjoy the book in the eleventh chapter.

Thankfully, that eleventh chapter starts with the preparation of the pilot episode, and that’s when the book gets a big shot of vitamin M. Throughout the second half of the book, we get interviews with just about every human cast member and puppeteer, we live through their glory years as the invincible children’s television machine, we get hit with the sudden competition of Barney and Sesame’s subsequent format changes, we witness the unfortunate downward spiral of Northern Calloway, and best of all, we see that after 40 years, Sesame Street remains the leader among children’s programming. It’s a wonderful rollercoaster ride, and my only complaint is that I wish there was more.

The book also contains a few pages of photos, most of which I haven’t seen before. I honestly don’t think I’ll ever get tired of seeing pictures of Muppeteers with the puppets on their hands. My favorite by far is a picture of Bob McGrath in Japan, surrounded by Japanese teenagers waiting to get an autograph with “Bobu”.

Needless to say, I think Street Gang deserves to sit on every Muppet fan’s bookshelf, right between your copies of The Works and Sesame Street Unpaved. It will be the book we go back to regularly to confirm the details of the Sesame trivia we’ve memorized, and it will fit into the rotation of books we re-read every few years, along with Caroll Spinney and Kevin Clash’s autobiographies.

Street Gang will be released on December 26, and I recommend that everyone wait in line to get your copy at your local Barnes and Noble overnight as if this were the new Harry Potter book. I can’t imagine a more fulfilling way to spend your Boxing Day. Or click here to get a personalized bookplate for your book, signed my Michael Davis himself.

And don’t forget, Caroll Spinney’s reading of the audio book will also be available on December 26.
Click here to see a list of Street Gang tour dates, along with additional info.

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Labels: books, review, Sesame Street, Sesame Workshop

Missed the special? It's available online here until December 31!

This week, the Muppets did something we haven’t seen them do in about three and a half years: they made a new TV movie. And SPOILER ALERT: It’s pretty dang good.

In A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (sometimes incorrectly, yet better-sounding, “A Muppet Christmas: Letters to Santa”), Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, Pepe and Rizzo embark on an international voyage northward to deliver mail to an old man who has some shipments to deliver himself. And someone might or might not learn the true meaning of Christmas.

The story was pitched by Paul Williams, who you should know as the writer of the Carpenters hit song, "We've Only Just Begun," and as Virgil from Battle for the Planet of the Apes. Oh, and he wrote the music from The Muppet Movie and Muppet Christmas Carol and appeared in the Paul Williams episode of The Muppet Show. I know, I just blew your mind.

Having grown up in a Jewish household, I never paid much attention to Christmas specials. Only in the past few years have I bothered with the non-Muppet ones, and really appreciated the Frog-centric ones on the same level as any other fanatic. So it’s with thought in mind that I say this: This movie had too much Christmas.

What I mean by that is that Christmas movies tend to come with a certain level of schmaltz, and a story about delivering a little girl’s letter to Santa Claus is chock full of it. But what saved us all from ODing on schmaltziness was the Muppets’ new writing team of Hugh Fink, Scott Ganz, and Andrew Samson. Their combined knowledge of Muppet history and their ability to write a successful prime-time special turned this movie from a potential schmaltzfest into a wonderful movie that’s both great for the family and fun for nostalgia buffs.

Despite the schmaltzitude, Paul Williams did come up with a fun story to toss some Muppets into. He also wrote four new songs for the special. The first, “Delivering Christmas,” was the absolute best. It was maybe even the best Muppet song since the Muppet Christmas Carol soundtrack. That also might be due to the myriad of Muppets and choreography going on in the background of the song. Next was “What’s in Your Heart,” which was nice, though not the most memorable song I’ve ever heard (I’m trying hard to hum it right now, and it just ain’t happening). The next song, “I Wish I Was Santa Claus,” was the clinker for the special. I found it hard to believe that Paul Williams wrote it, as the lyrics were eye-rolling and the tune made me want to use the song’s 45 seconds to run to the bathroom. Though it did give us (as far as I know) Gonzo and Fozzie’s first duet, which is nothing to be ashamed of. The final song, “My Best Christmas Yet,” picked the pace up again and sounded like a song on the Muppets' repertoire for years. Whether Paul’s music was a success or not, he made it up to us by appearing as an elf, which is the most appropriate casting in the history of motion pictures.

Letters to Santa brought the Muppets back to A-list (or at least close to it) celebrity cameos. Uma Thurman was utterly adorable as Joy the ticket agent. Nathan Lane stole the spotlight as TSA Agent Officer Meany. Those two guys from the Sopranos reprised their roles as Ernie and Bert from Elmo’s Christmas Countdown. Jesse L. Martin did a song and dance, just like he does on Law and Order. Petra Nemcova has a name that’s hard to pronounce. Whoopi Goldberg portrayed God, taking human form and judging mankind in the guise of Alex Reiger. Michael Bloomberg ran for a third term. But the star of the cameo show was Jane Krakowski, whose every smirk was hilarious, and not to mention realistic for someone who shares a brownstone with a bunch of weirdos.

The terrific Muppety moments were a-plenty. The stamps on the intro. The Muppet employees of the post office. The Great Muppet Caper-esque “delivery” to the apartment. Fozzie being funny instead of pathetic. Sam’s PSA for the USPS. Beaker’s wish (and her speech impediment). Bunsen’s latent jealousy. The Swedish fish head pizza. The Electric Mayhem’s voices (especially Zoot’s trailing off). The two names being paged at the airport. Where Gonzo stores his trumpet when he travels. Bear-on-bear violence. A worse way to travel than like your luggage. A turkey serving a turkey. Lew Zealand’s Christmas present.

Of course, nothing is perfect. Some moments left me a little flat. For example: Gonzo not acting like Gonzo. He was surprisingly melancholy and muted, only breaking out to have fun in the mail sorter, in the x-ray machine, and possibly while jumping off the plane. Also, Rizzo was given very little to do, considering he had just as much screen time as the other leads (I’m ok with Piggy’s lack of screen time, as we shouldn’t be forcing her into the main story just because we can). I thought David Rudman did a fine Scooter voice, but he’s got to work on that “Scooter Fist.” The scene with the pigeons was completely forgettable (and I’ll bet it took you a few seconds to remember what I’m talking about). Everyone’s favorite Muppet, Animal, was given a total of one joke, which is more surprising than upsetting. But these are all minor complaints, and I’m sure Messrs. Fink, Ganz, and Samson are hanging on my every word and will write the next Muppet movie specifically to my personal tastes.

Despite my complaints (because we really do like to complain ‘round these parts), I thought Letters to Santa was a great success. The Muppets sounded and acted like Muppets. There was comedy and heart. And there were times when it really felt like it could have been from the era of the original Muppet movies. The Muppets very well might be moving into a new age for a new audience, and we’re off to a great start with a genuinely good movie.

But I do have one last nitpick. The plot revolves around a little girl’s wish to spend Christmas with her friends, the Muppets. But she lives in an apartment building with all of them for the other 364 days of the year. Greedy much???
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Labels: Christmas, Muppets on TV, review

So, Pepe wrote a book. He took one of his seventeen tiny little hands, held an even tinier littler pencil, and jotted down his most personal inner thoughts. Of course, this isn't true (Spoiler: He's a puppet). Jim Lewis gets the "As Told To" credit on the title page, although this is his only mention, as his name doesn't appear on the cover and he doesn't get an "About the Author" blurb. Poor Jim Lewis. But I guess it serves him right, since he keeps letting Muppets tell him things.

Let me start with the title. It's a joke referencing a song about someone who rents out their employees for sexual favors. Well, cover him with fleece and he's already a Muppet! I'm as much in favor of risque humor as the next guy, but it's hard to know where to draw the line when it comes to material being marketed toward kids. Does this cross the line? Probably not, but I can't help but think about that whenever I look at the book. Now, if Pepe decided to go into the whoring business himself, maybe I'd forgive it for the autobiographical issue.

The book starts with an introduction by Kermit the Frog. Kermit's his old wacky self here, but if you stop to think about it, Jim Lewis also wrote Kermit's shtick. So here we've got an introduction by the same author. It wouldn't be a big deal to most people, but it quickly becomes anticlimactic once you put two and two together. I guess that's the trouble you get into when you're making a book written by fictional characters.

Immediately after Kermit's introduction is Pepe's foreword to the book. The foreword is written like conversational Pepe, which helps to hear it written in his voice (the rest of the book is not conversational, more on that in a bit). Here, Pepe introduces us to the guy we'll be reading about: he's greedy and womanizing and Spanish and edible. There's a bit with potential where he begins to tell his life story: "Born off the coast of Malaga, Spain, I was discovered by a casting agent on a fishing trip. This happened, then that happened... The next thing you know, I am meeting the very famous Kermin the Frog." Well, so much for that. Maybe we'll learn something new about him in the next book.

And that's where the entertaining part ends.

The rest of the book is split up into broad categories (money, friends, work, fashion, etc) for which Lewis wrote a series of one-liners. There's one or two on each page, leaving a lot of empty space. Even leafing through the book at the bookstore, you'd be able to tell that you're getting a lot of ink-less paper for your dollars. Even the money-grubbing Pepe would tell you that's not a good deal.

The book is small and short. It's only about 150 pages long, and if you read slow, you'll get through it in about an hour. It took me the better part of three days, because I grew very sleepy trying to weed through all of the "Okay"s and "Kermin"s.

The jokes are mediocre, but better than I thought, considering my expectations of both a Pepe book and a joke book. It's far from laugh-out-loud funny, but clever enough to avoid eye-rolling. I think the material would have worked much better if the book was written in the form of a narrative. The presentation made me feel like someone said to Robin Williams, "Ok, so you're a crustacean talking about polygamy. Go!"

Because everything is written from Pepe's perspective, none of the advice is actually good advice. That puts this book in a different category from Kermit's recent books, "It's Not Easy Being Green" and "Before You Leap," both of which double as an entertaining Muppet romp and an inspirational gift for high school graduates. Therefore, I can't figure out who the audience for this book is. It's not funny enough for the joke book crowd, it's not uplifting enough for the self-help people, it's not kid friendly enough for the young 'uns, it's not small enough for a stocking stuffer. As far as I can tell, I'm the only one in the demographic, and I've already got mine.

I'm guessing that Pepe's opus was only written for one reason: to have a book to sit in between "Before You Leap" and the upcoming Miss Piggy book, "The Diva Code." There are a lot of completists out there (yours truly included) who might want one of each of the series. And while that's a little sad for those of us who will get this book and never bother to open it, it might give hope that a book by Fozzie or Gonzo or Statler and Waldorf or Crazy Harry might be around the corner. Though hopefully they'll take a hint and avoid the inspirational genre. Kermit can pull it off. Greedy, slutty prawns can't.

Sorry to say, this book is not recommended. Unless you are Jim Lewis' parents, in which case you should be nice and support your son.
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Labels: books, review

The following article was written by Tough Pigs' close, personal friend Peter Papazoglou. Thanks for the review, Peter!


As a loyal and - let's face it - masochistic fan of the Muppets, you have no doubt had the pleasure of reading my girlfriend Leah's review of Studio DC: Almost Live. So it should come as a surprise of John-McCain-endorses-Barack-

Labels: Disney, guest bloggers, Muppets on TV, review

Sid the Science Kid is a new children's show about the son of Bill Nye the Science Guy. No, that's not true. The show is about an inquisitive little boy who is rarely found without his toy microphone, and who wants to know "everything about everything." It's produced by the Jim Henson Company using the Henson Digital Performance System (which is a magical spell that turns puppetry into computer animation), and it premiered on on PBS last month. I sat down to watch the first four episodes to see if I learned anything about anything.

So, what's the first episode about? When I was a kid, I was really into dinosaurs, so maybe it's about dinosaurs. Oh, or germs. Those are cool. Or maybe something about fire? Kids love setting stuff on fire! We open on Sid in his room, and he tells us that today's show is about... charts!

Huh. Okay, I guess it's useful for kids to learn about charts. Sid wants to know, "Why do we need charts?" Of course, it would take a kid to ask a question like that, because to a grown-up it's very obvious why we need charts. We need them because... well, it's... when you use the Pythagorean... um... Well, I know why we need charts, but I'm not going to say anything so I don't spoil this episode for anyone.

Now Sid's mom calls him downstairs for Breakfast Time, and we meet Sid's family. I read a review somewhere that mentioned Sid's parents being multi-ethnic. I don't think I would have even noticed otherwise, but it seems to be true. That's pretty cool, and it ensures that the character will be easily identifiable for kids with one yellow parent and one orange parent. Is it weird that I think Sid's mom is a little bit hot? Actually, forget I said that.

Speaking of Sid, there's something about him that reminds me of the comedian Patton Oswalt. Is it his voice? (Sid is voiced and digitally puppeteered by Drew Massey.) Is it his pleasantly round face? I'm not sure, but I like to think they'd get along. Oswalt could make jokes about food while Sid asked about the preservatives in his Fruity Pebbles.























Sid learns more about charts at breakfast, but he still remembers to eat. I'm guessing they'll make sure to show Sid eating a healthy breakfast in every episode, at least until they decide to do a show in which Sid asks the question, "What will happen to me if I eat this 4-month-old burrito I found in the back of the refrigerator for breakfast?" Then his Mom drives him to school, and he sings a song as he finds his friends on the playground. The animation here is pretty great -- they're all moving like real kids, and there are camera moves and everything. I don't understand exactly how digital puppetry works (maybe that's a question for Dan the Computer Animation Expert Man), but I'm guessing this sequence involved some full-body motion capture.

Sid's friends are Gerald (a goofball who, in real life, would be prescribed methylphenidate), Gabriella (who wears a skirt AND jeans, a bold fashion statement), and May, who's a bit spacey. The characterization doesn't go very deep, but they all represent types you would probably encounter in preschool. I know my preschool had a Gerald. Come to think of it, though, I'm not sure they're in preschool. It could conceivably be kindergarten. In the four episodes I watched, I don't think they ever said how old Sid is. Also, why are there only four children in Sid's class? Is it an extremely exclusive private school, or just a sparsely populated area? More importantly, who cares?

So then it's "Rug Time," which means time for class to start, with Sid's teacher Susie. It seems awfully informal that they just call their teacher "Susie" -- not even a "Ms." -- but whatever. And they talk about charts. What else? After watching four episodes, I noticed that Sid seems to dictate every day's curriculum. Wait a minute, what kind of school is this? Does Susie ever even bother coming up with a lesson plan, or does she just wait to see what Sid wants to talk about? Then she takes all the kids to the "Super Fab Lab" and has them scribble something to do with charts in their science notebooks.

After that, it's playtime, which means it's time for "Good Laughternoon." Now, kids under the age of 8 have never heard of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-in. (Heck, most kids under the age of 42 have never heard of Laugh-in.) So they won't realize that Good Laughternoon is an homage/ripoff of one of that show's famous bits, as Sid and friends open multi-colored, multi-shaped doors on their playscape and tell... well, they're not real jokes, exactly. Henson keeps promoting Sid as a "comedy show" for kids, but this kind of stuff makes it seem more like a comedy show by kids. Here are some examples from the four episodes I watched:


Okay, so maybe that last one is a little bit funny. But you see what I mean. Sure, these sound like jokes made up by children, so it's accurate enough. But it indicates that this will not be one of those kids' shows that parents will look forward to watching with their kids. On the other hand, there also plenty of adult characters who talk more or less like adults, and the show's obnoxious, so parents won't run away screaming from it either. So I guess that's okay. But the fact that Sid often has to click the laugh track button on his toy microphone to let us know something is supposed to be a joke is telling.

Where was I? I guess I kinda blew all my critque in that last paragraph. Oh, right: Soon it's Time for Susie to Sing, and she takes Sid's microphone and whips out a catchy pop song about the day's subject; in this case, charts. In the episode about magnifying small things, she sings a song about magnifying glasses, and in the estimation show she sings about estimating. So

I take back what I said about Susie earlier -- Despite letting a little boy decide what the lesson for the day will be, she apparently goes to the trouble of memorizing an endlesss number songs that pertain to the subject he might choose on any given day. She has no idea what the class might be talking about from day to day, but she apparently has a song prepared for every occasion. Now that's dedication.

After school, Sid is picked up by his Grandma, who happens to be the show's best character. She asks Sid about what he learned in school, and she chuckles to herself a lot, as any self-respecting nutty old lady would. And when Sid explains his chore chart reward system, she pointedly explains that when she was Sid's age she was expected to do chores without any kind of reward. I like Grandma. I want a Grandma spinoff.

After dinner with his family, Sid returns to his room, where he comes up with today's Super Duper Ooper Schmooper Big Idea. (You may or may not recall that when this series was first announced as being in development, it was called What's the Big Idea?) Today's idea: A really big chart. Yep, that's a big idea all right.

And that's the show. If nothing else, it's impressive that they filled 30 minutes with nothing but charts. When Elmo talks about feet or bathtubs or clothes or whatever, he only does 15 minutes.

And yeah, I watched the other three episodes, and I was going to describe them in detail here, but I think you get the idea. Every episode seems to follow the same basic format, with some variation: Sid's intro, then Breakfast Time, then Looking for Friends (with a minute and 35 seconds of recycled animation every show!), Rug Time, Super Fab Lab, Playtime, Susie sings, Grandma, family time, and the Super Gooper Hooper Pooper Big Idea.

Oh, and each episode begins with Sid asking a question that presents the theme. Basically, he's the Carrie Bradshaw of budding scientists. "How do roly polys move?" "How many seashells are in my jar?" "How can I use my ruler to measure a whale?" "How do you know if you're good in bed?" Hmm... I think one of those might actually be from Sex and the City, but I have no idea which one.

So it's not a groundbreaking show, but it has a very specific goal -- to get kids interested in the idea of science as something you do, rather than something you read about -- and I think it'll hit that goal. And yes, I learned something: In the second episode, Sid's dad reveals that roly polys (aka "doodle bugs") are crustaceans, not insects. I don't think I knew that.

They even get into a few more complicated lessons, like the concept of "non-standard measurements," which is impressive. I have to wonder if the target audience will understand it all, but I'm sure they've done their research. And hey, getting kids excited about science can't be a bad thing.

Unless they blow themselves up. That would be bad.

Click here to comment on this article, to talk about Sid the Science Kid, and to measure some whales, all on the Tough Pigs forum!

Labels: Jim Henson Company, other Muppet/Henson shows, review

Not content to keep to one country, Sesame Street has cloned, doppleganged, and otherwise duplidupliduplicated itself into over 30 co-productions all over the world. Each one has its own set of characters, but the jury is still out on how many provinces and commonwealths exist within Elmo’s World.

To celebrate the international aspect of all things Sesame, Putamayo Kids has released “Sesame Street Playground,” a CD chock full of songs from Streets around the world. Also included with the CD is an extensive booklet with liner notes and a bonus DVD.

The CD contains music from Sesamstraat (The Netherlands), Takalani Sesame (South Africa), Zhima Jie (China), 5 rue Sesame (France), Ulitsa Sezam (Russia), Plaza Sesamo (Mexico), Galli Galli Sim Sim (India), Shara’a Simsim (Palestine), Rechov Sumsum (Israel), Kilimani Sesame (Tanzania), Vila Sesamo (Brazil), and of course, good old USA, home of the Whopper.
The music itself is pretty great. I only wish I spoke all of these different languages so I could get that much more out of it. The theme songs to Sesamstraat and Galli Galli Sim Sim are both included, which sound remarkably familiar. We also get the Chinese version of "Rubber Duckie" and the Brazilian version of "One Small Voice." The rest of the songs are catchy, but not as familiar to American audiences.

Something I don’t always take special notice of is the liner notes. In this case, a full booklet is included, featuring a brief synopsis of each song (which is important if you don’t know what “Ohgneyat Al Lo’ba Al Sha’beyya” means) and translations into Spanish, French, and German. The notes are cute and informative, and now I’ve figured out how to say “Mr. Noodle” in four languages!

The cover, in my opinion, could use a little improvement. As you can see, it looks like a watercolor painting done by the artiest 10-year-old in the class. It doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of the Sesame Street library, but after looking at some of Putamayo Kids’ other releases, it definitely fits in well with those. I’d assume that this album would have a better release with other international titles rather than Sesame albums, but it might have been nice to have something eye-catching to both demographics. Still, I’m perplexed by Cookie Monster’s hovering cookie basket, Zoe’s claw feet, and why half of the characters included on the cover don’t appear in the album at all.
By far, my favorite song on the album is Takalani Sesame’s “Pollution Song,” which is one of the songs included on the bonus DVD. Part of the song is in English (one of 11 languages spoken on the show), which makes it a little easier to follow. I like the design of Moshe, the walkaround character, and the low, gravelly voice of Zikwe (the blue monster) fills out the song nicely in a way we don’t often hear on our Street. The song also includes everyone’s favorite Muppet to help create false rumors, Kami, in the only clip I’ve seen of her that didn’t involve a lesson about being HIV positive.

Also notable is Rechov Sumsum’s “En Den Dino,” which features Ronnie Rock, an Israeli children’s performer who doesn’t look anything like his name should be “Ronnie Rock.” The chorus has mostly nonsense words, which makes it easy to enjoy, although if you’re listening to a song to which you don’t recognize the language, it’ll all be nonsense to you anyway. Still, the inclusion of this song saddens me, if only for the fact that we didn’t get an appearance by Moishe Oofnik.

Two songs from Sesame Street USA made it onto the album: “Elmo’s Song” and “Sing.” I suppose the former was included to forgive the fact that Elmo is on the cover (as is with most Sesame releases these days), though I would have preferred one extra international song. I did enjoy the inclusion of “Sing,” which is sung in both English and Spanish, making for a proper fit in this compilation. Wiki fact: Did you know that Emilio Delgado wrote the Spanish translation for “Sing”? Es verdad!

The only dud of the 5 DVD tracks is “The Song of Caretakers” from Ulitsa Sezam. The video features Na-Na, which, as far as I can tell, is the Russian equivalent of The Wiggles. The song is pretty much a music video for these guys, and Muppets don’t even show up until we’re two minutes into the three minute song. On top of it all, it’s the third song out of the five to feature a regional celebrity, rather than spotlighting the best of the puppet characters.

In all, I found the CD and DVD to be most fun. Since I don’t have the biggest interest in foreign language music, I doubt it’ll jump off my shelf too often, but that doesn’t mean it’s not well-done or entertaining. The one reason I would bring it out again and again would be for the DVD portion. If Putamayo Kids or Sesame Workshop decide to release another volume, I would hope that they’d make it a DVD with a bonus CD, rather than the other way around. I haven’t seen much of the international characters, and they’ve teased me enough to make me want more.

All said and done, I would recommend the album, but only if your heart yearns for world music. If not, then a second listen may not be in your future.

Sesame Street Playground will be available in stores on September 30.
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Labels: DVD, music, review, Sesame Street

Today's article was written by ToughPigs' own Leah Hooper. Special thanks to Leah for all her hard work!

Last night I sat down to watch a television special that recently aired on the Disney Channel. Entitled Studio DC: Almost Live!, the show purported to feature the Muppets, which is how I came to be watching the program to begin with.

First, some background: I'm a fan of the Muppets, but not a Fan. My boyfriend, Peter, is the Fan in our house. He knows which episode of The Muppet Show featured Clive Cahuenga; I can't tell the difference between Clifford and Jar Jar Binks. But I watched Sesame Street and The Muppet Show as a kid—the latter with my parents, who would laugh at mysterious jokes that eluded me and suggested that the comely, curious puppets on screen were more than just kids' stuff. So I've always had an affection for—if not an encyclopedic knowledge of—Hensonia and its inhabitants. Which brings us to Studio DC.

Joining us for the viewing were two other Muppet Fans who, like Peter, were anxious if unoptimistic about possibilities of Studio DC: Almost Live!. Watching these fans await the premiere of this new Muppet endeavor was a little like watching the law of entropy in action: no matter how excited you want to be or how well you want it to end, you know the chaotic tragedy is predestined. Outside Sesame Street, which continues ("Elmo's World" notwithstanding—just ask a baby) to live up to its legacy as outstanding programming, it seems that many recent Muppet offerings continue not just to disappoint but to be lost in a frenetic, Disney-crafted phantasmagoria of cross-marketed incoherence. It was in this tradition, and not in the beauty of "Turn the World Around" or the sanguine whimsy of Gilda Radner and the Seven-Foot-Tall Talking Carrot, that Studio DC continued.

The show begins with an announcer oozing Cool™ over a pre-fabricated bass beat that I can only assume was meant to indicate to the pre-teen audience that this is not your older cousin's (no, not that one; the one who just started at Arizona State—yeah, that one) Disney Channel. You know, the Disney Channel that actually showed Disney cartoons and had no commercials. But whatever.

Then the hosts come out, Cole and Dylan Sprouts, or something like that. They're starring in a show on the Disney Channel that I think is supposed to be, like, if Eloise had a sex change and instead of running around the Plaza bossed around her single mom and a black guy. As the hosts arrive on screen, I realize that I saw them in Big Daddy. I don't know who the other kid is, but I swear the one of the left is Adam Sandler. Only he got fat. Pepe and Rizzo show up and tell a joke that could have been written by a baby seal, post-clubbing.

Next, Billy Ray Cyrus sings part of a song. Where's the rest of the song? Maybe he's hiding it in his soul patch for later. Then Billy Ray's daughter, Rhoda Minnesota or something, sings her hit song called "G.N.U.," a ballad about a party-loving equine mammal. Her back-up band was the Electric Mayhem, but they seemed a little more like the Battery-Powered Tameness. At least Animal got a chance to cop a feel on Billy Ray's daughter. I wish Annie Leibovitz had gotten a photo of that.

I started to suspect that things were going downhill when I could actually understand something the Swedish Chef said. And the situation only got worse. Have you noticed that I've not mentioned the Muppets much? That's because Studio DC didn't either. Zac Efron got more play, and he wasn't even there.

A plot rubbed its sleepy eyes, looked around, tried to muster the strength to get up and start the day but ultimately decided to hit the snooze and stay in bed for the rest of the show. So much the better; I wouldn't want the product placement to get obstructed.

Then an Olympics-themed commercial aired for the Disney Games, featuring the Cheetah Girls. Are they the ones who sing "Don't You Wish Your Girlfriend Was Legal Like Me?" In any case, I'm glad to see the Disney Channel is building a cavalcade of players that I'm sure will rival "Your Show of Shows" in the glory days. With more lip-synching, of course.

Studio DC recommences, and I'm starting to feel like I need something to restore my faith in mankind and my optimism about the future. Say, a mushroom cloud? A speech from Dubya? A Seth Green movie?

Now Ashley Tisdale shows up and asks Kermit, "Where's Miss Piggy?" My thoughts exactly. Presently Titsdale shimmies around speaking white-lady-talking-to-gardener Spanish and THEN THERE IS AN AMAZING PIECE OF PUPPETEERING WHEN STEVE WHITMIRE MAKES KERMIT DO A KICK. Mucho gusto, indeed.

A few minutes later, Miss Piggy joins the Jonas Brothers for a song. The Jonas Brothers, as you may know, made a fortune last year in cloning and then spent it all in waxing services and Hot Topic merchandise. And I notice that Piggy, unlike the Jonases, isn't wearing a promise ring. The whore.

And then Adam Sandler and his co-host show up and I think the show ended. At least that's when credits came up and Statler and Waldorf started cracking jokes. This was the part that hurt the most, because it made the distance between Studio DC and The Muppet Show all the more glaring, since The Muppet Show is where Statler and Waldorf's choleric heckling began and ripened to full vaudevillian juiciness. Maybe it's because Peter and I have been watching so many episodes of The Muppet Show, which represent, to my inexpert audience mind, a television Camelot of Muppetdom, full of artistic and comical beauty so great that it imbued even a bulbous nine-foot blue monster with a kind of knightly comeliness. Whatever the reason, watching Studio DC: Almost Live felt like seeing Jackie Kennedy trawling the Port Authority area, with one tooth, offering to do the no-pants dance with you for a pack of Newports. You keep trying to reconcile this image with the older one, the better one, and they simply don't match up.

But like I said, I'm not a Muppet Fan, I'm a fan. That's why I don't jump at any chance to see the puppets doing, say, an appearance on The View or selling Ginsu knives on QVC. I want the Muppets, and they were nowhere to be seen in Studio DC: Almost Live. And, no, it doesn't deserve the exclamation point. Period.
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Labels: Disney, guest bloggers, Muppets on TV, review

Labels: Muppet performers, music, review

This past Sunday, I had the amazing opportunity to attend the New York Toy Fair, where all of the toy companies come out to show their wares. ToughPigs' own Martha and Andrea were with me as we used our finely-tuned Sixth Sense to spot anything with a Sesame or Muppet logo. And that Sixth Sense was invaluable, as there were hundreds upon hundreds of booths. We were lucky enough to see some great toys that are coming out in the next year, and what kind of friend would I be if I didn't share the news? A pretty crummy friend, that's what. Well, crummy ain't in my profile, so here's some fun things to whet your whistle.

Master Replicas/Corgi

It's times like these that I wish I had a business card with the ToughPigs logo. Because dropping the "I write for a Muppet fan website" shout-out is apparently good enough to get us inside Corgi's closed doors, but not good enough to take pictures or ask detailed questions. Thankfully someone out there was able to grab photos, so you can see what I'm talking about.

The Kermit, Animal, Gonzo, and Fozzie Master Replicas photo puppets were on display. It was the first time I'd seen the Animal, Gonzo and Fozzie ones up close. There's a lot of good to be said for Animal, though I'm still convinced that his facial hair is all wrong. But the ostridge feathers are very pretty, and they flow like he's alive when there's a breeze. Gonzo looks great, with the exception of his nose, which is not-so-arguably the most important feature to get right. I understand the problems that arise when using foam, but I would have much preferred if they caved in and built a nose out of hard plastic. Fozzie, as TP's own Martha put it, makes up for all of the ugly Fozzie merchandise we've ever had. He's beautiful and perfect. I can't think of anything bad to say about him. He's a little shorter than I pictured him, but it fits with the sizes of the other photo puppets. I can only hope that he's affordable, as I pretty much need to own one.


The other Muppet product in Corgi's hidden room was five small Electric Mayhem figurines. They were very pretty, but the design was just flawed enough to make a shopper second-guess. The person I spoke to didn't have any details, but she said that the figures will be sold on the higher-end. Meaning that if they aren't perfect, and they're a little more expensive, they'll probably sell approximately 3 of them. And they'll all be Animal, because everyone loves Animal. Eat drums.



Gund

The Gund showroom was also closed to the public, so we decided to be sneaky and see how much we could see before someone noticed us. Most of the toys were nothing new. Dolls and puppets and some Abby Cadabby stuff. What caught my eye was a beautiful Count von Count doll. He really looked just like the puppet, and I'll shell out some dough for it. Another new (to me, at least) item I saw was Twiddlebug finger puppets. It's an idea so natural, I'm upset with myself for not thinking of it first. At that point, someone realized that we weren't important and we were shown the door. Well, the joke's on you, Gund, because I'm promoting your products anyway! Ha HA!

MINDstyle/Dark Horse

MINDstyle and Dark Horse had two booths across from each other, so forgive me if I didn't bother to tell them apart. They had all of the City Critters out on display, which are very nice. Not quite as Muppety as I'd like, but they're fun little toys. There were three Dark Crystal statues on display, including a pretty statue of Jen and Kira with the Crystal Shard. But the highlights were the Fraggle Rock toys.


First off, there is an 8" Doozer. And he's beautiful. Though Doozers are so simple, I'd imagine they'd be hard to mess up (I'm sure that won't stop the toy companies from trying). They had just received the Doozer that morning, so they didn't have any details yet, but they said he will probably be on a slightly higher-end than an action figure. I'll do some research to try and find out more about it.


The other Fraggle surprise was the upcoming Fraggle Rock blind-boxed figures. They're maybe about 2 1/2" tall, slightly stylized, and very very pretty. Characters include: Gobo, Mokey, Wembley, Boober, Red, Traveling Matt, two Doozers on a Doozer construction, the Trash Heap's head, Pa Gorg's head, Sprocket's head (with bowl), and two generic Fraggles. I'm a little surprised that they included the two generic Fraggles above Junior or Ma Gorg, Cantus, Convincing John, or even some sort of variant (Boober dressed as the Old Gypsy Lady?). The other strange part is that each character is placed on top of an alphabet block. I'd think that these would be marketed toward an older crowd, so the "educational" value might be better left off. Plus, I have no idea what learning letters has to do with Fraggle Rock. But other than that, these figures are terrific, and I can't wait to own them. I'm not excited about the blind-boxes, but a Muppet fan's gotta do what a Muppet fan's gotta do. And that's spend a lot of money.

Toy Vault

The good people at Toy Vault were nice enough to let me take pictures, so I'll let them speak for themselves. And in case my photo skillz aren't good enough for you, here you'll see a pillow with the Dark Crystal logo, a plush Fizzgig (with giant, scary opening mouth), plush of Rygel from Farscape, Labyrinth Door Knocker plush (I can only assume the other one will be produced as well), and a Talking Ludo plush (unfortunately, the demo didn't have the voice chip yet, but he's adorable anyway).



Deal Makers

This is a Dutch company that makes Sesamstraat wooden toys like scooters, toy trains, toy cars, and the like. Their American counterpart will soon be selling these toys (with the Sesame Street logo, I'd wager), and I happen to think they're cutie patootie. I especially like the cars, which wobble as they roll. They've got a vintage look to them, and I'm a sucker for toys that don't even try to be "realistic". Just a wooden ball with Ernie's face painted on it, that's all I need. Also pictured are some Sesamstraat bicycle bells. Not yo-yo's, as I originally assumed.




Putumayo Kids

The last booth we visited was Putumayo Kids, which specializes in international CDs and DVDs. They had a video playing of their new release, called "Sesame Street Playground," which is a compilation of songs and skits from all of the different Sesame Street productions from around the world (subtitled for the mono-lingualled like myself). The video looked like a lot of fun, and it's always interesting to see Elmo trouncing about in some foreign nation. The DVD will come packaged with a CD, so get ready for some new-to-us material from Sesame Workshop! The art in the image is the final album art without the text added yet.


Unfortunately, we were not able to get access to the Fisher Price room where they were unveiling the new Elmo Live doll. But you can see some video of the unbelievable living Elmo here.

So, I hope you enjoyed this quick review of Toy Fair, and I hope you feel like you were there too. If you do, you owe me $8 for the cab. C'mon man, we said we were splitting it! Don't be that guy.

Click here to get all excited over toys that won't hit the shelves for another 8 months on the ToughPigs forum!

Labels: DVD, Fraggle Rock, merchandise, Photo Puppets, review, Sesame Street

Come, my darlings, and let me read you a story. It’s a story full of magic, suspense, clinical depression, sombreros, the bastardization of Christmas, and one Very Brief Cameo.

Once upon a time, as far back as you or I can remember, even as far back as November, 2007, a mediocre movie premiered called Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium. The movie starred a very old Willy Wonka and his magical Wal-Mart. He is joined by the weird girl from Garden State and Teen Wolf Jr. Oh, and that kid who wouldn’t take a shower in Wet Hot American Summer.

You may ask yourself, “What sort of craziness will come of the unification of such minds?” Well yourself, nothing short of the finest art imaginable! That is, assuming “finest” means “below par, and slightly painful.” If that’s what you meant, then you were right on target. Sorry if you thought.. y’know, skip it. Just try not and get your hopes up.

In the should-have-been-straight-to-DVD Blockbuster hit, Mr. MacGonacle’s Wonderful Monacle, a crazy old man hangs out with kids, prophesizes his own death, watches his store (read: not a euphemism for his libido, we swear.. no, really) crumble to pieces, and (SPOILER ALERT) dies, passing all of his responsibilities (read: debt) along to his daughter-like protégé. I assure you, none of the story has anything to do with why you’re reading about this on a Muppet fan site.

About 14 minutes into the film, in the middle of a montage of what it would be like to hang out in a store like this without parental supervision, money, school, or brand names, our very own Kermit the Frog makes a cameo as himself.

I now present to you the full scene of Kermit’s appearance.

INTERIOR, DAY

KERMIT THE FROG ENTERS AISLE CARRYING A SHOPPING BASKET

KERMIT (BROWSING): Ooh. Aha.

KERMIT NOTICES KIDS

KIDS (STARING LIKE THEY’VE NEVER SEEN A TALKING FROG BEFORE): Tee hee.

KERMIT: Heya. Just, uh, (NODS) uh, shopping. (MORE NODS) Shopping. (EVEN MORE NODS) Just, um, shopping.

KERMIT EXITS

And 13 glorious seconds after it began, it is all over. The movie, in case you were wondering, has another hour and 15 minutes to go, which is sufficient time to think of about 11,000 better ways to have spent your $10.75.

So, would I recommend Mr. Willowby’s Wonder Tree? Ye gods, yes! 13 seconds of Muppets in a feature film is the most screentime they’ve gotten since 1999! Totally worth sitting through Dustin Hoffman’s Bugs Bunny impression.

By which I mean, please don’t go see this movie. Kermit will be just fine without the proceeds of this film. If he can survive that cameo in Glitter, he can survive anything.

Click here to come up with more funny words that sounds like "Magorium" on the ToughPigs forum!

Labels: Muppet movies, review

Quite often, I find myself sitting at my desk, looking slightly to the right so I can't see my wall calendar (which features pictures of people ironing in dangerous locations), and slightly below the vantage point of my computer monitor, and I can't help but wonder what day it is. Here is where I take note of my options. I can either stick my head out the window and sing "O Solo Mio" until someone shouts "Are you crazy?? It's 2:30 in the morning on Tuesday, December 9th!" or I can consult my brand new Day-At-A-Time Muppet calendar!

That's right, for the Muppet fan who can't stand to see the same picture for more than 24 hours, you can now head out to your local Amazon.com retailer and purchase a year's worth of calendar.

Right there on the front of the box, the calendar is advertised as having "Full Color on Every Page". And thankfully, they aren't guilty of false advertising here. If they were, I'd sue their pants off. Though that'd be pretty easy since many of the Muppets are already sans pants.

Aside from the colors, the pictures themselves are pretty impressive. At first glance, it just looks like a bunch of poser shots we've seen 100 times before. But at second and third glance, I didn't see many repeated images, plus a significant amount that I'd never seen before. Flipping through right now, I see Piggy on a carousel, Kermit as Galileo, and a picture that looks like the Swedish Chef is smoking a joint. Wait, forget I was ever amazed by that last one.

A word of caution from ToughPigs forum member and all-around nice guy Jimmy: "It seems like the variation of the pictures is pretty good, but towards the end they repeat images, sometimes for several days in a row. August 26-September 7 show "A spotlight on Statler and Waldorf," and the images consist of just two poser pics, alternated for all the days. On November 3-7, there is a list of all Muppet show guest stars, and while the accompanying picture is one I have never seen, it is repeated for all of those days. Despite this, the overall variety is pretty good and the calendar does have quite a few pictures I had never seen before. " Thanks, Jimmy!

The calendar also claims to have "Everything You Ever Wanted To Know, But Didn't Know Who to Ask." First of all, for those of you who actually don't know where to go for Muppet trivia, may I direct you to the Muppet Wiki? No? Ok, moving right along...

A secret squirrel has informed me that long-time Muppet writer Jim Lewis was tagged to help write up the trivia for the calendar. Although Jim (whoever wrote the text) probably could have entered some Morsel-worthy trivia into the calendar, we're left with trivia bits like Who-is-Scooter? and "Say, who were the celebrity guests in season 2 of The Muppet Show?" All easily attainable information for anyone with Google at their fingertips.

And speaking of trivia, we should only hope that the trivia in the calendar is all correct. While scanning a few random pages for this article, I found one that asks "Which of these Muppets was created first?", in which the upside-down answer claims that Rowlf debuted before Kermit. According to the Muppet Wiki, Kermit was built a full seven years before Rowlf. A minor quibble, but another example of how the Muppet Wiki is better than just about everything else in the world.

After having the calendar for almost two weeks now, I've gotten over my high expectations for brilliant Muppet trivia and focused more on having a great Muppet picture every single day, and I'm loving it. I look forward to the end of the day when I can tear off that picture of Sam the Eagle and find a new image of Clifford. It's what they should have been giving us every year for the last 10 years. Daily Muppets.

Highly recommended, for people who like days.

Click here once a day to discuss this article on the ToughPigs forum!

Labels: merchandise, review

Guess who's nominated for a Grammy? If you guessed "the Muppets," you're correct! (If you guessed "Amy Winehouse," you're also correct, but that's not who I'm going to write about, at least not today.) Last year's album A Green and Red Christmas was nominated for Best Musical Album for Children. Now, this CD came out way back in October of 2006... so what better time to review it than December 2007? So join me, won't you, as I make some hot chocolate and listen to this year's only Grammy nominee that features a song by a prawn.

Labels: awards, Christmas, music, review

Over the past year, Sesame Workshop has been very kind to us, providing us with oodles of classic Sesame Street DVDs which remind us of simpler times before Oscar was green, before Cookie Monster had a neck, and when Bob wore shirts that could now be used as road flares.

It's almost amazing that the now 74-year-old Bob is still hanging out with the monsters and kids and monster-kids on that inner city street. You'll be happy to hear that not only is he sticking around, he's not planning on slowing down any time soon.

Bob has recorded at least 10 albums over the past 37 years, and his newest album #11 is Christmas Sing Along, filled with, you guessed it, Christmas songs. Now, as an uneducated Jewish boy, I was admittedly a little hesitant in buying this album. I can count the number of Christmas-related albums I've bought on one finger (that'd be Muppet Christmas Carol, for those of you keeping score). Growing up, we felt like we heard the same three Christmas songs over and over, and somehow we still never learned the words to them (seriously, a verse about figgy pudding? You're making that up...) And while Bob's new CD might not have much of a re-listenability factor for year-round enjoyment, he did make one heck of an album.

The very first thing I noticed about the album is that Bob has a wonderful wonderful voice. It's smooth and light, confident and positive, yet devoid of arrogance. And considering Bob is pushing 3/4 of a century, he still sounds just as he did back in the 70s. If I didn't know better, I'd assume that this was a reissued album, found in a time capsule left to us by the ToughPigs of yesteryear.

Likewise, his backup band is terrific. The only name I recognize in the liner notes is Blue Lou Marini, from the Saturday Night Live Band and the Blues Brothers Band, but they all do a terrific job when you stop to listen. There's no MIDI files here, folks. I can definitely hear some jazz influence in the background of about half of the songs, giving parents a little something to appreciate in case your kids insist on listening to this album over and over and over. Which they might.

While many of the songs are pretty straight-forward Christmas carols, my favorite by far is the novelty song, "What a Great Christmas It Was," which tells the story about Santa accidentally switching presents. So Grandma gets a yo-yo, the dog gets underwear, and Dad becomes a cross dresser. Um, you just have to hear the song. It's greatness songified.

Also included on this album is the Sesame Street classic, "Keep Christmas With You." And while it's not the same without Linda signing the lyrics, it's still nice to hear a new version.

Back on December 7, I was lucky enough to see Bob perform at a Barnes and Noble in promotion of the new CD. Being the technologically devoid person I am, I bought a disposable camera (which still has like 20 pictures left on it.. sorry, you won't be seeing those for a while) and I took some video footage with my cell phone. It's only 14 seconds, and there's a kid screaming behind me, and the quality is like I'm shooting in an underwater smoking lounge... y'know what, I just suck as a cameraman. Enjoy the video of Bob singing "Keep Christmas With You," and if you like Christmas, go buy this CD. You won't regret it.

Click here to discuss Seven Swans A-Swimming on the ToughPigs forum!

Labels: music, review, Sesame Street, Sesame Street humans

Thanksgiving is almost here! Do you know what I'm thankful for? Well yeah, okay, I'm thankful for underwear, but do you know what else? I'm thankful for the Fraggle Rock Complete Third Season DVD set. I realize it came out way back in September, but I'm still thankful for it. I am so full of thanks that I slosh when I walk, and I'm going to tell you about it:

I'm Thankful for Episodes I've Never Seen Before. With each new complete season release I grow closer, ever closer, to having seen all 96 episodes. I'll be sad when there are no more left for me to discover, because there are no other good television shows available on DVD. But until then, it's fun to see episodes that are new-to-me, and this season has some real doozies (Not to mention some real Doozers.)

In "The Beanbarrow, the Burden and the Bright Bouquet," Red's life is threatened by voracious foliage and she responds by singing a lullaby to a potted plant. In "Playing Till It Hurts," we meet Rock Hockey Hannah, probably the only Fraggle ever to wear earrings. Who knew they even HAD ears? "Scared Silly" is one of the weaker episodes of the season, but it is notable for affording a rare opportunity to see Boober acting like a total jerkwad. And "Bored Stiff" is a great episode that's really representative of the Fraggle/Gorg relationship... I'd put it on a list of episodes to show a Fraggle neophyte.

I'm Thankful for Episodes I Know and Love. I was a kid and fan of Fraggle Rock during its original run, but I didn't have HBO. Heck, my hometown didn't even have cable yet. I had four channels to choose from, and if the picture got fuzzy, I had to climb up on the roof and adjust the antenna. And I was four years old! So I relied on tapes of Fraggle Rock recorded by my awesome, big-city-dwelling, HBO-having aunt.

A number of those episodes are present here: There's "Wembley and the Mean Genie," with an outstanding performance by Richard Hunt as a genie who's nowhere near as sexy or eager to please as Barbara Eden, although it should be noted that you can't see his belly button either, but it's not so much because of censors as it is because he's a puppet. There's "Boober and the Glob" -- the first Fraggle episode I ever saw, back before I even knew that Fraggles were Muppets -- in which Boober, who can't tell a joke to save his life, has to tell a joke to save someone else's life. "The Secret Society of Poobahs" is here too, with a terrific and occasionally side-splitting Jerry Juhl-penned script about Mokey's attempts to join the ranks of a secret society.

I'm Thankful for the Ever-expanding Universe. By this time all the characters were well-established, so the writers started exploring the world beyond the day-to-day lives of the five principals. There's an all-Gorg episode ("The Battle of Leaking Roof"), as well as two episodes with scenes that take place outside the confines of the Gorg's estate. "The Cavern of Dreams" and "Gunge the Great and Glorious" teach us about Doozer history and politics, and in "Born to Wander," we find out how Uncle Traveling Matt first became an explorer. We even get to see him without his moustache! (Spoiler: He looks weird.)

I'm Thankful for the Presentation of the DVD. We should all bake up some delicious brownies and send them to HIT Entertainment. For the third time now, they've given us a lovely package, suitable for viewing. The episodes all look and sound fine to me, although some of the colors occasionally seem too bright or too dull, but that might just be my TV. (I'll post a review of my TV here next week.)

And talk about extras! Okay, I will. After season one's replica of Jim Henson's brainstorming notebook and season two's copy of the Fraggle Rock pitch book, I was wondering what artifact might remain for inclusion here... a photo of Jerry Juhl's typewriter? A copy of Kathy Mullen's dry cleaning receipts? Well, those aren't here, but instead we get pages and pages of designer Michael Frith's sketches and concept drawings for "The Origin of the Rock." It's fascinating, it comes in a nifty-looking fake pouch, and it's all accompanied by Frith's commentary. Say, did you know that an early incarnation of the Trash Heap was originally conceived as a Sesame Street character? Neither did I -- until now! Just make sure you don't read these in front of an industrial fan, because they're just loose pages, easily susceptible to blowing away.

Oh, and did I mention the featurettes? I hope the producers of the Muppet Show season sets are paying attention, because this is the way to make fans happy. We'd be doing cartwheels and backflips to get this level of quality in our Muppet Show extras.

The 30-minute "Season 3 overview" would have been good enough, with new interview footage of the show's writers talking about how various episodes came to be. For example, "Believe It or Not" came about because writer Jocelyn Stevenson wanted to do an episode about the fact that we all create our own reality, and what you believe things is to be is the way you end up perceiving them. (Is this heavy stuff for a kids' show, or what?) And then you have your "How the heck did they do that?" technical shorts, and your new interviews, including one with Gerry Parkes, the actor who played Doc, and who seems like a wonderfully sweet old man.

As is perhaps obvious, I'm an enormous geek, and I devour any kind of behind-the-scenes footage, so the one featurette that comes as the biggest delightful surprise is "Scared Silly - Art Imitating Life," which is basically footage of the Fraggle folks sitting around talking about how much fun they used to have scaring the heck out of each other on the set. Really, watching the entire "bonus disc" feels like sitting in on a reunion of the cast and crew of the show as they reminisce about what a great few years the show was, and I don't know about you, but I can't think of a better way to spend an afternoon.

Having Said That... I'm trying to find something to complain about, but I gotta say, it's difficult. Actually, there is one thing that bugs me. So, there's a postcard from Uncle Traveling Matt in almost every episode of the series, right? Which means they had to come up with 90-something things for him to misunderstand. Apparently season three was when they started running out of good ideas. Rollercoasters and trains are funny, but lightswitches? Not as funny. One episode's postcard features Matt encountering a mirror and mistaking his reflection for an ugly creature who wants to steal his food. Come on. Matt's stupid, but doesn't it stretch credibility to suggest that he has no clue what he looks like?

So, Yeah. I'm thankful for the show, and I'm thankful for HIT, and I'm thankful for these DVDs. They may not taste as good as the mashed potatoes with gravy I'm planning eat on Thanksgiving, but on the other hand, they don't make a big mess when you put them in the DVD player.

Click here to discuss Fraggle Rock: Complete Third Season on the Tough Pigs forum!

Labels: DVD, Fraggle Rock, review

This week saw the debut of a brand-new project from the Jim Henson Company entitled Tinseltown. Tinseltown is a comedy series about a gay couple trying to get by in Hollywood , one of whom is a pig and the other of whom is a bull, both of whom are puppets. Bobby Vegan (the pig) is performed by Bill Barretta and Samson Knight (the bull) is performed by Brian Henson.

The show debuted last Friday as part of the gay-themed Logo cable network's "Alien Boot Camp" programming block. ("Alien Boot Camp" sounds like an Japanese cartoon series, doesn't it? Probably something about robotic pandas fighting skeletons in a submarine.) But if you missed it, you can watch it yourself right now, on the internet, by visiting the Alien Boot Camp website.

But should you watch it? Well, that depends... Do you find the following things funny: Puppets in bondage gear, 13-year-old children drinking beer, jokes about pigs having intimate relations with midgets? If so, this is the show for you. If not, you might want to stay away. Basically, it's a puppet show for people who believe comedy never needs to aim any higher than Comedy Central's Drawn Together, that a puppet uttering obscenities automatically constitutes "edgy" humor.

Tinseltown is a production of the Henson Company's new division, Henson Alternative, which focuses on adult-targeted projects. For short they're calling it ha!, the same abbreviation Jim Henson used back when his company was called Henson Associates. In those days, it was a pretty sure thing that anyone watching a ha! production would frequently make noises that sounded like the company's name, but sadly, that's much less likely with this newest venture. They try so very hard to be "adult" and "edgy"... in fact, they try too hard in their misguided attempt to reach the mature audience. I'm not saying they shouldn't produce stuff intended for that audience, but if they're going to try, it should be good stuff, or we'll all left wishing for an alternative to Henson Alternative.

The plot concerns Bobby, a struggling actor, skipping out on an audition arranged for him by Samson, his manager, so he can go shopping with Lena, a human woman who is Bobby's friend and Samson's ex-wife. Or... she's Samson's friend and Bobby's ex-wife. I don't remember, but it doesn't really matter, because she doesn't have a personality to speak of and all she really gets to do is get drunk. I realize this is only the first episode, so it could get better from here, but... look, I mean, one of the funniest jokes in the whole thing is that Samson & Bobby's foster son is named "Foster." I'm amazed there wasn't a line about Samson feeling "horny."

I have no idea if there are any other episodes forthcoming, or if this was just a one-time, tryout kind of thing or what, but I honestly can't say I'm glad I spent those 10 minutes (plus, like, 38 more minutes waiting for the freaking video to buffer...) watching Tinseltown.

Oh well... maybe the next gay-pig-and-bull-in-Hollywood show that comes along will be better.

Click here to comment on this article on the Tough Pigs forum!

Labels: Henson Alternative, other Muppet/Henson shows, review

Hey, remember when the Muppets used to make funny things? Cast your mind back. I have fond memories of those days, and I've been missing them terribly.

So here's an example. Gonzo and Rizzo are asked by an interviewer, "What is friendship?" And Gonzo says, "Well, if you look at, you know, from his point of view -- or, actually, cause you're asking from my point of view... Okay, well, from my point of view, I look at it, see, what I do is I look it through his point of view."

He goes on. "And when I'm looking through Rizzo's eyes at me, feeling things about him, to describe our friendship... then, what I'll do is, I'll get some therapy, and, uh..."

"Wait a second, wait a second," Rizzo interrupts.

Gonzo says, "Wait, what was the question?"

"This is a very complicated answer," Rizzo shrugs.

Gonzo explains that he's been in therapy for fifteen years. The interviewer asks, "Ever thought of changing your therapist?"

"I don't have a therapist," Gonzo says. "I do it myself."

"Self-therapy," Rizzo adds.

"Yeah," Gonzo nods. "It's cheaper that way."

And there you go, it's as easy as that. Point a camera at a couple of Muppets, and that's what they do; they act funny. Now that you think of it, it's amazing that they haven't tried it before.

This exchange, by the way -- I should explain where this exchange comes from -- it's from the new Muppet Show: Season Two DVD set, which is coming out next week. There's a bonus feature called "The Muppets on Muppets", which is twelve minutes of this kind of stuff.

Miss Piggy claims that she has a vacation house in Maine where she hosts elaborate parties. Fozzie asks Kermit why he gets so upset when he talks about Piggy. Pepe says that he has three secrets for success, which he calls Pepe's three secrets for success, okay, and he can't tell you the first one, because it's a secret. Animal, straining at the end of his chain, admits that he likes bunny rabbits.

It's just good stuff, good ol' fashioned Muppets being amusing type stuff. It feels like it's improvised -- but it might just be the kind of writing and performing that makes you think it's improvised. The performers slip right into these characters with a natural, easy charm, as if it hasn't been two years since their last movie.

Oh, and there's also some Muppet Show episodes on this set, a whole season's worth, and it's a great season, too. John Cleese is forced to sing "To Dream the Impossible Dream", Rudolf Nureyev performs "Swine Lake" with a giant pig ballerina, Miss Piggy hires Scooter to bribe the audience, Bernadette Peters sings "Just One Person" to cheer up Robin the Frog.

They're comfortable enough with the show at this point to start playing with the format, so they hold auditions for new acts in the Steve Martin episode, and the pigs take over the show in the Cloris Leachman episode. "Pigs in Space" is introduced, Beaker joins Bunsen Honeydew in the Muppet Labs skits, and the whole show just comes together in surprising and remarkable new ways. If you haven't seen these episodes in a long time -- this is where your fond memories of the show begin.

The episodes are uncut, which is unbelievably great, and they look gorgeous and clear. And The Muppet Valentine Show is on it, and the Weezer video. I even like the packaging; they didn't use the tired old ugly poser photos that have been ruining my day since 1999. I honestly can't say a bad thing about this set, and anybody who can is just being persnickety for the sake of it.

Remember when the Muppets were funny? They're being funny right now on my TV -- old funny stuff and new funny stuff, just like we've been waiting for. I love it. Make more of everything.

Labels: DVD, review, The Muppet Show

This is the third in a three-part series of articles in which Tough Pigs contributors take a look at The Dark Crystal. The first installment can be found here and the second can be found here.


It’s true, folks. I was privy to the same viewing of The Dark Crystal as TP’s own Ryan and Michal. And boy, do I have a lot to say about my first time seeing The Dark Crystal in several years. Unfortunately, Ryan and Michal have done a pretty thorough job at giving us some good reviews in great detail. So I don’t have much more to say on the subject.

But have you ever known me to be at a loss for words?

Rather than rehash what’s said and done (more said than done), I will bring to you, our beloved ToughPig readers, a list of sounds heard in The Dark Crystal that drive me crazy.

The Narrator. Sure, Joseph O’Conor did a smashing job with his Shakespearean-trained voice, but when you’ve got an old British man talking to you for 5 minutes with nothing on the screen, it’s easy to fall asleep even before the plot even gets the chance to sedate you.

The Mystiks. The first time we see the Mystiks, they start their rousing rendition of “Twist and Shout.” And I don’t know about you, but I can’t stand a bad Beatles cover of an Isley Brothers cover of a Topnotes song. That, and it makes my eardrums vibrate and explode. So there’s that.

The Dying Emperor. SkekSo, the Skeksis Emperor, begins the movie by dying a horrible, painful death. In doing so, he screams a lot. And by a lot, I mean a helluva lot. Why couldn’t he have died quietly like his Mystik counterpart? Maybe so we could hear Jerry Nelson’s Scred voice just one last time. In abundance.

The Garthim. Here is my impression of a Garthim. CLICKITY CLICKITY CLICKITY CLICKITY CLICK. Now pretend I’m repeating that for an hour.

Augrah. Remember that ancient great-great-aunt you had to visit every year? And remember how her scratchy voice scared the bejeezus out of you? And then you had to give her a kiss right near that hairy mole on her face? Well guess what. She’s been reborn as Augrah. Merry Christmas.

Fizzgig. He’s a little ball of fur and teeth that likes to scream at the top of his lungs. Once I get past the fact that he’s too small to have full-sized lungs, all I wanted to do was punt the critter across Thra. Maybe it would have been a more enjoyable sound if we could hear it fading into the distance.

Skeksis eating. I’m sorry, nobody needs to hear the sounds of large, wrinkled monsters chowing down on dinner without using utensils. Thankfully, we weren’t subjected to the deleted scene after the meal featuring the Skeksis in the bathroom.

Jen’s Flute. It’s actually quite lovely. But I just wanted him to break into "Stairway to Heaven." Is that too much to ask?

Those two fancy-dressed Skesis. Near the end of the movie, after they see Jen and Kira, they scream “GELFLINGS! GELFLINGS!” And it’s loud. And high-pitched. And completely unnecessary. And it makes me want to die a death more crumbly than the Emperor.

Honorable mentions: The Emperor turning to dust, Augrah’s face, the nekkid Chamberlain. These sights are so hideously ugly, they seems to speak louder than the above sounds. Yipes.

You may have noticed that I neglected to mention the Chamberlain’s incessant whimpering. Well, other than the fact that I would only be pointing out the obvious, maybe I like the Chamberlain’s voice. And maybe I dream at night about him saying “Yes! Please! Hmmmm! Please!” Right, and maybe I like having night terrors at the mere thought of the Chamberlain calling my cell phone.

Thanks for tuning in to our three-part series on The Dark Crystal. We hope you had as much fun reading it as we did breaking it down into little pieces and crushing them with a meat tenderizer. And then we set it on fire. Goodnight everybody!

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Labels: Creature Shop movies, review

This is the second in a three-part series of articles in which Tough Pigs contributors take a look at The Dark Crystal. The first installment can be found here.

Why, hello out there in TP-Land. My name is Michal. And I'm a Bad Muppet Fan.

Let me put that a little more elegantly. Until a few years ago, I had always considered myself to be a lover of Muppets - which, when I was little, meant watching the same eight episodes and two movies and listening to the same three records over and over and over again. Oh, and being able to answer the "I used to love those two old guys in the balcony! What were their names again?" question. In blissful ignorance of any realms beyond this basic Muppet diet, I quietly went about my childhood.

Then in 2002, I fell in with the ultra-informed, hyper-detail-oriented, fabulously geeky online Muppet fan community, and discovered that I had much to learn. "You haven't seen Emmet Otter?" "You haven't seen Christmas Eve on Sesame Street?" "You've never heard of Esskay Meats?"

No, no, and no. In a way, it made discovering some of these productions as an adult uniquely satisfying. Wrapping myself in a blanket two summers ago and cheering as I watched David Bowie dancing with goblins for the first time might not have given me the same fuzzy feeling, had this scene sent me running to hide under the covers in 1986.

So when Ryan suggested that we Brooklyn-dwelling Tough Pigs hold a viewing of The Dark Crystal and subsequently each write a review for the website - myself as a first-time viewer, and Ryan and Joe having not watched the flick in years - I agreed. Perhaps my innocence would serve as an advantage, inoculating me against the debilitating boredom I'd heard had turned off so many young Muppet fans during their first DC viewing.

And so we begin. I had hoped to witness The Dark Crystal’s famed intricate designs and stunning visuals within the first few minutes of the film, but judging by the barren landscape echoing every so often with dull thunder, it was not to be.

The narrator, by way of introduction, chats about death for awhile. His monotonous drone, as the scene switches over from the bland desert to the castle interior where a gaggle of wrinkly, uninviting Skeksis shoot lasers at each other with their eyes (which was pretty much all I could gather from the opening scenes until I re-watched the beginning) goes something like this:

"Long ago, there was some sort of land before time. Then somebody shattered a mirror, and two species emerged. Note this bunch’s harsh, twisted bodies, and their harsh, twisted souls, and also their gruesome, off-putting facial features. Their species is dying; their emperor lies dying; their land lies dying. Oh, and there are only ten of this other species, which is also dying. Their dying emperor is dying. Would you like to hear any more about death? Because I could go on for hours."

Thanks, narrator. You’ve adequately prepared me not to root for anyone in this movie, with the possible exception of Fizzgig and Podlings. Maybe Kira, depending on the day. But as long as folks over two feet tall are the ones kicking the bucket, I'm not really sure where the intrigue comes in. In his definitive work The Dark Crystal vs. Entertainment, Danny already covered the lack of dialogue in the first five minutes, but neglected to enumerate the dry mentions of death (seven).

The movie tries its best to pique my interest – to throw in little tidbits that would engage someone with a longer attention span than mine. We’ve got the Mystics lifting their weary heads to numbly chant for their savior, which leads those of us watching at home to break into “Twist and Shout.” To restore our interest, the scenes cut back to the Mystics every so often, doddering along towards the castle. At about a dozen yards an hour, no wonder they’re dying out. They can barely be bothered to turn their heads when one of them up and vanishes. Ho-hum, they seem to say, as they glance over and bumble on.

We see much more of the clannish Skeksis, shouting and whimpering and shouting that they hate each other’s whimpers, at times almost suggesting comic relief, but never quite getting there – what with their blind adherence to archaic rules and bellowing hearty slogans like “Death to Gelflings!” and “TRIAL BY STONE!” They also harbor at least a couple of mysteries, namely: how do such spindly creatures carry around so much paraphernalia? Does the “TRIAL BY STONE!” scene make anyone else think of The Emperor’s New Clothes? Why do we have to watch their emperor disintegrate, when the Mystic emperor had the decency to just dematerialize? Will I ever get the Chamberlain’s voice out of my head? Please, yes, pleeeease?

About a half an hour in, I’m relieved to see a swamp, an environment that I know the makers of this movie can capably handle. They follow through, too, throwing in lots of the unexpected tidbits that make The Dark Crystal so famously visually captivating and sending me into Johnny Hart mode: trees got legs! Cave got jaws! Rocks and reeds… er, sentient!

In fact, until we come back around to discussing the Prophecy and the Great Conjunction and Journeys and other things that ought to begin with Capital Letters, I find a number of elements to enjoy. We’ve got a peaceful boat shot, seen over bulrushes and set to lulling music. Even the Skeksis interjecting with their messy feast (dessert got legs!) makes them appear deliciously villainous as they gobble down roast Nebrie.

Then there’s the happenin’ Podling party, featuring drinkers and dancers and banjo players and a hyperactive little red-haired Podling girl interrupting conversations. The scene also features Jen attempting to speak Podling, which could have made for a cute little comedic moment to exploit. But nothing comes of it, and soon we’re back to Capital Letter Events.

Let’s discuss the hero, (as briefly as possible) before we wrap up. What do we know about Jen, other than the anomaly of his bizarre nomenclature? Actually, no. Let's address this whole gender business right now. As Danny has previously mentioned, the gender politics here are more than a little skewed.

Kira and Aughra are the enigmatic, almost-otherworldly-in-their-
affinity-with-nature, vaguely sympathetic horned/winged beings. The note I scribbled about Aughra as soon as she appeared, for all her oddly placed vocal emphases, was "At least she's got personality." (The one I scribbled when Kira glided off the cliff was "Girl got wings!")

Jen is a wimpy male specimen with a girl's name, raised by the leader of the Mystics and yet completely unaware of all things mystical (particularly the prophecy which everyone seems to agree pertains to him), except for that one time when he remembers something about having a bath.

As some astute devotees of the forum discussion following Ryan’s Dark Crystal post may already have noted, I postulate that Jen is, in fact, a Disney Princess. No one denies that Gelflings are soft-spoken and pretty – but not so pretty as to be sexually threatening, which would damage their marketability – and surrounded by fantastical beasts and scenery. Much of the adventure simply happens to Jen without any interference from him as he meanders about the set, waiting for inspiration to come to his rescue. Although his character has no distinguishing characteristics beyond general mousiness, someone sees fit to hand him an enchanted crystal shard and make us watch a movie about it. And at the end of the movie, Jen waves the shard around and hey presto! All the UrSkeks have changed into white gowns.

Every time my media-saturated brain has witnessed another bumbling antihero made great by circumstances forcing him to rise to the occasion, I've had a character to watch. Jen is pleasant enough to look at; the engineering behind his design makes the casual viewer scratch a head or two. But he doesn't grow from a coward or a pickpocket into a bold or cunning hero. He starts out wide-eyed, and he remains wide-eyed until the end of the movie. For a split second he sounds brave as he and Kira progress towards the castle, but only because Kira utters an uncharacteristic line about being inexplicably afraid. Even his mistake of bailing from Aughra’s lair without rescuing her doesn’t teach him any lessons; Aughra lives anyway, and so does Jen’s naïveté.

So, to sum up:

Visuals: mostly intriguing, except when the species is too hideous to be redeemed even by novel design.

Plot: I think it had something to do with draining the viewer’s living essence, à la Bette Midler in Hocus Pocus.

The two females: mostly acceptable to watch.

Males (everyone else): either a wussy flautist, or a grotesque, Skeletor-like mass with a potentially unbearably grating voice, or a ponderous, plodding brontosaur.

This Bad Muppet Fan awards The Dark Crystal a rating of half an UrSkek (but I won’t tell you which half, or out of how many.) If the sequel features more Podling parties or Fizzgig tantrums, though, I’m in.

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Labels: Creature Shop movies, review

This is the first in a three-part series of articles in which Tough Pigs contributors take a look at The Dark Crystal.

I first saw The Dark Crystal during what must have been its first network TV broadcast. I was already a Jim Henson fan, so I was inclined to be enchanted by whatever he had up his crazy creative sleeve. I was also a lot more easily impressed in those days. For example, my favorite show on TV at the time was a Scrubbing Bubbles commercial. Now here was this movie The Dark Crystal: it had cool-looking puppets, it was created by Jim Henson, and it included a character who could remove her eyeball. With this formidable combination, I assumed for years that it must be a great film.

On joining the online Henson fan community, however, I was surprised to discover that there were those who weren't crazy about it. Reading the criticisms of the movie (such as the ones in this classic article by Tough Pigs founder Danny Horn), I had to concede that it was deeply flawed, so I changed my official position. The Dark Crystal was, in fact, stinky.

It's now been years since I last saw the film, so I wanted to give it another look and make a definitive decision, as a mature, discriminating viewer, albeit one who owns some Bert underwear. So I sat down to screen the movie with fellow Muppet fan Michal (who had never seen it) and fellow Muppet fan Joe (who also hadn't seen it in years). We poured ourselves a nice, cold glass of Podling essence, and stuck the thing in the VCR.

The question at hand: Is The Dark Crystal a masterpiece or a crapsterpiece? To ensure I was viewing the movie in the right state of mind, I invited my seven-year-old self to watch it with us, so I could get his less jaded take on things.

The film's opening moments do not bode well. It begins with a static shot of the Skeksis' ugly castle, as a narrator drones on drearily to fill us in on what’s been happening for the last thousand years. It was an "age of wonder," he tells us, but all we see is a model of a decrepit old castle in serious need of an extreme makeover. This is followed by more narration over a shot of the Skeksis all standing around staring at the titular crystal. At this point, Seven-Year-Old Ryan is already getting restless. "How long is this movie?" he asks, adding, "Can we watch Thundercats after this?"

The Skeksis, by the way, are U-G-L-Y. Seriously, they ain't got no alibi -- they're ugly. But they're supposed to be horrible villains, so it works for them. On the other end of the spectrum, we have those long-haired elderly gentlemen, the Mystics, whom we first see as they raise their voices in a ceremonial chorus of nine-part harmony. For some reason, Seven-Year-Old Ryan thinks this is absolutely hilarious. He laughs uproariously, then tries to imitate their call, although he doesn't quite hit the same low notes, and ended up sounding more eunuch than Mystic.

Shortly after, we're introduced to Jen, the Last Surviving Gelfling and our hero, who is about to embark on a very important journey to heal the crystal. Jen is just a little fellow, the kind of protagonist one expects to watch going through a character arc from weakling to warrior, learning all about courage and his own purpose along the way. But guess what? None of that happens.

Actually, there’s really just one problem with Jen: He’s boring, and he never does anything, and I don’t care about him. Okay, that’s more than one thing, but throughout the movie, Jen just kind of sits there and let things happen around him. He's the most passive central character this side of Where's Waldo. We never really get to know him, except for some inner monologues, in which we hear Jen thinking, "What am I doing here? Where am I supposed to go? Should I have packed a toothbrush?" Take the scene in which Aughra’s observatory (which, by the way, is a really awesome set) is attacked by Garthim, a roving gang of big mean beetles. Jen does not fight them off or attempt to protect Aughra, he just escapes… by falling out a window. As much as I like defenestration, it did not serve to make me like the guy.

I should note, however, that Seven-Year-Old Ryan doesn't seem to mind. He likes Jen well enough, although I don't think he'd ever dress as him for Halloween. And Seven-Year-Old Ryan remarks that "Jen" is a girl's name, so he probably got made fun of as a kid. I don't point out to him that there were no other Gelflings around to bully Jen because they had all been slaughtered by monsters.

Then there's a scene set in a marshy forest, a forest full of fanciful flora, fantastic fauna, and imagination. Dang, I wish "imagination" started with an "f"... I had some really great alliteration going there. Anyway, I think this is my favorite sequence of the film, even though it has little to do with the story. It's a plethora of dreamed-up critters that exist simply to show off what the brand spanking new Creature Shop could do, and I love it. Seven-Year-Old Ryan digs it too. He especially likes "the part where the big monster guy eats the little guy."

The forest is also where Jen and we encounter the film's female lead. As a character, she doesn't fare much better than Jen. Kira, the other Last Surviving Gelfling, is more of a device than a character, what with her wings and her Dr. Doolittle-style animal chat skills, and her ability to hotwire a Landstrider. Seven-Year-Old Ryan, by the way, loves the Landstriders, and expresses a wish that they were real animals so he could see them at the zoo.

We watch as Kira takes Jen to a high-energy celebration at the village of her adoptive family, the Podlings. Ain’t no party like a Podling party, ‘cause a Podling party don’t stop! That is, until the Garthim destroy the village and enslave everyone. (Which really puts a damper on the whole party... no one's in the mood for Pin the Tail on the Nebri anymore) Seven-Year-Old Ryan finds the Podlings funny, and asks me to make sure everyone knows he wasn't scared during the Garthim attack.

Then a bunch of other stuff happens... I don't remember the sequence of events exactly, but it probably involves the Chamberlain Skeksis squealing and some characters talking about the Prophecy over and over again. There really oughtta be a Dark Crystal drinking game, and I'd be surprised if there's not one out there somewhere.

I should mention Aughra, the sassy old broad who gives Jen the shard he needs to heal the crystal. She has more personality in her free-range eyeball than Jen and Kira have in their entire elfin bodies, and I wouldn’t have minded seeing more of her.

And I have nothing bad to say about Kira’s pet fuzzball Fizzgig, who is clearly the R2-D2 of The Dark Crystal -- he’s a loyal companion to the main characters, the audience can’t understand what he says, and he jumps in at an important juncture to save the day. Fizzgig, a living Koosh ball, is also the most Muppetlike of the film’s characters, which is perhaps not unrelated to his being the most lovable. Seven-Year-Old Ryan is fascinated by Aughra, and likes Fizzgig, who reminds him of his friend Chad's dog, whose name is Crackers.

Meanwhile, some other boring stuff happens, and then Jen and Kira heal the crystal, la de da de da. The End, and everyone's happy. But here’s a question: At the end of the movie, when the Skeksis and Mytics are amalgamated to become the UrSkeks, the UrSkek spokesman reveals that they were the ones who broke the crystal in the first place. Why? What did they think was going to happen? Were they trying to make some money by selling crystal paperweights or earrings, or shard toothpicks? I realize that all we need to know at the start of the film is that the crystal done got broke, but on this viewing I kept wondering who thought slicing the crystal would be a good idea. And although it's great that the crystal is healed, what happens if someone accidentally chips or scrapes it? I suppose everyone's SOL for another 1000 years.

I once explained my position on The Dark Crystal by saying it would best be viewed with the dialogue removed, and after a careful re-viewing I stand by that. The musical score is great, the visuals are striking, the technical aspects are amazing, and I really have to hand it to Jim Henson, character designer Brian Froud, and their whole crew for making some seriously ugly puppets. When you create all your actors from scratch, it would be easy to make them all cute and licensable, but these creatures really look like… creatures.

Ultimately, though, that doesn’t make up for the shallow story and uninteresting characters. Seven-Year-Old Ryan, on the other hand, said the movie was really cool, although when I asked him whether he thought it was better than Labyrinth, he said no. When I asked him if it was better than the Jim Henson Company's fantasy fim Mirrormask, he reminded me that he's from 1988 and Mirrormask hasn't been made yet.

As for me, I'd have to rate the movie about a half-star higher today than I would have a week ago, but it’s still not A Good Movie. Have you ever read an old fairy tale from, like, 15^th century Europe? They’re full of magic and fantastic creatures and epic journeys, but the storytelling is simplistic, and by the end of the proceedings nobody has changed or learned anything. The Dark Crystal is like that. It’s a beautiful, ornate, hand-carved frame, but the painting inside is just a bunch of stick figures.

Say, that was a pretty good metaphor. I wonder if I just came up with that, or ripped it off from somewhere else?

In the end, Seven-Year-Old Ryan and Contemporary Ryan agree whole-heartedly on one thing: Aughra’s detachable eye is rad.

Click here to discuss this article on the Tough Pigs forum! And come back Wednesday to read another Tough Pigs contributor's take on The Dark Crystal!

Labels: Creature Shop movies, review

During the Great ToughPig Hiatus of 2006, many great things happened in the world of Muppet fandom. For the first time EVER, Sesame Street had a 37^th season. Puppet Up debuts and delivers Mr. Guy into the hearts of children worldwide. Muppets appeared on TV shows like Martha, The Tony Danza Show, Jeopardy, The Late Late Show, and E! True Hollywood Story: Miss Mousey. (Note: the last one may or may not be made up. I am too lazy to fact check.)

One important Muppet product that we didn’t get a chance to criticize is Kevin Clash’s book, “My Life as a Furry Red Monster.” The book was written by the top half of Kevin Clash’s head with Gary Brozek.

When Caroll Spinney wrote “The Wisdom of Big Bird” in 2003, he wanted to write it as an autobiography, but instead wrote it as a compilation of life lessons to boost sales. Kevin Clash must have gotten the same memo because his book is set up similarly. With chapters like “Love, “Creativity, “Tolerance,” and “Cooperation,” Clash uses stories about his childhood, working on Sesame Street, and things that happen to Elmo in his everyday, crayon-drawn life to illustrate what he has learned about the overlaying topic. Sadly, crayon-drawing is not one of the chapter headings, though I’m sure Elmo has taught Kevin a lot about the subject.

Speaking of illustrating, in the copy I bought, each chapter includes a cute pencil drawing of Elmo by Louis Henry Mitchell. As much as I enjoyed the pictures (no sarcasm intended), these are the only images in the entire book (with the exception of the dust cover). I was a bit disappointed at the lack of photographs which normally grace an autobiography, but hey, that’s what the Muppet Wiki is for. Actually, I was just hoping for a picture of Kevin puppeteering Juggles the Juggler.

Anyway, back to the words or whatever. Like I said, each chapter has a mix of stories from several different points in Clash’s life. At first, this is a bit confusing since he is taking us on a trip back and forth through time without a DeLorean. But after the first chapter or two, we get used to it and even begin to look forward to it. By the last few chapters, I found myself wondering what Elmo would have though of this anecdote, or how he learned how to share from working on Captain Kangaroo. Y’see how that works?

The last Muppet-related book I read before this was “Sesame Street Dad” by Roscoe Orman (take a looksee here for my review). As much as I enjoyed it, my main gripes were that there wasn’t enough Sesame-related material and that Orman bored me from time to time with lists and facts, rather than to emote his experiences to us. I had neither of these problems with the Furry Red book. With this book, you’re guaranteed to get at least one or two Sesame stories per chapter. Plus, his experiences watching Sesame Street, working as a teenaged puppeteer, and working on shows like Captain Kangaroo and Great Space Coaster are just as exciting as when he’s working with red fur clinging to his arm.

On top of it all, his stories suck you in, whether he’s writing about meeting Jim Henson for the first time or if he’s telling you about a car ride with his family, you will feel like you’re there with him and that you can’t wait for him to succeed and live the dream so many puppeteers can only hope for.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Sesame Street, puppets, television, monsters, America, bathrobes, spare keys, rectangles, gum, or none of the above. It’s a keeper.

I give this book 5 Mr. Noodles out of 5. And now if you'll excuse me, I've got many questions to ask to a baby.

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Labels: books, review, Sesame Street, Sesame Street humans

First of all, there is no regard given to continuity. The show’s main set now has a tire swing, which is not only dangerous for children but also makes no sense. There’s no reason a tire swing would be added to this neighborhood. Still, if that were the only change, I’d probably be okay with it. But Oscar the Grouch, once a disgusting shade of orange, is now a visually pleasing green. As far as I can tell, this serves no purpose but to undermine his grumpy character. Even worse, the Muppet Ernie now wears a striped shirt. Last season, he was simply naked. I can only imagine this was done to discourage rumors that he and roommate Bert are meant to represent a homo-sexual couple.

I’m probably paying too much attention to the established characters anyway, as it looks like the show will be ignoring them in favor of a bevy of new ones. In particular, two new monster characters named Grover and The Cookie Monster are pushed heavily in the season premiere. Grover, a strange blue monster with oddly-placed eyes, appears in two sketches. The Cookie Monster appears in a whopping four. They even have one song together! It's clear these fuzzy new characters are nothing but crass attempts to sell more toys. The producers are foolish if they expect me to care about these abominations. The fact is I never will, and neither will anyone else.

A third new monster, the hideous Herry, is performed by a puppeteer named Jerry Nelson. That’s right – last year’s team of three Muppet performers (Jim Henson, Frank Oz and Caroll Spinney) has been expanded. I haven’t seen enough of this Nelson fellow to judge, but I can pretty much guarantee he’ll never match up to the seasoned veterans. Still, he’ll probably get a bunch of toy-selling characters of his own before too long. The focus on these dull new Muppets will certainly lead to less emphasis on old favorites such as Big Bird, Mr. Hooper, and Buddy & Jim.

Speaking of Buddy & Jim, it looks like they have been replaced by a married couple named Larry & Phyllis. Buddy & Jim, with their hilarious Abbott-&-Costello-style antics, were my favorite part of the show last year. This new pair simply sit on the couch and act like rather unintelligent children. If this is the type of Sesame Street sketch future generations of children will grow up to imitate, I want no part of it.

Larry is played by Alan Arkin, the star of Inspector Clouseau. This leads me to another way in which Sesame Street is ignoring its original goals– a ridiculous number of guest stars. In this premiere alone, we see Carol Burnett, Bill Cosby, Laugh-In’s Arte Johnson, and the entire cast of Bonanza. The show used to be focused on teaching kids and developing lovable characters of its own. Now it seems to be more concerned with showing off how fashionable it is among TV stars. It saddens me to see the show selling out in this way.

Another way the season premiere lowers the standards of the show is by resorting to tired references to popular culture. We got a bizarre detective character named Sherlock Hemlock, played by this upstart Nelson, who seems to be replacing Bert as Ernie’s new comedy partner. I have to wonder what crimes poor Arthur Conan Doyle ever committed to deserve this shoddy "tribute"?

Then we got a simply awful game show “parody” called “What’s my Part?” in which a panel with names such as “Arlene Frantic” and “Bennett Snerf” tried to guess the identity of a body part. Kids who see this will simply be confused, especially since the panel also includes another gratuitous appearance by The Cookie Monster. Worst of all, the host was a bland humanoid Muppet named Guy Smiley, performed by Jim Henson. If that name is supposed to be a pun, it isn't funny. And if the show keeps wasting Henson’s time with nonsense like this, I doubt he’ll ever have the time to play Kermit the Frog again.

Despite all of these distractions, the show has also decided to expand its curriculum. Last year, we were only taught to count to 10. This year the show is attempting to take us all the way to 20. This is a mistake, of course, because kids who have their brains stuffed full of Bill Cosby, tire swings and the Cookie Monster probably won’t be able to count to two, let alone twenty. If the show continues to go down this terrible new path, I can only predict that it will be cancelled before too long.
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Labels: DVD, old school, review, Sesame Street

Way back in June, 2006, Roscoe Orman, the third and favorite Gordon, released his memoirs in book form. Sesame Street Dad: Evolution of an Actor was put onto shelves, a tour was scheduled, and Roscoe read a few pages and signed a few books around the country. Several months later, the Muppet fans found out that the book existed.

I can't say that's the best form of publicity, but maybe we're to blame. We did disappear for about a year.

First off, let me say thank you to Mr. Orman. There's only so many people who have been working with or around Muppets for 30 years or more and I know they've all got stories to tell. If I had a magic genie who granted me three wishes, the second or third one would definitely be to have each of the Muppeteers, actors, and crew members publish an autobiography. We were lucky enough to get books by Caroll Spinney and Kevin Clash in the last few years, and now Roscoe is letting his story be known. I can only hope that some of the other folks who've been around are currently toiling away at their typewriters as we speak.

Anywho, I grabbed the book at my local book conglomerate and I read the heck outta that thing. To be honest, it wasn't exactly what I expected. I'd re-read Caroll Spinney's book, The Wisdom of Big Bird, recently and I automatically thought that this would be a book about Roscoe's experience on Sesame Street, laced with life lessons and nostalgia. On the contrary, the book is a chronicle of Roscoe's career in which he took part in New York's black theater scene throughout the 1960s. His stories of what he accomplished before becoming a household name are quite exciting and he really makes us root for him the entire time, which isn't hard since we already think of him as Gordon, trying to make his way to Sesame Street.

Actually, it isn't until page 86 when he talks about his audition for Sesame. In his audition, he writes about having to interact with Oscar (in which he delivered his lines to Caroll Spinney instead of the puppet) and everyone's favorite counting child, John-John. Throughout the following 100+ pages, Roscoe talks about his experiences on Sesame Street, including his connection with Loretta Long, getting to meet several First Ladies, and being able to work with his son, Miles, who played Gordon's adopted son from 1985-1992.

Since Sesame Street doesn't film year-round, the rest of the book continues to talk about his other acting jobs, which jumped from stage to film to television, with some live Sesame gigs intermingled within. It really is interesting to see how crazy a working actor's life is, even one as famous as a Sesame Street cast member.

Sadly, there is only one downfall to Roscoe's writing style. Whenever he talks about a new part of his life or a new show he works on, he lists the names of everyone he worked with. And although it may be a great collection of actors and directors from the 1960s or human actors on Sesame Street, it's still just a list of names, which gets a bit hard to read after seeing a block of names on every other page. My suggestion, skip a few lines when you see a list of names and the book will read much more smoothly.

Some people who weren't included in one of Roscoe Orman's lists were Thomas Jefferson, Gallagher, Papa Smurf, Santa Claus, Bea Arthur, Luncheon Counter Monster, Aquaman, Jean Stapleton, Danny Horn, Mike Ditka, Mildred Huxtetter, and Joan Ganz Cooney. No wait, scratch that last one.

There are some very touching moments in the book, especially near the end, when he realizes the impact his career has had on every generation of Sesame Street viewers and that he really has become a father-figure to many of us. Hence the name of the book. Didn't see that one coming, did ya?

So my final assessment is a hearty thumbs-up if you're interested in the career and success of a struggling actor. If you want a collection of stories from the set of Sesame Street, you may want to opt for Caroll Spinney's book, though Sesame Street Dad isn't worth missing in the long run.

I give it three bald heads out of five.

Labels: books, review, Sesame Street, Sesame Street humans