2019 has been quite a year. Full of ups and downs, the past 12 months have been anything but dull. We celebrated Sesame Street‘s 50th anniversary, but we also said goodbye to Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch performer Caroll Spinney. The Jim Henson Company had a huge hit with The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, but The Happytime Murders‘ failure still reverberated through the year. Muppet Babies introduced a bunch of new/old characters, but the actual Muppets failed to debut much of anything new.
Despite the polarizing nature of the year, 2019 was still quite full. We’re pleased to share this look back on all the biggest Muppet news stories, as well as some of our favorite ToughPigs features. We hope you enjoy the recap and that you click on a few of the articles you may have missed!
January:
2018 Year in Review – 2019 was quite a year, but so was the year before! Remember that? Probably not, because last year feels like a decade ago.
ToughPigs’ 50 in 50 series begins – We kicked off our epic series of Sesame Street season reviews, one per week for 50 weeks. And nobody got sick of them!
Hopes for a Muppety 2019 – We always hope for a lot of good Muppet stuff in the coming year. Did we predict accurately? Oh, I hope we did…
RIP Carol Channing – The Muppet Show guest star with the giant eyes and raspy voice left us this year.
Happytime Murders nominated for 6 Razzie Awards – The Henson film that we already sort of hated is confirmed to be terrible by the experts.
RIP Kaye Ballard – Another Muppet Show guest star passed away – and we remember Kaye for her wonderful duet with Thog.
RIP Muppet Movie director James Frawley – The guy who directed the very first (and, arguably, best) Muppet film passed away.
Muppets on Drop the Mic – The Muppets have a rap battle, and some of them don’t feel particularly comfortable insulting their costars in rhyme.
Fozzie Bear on Big City Greens – A puppeteer provides the voice of a puppet who is hired to voice a cartoon character. Maybe it’s me, but they probably could’ve cut out the middle-man. Or, middle-bear.
February:
“Muppets Live Another Day” announced – A new Muppet project starring Josh Gad is announced for Disney+. And it didn’t get much further than that.
Are the Muppets real? – A ToughPigs original thinkpiece – Are they real? Do we want them to be? And how real is real???
Sesame Street episodes enter the American Archive of Public Broadcasting – The history of Sesame Street will be officially preserved. Hopefully that means more than just sticking the tapes into Tupperware bins.
Jim Henson becomes a Funko Pop – Funko continues to make Pop figures out of everyone and everything, and they finally get around to making one of our favorite guy.
Sesame Street’s Pinball Number Count as a real game – Who knew it would be so hard to play pinball and dance at the same time?
Rowlf appears on America’s Got Talent – Rowlf the Dog (who is a real dog) appears with Darci Lynn (who plays with puppets). I don’t see the connection.
ToughPigs spoofs the Oscars – Our annual Photoshop nonsense with plenty of Muppet parodies of Academy Award-nominated movies!
RIP Beverly Owen, LaChoy Dragon commercial star – One of the most iconic early Henson commercial stars left us this year.
Pop quiz: Frequently told Muppet stories – You know their stories – now take our quiz!
50th anniversary of The Cube – Jim Henson’s weird and experimental film turns 50, and we still don’t know what it’s actually about.
RIP Peter Hughes, Great Muppet Caper’s Stanley – The waiter from The Dubonnet Club in The Great Muppet Caper has served his last drink.
March:
MuppetVision 3D mural removed – Yet another piece of the iconic Muppet attraction at Walt Disney World is gone. Not great!
Overthinking It: What is Animal? – Is he man or beast??
Sesame Street stamps announced – There’s no better way to pay your bills than with an Oscar stamp.
Spotlight on the Sesame Street clubhouse playset – Did you own one? Or did you want to own one? There are no other options.
Fraggle Rock blind box toys released – A whole bunch of Fraggle toys came out at once! But there’s a catch.
Casting Muppets as Batman – Honestly, anyone could be under that mask.
Helpsters announced – Sesame Workshop’s new non-Sesame puppet show comes to Apple TV.
Musicians tweet for Sesame Street – And they all speak from the same hivemind.
April:
April Fools: Forgotten Sesame specials – Our annual April Fools Day gag reviews a series of fake Sesame Street anniversary specials.
Meet Julia’s family – Julia – Sesame Street’s newest breakout character – gets a whole family.
Sesame Street ride at PortAventura in Spain – Spain gets all the best animatronic Big Birds.
Oscar sings about bad news with Stephen Colbert – Two guys who really know what ‘bad news” means.
Movin’ Right Along podcast begins covering The Great Muppet Caper – ToughPigs’ hit podcast takes on the Muppets’ second hit movie, two minutes at a time!
Sesame Street crosses over with HBO shows – Sesame Street goes to Game of Thrones and Westworld, but without the swears and nudity.
Meet the Peetes goes to Sesame Street – Holly Robinson Peete, daughter of Sesame Street writer and original cast member Matt Robinson, returns home.
May:
Sesame Street street naming – Sesame Street is a real place you can visit! Or, more accurately, it’s a real street sign you can visit.
RIP Peter Mayhew – Star Wars actor famous for portraying Chewbacca, who also appeared on The Muppet Show, has passed away.
The confusion of Sesame Street’s location – Seriously, just tell us how to get to Sesame Street.
RIP Grumpy Cat – The famous internet cat who once hung out with Oscar the Grouch has left us.
Muppet Babies release puppet shorts – The cartoon inspired by puppets has returned to its puppet roots.
Overthinking It: Who is Jellyman Kelly? – He loves jelly the most!
PokéMuppets – Casting all 151 original Pokémon as Muppets. Hard-hitting journalism here, folks.
Big Bird chats with Jason Schwartzman – Big Bird should have a podcast where he interviews famous people. Because when it happens, it’s gold.
RIP Leon Redbone – The singer with the iconic voice passed away, but not before providing vocals for several Sesame Street songs.
Big Bird appears on Lip Sync Battle – Fun fact: Muppets lip sync all the time. They were a shoo-in to win this battle.
June:
RIP Dr. John – We lost Dr. Teeth’s greatest influence (in both name and appearance).
Cookie Monster and Gonger bake with Nadiya Hussain – The Great British Bake-Off winner (sorry, spoilers) makes cookies with Cookie Monster and Gonger, and it’s delightful.
Sesame Street’s Tiny Desk Concert at NPR – The Sesame Street gang gathers for a concert at the NPR office. And thankfully, it’s WAY less dull than everything else on NPR.
The Case of the Sesame Street Mystery Box – We opened a box! And we found something magical inside.
Miss Piggy was robbed of an Oscar – It’s time to bring back CAMPO and award Miss Piggy an Oscar!
Are the Muppets dead at the end of The Muppet Movie? – This Muppet Movie theory will SHOCK YOU! Mostly because it’s ridiculous.
What’s the “That” in “Can You Picture That”? – It’s hard to picture something if you don’t even know what it is.
The Frawley Connection – The late James Frawley doesn’t get nearly enough credit for his influence on the Muppets.
Cookie Monster gives driving directions on Waze – But somehow, he always directs you to the closest bakery.
Sesame Rewind: Out to Lunch – We review the mostly-unknown Sesame Street special, which serves as a precursor to The Muppet Show.
July:
A video guide to the Scooter fist – Who knew a little arm movement could be so iconic?
Ranking Muppet movies by how American they are – A salute to all Muppet movies, but mostly the American ones.
RIP Laugh In’s Arte Johnson – We remember Arte Johnson for his few early Sesame Street appearances.
Cookie Monster replica campaign begins – We took our chance to own our own Cookie Monster replicas, and we missed the mark. It’s alright though – there can be only one Cookie Monster.
Kermit promotes Disney Channel cartoon Amphibia – Typecasting or nepotism?
Looking back on Muppets From Space – How does the Muppet film hold up 20 years later?
Overthinking It: Do Muppets need to wear sunscreen? – Believe me, Elmo doesn’t need to get any redder.
Sesame Street humans appear at Eternal Con – The ToughPigs-moderated panel features Sesame Street’s Bob, Gordon, Luis, and Alan!
August:
A history of the Muppets (as told by a guy who kind of likes the Muppets) – Truly the only history that matters is the one told by someone who doesn’t know it at all.
Pepe and Goofy sing “A Whole New World” – Pepe is now officially a Disney Princess.
Sesame Street characters intern at NPR – Wait wait, don’t tell me. Seriously, don’t tell.
Baby Sweetums comes to Muppet Babies – The cutest Muppet ogre you’ll ever see.
Uncle Deadly hosts Haunted Mansion panel – While we wait for Uncle Deadly to appear in the actual Haunted Mansion ride, we’ll settle for his dramatic reading.
Muppets Now announced – The Muppets are coming to Disney+… for real this time!
Lessons The Dark Crystal can learn from Fraggle Rock – The new Dark Crystal series could take a few notes from the other amazing Henson Company series to guarantee success.
The Dark Crystal’s Jen is the worst – Really? That guy is the savior of Thra?? Ugh.
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance premieres – The new Dark Crystal series debuts, and holy crap, it’s actually good!!!
RIP Valerie Harper – Another Muppet Show guest star leaves us, and we say goodbye to the Rhoda star.
September:
Sesame Street’s Farmers Insurance commercials – I always wondered what sort of coverage Oscar’s Sloppy Jalopy gets.
Skeletal Sesame Street figures – Sadly (or thankfully??) not available in the United States.
RIP Muppet designer Tim Miller – The designer who worked with the Henson Company as far back as The Muppet Show has passed away.
The Muppets star in ads for Facebook Portal – The Muppets are the last to know that they look best on TV screens.
ToughPigs talks Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance – We have a lot of opinions on the new Dark Crystal series, and you’re gonna hear ’em!
50 years of Muppets walking across Abbey Road – The Beatles album is iconic, and so are the Muppets. Might as well mash them up! A lot!
LEGO Sesame Street set announced – Can you tell me how to build Sesame Street?
Baby Swedish Chef comes to Muppet Babies – Unfortunately, he doesn’t come with a baby mustache.
Revisiting Elmo in Grouchland – Looking back on Elmo’s big movie 20 years later.
October:
Oscar/Joker parody on SNL – The Sesame Street star gets a dark and edgy origin story.
Muppet content confirmed for Disney+ – The usual suspects are coming to Disney+, and yet still no sign of The Muppet Show.
Sesame Street: 50 Years and Counting DVD released – The DVD is full of amazing and memorable Sesame Street songs and sketches. And we should know – we curated the whole thing!
Bret McKenzie tapped for Emmet Otter remake – One of our favorite Muppet specials might be remade by one of our favorite Muppet songwriters.
Baby Robin comes to Muppet Babies – Complete with polliwog tail!
Henson Company announces alien talk show – Get ready for a whole bunch of reviews that claim the talk show is “Out of This World”.
ToughPigs’ Halloween Parade – Our annual recap of all the greatest (and most off-putting) Muppet costumes of the year!
Sesame Street performs with Jazz at Lincoln Center – You’ve got to put down the duckie if you want to play jazz with the Wynton Marsalis orchestra.
Muppet Christmas Carol storybook released – Muppet artist Luke Flowers knocks it out of the park with his storybook based on the classic Muppet film.
November:
Sesame Street celebrates its 50th anniversary – From its humble origins in 1969 to the powerhouse classic it is today, Sesame Street celebrates a huge milestone.
Empire State Building goes green and yellow for Sesame Street – The iconic New York City landmark makes an attempt at being almost as iconic as Sesame Street itself.
Sesame Street 50th anniversary special airs – Joseph Gordon Levitt stars in a wonderful Sesame Street special, complete with tons of celebrity guest stars like Elvis Costello, Patti LaBelle, and Harvey Kneeslapper.
Willie Nelson and Kacey Musgraves sing Rainbow Connection – The Muppet Movie classic gets a country twist thanks to two country singers. That’s usually how these things happen.
Cookie Monster spoofs Succession – “CEO” stands for “Cookie Eating Officer”.
Sesame Street’s history with milk – It’s Sesame Street’s favored beverage!
Oscar the Grouch appears in Squarespace commercial – The short film spotlights Oscar as an experimental artist. And he hates it.
Sesame Street opens Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade – It’s just not a parade without Sesame Street. Well, it is, but not a very good one.
December:
Joan Ganz Cooney celebrates her 90th birthday – Sesame Street’s founder turns 90, and we thank her for her incredible breadth of work.
Big Bird takes a lie detector test – Turns out he knew the alphabet the whole time!!!
Sesame characters write captions for New Yorker cartoon – It’s surprisingly difficult, since half of them can’t write.
Caroll Spinney passes away – We say goodbye to the incredible talent responsible for Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, and 50 years of educating and entertaining millions of kids.
Celebrating the music of Caroll Spinney – Caroll wasn’t just a great puppeteer, he also gave us some iconic songs! More than just Big Bird’s “La la la” anyway.
Sesame Street characters do impressions of each other – If David Rudman is ever unavailable to perform Cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby can fill in pretty well.
Bunsen and Beaker appear at The Game Awards – And they give us a tease at what could be a terrific Muppet video game that we’ll never actually get to play.
Interview with Muppet performer John Kennedy – Sesame Street’s utility man sits down with us for an extended chat about his Muppet work!
The Tonight Show raps the Sesame Street theme song – The Roots’ Tariq Trotter proves that he’s one of us with an extended verse about obscure Sesame characters.
Caroll Spinney and Christmas – Two of my favorite things!!!
2019 in Review – That’s the article you’re reading right now! Read it again! Now you’re caught in a time loop!
Thanks to all of you for reading ToughPigs and making this an extraordinary year! Here’s hoping 2020 brings just as much Muppet joy for everyone.
Click here to celebrate every anniversary at once on the ToughPigs forum!
by Joe Hennes – Joe@ToughPigs.com
