Another year, done and dusted! And what a year 2024 was. Elmo asked us how we were doing, Frank Oz became a Disney Legend, Jim Henson appeared in a documentary and a Saturday Night Live biopic, and we got another round of Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock.
But it wasn’t all sunshine and ping pong balls. 2024 also saw the announcement that MuppetVision will be leaving Disney World, the Henson Company lot will be sold, HBO is dropping Sesame Street, and Elmo got attacked by a crazy old man.
On a lighter note (please!), 2024 also brought about a ton of new ToughPigs articles, interviews, commentaries, and podcasts. We sure had a lot to say, and we’re grateful for the dozen or so of you who read and listened to it all.
Catch up on the biggest and best of 2024 below! What a great way to spend New Year’s!
January
2023 Year in Review: From NFTs to Muppets Mayhem – What happened in 2023, again?
Hubba-Wha season returns for season 3 – Test your knowledge about Muppets, Dark Crystal fragrances, and the year 1999!
A Muppet Fan’s Hopes for 2024 – Well, two out of four ain’t bad!
Baby Animal to Get the Funko Pop Treatment – He’s smaller than the average baby!
There Is No Swedish Chef in Sweden – As they say in Sweden, mamma mia!
Sesame Street’s 1 Star Reviews Are Hilarious – Wow, people really hate this show.
WATCH: ToughPigs Presents the Live Muppet Drawing Challenge – Muppet fan artists take on New York Comic Con!
John Tartaglia: The Best Thing to Happen to Fraggle Rock – It’s true!
Elmo Has a Question for You: How Are You? – Elmo blew up the internet!
February
Larry David Violently Attacks Elmo – Larry David was mad about it though!
Steve Youngwood Steps Down as Sesame Workshop CEO – Big changes for a big street.
Muppets Have Strange Careers: The Saga of Pancake Buffalo – All you ever wanted to know about a purple buffalo puppet.
RIP Seiji Ozawa – We remember the famous conductor and his all-animal orchestra.
Movin’ Right Along’s “Muppet Treasure Island” season premieres – Yo ho, yo ho, a podcaster’s life for us!
Love Poems for Muppet Eyebrows – Eat your heart out, Shakespeare.
Disney Buys the Muppets: 20 Years Later – Can you believe it’s already been 20 years since Disney began squandering the Muppets?
Yes, I’m Still Bothered by the Elmo Larry David Incident – We’re mad that Larry David was mad.
The Fantastic Miss Piggy Podcast launches – Posting the porcine princess’ premiere podcast!
Seeing How Muppets Work Will Not Ruin Anyone’s Childhood – Seeing how they breed, however, is another story.
RIP “Sesame Street” Writer Dan Wilcox – Thank you for inventing “The Carrot Room,” Dan.
March
The Other Oscars 2024 – Accurately predicting Oscar winners since 1927!
ToughPigs Spoofs the Oscars: Barbeaker, Oppenharry, Elmaestro, and MORE! – Part one of our Academy Award parodies!
ToughPigs Spoofs MORE Movies – Camilla, Comedy Bear, and MORE! – The sequel to part one!
SNL Film Finds Its Jim Henson – Hard to believe they found a tall guy with a fake beard in all of Hollywood.
My Week Underground – A whole week in the Labyrinth.
Elmo and Cookie Monster Play Password on Tonight Show – Elmo says “satchel” at some point.
Kermit the Frog and Willie Nelson Find the “Rainbow Connection” – He sang the song again!
Frank Oz to be Honored as Disney Legend – We knew he was a legend years ago.
Muppets Most Wanted Turns 10 – A ToughPigs Discussion – Looking back at Constantine’s big debut a decade later.
Amphibian Missing Link Named for Kermit the Frog – Wait, I thought all frogs were named Kermit.
Fraggle Talkin’ with the Fraggles and EPs of Back to the Rock – Chatting with real Fraggles! And real humans!
Sesame Street, The Power of We, and Trans Visibility – Everyone loves Niamh. She is a terrific athlete.
Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock Season 2 premieres – Back to Back to the Rock!
April
April Fools: Fake Muppet Merch – Yeah, we wish the Fozzie Bearskin Rug was real too.
RIP Follow That Bird Star Joe Flaherty – Remembering the comedy icon, even though he tried to kidnap Big Bird.
The Muppets Eclipse the Eclipse – What’s better than witnessing an incredible solar event? Gonzo.
RIP Robert MacNeil – He never did find out if Cookie Monster stole Susan’s cookies.
P is for Picket Line: Sesame Street Writers Vote to Authorize Strike – We hope they get their due!
D is for Deal: Sesame Street Writers Reach Agreement, Avoiding Strike – They got their due!
Muppet Fandom: The Timeline – A chronological list of things done by people who like stuff!
The Muppetational May Challenge: Artist Edition – 30 days of fun Muppet drawing prompts!
May
If You Love The Muppets, You Should Love Marvel (and Vice Versa) – Nick Fury is putting together a team, and Sweetums is invited.
The Ugly Muppet Toy Pageant 2024: RESULTS! – We found out what Muppet toys made people go “EW!”
RIP Dabney Coleman – He finally got that chicken off his ear.
Kermit the Frog Joining Disney Speedstorm – Vroom vroom!
Watch: CBS Honors Miss Piggy’s 50-Year Career – Though she’d never admit to it.
RIP Songwriter Richard M. Sherman – Best known for meeting Walter that one time.
Jim Henson Idea Man premieres – Jim Henson’s life of 53 years presented in 108 minutes.
Introducing the ToughPigs Pride Month 2024 Charity Fundraiser! – Putting our Muppet fandom to good use!
Just a Reminder: Jim Henson Was a Human Being – I mean, a really cool human being, but human nonetheless.
June
RIP Muppet Movie Producer Martin Starger – Someone had to produce the dang thing.
Pride Month Profiles: Andrew G. Cooper, Fraggle Rock Performer – The “G” stands for “Great to chat with”!
Sesame Street Says “Bonjour” to Paris for 2024 Summer Olympics – Abby Cadabby took home the bronze in skeet shooting.
Ace in the Fraggle Hole: Fraggle Rock and Asexuality – It seems like all Fraggles are ace, except the Storyteller Fraggle. IYKYK.
WATCH: ToughPigs’ Theatrical Muppet Movie Intro – ToughPigs on the BIG SCREEN!
Never-Before Seen: Muppet Babies Playground Portraits – The Muppet Babies you never saw!
The Jim Henson Company Selling Studio Lot – Boy it would be crazy if a fake religion bought it, right??
Pride Month Profiles: Alan Muraoka – An in-depth look at your favorite shopkeeper.
Labyrinth Concert to Tour 30 US Cities – From Rutland to Clearwater, everybody’s doin’ the magic dance!
The Fantastic Miss Piggy Podcast: “The Look of Love” Video Companion – See the evolution of Miss Piggy right before your eyes!
RIP Character Actor Bill Cobbs – He watched the Muppet Telethon! So did a lot of people, but he got a Muppet Wiki article for it.
Back to the Rock: A Conversation About Gender Binaries & Gorg Boxing Day – A metaphor for a metaphor.
July
Doc Hopper Has No Friends: Is That Funny or Sad? – He’s got plenty of friends! Max, for instance. Aw, Max…
Sherrie Westin Named CEO of Sesame Workshop – Meet the new borough president.
Muppets and Neurodiversity – Interesting how these two topics appear in a venn diagram!
The Muppets Take Manhattan: A Cameo Guide – All the famous peoples in the movie!
Celebrating the Bonkers “I’m Gonna Always Love You” Music Video – Jim Henson wears cah-razy sunglasses!
RIP Shelley Duvall – From The Shining to Muppet Magazine.
Manhattan Memories: Catching Up With Juliana Donald – A chat with Jenny!
RIP Richard Simmons – He brought his energetic brand of fitness to the world of Dinosaurs. It still didn’t save them from the Ice Age, though.
The Implications of “Dawson’s Creek” and “Muppets from Space” in the Same Universe – We don’t wanna wait for our lives to be over to read this.
Gonzo and Neurodivergence and Me – Weird is perfectly normal.
Fraggle Talk: Back to the Rock season 2 premieres – A new batch of 13 podcast episodes danced our cares away!
RIP Bob Newhart – Sadly, it doesn’t end with him waking up in bed with Suzanne Pleshette.
10 Ideas for Muppet Documentaries to Follow Idea Man – Picture it: “Dear Zachary”, but with Muppets.
You Know What I Love? I Love This Sesame Street Spoof! – All aboard the Love Boat!
Elmo’s World: Unravelled – We unlock the flawed logic behind Elmo’s World! Investigative journalism still lives!
August
Muppet Clue Coming Soon – Whodunit? I bet it was Hilda!
RIP Phil Donahue – Not only did he get to be a legendary interviewer, he got to hug Snuffy too.
More Muppet Board Games, Please! – Ideas for potential games inspired by Muppet Clue
Of Muppets and Murder – Are the Muppets capable of committing murder?! Probably!
The Sesame Olympics Coverage Is Gold – Abby, Cookie, and Elmo made magic while interacting with athletes at the Olympics
What Color Should Sam the Eagle’s Feet Be? – Yellow or blue? And have they always been the same color?
D23 Expo 2024 – Frank Oz was named a Disney Legend and Miss Piggy’s stuff was on display at the big official Disney event!
The Future of Muppet*Vision 3D: What We Know and What We Don’t – We tried to remain calm in the face of rumors that Muppet*Vision might be closing
More Muppet Legends, Please! – Now that Frank Oz is a Disney Legend, how about some other very important Muppet people?
Sam’s Just Ken – Is Sam the Eagle the Ken from Barbie of the Muppets?
Introducing Our New Podcast 70 Years, 70 Muppets – Kicking things off with an episode on Rowlf the Dog!
Breaking News: “Java” Has Lyrics – The classic instrumental Muppet sketch is an instrumental no more!
Muppet Fan Site ToughPigs.com Endorses Kamala Harris – The owner of the Washington Post was too cowardly to endorse a candidate, but we weren’t!
September
Jim Henson Idea Man Wins 4 Emmy Awards – Including Outstanding Documentary!
RIP James Earl Jones – Sesame Street’s first celebrity guest.
Cookie Monster at Second City – Yes, and!
RIP Kris Kristofferson – Farewell to the singer, actor, and Muppet Show guest star.
Your Most-Wanted Muppet Documentaries – Muppet fans have ideas — some serious, some silly!
Muppet Babies: 40 Years Later – Celebrating four decades of the beloved animated series.
Eight Thoughts on the Muppet Babies Pitch Bible – Taking a close look at the bizarre “pitch bible” for the show!
Just a Reminder: ToughPigs Has Always Been Like This – Yes, this website has always leaned left.
Happy Birthday to the New and Improved Jim Henson – Celebrating both the birthday of Jim Henson AND Jim Henson’s idea! (You have to read it to understand it, and even then you might not!)
The Importance of the Muppet Crossover – It was magical to see Kermit, Gobo, and Oscar together again.
REVIEW: Jim Henson in Saturday Night – Jim Henson is a character in the new movie about Saturday Night Live. Is his depiction exciting or insulting?
October
REPORT: Jim Henson’s Birthday Celebration in NYC – The Muppet Fans Take Manhattan! And Queens!
The Art of the Muppet Podcast – It takes a lot of nuts to make a jar of Muppet podcast artwork.
Reflections on Muppet Fan Anger and Muppet Fan Dreams – The only people the Muppets should be angering are Statler and Waldorf.
Why Don’t I Care About Muppet Merchandise Anymore? – And yet, we still want more of it.
A “Count the Rings” Thing – Getting a lot of feelings over The Count’s telephone over here.
Henson Happenings at NYCC – 2024 – Are we ever going to get those Pepe and Uncle Deadly action figures?
Coming Soon – Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock on DVD & Blu-ray – Physical media isn’t dead, and Fraggle Rock is here to prove it!
Elmo Made Me Cry – Curse that little red menace.
RIP Teri Garr – She’s rolling in that big hay in the sky.
ToughPigs Halloween Parade 2024! – Dressing up like Muppets is fun! I mean, spooky!
November
ToughPigs Election 2024 – We’re all wishing Rowlf the Dog was our real President.
RIP Quincy Jones – Somehow, he found time in his jam-packed career to write music for Sesame Street.
A Report From The Swedish Chef 5K – Who knew Swedes were so fleet-footed?
A Game We Get to Play – It’s a good reminder for Muppet fans. And fans of basic decency.
Let’s Make Cookie Monster a Letter of the Alphabet – [Cookie Monster] is for cookie, and that’s good enough for me.
The Henson Company Lot’s Potential Buyers Are… McG and John Mayer?! – But do they get to keep the statue of Kermit as Charlie Chaplin?
50 Years Later: Jim Henson on “What’s My Line?” – Turns out he was Jim Henson all along!
BREAKING: MuppetVision 3D Closing, Muppet Roller Coaster to Come – And this was the worst thing to happen to the Muppet fandom in 2024.
The 2024 Official Gift Guide For The Muppet Fan In Your Life – Buy some ToughPigs merch maybe perhaps I hope??
December
My Week with The Alphabet Thieves – A peak at the Sesame Street movie that never was!
Bear in the Big Blue Podcast launches – A miniseries where we get to hang out in the Big Blue House.
My 5 Faves: MuppetVision – However can we narrow it down to just five??
RIP Comedy Writer Marshall Brickman – An inspiration to the Swedish Chef!
Sesame Street No Longer Brought To You By H, B, & O – And this was the worst thing to happen to the Muppet fandom in 2024.
Statler and Waldorf Heckle the Game Awards – To be fair, the last game they played was kick the can.
Some Thoughts on Muppet Fandom – And this was the worst thing to happen to the Muppet fandom in 2024.
Life, the Universe, and Yancy Woodchuck – All is all. Is is. Woodchucks chuck wood.
Retro Video Review: Lady Gaga and the Muppets – Surprise, it’s still bad!
The Muppets Should Be Your Discomfort Watch – Don’t get too comfortable.
The Riverbottom Nightmare Band Deserved Their Win – They weren’t wrong: when they were done with their song, they did get the biggest hand!
Fraggle Rock: 40 Years Later – “The Bells of Fraggle Rock” – If you think the holidays are silly, your friends will freeze solid. That’s the lesson.
Copy & Paste Your Days ‘Til Christmas – After all, there’s only some number of sleeps ‘til Christmas!
RIP Linda Lavin – Our condolences to Mr. Enrico Tortellini of Passaic, New Jersey.
HBOFAQ: An Explainer of Sesame Street’s Situation – You can bookmark this to show everyone who tells you “David Zaslav killed Elmo.”
2024 Year in Review – You can probably save this for later… y’know, because you just read it.
Thanks for joining us over the past year, Muppet fans! Happy New Year, and here’s to more Muppet fun in 2025!
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by the ToughPigs Team
