Jarrod Fairclough – Today is International Liars Day, which is a thing apparently, and has nothing to do with April Fools. So, in honor of a day where everyone is probably lying to you, I’ve written 10 ‘facts’ that sound like they could be plausible, but are in fact absolute nonsense…
You Are My Sunshine!
In 1999, The Muppet Show‘s season one song ‘Hugga Wugga’ became a surprise hit in Sweden when local DJ Elias Nordström remixed it with the Anne Murray cover of ‘You Are My Sunshine’. It spent 9 weeks on top of the charts, before being knocked from first place by Bomfunk MC’s ‘Freestyler’.
Let’s Get Political!
The season 3 opener of The Muppet Show, featuring guest stars Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge, was banned in New Zealand after Coolidge made some inflammatory remarks about then Prime Minister Robert Muldoon. Coolidge remarked during an interview that Miss Piggy was the second biggest pig she had worked with after the politician, insulting Muldoon who had invited the married couple to a benefit a few months earlier. His successor, David Lange, sanctioned the episode within his first 72 hours in office.
Gelfling’s Everywhere!
Jim Henson requested that fans dressed as the Gelfling characters at the premiere of his film The Dark Crystal be removed from the theater after Dave Goelz complained that one had scared his young daughter. Jim later apologized publicly, inviting those he offended to a private screening at the Creature Shop in Los Angeles. He shocked them all when he jumped out dressed as a Skesis in a costume designed by Faz Fazakas.
The Muppets Take Man’s Hat!
During the filming of the 1984 feature The Muppets Take Manhattan, Frank Oz became agitated when an extra continued to wear a loud colorful hat during a scene in Central Park. Unfortunately the extra was Jerry Nelson’s cousin who had made the hat specially, and Frank was unable to remove him completely. After four takes, Jerry had to speak to his cousin and compromised, promising to have it in the background of the Muppet Babies sequence. Jerry would later claim that the hat was ‘lost’ between scenes when questioned on the whereabouts of the hat.
Can You Tell Me How To Get To Sesame Street?
To celebrate it’s first April Fools Day in 2005, Google Maps released full details on how to get to Sesame Street. Certain directions included ‘Stop at Gary’s House of Brooms, and sweep the clouds away’ and ‘Recite your ABCs’.
Down At Fraggle Rock!
A new type of igneous rock discovered in Brazil in 2011 was named ‘Fragglite’, after the series Fraggle Rock. This came not 2 months after a new species of large radish was discovered in Japan, which has been nicknamed a Gorg radish by the chef community.
Jason Seagull!
After filming the French beach ‘travelling by map’ arrival in the 2011 film The Muppets, Jason Segel was attacked by a flock of seagulls. It was soon discovered that they were attracted to the scent of his mango shampoo. Onlookers described watching Amy Adams and Bill Barretta use moist towelettes to wipe the scent from Segel’s hair. The birds caused several puppets to need deep cleaning after their stool covered the area.
Disco Monster!
You may have noticed that Grover is a very physically expressive character. This is an homage to his first appearance when the script had the spelling mistake ‘Groover’. Oz thought this would make a great character trait, which lead to one of the most fluid moving Muppets in history.
Deer Hunter!
Richard Hunt’s maternal uncle was film maker and director of the 1978 film The Deer Hunter Michael Cimino. Richard worked as a runner on the set between seasons of The Muppet Show and appearances on Sesame Street. If you watch carefully in the first shots of the platoon, Richard can be seen in the far right corner, polishing an AK47. To repay his uncle, Richard had Cimino recruited for the finale of The Muppet Movie, where his uncle performed Guy Smiley.
Sailing For *BANG* Adventure
The cast and crew of Muppet Treasure Island were convinced the set was haunted after a constant banging was heard during shooting. Filming was shut down for three days as a slew of inspectors (including a supposed ghost hunter) looked over the entire Hispaniola set. The source of the banging was discovered to be a loose hydraulics pipe hitting the wooden shell of the ship. The pipe was set in place and nicknamed ‘The Ghost of Samuel Arrow’.
