The Muppets: just what is their deal, anyhow?

Discussion in 'TV & Media' started by Gaith, Sep 15, 2014.

  1. CaptJimboJones

    CaptJimboJones Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 15, 2002
    Location:
    Hotlanta
    My kids - ages 6 and 8 - think the Muppets are hilarious and loved both of the reboot movies. That inspired me to show them a few of the original movies, which they also loved.
     
  2. Amaris

    Amaris Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 25, 2002
    Location:
    United States
    My parents, in their mid 50s, also love the Muppets.
     
  3. Kai "the spy"

    Kai "the spy" Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2011
    Location:
    Home
    Only bad people don't love the Muppets.


    Well, of course, that only goes for people who know the Muppets. But once exposed, that's the moment of truth.
     
  4. bigdaddy

    bigdaddy Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 19, 2007
    Location:
    Space Massachusetts
    My mom does too, I figured people older and younger didn't bother to go see the new movie or the last one. In my experience the only ones I knew who went were around my age. My little cousins like them fine but not enough to go bug their parents.
     
  5. The Borgified Corpse

    The Borgified Corpse Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2000
    Location:
    Ouch! Forgotten already? You were just down ther
    I have this secret hope that, one day, Disney will own every single entertainment company ever, thus finally resolving all of the rights issues preventing Muppet Babies from being released on DVD. :techman:

    Dang. I never thought of it until now but that would've been awesome!

    And, after a quick search, it looks like Shatner's only Muppet appearance was a brief cameo on Muppets Tonight in 1996.
     
  6. Gaith

    Gaith Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    May 11, 2008
    Location:
    Oregon
    I will always be disappointed that Nimoy wouldn't appear on Boston Legal because he was "retired from acting", but then un-retired for, among other things, Bayformers 3 and Into Blahness (I'll give him a pass for Trek XI and Fringe, but, c'mon, man.)

    ... Anyhow, is anyone else as uninvested in the Kermit/Piggy saga as I? Or as mildly creeped out that her clearly unwanted smothering is supposed to be funny every dang time?
     
  7. Kai "the spy"

    Kai "the spy" Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2011
    Location:
    Home
    Well, Nimoy had a brief appearance (and I mean brief, it's under a minute, I think) on the "Muppets Tonight" show from the 90s.
     
  8. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    Well, the former was just a voice role, and he never retired from voice acting, just on-camera acting. He's had a fair number of voice roles during his "retirement" phases. In the past few years he's also done the Land of the Lost movie, The Big Bang Theory, a 2012 animated movie called Zambezia, and a couple of Kingdom Hearts video games.

    And whatever you may think of Into Darkness, Nimoy really hit it off with J.J. Abrams during production on the 2009 movie, so he was glad to work with him again on later productions.
     
  9. Kai "the spy"

    Kai "the spy" Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2011
    Location:
    Home
  10. Maurice

    Maurice Snagglepussed Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2005
    Location:
    Real Gone
    I wouldn't call The Muppets' $165 million worldwide box office "tepid" considering the film cost about $45million. Even if it made to take in 2x it's budget to break even (budget, taxes, interest on investment loans and marketing costs) that's still something like $70 million more than the studio's investment.
     
  11. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

    Joined:
    Nov 22, 2012
    Location:
    Melakon's grave
    I first saw Rowlf as a regular on The Jimmy Dean Show in 1962. A proto-Kermit showed up on some other show, humming "Shine Little Glow Worm" as an inchworm crawled toward him and he gobbled it up. Then it happened a second time. The third time, he grabbed the inchworm, but it resisted, turning out to be several feet long and part of the elephant-like trunk belonging to a big ugly monster that showed up and then ate him.
     
  12. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2003
    Location:
    RJDiogenes of Boston
    I've seen that sketch. I think the proto-Kermit was supposed to be a lizard, then later became a frog.
     
  13. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    That sketch was performed on several different variety shows in the '60s, starting with The Jack Paar Show in '64, and was recreated with a different character on The Muppet Show. Here's the Muppet Wiki entry listing its appearances:

    http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Inchworm_(sketch)
     
  14. Forbin

    Forbin Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    Location:
    I said out, dammit!
    Of COURSE there's a Muppet Wiki. :lol:
    Hadn't even thought of that.
     
  15. Redfern

    Redfern Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2006
    Location:
    Georgia, USA
    I probably first saw that skit in the mid 60s, making me only 3 or 4 years old. As such, it scared the poop outa' me! Knowing me, I probably started squaling.

    Sincerely,

    Bill
     
  16. publiusr

    publiusr Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2010
    Location:
    publiusr
    I wonder if there were any guest stars that had trouble looking at the muppets, but kept looking behind...
     
  17. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    Actors are trained to look where the director tells them. A lot of the time when you see a close-up of an actor supposedly having a conversation with another character, they're really just speaking to a camera or a piece of tape on the wall, because the other actor isn't actually there on the set (actors being too busy to show up unless they're needed on camera).

    Maybe the musical guests would've had more trouble with it, but I don't know -- it's not that hard to keep your eye on a Muppet's face, because they're interesting to watch.
     
  18. Kai "the spy"

    Kai "the spy" Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2011
    Location:
    Home
    And besides, Muppets have faces. People instinctively recognize a face, and instinctively look into the eyes. Like, when we see a portrait of someone, our brain instinctively recognizes the face, the eyes, the mouth, etc.. Even in a simple :). So, looking the Muppet, which is moving, in the face and in the eyes, is pretty much instinct, even without an actor's training.
     
  19. nightwind1

    nightwind1 Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2010
    Location:
    Des Moines, IA
    I'm 53, and the Muppets hit me right in the feels every time.
     
  20. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2003
    Location:
    RJDiogenes of Boston
    A lot of times they have somebody off-camera reading the other part in place of the other actor.

    Actually, I've read comments from some actors-- unfortunately, I forget who at this point-- claiming that they've gotten so caught up in performing with Muppets that they forget there's a human, or humans, manipulating them.