I did watch Muppets Haunted Mansion when it premiered last year. It would have made more sense to watch it before Halloween so that I would have had time to review it. But I wanted to watch it on Halloween because I didn’t have anything better to do, so I did, and by the time I was inclined to write a review of it, it felt more like Christmas. So now that it’s the Halloween season again, I’m going to review it now.
dave goelz
Muppet Show Viewing Guide: Season 5
Season 5 is probably the best The Muppet Show has to offer. If the DVD releases had been based on merit rather than chronology, it should have been the first. Then everyone could enjoy it without having to offer up a pound of flesh to Disney per month in perpetuity.
It makes me a little sad that Henson and Co. stopped making The Muppet Show just as they got really good at it. Nevertheless, this season has its uncomfortable moments just as the other ones do. Furthermore, ceasing production on the Muppet Show freed them up to do Fraggle Rock. And as good as The Muppet Show can be at times, (the original) Fraggle Rock is infinitely better. Yeah, I said it, and I’ll stand by it.
I’m classifying The Muppet Show Season 5 episodes according to the same system that I used in my Season 4 Viewing Guide:
- Delightful
- Mostly Harmless
- Cringeworthy
- Horrific
However, because there are a couple of episodes not readily available for viewing, I’ve had to add a couple of special categories.
Muppet Show Viewing Guide: Season 4
Muppet Show episodes run the whole gamut, from the delightful to the disturbing. If you’re new to Seasons 4 and 5 like I am, you may wonder where each episode falls. The Disney+ content warnings help a little but don’t give you any specifics and are sometimes esoteric.
Back in the days before there were streaming services, or even video recorders, there wasn’t a way to skip over the parts of The Muppet Show that were less than stellar. You just had to sit through them and wait for the good stuff to come back.
Now, however, between DVDs, YouTube, and streaming, it’s easier to skip over the bad parts and enjoy the good parts. It’s just a matter of knowing what to expect and where to look. Well, I “took a chance on the crap” so you don’t have to, and I can tell you the highlights and the lowlights.
I’m organizing the episodes into four categories:
- Delightful: Sit back and relax; you shouldn’t see anything offensive or objectionable in these episodes at all
- Mostly Harmless: There are a few uncomfortable moments, but these episodes are enjoyable for the most part
- Cringeworthy: There are a few bright spots, but these episodes are mostly dull or upsetting.
- Horrific: These episodes are almost completely demoralizing. Even the few good numbers aren’t enough to save them. Skip the episodes altogether and look up the few good parts on YouTube instead.
Muppet Guys Talking Livestream Event Honoring Jim Henson
I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that this Saturday, May 16th, marks the 30th anniversary of Jim Henson’s death. To commemorate the occasion, the four surviving performers involved in Muppet Guys Talking are holding a livestreaming event at 4:00 p.m. ET that afternoon.
You can register for free by clicking the following link:
http://www.MuppetGuysTalking.com/jim
Once you register, you will also have the opportunity to submit questions, which I presume they will make an effort to answer during the conversation.
According to the confirmation email, those who register will receive a special viewing link via email the day before. It also says that it will be available for replay to those who register, regardless of whether or not you view the original livestream.
Registration is free, but the registration page also says that the livestream will be a COVID-19 fundraiser. Not sure how that’s supposed to work, but I guess we’ll find out on Saturday.
Leap Day
My purpose in posting this is to wish my youngest nephew a happy birthday. He’s a leapling, so today he turns 12 on what is technically only his third birthday.
Nice of the Muppets to make a birthday video for him, even if they didn’t realize that’s what they were doing.
Fraggle Friday: Episode 407–“The Perfect Blue Rollie”
You can really see the greed and covetousness on Boober’s face, even though he doesn’t have eyes.
I’m going to make two points about this episode. They may seem unrelated, even contradictory, but there is a method to my madness.
Dark Crystal Prequel Series Voice Cast Revealed
Remember three weeks ago when I said I wanted to know who was voicing skekTek the Scientist in the Dark Crystal prequel series? Well, I’ve gotten what I wanted and then some, because the entire voice cast was revealed yesterday by Entertainment Weekly.
And it turns out that skekTek is (drum roll, please)….
Sixty for 60: Homecoming and Farewell
I’d like to thank Steve for unintentionally setting up the theme of this month’s 60 for 60 post. This month I’m examining the complementary themes of homecoming and farewell. Specifically, I’m looking at the home videos that have emerged on YouTube of the time he went back to participate in a concert at his old high school after 10 years of working with the Muppets, as well as his contributions to Jim Henson’s memorial service two years later.
I’ve never actually met Steve in person and I don’t know him well even by internet standards, so what I’m about to say is pure conjecture, but from where I’m sitting as an outside observer, it seems to me that two things keep him grounded: his close connection to his roots in Atlanta, and his loyalty to Jim Henson. Both are on prominent display in the following videos.
Twelve Days of Muppet Christmas Carol: Narrators
At long last, it is the twelfth day of Muppet Christmas, and not a moment too soon because my brain has more or less turned into guacamole. But before we wrap up, we must take a look at the narrators in Muppet Christmas Carol and Christmas Carol ’99.
Narrators
Dominic West (in his role as Scrooge’s nephew, Fred) provides voice-over narration at the end of Christmas Carol ’99
Gonzo the Great as Charles Dickens and Rizzo the Rat as himself provide narration throughout Muppet Christmas Carol (Gonzo and Rizzo are performed by Dave Goelz and Steve Whitmire, respectively)
Twelve Days of Muppet Christmas Carol: Charity Collectors
We’re in the home stretch now! It’s day eleven of the 12 Days of Muppet Christmas, and we’re looking at the two gentlemen in each production who attempt to persuade Scrooge to donate to charity
Charity Collectors
Edward Petherbridge as Foster and Jeremy Swift as Williams, the charity collectors in Christmas Carol ’99
Beaker and Bunsen as the charity collectors in Muppet Christmas Carol, with Michael Caine and Kermit. (Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker are performed by Dave Goelz and Steve Whitmire, respectively)
Twelve Days of Muppet Christmas Carol: Marley Ghost(s)
One of the few departures Muppet Christmas Carol made from the source material is that it added another Marley ghost to the mix. But do two Marleys make for a better adaptation than the 1999 TV version starring Patrick Stewart? Find out on this, the third day of the 12 Days of Muppet Christmas.
Jacob (and Robert) Marley
Statler (Jerry Nelson) and Waldorf (Dave Goelz) as Jacob and Robert Marley in Muppet Christmas Carol (Yes, I flipped the image so that my captions would match up; deal with it)
Bernard Lloyd as Jacob Marley in Christmas Carol ’99 (Only one ghost, but three different scenes)
Muppet Heresy: “When Love Is Gone” Represents Everything I Don’t Like About Muppet Christmas Carol
Why do you delight in torturing us?…JUST GO ALREADY!!!
I first saw Muppet Christmas Carol in December 1993 when we got the VHS as a Christmas present. Suffice it to say, the initial impression it left on me was not favorable. In fact, it was so unfavorable that it was approximately 20 years before I could watch it again.
Muppet Heresy: In Defense of Muppets’ Wizard of Oz
A couple of weeks ago, it was announced that Kermit the Frog will be performing the title role in a live stage production of The Wizard of Oz which, as I’m sure we can all agree, seems really weird and random. Why that production? Why that role? Why just Kermit and not the whole Muppet troupe? It sounds to me like somebody in a decision-making role with the Muppets has a friend who called in a favor. But I digress.
Predictably, some of the reactions to the news involved some variation on the extremely witty comment, “I hope this production is better than Muppets’ Wizard of Oz, because that really sucked!”
I’ve never understood the hatred that people level against Muppets’ Wizard of Oz. Admittedly, it’s not the best thing that the Muppets have ever done, but it’s not the worst thing either, and there’s a lot of fun to be had with it, especially if–like me–you’re primarily familiar with the story from the original novel rather than the 1939 film adaptation.
Fraggle Friday: The Elusive Lyrics to “Dixie Wailin'”
“Dixie Wailin'” is certainly one of my favorite Fraggle Rock songs, if not my very favorite. So it bothers me that almost everyone who covers it seems to get the lyrics wrong.
Fraggle Friday: “Pebble Pox Blues”
Slightly off-topic, but I was thinking about this one today because Lin-Manuel Miranda has shingles.
And while I of course feel sorry for him–because by all accounts, shingles is a miserable illness–I’m also shocked and disturbed because I didn’t know it was possible to get shingles in your 30s. Lin is the same age I am; that means I’m susceptible too. Crap.
(Unless, of course, it only attacks obscenely talented and successful thirty-somethings, in which case I’m off the hook.)
Frog of La Mancha 