265 Dollars Worth of Kermit

Take a look at this:

It’s Kermit!

Well, it’s sort of Kermit. The points on his collar are a little shorter than the “real” Kermit's, and his tongue’s not really the right color, and his head… You know, his head looks a lot like a watermelon. It's not the worst Kermit doll ever, but it's far from the best.

So guess how much this thing costs. Give up? Two hundred sixty-five dollars. That’s not a typo… The doll is made by the Steiff teddy bear company, and that’s the price listed for it on their website. How in the world can they justify such a steep price? Is the doll filled with diamonds? Does Steve Whitmire personally deliver the doll to your house and then stick around all afternoon to play board games with you? When you squeeze its hand, does it dispense chocolate truffles and swimming pools?

None of the above. You only get the doll. However, there is some exciting news. According to the Steiff website: “For the first time ever, Kermit will be made of genuine German mohair.” Wow! All these years the fans have been clamoring for Kermit to be made of German mohair, and finally our German mohair dreams have come true. And it’s genuine! None of that damn faux German mohair here. I mean, I hate it when I spend $265 on a doll, only to bring it home, look at it under a microscope, and discover that it’s made of imitation German mohair, or worse, genuine Czechoslovakian mohair, which any baby or elderly lady knows is shoddy mohair. That really chaps my hide.

What’s so special about mohair, anyway? What is mohair? Wikipedia says “Mohair usually refers to a silk-like fabric or yarn made from the hair of the Angora goat.” And here’s the picture for that article:

That goat looks pretty grumpy. But he’s going to be really ticked off when he gets shaved nekkid so his fur can be used to make a mediocre Kermit the Frog doll. I bet he doesn’t even like Kermit that much.

Oh, but the Kermit doll is a limited edition! So it's definitely worth the price, because instead of having one of millions of pretty crappy Kermit dolls, you'll have one of only a few hundred pretty crappy Kermit dolls! Your friends, coworkers, and the bagger at your local Wal-Mart will be so jealous.

Okay, I think I’ve sufficiently insulted this inanimate object now. But seriously, if you have $265 lying around and a burning desire for Kermit merchandise, you should probably dig under your couch cushions for some more dough and buy the Master Replicas Kermit photo puppet replica, which Amazon still lists as In Stock for $299.99. It's poseable, and the shape of head more closely resembles Kermit’s head than a large fruit.

Or just hold your horses for a while, and you can buy the eFX collectibles Reporter Kermit photo puppet replica, which is due around early 2010 and will most likely be similarly priced.

Or, for a fraction of the cost, you could just buy one of these guys on eBay and be done with it:

Thanks to Tough Pigs’ own Chris “Smig” Smigliano for bringing this thing to our attention on the Tough Pigs forum. Speaking of which, click here to talk about this thing on the very same Tough Pigs forum!

ToughPigsRyan@yahoo.com

Review: The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson #2

The Muppet Show Comic Book: The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson #2 will hit comic book stores this Wednesday, August 26th. As we've come to expect, writer & artist Roger Langridge has once again written and artisted a very entertaining comic.

Unlike the first four-issue Muppet Show series, Peg-Leg Wilson contains several ongoing stories, so we get a recap on this issue's first page. It's delivered in song by this banjo-picking Muppet, whom the Muppet wiki refers to as "Hillbilly Singer," and his presence here nicely fulfills the obscure character quota for this issue.


So Kermit is still acting suspiciously un-Kermit-like, and in this issue we find out why. What's less clear is which version of Kermit Miss Piggy would prefer.



By the way, who do you think that Muppet girl on the right is supposed to be? I don't recognize her as a puppet ever seen on The Muppet Show.

Then there's Animal, who's also acting strangely... Last month it was revealed that Muppet Labs is behind his personality shift, but this month his Electric Mayhem bandmates try to bring the old Animal back. They miss their old insane, feral, dangerous pal (Who wouldn't?), and they miss his drumming skills even more, so they hire a hypnotist named Creepy McBoo to snap him out of his well-behaved stupor.

Creepy McBoo! If there's one thing Langridge is good at, it's silly names (see also last issue's Ninja Rogers). As for this month's obligatory "Which performer would play which character?" game, I'm hearing Steve Whitmire for this guy. Like, you know that "Girlfriend of the Whirling Dervish" song in the Marty Feldman episode? That's the voice I'm hearing. Which is a very important point in this review, so I'm glad I made that clear.

Elsewhere, we have a musical number that offers a clever variation on "Mahna Mahna" which I will not spoil...


I really like the way Langridge draws Mahna Mahna. He's a crazy-lookin' character to begin with, so he's a good fit for Langridge's style. Other bits include a Bear on Patrol sketch, a Muppet Labs scene, and a page of "Scooter, Boy Detective," which feels like an onstage segment of the show but really carries forward the backstage plots.

Speaking of the backstage plots, this issue seems to devote more space to them than any previous issue. It works well... The onstage and backstage goings-on were often similarly tied together on the Muppet Show TV series. The plot I haven't mentioned yet is the whole "buried treasure" thing, which really doesn't move forward in this issue despite the fact that the whole miniseries is named after it. There's still treasure in the theater, and Rizzo and his rat buddies are still looking for it. It looks like more will happen with that story next issue, though.

I do hope that issue #3 has a few more "onstage" bits that stand independent of the storylines, but as with last month's review, I don't really have any complaints about this issue. I don't think it made me laugh quite as much as Peg-Leg #1, but your mileage may vary. Oh, and here's one other thing I wanted to mention... There's a reference in this issue to "Rainbow Connection" being 30 years old. So if there was any doubt, this comic book definitely takes place right now, and not in the 1970s. I like the idea that the Muppets have been doing this show continuously for the past few decades... or did they stop for a while and then return to it? Either way, it's always fun to see these talented entertainers putting on a show.

Finally: For all you Miss Piggy fans, check out this panel from the issue's closing number:

Hubba hubba!

Click here to talk about this issue and be hypnotized by Creepy McBoo on the Tough Pigs forum!

ToughPigsRyan@yahoo.com

NYC ToughPigs Outing Take Two: September 5

Flashback to mid-July, and you might remember being horribly disappointed that we had a ToughPigs Outing scheduled in New York City (no, that's not the disappointing part) which was canceled due to the weather (yes, there's the rub). The kick in the pants was that we ended up having a beautiful, clear day, which convinced me to shake many a fist at our local weathermen for steering me wrong.

Thankfully, there is still lots of summer left, and we have finally narrowed down a weekend for our newly rescheduled ToughPigs Outing. Join us on Governors Island on Saturday, September 5th for fun in the sun (or in the shade of a tree), along with some exciting mingling with your fellow Muppet fans. We will be meeting at 10:30am in the lobby of the Governors Island ferry, which is located directly to the left of the Staten Island Ferry in the southern tip of Manhattan (near the 4/5, R/W, and 1 trains). Ferries leave every hour on the hour, so the bulk of us will be on the 11:00 boat. (If you're late, don't worry about it. Just meet us at the rendezvous whenever you can make it.) The ferry is free, and the ride is only about 5 minutes long. Just long enough to get a whiff of the East River.

Don't know what we look like? Keep an eye out for a small group of folks, some of whom will be wearing Muppet shirts. Still not sure? Try asking random strangers if they're a ToughPig and see what kind of reaction you get!

Once on the island, we'll head straight to the Parade Ground (#2 on the map below), which is a large empty field with four trees in the middle. We'll make the trees our home base for any latecomers.

Once we've settled, we'll eat some lunch (feel free to bring your own, or if you're feeling generous, bring something Muppety to share, like "Swedish Chef" meatballs, Munchos chips, or French Fried Frog's Legs), toss around the frisbee, fly some kites, play with puppets, and whatever else it is that people do in the outdoors. We encourage you to bring your own toys, puppets, cameras, or whatever else you can think of. To keep things relevant, we'll hold some Muppet trivia games, complete with prizes!

Sadly, Judy Collins will be unable to attend.

Even if you just want to stop by and say hi for a little and then ditch us, there's plenty to do on Governors Island. There's lot of pathways for exploring, bike rentals, kayaking, mini-golf, historical tours, and much more.

If you're in the New York area and are thinking about coming, drop by the ToughPigs forum or send me an e-mail. I'll send out an e-mail reminder as it gets a little closer to the 5th, and I'll keep you informed in case there are any weather issues. General questions (and answers) will be posted on the forum.

If the unthinkable happens and bad weather is headed our way for Saturday the 5th, we will reschedule the Outing for Sunday the 6th. Again, I'll let you all know if we need to pull out that Plan B via e-mail and the ToughPigs forum.

And feel free to invite your non-fanatic friends too! The more the merrier! But if they start spreading those nasty "Vegetable Monster" rumors, we're voting them off the island.

This event should be a blast! I'm looking forward to meeting a lot of our readers, and I hope you're not sorely disillusioned after meeting the faces behind ToughPigs.
Click here to chat about this upcoming event on the ToughPigs forum!

joe.toughpigs@gmail.com

Muppet Chic

For a group of characters who mostly either wear the same thing every day or prefer to be completely nude, the Muppets sure are having their say about fashion this week.

Miss Piggy, who probably travels with her own J.C. Penney outlet, has allowed her wardrobe to go on display at the Macy's in Chicago. Rumor has it that there will be lots and lots of pink gloves. I, for one, would be very disappointed if they didn't have at least a dozen hats with ear-holes cut out of the top.
The display is connected to the Glamorama event, which featured Miss Piggy singing Lady Gaga's "Pokerface." The irony isn't lost on us, since Lady Gaga might be most famous for going out in public wearing those horrible Muppet outfits last month. Sorry Gaga, but your 15 minutes are up, and you're being replaced by a lady pig.
On the other side of the franchise, the Sesame Street gang was interviewed by Harper's Bazaar about their fashion sense. The interview also includes a photo shoot and a video, none of which actually involve the Muppets, y'know, wearing new stuff.
And I believe these are from about a year ago, but they're too pretty to be ignored. Here's a few pictures of Miss Piggy doing her Lady Holiday thing. How... daring!

UPDATE: Miss Piggy answered a few questions about her wardrobe in an interview at TwinCities.com. Read all about it here.

Click here to discuss Piggy's plethora of pink gloves on the ToughPigs forum!

joe.toughpigs@gmail.com

The Elmo Generation Gets Cranky

You know how people in their 20s and 30s are always complaining about the current version of Sesame Street? They say the show has been ruined, that it's a shadow of its former self, that it's a whine whine of its kvetch kvetch... The complaints are nearly always built around one word, and that word is Elmo.

Folks who watched the show in the 70s and 80s hate the fact that a sappy, silly "new" character became a star and usurped Big Bird as the representative Sesame Street character. Several weeks back, in my review of the new Sesame Street DVD Being Green, I embedded the "Elmo's Green Mashup" video, which was officially posted on YouTube by the show's producers. Anyone who knows me well knows I'm always fascinated by internet comments, and I couldn't resist looking to see what the common people of the web had to say about the clip.

One trend immediately caught my attention. Several commenters who saw the clip assumed that Elmo's change of hue was a permanent development... and they were pretty unhappy about it. This comment posted by AnimenerdMuffin is representative of this: "noooo he cant be green D: he was always red when i watched him growing up"

Meanwhile, NikTee123 is a little confused, but had the same basic reaction: "wtf first they made the cookie monster orange now elmo is green. WHAT ON EARTH IS HAPPENING ON THAT STREET!"

lexy1234 is even more sadly misinformed about other characters, but is in the same boat: "this sucks. elmo and cookie monster have changed. elmo is green. cookie monster is now the veggie monster. what happened to the old days :( "

Do you know what this means? The tide is turning! Whereas Generation X holds dear the pre-Elmo Sesame Street from its childhood and resents Elmo for showing up and changing it, we now have Generation Y, who grew up with Elmo and resents any indication of a Sesame Street without the standard Elmo. Mr. Born-in-1974 believes with every fiber of his being that the only true Sesame Street is the Sesame Street before the little red guy... but you know what? Mr. Born-in-1994 believes with just as many fibers that Elmo is an essential ingredient in the Sesame Street recipe.

Just think -- whereas now we have young adults complaining that Elmo has taken screen time away from classic characters like Big Bird and Grover, in just a few years we're likely to have young adults ranting about how Abby has taken screen time away from classic characters like Elmo and Baby Bear! Since Elmo hit the big time, grown-ups have been like, "It's a huge mistake to give Elmo the spotlight over the classic characters! The show was so much better before he showed up!" But now the viewers who were in the audience for the first Elmo's World segments are becoming grown-ups themselves, and they're all like, "It's a huge mistake to change the Elmo character! The show needs the classic Elmo!"

I'm not really sure where I'm going with this, and I guess I don't really have a point to make, and I can't say that one group of fans is more correct than the other. But isn't it interesting?



Click here to wonder what happened to the old days on the Tough Pigs forum!

ToughPigsRyan@yahoo.com

News! Links! Tickle Hands!

We have several news-y things to talk about here on Tough Pigs. So what are we waiting for?

Jim Henson Company on YouTube
Tough Pigs forum member Grant recently pointed out to us that the Jim Henson Company has its own channel on YouTube. There's some new stuff (Sid the Science Kid and Dinosaur Train clips), some old stuff (Fraggle Rock clips), some behind-the-scenes stuff, and a few obscure and rarely seen videos, like this outtake from The Jim Henson Hour, which I'm pretty sure has never been seen publicly until now:



Elmo's Tickle Hands hit toy stores, inappropriate jokes follow
Since the introduction of the original Tickle Me Elmo, there have been a heck of a lot of ticklish, vibrating Elmo toys, and by this point, Fisher Price and Sesame Workshop have run out of ways to make Elmo vibrate. But last week, they released a new innovation: Elmo's Tickle Hands. Here's how it works: You put them on your hands, and Elmo giggles, and your hands vibrate. I think Tough Pigs' own Joe Hennes summed things up nicely when he said, "So many kids are going to discover themselves because of that toy."

Wilson & Ditch: A new JHC webshow
Ah, the Jim Henson Company. How you tease us with announcements for TV series, movies, and internet productions that never get made. Has anyone heard a single modicum of news about that monkey secret agent show that was announced last year? Well, now they've announced another new project, but it looks like it'll actually happen: It's called Wilson & Ditch: Digging America, and it's a social studies-themed webshow for PBS. It'll be animated, and educational, and Brian Henson will voice one of the title characters.

Street Gang paperback coming
The paperback edition of Michael Davis's Sesame Street history Street Gang will be released this October, with new material... and this lovely cover:


So if anyone managed to miss the book in the hardcover edition, that ought to catch their eye.

Emmy for Henson
Variety reports that the Jim Henson Company will be receiving an award at this year's Primetime Emmy Engineering Awards, for its Henson Digital Puppetry Studio system. So, yay for Henson. They should absolutely let Gerald, the super-hyper guy from Sid the Science Kid, give the acceptance speech.

The ladies of The View yell at each other about Cookie Monster
The topic: Has Cookie Monster contributed to childhood obesity? Whoopi Goldberg says no, Sherri Shepherd says yes. Loudly. It's just as ridiculous as it sounds:




Muppets are the key to everything
Isn't it boring locking and unlocking doors with the same old non-Muppety keys day after day? Well, now all your problems are solved! Now you can order Muppet keys -- Animal, Fozzie, Kermit, or Kermit/Piggy -- and Sesame Street keys -- Big Bird/Snuffy, Elmo, Oscar, Super Grover, or Ernie -- and have them sent to you. Then you take them to your local locksmith or hardware store and have them cut while ignoring the judgmental stares. Fun!

Sesame 40th anniversary toys
And speaking of cool Sesame Street stuff, the Chicago Examiner's website reporta that there's a new batch of toys coming just in time for the 40th anniversary. There's a bus driven by a Honker, there's a pretty Elmo doll... but most notably, there's this 123 Sesame Street playset:



Now, the rational part of me says, "I could get one of those... but I'd never play with it, and it would just sit on a shelf collecting dust." But the less rational part of me counters with "MOMMY, BUY ME THAT!"

Sesame Workshop brings peace to the Middle East
CNN.com has a lovely article about Sesame Street co-productions and "Muppet diplomacy." You should read it.

Click here to talk about all this stuff on the Tough Pigs forum!

ToughPigsRyan@yahoo.com

Here, Have Some Cookie Monster Videos

You know who's great? Cookie Monster, that's who. You know what I'd like to do today? Watch some Cookie Monster videos, that's what. So first off, here's Cookie Monster at the library, a sketch which features a typically fantastic performance by Richard Hunt, who plays the librarian.



Next, here's one featuring one of my all-time favorite Muppet pairings, and possibly the all-time most underrated: Cookie Monster and Prairie Dawn.



Here's Cookie's cousin Baby Monster, who doesn't like cookies. Doesn't like cookies?!



Elsewhere on the Monster family tree, here's Cookie with his mom, who is not very classy, despite her stylish hairdo and earrings:



Aaand finally, here's an old classic, in which Cookie Monster settles an argument between two kids (and in which the title of the video totally gives away the joke).



Well, that was fun. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go devour an entire package of Chips Ahoy.

Click here to express your love of cookies and Cookie Monster on the Tough Pigs forum!

ToughPigsRyan@yahoo.com

The Secret Proto-Gordon THAT TIME FORGOT!

Disclaimer: This article is not exactly about Muppets. Actually, it's not about Muppets at all. But it is about Sesame Street, and it is very, very important.

If you’re a big fan of Sesame Street, like myself, or my fellow Tough Pigs, or President Barack Obama, you probably know that the human character Gordon has been played by three actors in the show’s history: Matt Robinson, who originated the role; Hal Miller, who only stuck around for two seasons; and Roscoe Orman, the best-known and most beloved Gordon. But what about this guy?



What about this guy?!

This is the actor who played Gordon in a 1969 test episode (available on the DVD release Sesame Street Old School Vol. 2), which was screened for kids before Sesame Street made its official TV debut so the producers could find out what worked and what didn’t. This guy, apparently, is what didn’t.

While his co-stars Loretta Long, Bob McGrath, and Will Lee were chosen for the privilege of saying the alphabet on television (in the roles of Susan, Bob, and Mr. Hooper, respectively), this guy didn’t make the cut. Maybe children didn’t like him, or maybe the producers didn’t like him, but either way, this Proto-Gordon was not destined to be part of the show. So before it had even started, his Sesame Street career was... what's the word I'm looking for?



Done. Right. It was done. So who was that guy? Here’s the shocking truth: Nobody knows. Muppet Wiki, the most comprehensive source of Sesame Street facts in human history, describes him as “an unidentified actor.” When Michael Davis wrote the Sesame Street history Street Gang, he interviewed tons of people involved with the show and was given access to thousands of pages of documents… and he didn't find out anything about the Proto-Gordon! In his book, Davis quotes Jon Stone as saying, "At the last moment we cast an actor with whom no one was completely happy..." Later, Davis describes him as "a person in the neighborhood that children would run away from, not to." And that's it for poor old Proto-Gordon.



Of course, if he had been credited, I wouldn't be nearly so curious about him. If Street Gang had said something like, "Gordon was played in the pilot by Franklin P. Funkytonsils, a struggling New York actor who never did anything else of note," I would be satisfied. But instead we have a mystery, and my inquiring mind will forever be churning until it's solved. So I’d like to take this opportunity to shout a question out into the vast expanse of the internet: Does anyone know who this guy is?

Seriously - if you know anything about this guy (or if you ARE this guy) please post on the Tough Pigs forum or drop me an e-mail. Is he still among the living? Did he continue acting, or did the rejection drive him to abandon his show-business dreams forever? Was he always bitter about not getting the job, watching from the outside as Sesame Street became one of the most important TV programs in history? Does he still watch the show today, and if so, which episode of Elmo’s World is his favorite? Perhaps there are no answers to these questions. Perhaps the identity of the Proto-Gordon will never be known to man (or woman, or grouch or monster or bird or etc.). But if he’s out there, I just want to say this to him: Nice dance moves, man.



Click here to help us solve the mystery of the Proto-Gordon on the Tough Pigs forum! And my thanks to Muppet Wiki for the nifty images!

ToughPigsRyan@yahoo.com

ToughPigs Art: Ivan Guerrero

Let's take a quick spin in our WABAC Machine, all the way back to the first half of this decade. The early 2000's were plagued with ownership issues for the Muppets, some dim-witted cowboy living in the White House, and the horror that is Good Boy. But the glimmer of hope that we all held on to was the phenomenal action figures produced by Palisades Toys.

Aside from the high-quality toys Palisades churned out, they were universally loved for their willingness to reach out to the fans via their own message board. The Palisades board allowed the fans to pose a multitude of questions to the staff, as well as give their input on future figures and accessories.

One of their recurring outreach projects was an art contest, in which fans would create designs featuring the Palisades action figures. Many of the submissions were absolutely brilliant, but none as impressive as Ivan Guerrero's. Ivan created some of the most elaborate fan art I've ever seen, and he was kind enough to allow us to share his pieces with us, both to give the images a new home, as well as remind us of Palisades' legacy.

Remember, click on the images to large-ify them. You're gonna want to see these in full detail.

This first image is called "A Very Scary Muppet Halloween," and features over 300 Photoshop layers. The picture raises two perplexing questions: Is Lew Zealand inherently evil? and Who killed Rizzo?
The next image is the same as the first, but with its original framing. And no Halloween portrait is complete without Shifty-Eyed Sam.
"The Great Muppet Christmas Caper" sports over 800 Photoshop layers, plus animated fireworks. I had a feeling that Doozers worked in Santa's Workshop (because seriously, who believes in elves??). The detail work in this image is fantastic. For example, the stained-glass window in the lower right corner, or the Christmas specials on the TVs in the upper right.
The last image may be Ivan's best known, as well as his most impressive. "Muppet Monsters Ball" boasts over 1200 Photoshop layers and over 230 monsters, aliens, and otherwise creepy characters. Think you can name them all? If you can (and if you want to bother trying), you're a geekier fan than I.
Of course, I'd be remiss to deny you the legend for the above picture. And now you'll know exactly where to find the Flabberdragon.
Many special thanks to Ivan Guerrero for his fantastic work!

Click here to find out how many Photoshop layers we use on the ToughPigs forum!

joe.toughpigs@gmail.com

Review: Muppet Robin Hood #3

Muppet Robin Hood, the red headed stepchild of The Muppet Show Comic Book, is half over, with the third issue being released this Wednesday. Thankfully, the comic hasn't headed into train wreck territory, but it continues to pale in comparison to Roger Langridge's comic, which is destined to sit right next to this one on the shelf.

Thankfully, Tim Beedle's script remains strong, keeping most of the Muppets in-character, while letting the Robin Hood story move forward. I say "most" because someone's got to discuss the plot while the wackier characters make funny faces in the background. Johnny Fiama, who was revealed to be Prince John in the second issue, talks and acts like Prince John (with the exception of a stray "cannoli" reference here and there), though the rest of his inner circle, which comprises of Sal, Sam the Eagle, and Gonzo, are allowed to be themselves. Three out of four: that ain't bad!

On the other side of the coin (and on the other side of Sherwood Forest), Robin Hood and his Merry Men are still characterized very well. In this issue, Scooter stands out by delivering a line that's all but ripped from The Muppet Movie script. (In my head, it was even delivered with a good ol' fashioned "Scooter Fist".)

Muppet Robin Hood continues with the Muppet comics' tradition of including as many obscure characters as humanly possible. In this case, they use the Archery Contest as an excuse to toss characters both old and new into the fringe. A few of them came as a real surprise, and I hope we see more in the next issue. I'm holding my breath for Doglion, Bill the Bubble Guy, and the Avocado.

And it's not just the obscure characters who show up. Pepe the King Prawn lives up to his name as King Richard. It seems that he's been busy touring with the Electric Mayhem Crusades. Bunsen and Beaker also appear as, um, scientists. I know, hard to believe. Of the main characters, that leaves just Statler and Waldorf to make an appearance. I'm going to hazard a guess that they'll be on hand to heckle at Robin's hanging. That seems like something they'd do, those sadists.

My biggest gripe about this comic hasn't changed: it's still artist Armand Villavert, Jr., who continues to do an adequate job. His art isn't horrible, as he manages to capture some of the characters spot-on, but he completely drops the ball on others. For example, Gonzo looks like "fan art", and not in a caricaturish kind of way (like Sam, who may not look exactly like the puppet, but the design allows him to show his expressions more blatantly) . His Dr. Teeth in particular is frighteningly awful. But on the other hand, his Pepe looks great, and I'm still loving his Sam and Janice. He also does some great renditions of the one-off characters, whom I'll refrain from naming in the spirit of spoilers. They're easily recognizable, yet not static. But in the long run, Villavert needs to work on his character designs a bit more if he's being considered for any future Muppet comic projects.

I'm keeping with my original recommendation for this comic, which is that I think it's absolutely worth buying, but it might be more readable in its inevitable collected format. And as much as I'm enjoying it, I'm glad there's only one issue left, and then we can look forward to Muppet Peter Pan (and, of course, our overly nitpicky review).
Muppet Robin Hood #3 will be available on Wednesday, August 5 at your local comic book store.

Click here to steal from the rich on the ToughPigs forum!

joe.toughpigs@gmail.com

Muppets vs. Muppet

I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of “Muppets.”

Not the Muppets, mind you… I think those guys are great. What I’m here to kvetch about today is the grievous misuse of the plural form “Muppets” vs. the singular “Muppet” in titles. For example, the division of Disney that owns Kermit and Gonzo and Mr. Poodlepants and the rest is called “The Muppets Studio,” and holy clam chowder does that bug me. The 2008 Christmas special was called A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa. Does this not flip a switch labeled "BROW-FURROW" in anyone else’s brain?

When Kermit and Piggy and Marvin Suggs and the rest took the television world by storm in 1976, was their show titled The Muppets Show? No. When they made their motion picture debut in 1979, was the film called The Muppets Movie? No. Is their 1981 magnum opus called The Great Muppets Caper? No, sir or madam, it is not. We have The Muppet Show, The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and so we should have “Muppet Studios”* and A Muppet Christmas: Letters to Santa.

See? Isn't that better? The weird thing is, on the Muppet Show DVDs, each episode is proceeded by a logo reading "Muppet Studios." What happened to that?! They took a perfectly good thingy and made it a less perfectly good thingy!

“But hold on there, Mr. Ryan!” you might say. “What about The Muppets Take Manhattan? Surely – surely, I say! – you’re not suggesting it should have been called The Muppet Take Manhattan?!?!?!?!?” To which I reply: “Don’t be ridiculous, you little Dickens, you!” Here’s the difference. In The Muppets Take Manhattan, the word "Muppet" is a plural noun.** In the other cases I’ve mentioned, "Muppet" is more or less an adjective. That’s a good way to remember it, anyway: If the title still makes sense when the word "Muppet" is replaced by an adjective, the singular should be used. Let’s try it on some other titles:

• The Funny Movie
• The Entertaining Show
• The Mellifluous Christmas Carol
• Contagious Treasure Island
• Excruciating Classic Theater
• A Mongolian Family Christmas
• The Bootylicious Musicians of Bremen

Yep, it works!

I’m not really sure where this problem started. Was it with the Ed Sullivan Show compilation DVD Muppets Magic in 2003?


Or could it be a misinterpretation of The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz? If you weren’t paying attention, you might miss the apostrophe, which indicates that this is not a Wizard of Oz that is exceptionally Muppets in nature, because that makes no sense, but is, rather, a Wizard of Oz which is presented by the Muppets. And I would not be shocked to find that someone at Disney wasn’t paying attention.

Okay then, I think I've run out of ways to take the letter S way too seriously, but I just hope this never happens again. If Kermit and Fozzie and Angel Marie and the rest make a new holiday special anytime soon, I don’t want to see A Muppets Halloween, I want A Muppet Halloween. Nor do I want A Muppets Thanksgiving, A Muppets Easter, or A Muppets Muppets Underwater. All I’m asking, really, is that they drop the S when it's not necessary. That’s not unreasonable, is it? I don’t think so.

And thus I conclude, and so I say: Thanks you and good nights. Um, I mean, Thank you and good night. Yes.

Click here to replace the word "Muppets" with an adjective on the Tough Pigs forum!

ToughPigsRyan@yahoo.com

*”The Muppet Studio” would also be acceptable.

**Also, interesting fact: The Muppets Take Manhattan is one of only a few Muppet titles that are complete sentences. I can think of two others. How many can YOU come up with?