"A Muppet Family Christmas" is extremely my shit
December 10, 2017 8:31 AM   Subscribe

The Muppet Christmas Carol is a beloved holiday classic, but many may not be as familiar with A Muppet Family Christmas, a television special broadcast in 1987 and 1989, but never released on home media in its original and complete version due to various rights issues. It's noteworthy as one of the few Muppet vehicles with appearances and references to characters from the four major franchises (The Muppet Show, Muppet Babies, Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock) and for featuring a cameo by Jim Henson as himself. You can watch John Lagomarsino explain why the special is extremely his shit. You can watch a version of the special via YouTube.
posted by girlmightlive (80 comments total) 92 users marked this as a favorite
 
The Muppets' Twelve Days of Christmas is the definite rendition of this tune. The "ba-dum-dum" that Miss Piggy slips in there nicely fills a gap in the song that I'd previously realized was there.
posted by SPrintF at 8:43 AM on December 10, 2017 [5 favorites]


Yes, yes, yessssssss. My sister and I wore out a videotape of this (complete with late-eighties commercials). I'm pretty sure I can still recite the entire script.

Also, now I want to re-watch our DVD and see if I can pick out what get left out, due to said rights issues, etc.
posted by kalimac at 8:44 AM on December 10, 2017 [3 favorites]


This includes my all time favorite Muppets joke between Bert & Ernie from Sesame Street & Doc from Fraggle Rock:

Ernie: Oh, hi there, we’re Ernie and Bert.
Doc: Well, hi there yourself, I’m Doc.
Bert: Oh, did you know that Doc starts with the letter D?
Doc: Why, yes.
Ernie: Yes! Yes, starts with the letter Y.
Doc: True.
Ernie: And true starts with the letter T.
Doc: What is this?
Bert: Where we come from this is small talk.
posted by nbrier at 9:29 AM on December 10, 2017 [81 favorites]


I *love* this special!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:44 AM on December 10, 2017


Yes, yes, yessssssss. My sister and I wore out a videotape of this (complete with late-eighties commercials). I'm pretty sure I can still recite the entire script.

And here I thought I'd be the first person to post "My sister and I wore out our VHS tape of this recorded from television."

Funny story related to 80's video tapes and their commercials. I remember watching one at home when I was a kid, and I guess my mom must have come in when commercials were on, because there was a McRib commercial, and the next day she went to McDonald's demanding a McRib. From the backseat, I was quietly trying to tell her it was a tape I was watching and a commercial, but she wasn't listening until she'd already made a fool of herself.

Good times.
posted by deadaluspark at 9:51 AM on December 10, 2017 [6 favorites]


yESSSSS
but also
The Christmas Toy
(which is my ultimate shit forever and ever)
posted by halation at 10:03 AM on December 10, 2017 [6 favorites]


John Lagomarsino is entirely correct that this represents a peak moment for the Muppets.

Understanding full well the risks inherent in treating a scripted performance as any kind of sign of a person's real feelings, I nonetheless still believe that understanding a big part of Jim Henson's particular gift as a creator can be had from his line during the cameo that he makes towards the end: "I like it when they have a good time." "They" in this context meaning, of course, the Muppets.

It's an amusing line, but at the same time he doesn't sound at all like a person pretending. He sounds like someone speaking fondly of characters that are his creation, but that have achieved an independent identity of their own, one that he's determined to respect.

A lot of what made the characters tick was lost when Henson died, purely because there's nobody else who could relate to them with quite that kind of integrity.
posted by Ipsifendus at 10:19 AM on December 10, 2017 [42 favorites]


YES! Fully on board with this. I remember being quite outraged by the home video version which also cut a very funny -- though in retrospect probably needlessly cruel -- pork joke. I wish I could remember that joke! (Though maybe it's best I don't.)
posted by Mrs. Rattery at 10:27 AM on December 10, 2017


The Muppets' Twelve Days of Christmas is the definite rendition of this tune.

Note that this was from John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together.

Which is also the shit.


Personally, I like to watch this version of A Muppet Family Christmas, with the 1987 commercials.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 10:39 AM on December 10, 2017 [18 favorites]


Note that this was from John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together yt .


I've never actually seen "A Christmas Together" but we had the album when i was a kid, and it's my favorite thing to listen to at Christmas.
posted by drezdn at 10:40 AM on December 10, 2017 [4 favorites]


Mine too. For the sake of their sanity, my parents had to hide it until a couple of days before Christmas.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 10:41 AM on December 10, 2017 [2 favorites]


Watch out for the icy patch.
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 10:53 AM on December 10, 2017 [22 favorites]


The Muppets are able to cut through my emotional armor like nothing else. I don't remember watching this, but I'm sure I have seen it because I didn't miss out on Muppet things at all back in the day. The day Jim Henson died I was so distraught I was sent home from work. I'm not typically affected by remote famous person's deaths. But Henson... man that one hurt. His work has always opened up my heart in a way that nothing else does.
posted by hippybear at 10:56 AM on December 10, 2017 [10 favorites]


Wow, I remember watching this! I was younger than ten when it aired. So good.
posted by TheLateGreatAbrahamLincoln at 10:57 AM on December 10, 2017


Not to derail too much further, but this Christmas is the first year that my son has gotten really into the holiday season, and he has been loving all Muppet-related Christmas content, just as I did while growing up.

He has been all about the Twelve Days of Christmas with John Denver and wants to know all about who is singing each part every time we listen. To help him contextualize the voices, I pulled up a clip from the special, and we realized that the Muppets singing in the special are not the same as on the album version. I was shook.
posted by kyleg at 11:01 AM on December 10, 2017 [3 favorites]


yESSSSS
but also
The Christmas Toy
(which is my ultimate shit forever and ever)


Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas
(Not just my shit, also the shit of whoever came up with character names in Zootopia.)
posted by radwolf76 at 11:11 AM on December 10, 2017 [27 favorites]


I had a friendly MeFite send me a DVD of Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas, the original version shown on HBO, several years ago. And I watch it every year. It's glorious. #HensonNowHensonForever
posted by hippybear at 11:16 AM on December 10, 2017 [6 favorites]


Note that this was from John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together

a pox on the grinch who is keeping this from being officially re-released
posted by entropicamericana at 11:39 AM on December 10, 2017 [5 favorites]


Watch out for the icy patch.
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 1:53 PM on December 10


Oh my god. This movie didn't sound familiar at all - I would have been 2 and 4 when this originally aired - but your comment and video are giving me serious deja vu. I guess I did watch it, and toddler ZaphodB was really into slapstick.
posted by ZaphodB at 11:50 AM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]


radwolf76 you are my hero

the takes with the drum are absolutely *chef kiss* priceless
posted by halation at 11:53 AM on December 10, 2017 [2 favorites]


We've watched this in my family every year since I was very small. Our videotape was on its last legs and my dad tracked down a DVD bootleg from Europe. My parents have a special dance they do during "Pass it On". I think the best thing about it is the interaction between the different Muppet "universes" - e.g. the rats asking Oscar if they can bunk with him and his reply is "huh, I've never had a rat in my trash can before, that might be nice." And the Muppets watching videos of themselves as Muppet Babies! Plus in this day and age I have to say it's just refreshing and nice to watch something with Sesame Street characters where Elmo is barely even involved. I don't think he even speaks.

There's a lot to love and the rights situation dooming this excellent special to obscurity is very sad.
posted by potrzebie at 11:54 AM on December 10, 2017 [7 favorites]


We had this taped from network on the Betamax AND a Beta copy of Emmet Otter. IIRC, we also had taped the 25th Anniversary of Sesame Street and The Jetsons Meet The Flintstones. I did watch it last Christmas, and I love the Swedish Chef and his measuring of the turkey visitor (who’s flirting with Gonzo’s Camilla and driving him insane).
posted by sara is disenchanted at 11:56 AM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]


I don't remember any of this except "Watch out for the icy patch!"

I almost wonder if I saw some stupid supercut of that 7 years ago on youtube without ever having seen the whole thing.
posted by aubilenon at 12:10 PM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]


Cold enough to freeze your Winnebago!
Two of you will have to sleep on hangers hung on a hook on the wall.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 12:35 PM on December 10, 2017 [9 favorites]


Animal: Peace on Earth! Give me presents!
posted by mochapickle at 12:54 PM on December 10, 2017 [4 favorites]


The line that got me was Rolf: “I love out of tune pianos.” I've been quoting that for years but forgot where it came from.
posted by traveler_ at 1:09 PM on December 10, 2017 [4 favorites]


Mrs. Example and I still watch Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas every year, and to this very day the slightest provocation will set us off on a "Look at the birds up in the trees"/"We're not birds--we're a jug band!" exchange.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 1:26 PM on December 10, 2017 [3 favorites]


I think I was the exact wrong age for this when it aired (ten and a half and FAR too grown-up for the Muppets). If I had been just two years younger or five years older (and less insecure) I probably would have loved it.

But now I am 40 and will no longer be too old to love the Muppets, so I think I'll watch this tonight. Complete with commercials. Thanks!
posted by elsietheeel at 1:35 PM on December 10, 2017 [4 favorites]


Random jump: Janice offering cookies. Cookie Monster of course devours the entire plate. Janice looks shocked. Animal: He's my kind of guy.

Classic muppets, gotta show this to the nephews this year.
posted by Sphinx at 1:45 PM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]


This is an old family favourite. Thanks for posting.

Yeah this is one of the things the Muppets are awesome for - great character based humour. It's so much fun watching the characters from Sesame Street, the Muppet Show, and Fraggle Rock interacting in ways that are true for their characters.

Count von Count counting snowflakes! Sam the American Eagle: "I don't know why I'm here."

It's also probably one of the last times that the best Sesame Street (and Muppet Show) characters are in focus: Bert and Ernie, Big Bird, Grover, the Count. I'd almost forgotten about the two-headed monster and Harry Monster. For me, the less Elmo the better.
posted by Start with Dessert at 2:10 PM on December 10, 2017 [8 favorites]


No, no, Sphinx, it's better: "That my kinda fella!"

And Janice doesn't just look shocked, she says, "What WAS that strange blue creature?"
posted by potrzebie at 2:10 PM on December 10, 2017 [4 favorites]


ten and a half and FAR too grown-up for the Muppets

Nonsense. Ten and a half is the perfect age for the Muppets. So is six. So is twenty one. So is forty four.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 2:16 PM on December 10, 2017 [19 favorites]


This is great.

But, it also lead me into a Muppets rabbit hole that wound up at this, which is in the running for most delightful thing I've seen this year.
posted by eotvos at 3:31 PM on December 10, 2017 [4 favorites]


I always watch all the Muppet Christmas-theme movies at Christmas. Thanks for officially starting my Muppet watching season :D
posted by Ender's Friend at 3:33 PM on December 10, 2017


The Muppets have been a great influence on my hostess style, between "Two of you will have to sleep on hangers hung on a hook on the wall" and "If you don't mind friendly animals and can learn to stand the smell, WELL WELCOME HOME". The More, The Merrier Muppetier.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 3:41 PM on December 10, 2017 [3 favorites]


I watched this for the first time today, not really having grown up with the Muppets or much of Jim Henson. What a great cast.
posted by batter_my_heart at 3:56 PM on December 10, 2017


When is seeing Jim Henson on video going to stop bringing tears to my eyes? I guess it's not, if 27 years hasn't done it.
posted by jocelmeow at 4:01 PM on December 10, 2017 [13 favorites]


Okay, The Count singing "I saw three ships" just totally broke me.
posted by hippybear at 4:12 PM on December 10, 2017 [7 favorites]


And Fozzie singing I'll be hone for christmas just broke me in a totally different way.
posted by hippybear at 4:13 PM on December 10, 2017 [3 favorites]


Nonsense. Ten and a half is the perfect age for the Muppets.

See above re: insecure. Also other issues related to Christmas and family trauma and blah blah blah derailcakes.

Aaaaanyway, my point was and is: I never got to see this as a kid and I'm glad I get to now. Thank you again for sharing.
posted by elsietheeel at 4:14 PM on December 10, 2017 [4 favorites]


Is there anything the Muppets do that doesn't end up somehow with me crying? Jeebus!
posted by hippybear at 4:16 PM on December 10, 2017 [5 favorites]


I laugh every year in November when I remember the weatherman’s “barometers are falling sharply” joke for the first time of the season. That and Stadtler and Waldorf’s A+ material make that movie my favourite holiday watch.
posted by notorious medium at 4:18 PM on December 10, 2017 [6 favorites]


Wow, it has been so long. Thanks for sharing.
posted by k8t at 4:18 PM on December 10, 2017


I love me some Muppets. I love me some Fraggles. I love me some Sesame Street. I dug some Muppet Babies in their time (though it was a bit odd to see them in non-cartoon format during this special). So, of course, I really, really love me some muppet family xmas. The Pebble, Robin, the Snowman, the Turkey, Doc, Gonzo, almost every Sesame Street bit, they're all on point for this thing. I view Henson's comment at the end as, personally anyway, his farewell to his gift to the world, not that anyone knew he'd leave us so soon or abruptly.

Anyway, story time:

During a summer of working in Yellowstone National Park we were very starved for media and outside world-type content. It was a good type of starving in many ways but also had it's downsides. So to combat this we, being my group of friends with stragglers floating in and out, organized a weekly night where anyone who wasn't working the dinner shift would come in and watch a movie chosen/provided by someone in the group.

It bears mentioning that my inner circle was maybe a year or four older than the remainder of the folks that made up the group, this seems to have mattered a bit, or maybe I'm just an old soul at heart... Anyway, when my turn came around, I picked, yep you guessed it, A Muppet Family Chrismas because screw anyone who said otherwise it's the best shit out there and I figured anyone who saw it would, of course, love the shit out of it. Let's just say that my friends were kind enough to both honor me and the rules of movie night by watching it, albeit with a bit more casual chatter/alcohol, to the end and patting me on the head as they made their farewells.

That was the day I almost quit my summer friends because damnit how could they not love the muppet like I do. That is all. Cue Curtain.
posted by RolandOfEld at 4:50 PM on December 10, 2017 [6 favorites]


Youtube rolls into the John Denver Muppets holiday special.
posted by k8t at 5:09 PM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]


Kermit: She said "Hi, I'm Maureen, the Mink."
Piggy: I HEARD HER, I HEARD HER.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 5:28 PM on December 10, 2017 [7 favorites]


There's something really endearing about Miss Piggy's hair in this special, like it's how it would naturally look when she's not made up to perform on stage or whatever. It's a really nice touch.
posted by Space Coyote at 5:30 PM on December 10, 2017


Maureen the Mink is the best :)
posted by Ender's Friend at 5:34 PM on December 10, 2017


(I didn't rewatch it yet. I just know that line, and think of it, like, weekly.)
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 5:41 PM on December 10, 2017 [2 favorites]


I just posted that whole excerpt on FB, and the link to the movie, of course.

Kermit: Well, Miss Piggy, I think it's time I gave your present to you.
Miss Piggy: Oh! Oh! Kermi! What is it, what is it?!
Kermit: ...and your present is...
Miss Piggy: MMMH! MMMH!
Kermit: ... a mink!!
Miss Piggy: AAAGH! A MINK!!! I've always wanted one! Where is it, where is it, where is it??
Kermit: Umm, Maureen?
Maureen: Hi, I'm Maureen the Mink.
Miss Piggy: WHAT?!
Kermit: She said, "Hi, I'm Maureen the Mink".
Miss Piggy: I HEARD HER, I HEARD HER!!
posted by Ender's Friend at 5:52 PM on December 10, 2017 [2 favorites]


"AH, Two! Two worried frogs! Ah ha ha!"
posted by RolandOfEld at 6:02 PM on December 10, 2017 [5 favorites]


BY THE WAY: If any of y'all have Filmstruck, the streaming channel from the Criterion Collection + TCM, they have a thing of 21 or so Henson Films: https://www.filmstruck.com/us/watch/bundle/1520000268

They include the hilarious "Time Piece", the "Jim Henson Presents the World of Puppetry" series, Muppet Noir "Dog City" and "The Cube" which I think got its own MeFi post ages ago.
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 6:05 PM on December 10, 2017 [3 favorites]


This was amazing. For some reason, despite being right in the Muppet wheelhouse and having grown up with them, I had never seen this one. I was in high school at the time - maybe that's the reason.

What a simple and beautiful show. So many thoughts! For one, it's remarkable that the show is really just an ensemble cast having fun together. All the jokes rely on us knowing each character's profile - and there are like 50 characters. What an incredible universe they created. When the Sesame Street gang came marching around the snow-covered hills I lost it.

Another thought: how on earth did they pull off this technical feat? First, they must have had to record untold hours of voices singing all those carols. And then, the immense demand on puppeteers. It's kind a flourish of technical mastery.
posted by Miko at 6:52 PM on December 10, 2017 [4 favorites]


WOOF! BARK! Yeah, BARK!
"Don't you just hate it when you can't speak the language?"
posted by dannyboybell at 7:06 PM on December 10, 2017 [5 favorites]


Forgive my pedantry, but the line is "Careful of the icy patch!" Rapidly followed by someone taking a perfect vaudeville slip and fall while going "Waaoah!"

Gonzo: "What a fabulous idea!"
Animal: "Love hanger, love hanger!"
Pink Floyd: "That's the only way Animal ever sleeps, ma'am!"

I'm also in total awe at the technical feats, like Miko mentioned. Especially that final scene with EVERYONE singing (including the Fraggles!). A multi-tiered stage? No stage at all and just cram people together?

So much of the imagery of this is bound up in my early childhood. We still did big extended-family holiday dinners, and I was tiny enough that I enjoyed said extended family, and all the muppets getting together feels so much like that. Miss Piggy in this movie is like the High Femme embodiment of the glamorous 80's, especially that photo shoot! And her outfits! My aunt dressed like that!

Also my grandfather looked exactly like Waldorf.
posted by kalimac at 7:08 PM on December 10, 2017 [5 favorites]


This was the first Christmas movie we watched this year, and a great way to get our Holiday Cheer going. My boyfriend and I have had lingering colds, and haven't had much time to think about Christmas yet. Watching all those Muppets having fun was wonderful and merry.
posted by Banknote of the year at 7:08 PM on December 10, 2017


I have this on tape. somewhere.

WAY better than the Muppet Christmas Carol.
posted by jb at 7:56 PM on December 10, 2017 [2 favorites]


I taped this at my folks' in 1989. It was one of the first things I digitized when I had the means. This guy knows it's the best Muppet show of them all.
posted by AbnerRavenwood at 7:59 PM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]


WAY better than the Muppet Christmas Carol.

Hey, now. In our household we once did the Year Of Twenty-Seven A Christmas Carols and the two that still stand out are the Alistair Sim 1950s version and A Muppet Christmas Carol.

Like, if you really want to have an in depth discussion about Dickens and Scrooge, yeah we can arrange that.
posted by hippybear at 8:02 PM on December 10, 2017 [5 favorites]


Always a staple. Glad to see you guys know how to (whomp whomp) Pass It On.
posted by deludingmyself at 9:03 PM on December 10, 2017 [4 favorites]


Im a huge muppet fan, but Ive never enjoyed Muppets Christmas Carol. Mostly because I didn't like Michael Caine in it. This is much better. This, and my much loved, played almost to death every single Christmas, Muppet Christmas with John Denver CD.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 9:32 PM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]


Awww, Big Bird says " I love carols!"
posted by sweetmarie at 12:12 AM on December 11, 2017 [3 favorites]


I love the Muppets, obviously, but my thing with their Christmas Carol is that it comes to a gigantic grinding halt every time one of the songs comes along. I don't know why they didn't just use Paul Williams again.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 2:16 AM on December 11, 2017 [1 favorite]


This thread is veering into heresy! You are all weirdos!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 5:59 AM on December 11, 2017 [6 favorites]


Muppet Christmas Carol might be better than the other adaptations - other than the Alistair Sims version, of course - but it was really disappointing to this massive Muppet fan as a Muppet movie. didn't like the large number of live actors, didn't like the way that they seem to have lost the whimsy and weird required of Muppets.

At the time I was also dispointed that the various ghosts weren't familiar Muppet characters (as I expected they would be). Maybe as an adult I would appreciate the originality more, especially as my appreciation for puppetry has just grown. but all together, it didn't work for me and I've never desired to watch it again - unlike "A Muppet Family Christmas" which was watched again and again and again.
posted by jb at 6:46 AM on December 11, 2017 [1 favorite]


Hi guys I have two important pieces of information for you.

Emmett Otter Outtakes.

Also, do buy the blu-ray copy of A Muppet Christmas Carol because when you pause the movie you get an intermission with rats and chickens and the Swedish Chef singing carols.

I took my son to the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta on Saturday to see the Rudolph puppet show and really enjoyed seeing the Jim Henson exhibit. They have a lot of the original Muppet characters. Highly recommended.
posted by Fleebnork at 6:55 AM on December 11, 2017 [8 favorites]


Those outtakes are amazing! They make me tear up even more over the loss of Henson's spirit. Even between takes, he's manipulating the muppet characters, riffing in character.
posted by Miko at 7:55 AM on December 11, 2017


Not to rain on the parade, but Henson directed Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas, and only did a few of the side characters. Ma Otter is Frank Oz, and Emmett is Jerry Nelson.

But 100% agree with your sentiment. The early Muppets crew really were a great team.
posted by Fleebnork at 8:17 AM on December 11, 2017 [3 favorites]


There has never been anything more my shit than this film.
Sprocket makes everything better.
posted by DigDoug at 8:21 AM on December 11, 2017 [3 favorites]


I love the Muppets, obviously, but my thing with their Christmas Carol is that it comes to a gigantic grinding halt every time one of the songs comes along. I don't know why they didn't just use Paul Williams again.

Heh. The songs on A Muppet Christmas Carol actually are by Paul Williams, though admittedly they're not his best work (with the exception of maybe "Marley and Marley").
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:03 AM on December 11, 2017 [2 favorites]


Well, shit. That's what I get for looking at the credits on IMDB (which say "Music by Miles Goodman") instead of the actual film credits. Ever since I left grad school, my research skills seem to have gone out the window.

But yeah, the songs definitely aren't Williams at his strongest. Going from "Rainbow Connection" to "It Feels Like Christmas"...oof.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 11:02 AM on December 11, 2017


Watch out for the icy ---
posted by maryr at 11:04 AM on December 11, 2017 [2 favorites]


TIMING.
posted by maryr at 11:14 AM on December 11, 2017 [2 favorites]


I feel the need to stick up and defend Muppets Christmas Carol, which is actually one of my favorite movies and one that I quote about as much as The Princess Bride in my own life.

A lot of my love for it comes from the brilliant casting of Gonzo as Charles Dickens. All of the other Muppet castings are smart, yet somewhat obvious choices. (Fozzie-wig. Kermit as Cratchet.) Gonzo as Dickens with Rizzo as a sidekick brings out some of the best of Muppet self-aware humor.
Rizzo: Boy, that's scary stuff! Should we be worried about the kids in the audience?
Gonzo: Nah, it's all right. This is culture!
or
Gonzo: I told you, storytellers are omniscient; I know everything!
Rizzo: Hoity-toity, Mr. Godlike Smarty-Pants!
There's a lot going on that I found funny when it came out (when I was in elementary school) and a lot that I still find funny now. And I also think it's a strong adaptation of the source material. I'll admit that the songs are not my favorite. (If we're looking for winning A Christmas Carol adaptation songs, 1st place goes to "Thank You Very Much" from Scrooge for me.) I can understand feeling like it isn't Muppet-y enough (it lacks some of the weirdness that I adore in Muppet things), but I do love it.

Despite being in the right age range for A Muppet Family Christmas, I had never seen it before and it is delightful. Thanks for this post!
posted by JustKeepSwimming at 1:44 PM on December 11, 2017 [3 favorites]


Oh I love this! I've been annoying the cats with
"Haul out the holly!
We're heading home so we can *HONK* start to celebrate!"

Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (1978)
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 2:27 PM on December 11, 2017 [6 favorites]


Ahhhhhh that's another one I need to watch this holiday season!!!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 5:34 PM on December 11, 2017 [1 favorite]


My big issue with the Brian Henson Muppet movies is that the Muppets are secondary characters in their own movies. It's especially bad in Christmas Carol, where characters like Fozzie, Animal, and even poor Miss Piggy get severely truncated screen time. That said, it's a sweet movie and I definitely watch it every year, I just don't get as pumped to revisit it as I do Muppet Family Christmas.
On the other hand, Muppet Christmas Carol didn't cause me to break one of my mother's good china plates while reenacting the icy patch gag in our dining room, so it has that going for it.
Christmas Eve on Sesame Street is one I didn't watch until a few years ago, and it's now one of my all-time favorites as well. One of the little bonuses of having kids is being reintroduced to Sesame Street, which is still good as ever 49(!) seasons in.
posted by cottoncandybeard at 7:07 AM on December 12, 2017


I remember watching this when it aired back in 1987. I was 14. I just watched it again and I remembered it quite clearly, although I had an idea that Fozzie's new snowman comedy partner was found all melted away, with only his hat left, just as Fozzie was sure he'd landed a great gig for them.

It was fun to see Fozzie's mother. Does anyone else remember the episode of The Muppet Show when she'd come to see the show, Fozzie was so anxious to impress her that he crashed a bunch of sketches he wasn't supposed to be in (i.e., he locked up or misdirected Miss Piggy or something and took her place in "Pigs in Space" in a blond wig), and then at the end of the show, discovered his mother was fast asleep in her seat? Good times!
posted by orange swan at 8:31 PM on December 17, 2017 [1 favorite]


I love how part of this special involves wanting to cook and eat Big Bird. They weren't too precious with their characters if the joke was funny enough.
posted by Gary at 11:29 PM on December 20, 2017 [2 favorites]


It was fun to see Fozzie's mother. Does anyone else remember the episode of The Muppet Show when she'd come to see the show

Episode 216, guest Cleo Laine. Here's a transcript.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:10 PM on December 30, 2017


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