Between February 1989 and May 1990, there were three significant deaths in the Sesame Street world. The first was
Joe Raposo, a
significant musician for Sesame Street and Electric Company. The last was
Jim Henson,
mourned by Big Bird,
remembered by Frank Oz, and
celebrated in
song by
many (from the
St. John's Memorial,
detailed here). The second person to die in this time period was
Northern Calloway,
Sesame Street's David. Unlike
Joe and
Jim, there were no
television tribute to Northern's life and career on
Sesame Street or
Broadway. Instead, David,
once a young, cool, urban guy, who was studying to be a lawyer while working at Mr. Hooper's storeand the initial romantic interest of Maria,
left the show through a letter, read by Gordon. The story behind David is told below the fold.
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Dec 12, 2011 -
25 comments
The World of Jim Henson: 1
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:: "An excellent biography of the Muppet master, this 85-minute film from the PBS show Great Performances mixes the history of Henson's projects with plenty of sketches that any fan age 6 and older should enjoy. The film shows the incredible range of Henson's creations, starting in 1955 with "Sam and Friends" then moving on to Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, and beyond. It illustrates the breadth of his genius, from creating entirely new worlds in film (The Dark Crystal) to pithy '60s TV commercials that achieved branding and a laugh in less than six seconds. There's footage that most fans haven't seen in years, or at all: a regular bit from The Jimmy Dean Show; tantalizing bits of his 1965 Oscar-nominated short, Time Piece; appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show; his explanation of Wall Street on Nightline; and Miss Piggy's hilarious deconstruction of Morley Safer on 60 Minutes."
posted by puny human
on Jun 21, 2011 -
23 comments
The Muppets in Thor is NOT another fake trailer for the upcoming movie. It's a 24-page mostly-24-hour comic by the guy who does
Max Overacts. Note: contains discrete male nudity, pig-on-Norse-God violence, obscure references (Junior Woodchucks!), sentimental time travel and IMO very good use of a lot of familiar characters, including Rowlf (MY favorite Muppet) putting it all in perspective.
posted by oneswellfoop
on Jun 17, 2011 -
22 comments
In the summer of 1968, Jim Henson met Johnny Hart, the co-creator
The Wizard of Id. The comic had been syndicated in US papers since 1964, and Henson and Hart discussed making a TV show based on the comic, featuring puppets by Henson and co. In early 1969, a short test pilot was shot and shopped around the TV networks. Over a year later, ABC supported the idea of a feature-length film, but by this time, Henson was busy with
Sesame Street and other Muppet productions, so the program was scrapped. Earlier this month, the
Henson Company posted
the short test pilot on YouTube.
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Mar 28, 2011 -
44 comments
In a
wonderful 15-minute video from 1969, a young Jim Henson shows you how to make puppets out of ordinary things. Yes, it's SLYT, but it's a really
good SLYT, so I beg forgiveness.
posted by cerebus19
on Sep 16, 2010 -
43 comments
In 1964, a group of men were bored,in their dressing room waiting for several hours between the dress rehearsal and recording of "The Jack Paar Program". Noticing a collection of odd steam pipes, their leader suggested they decorate the pipes to pass the time. Painting them and attaching fur and googly eyes, they signed the piece
"With Love, From the Muppets". [more inside]
posted by inturnaround
on Jun 9, 2010 -
33 comments
December 9, 2001, at a singular event called
Muppet Fest, Muppet performers and special guests came together to perform a very special edition of The Muppet Show -
a live performance. Until now, those of us who could not attend were only able to
read the script, but recently a (slightly edited) video of this unique performance has turned up on YouTube:
Part 1 [more inside]
posted by anastasiav
on Apr 15, 2010 -
32 comments
"Some day we'll find it, the rainbow connection, the lovers, the dreamers, and me."
In 1979, Paul
Williams and Kenneth
Ascher composed "
The Rainbow Connection" [midi] which served as a radio hit and song for the
The Muppet Movie. It was nominated for an Academy Award and
reviewed in the allmusic guide as a song in which "Kermit the Frog sings with all the dreamy wistfulness of a short green Judy Garland." Enclosed are some performances of it I hope you enjoy.
[more inside]
posted by cavalier
on Dec 3, 2008 -
61 comments
42. I had always wondered why Jim Henson did
The Muppet Show in England, after years of successful collaboration with
The Children's Television Network in NYC. As a then 9-year old, I felt a kind of betrayal that I couldn't exactly put my finger on. As some little punk kid, what did I know about the financing of entertainment?This analysis of The Jim Henson Co. as a globe-trotting band of gypsies goes a long way to explain the oddness of
The Muppet Show and the change in tone that resulted when the puppets moved from
Sesame Street to Lew Grade's London soundstages.
posted by vhsiv
on May 6, 2005 -
26 comments
Are Ernie and Bert gay? What is Gonzo? Find out the answers (question 19 and 10, respectively) and more at the
Muppet FAQ.
Read the profiles of your favorite Muppets like
Zoot or
Animal.
Or maybe you'd be interested in one of the Henson
feature creatures and its
background.
Read about it. Explore the fascinating world of Jim Henson and muppets in general.
posted by ashbury
on Oct 29, 2002 -
14 comments
