It’s time to play the music
Posted By Kathleen David on April 23, 2004
My introduction to the Muppets was through Sesame Street. My parents had heard of Jim Henson and the Muppets from Ed Sullivan and a few other venues. Then TBS started showing the Muppet Show. It was a family activity that we all sat down for and then repeated the jokes all week. I was very happy to hear about the Muppet Movie and we went as a family on opening day. I have seen just about every Muppet series since then. There was one on Showtime, I believe, that I didn
I was introduced to the Muppets before they were on SatNiteLive (where i never saw them, BTW — i have, in its entire run, seen exactly two SNL segments all the way through and bits of about four others) — even before they occasionally appeared on “Ed Sullivan” and “Tonight” — back in the days when they were basically a B&W local kids’ program in the Washington DC area, a local ad agency did a series of B&W spots featuring the Muppets and then syndicated them to other sponsors in other markets around the country. (This was actually a not-uncommon occurence in those dear dead days when there was actually local programming on teevee and radio other then news and weather.)
My mother did her best to persuade the ad agency she was head writer for at the time (which had decent-sized accounts such as Pet Milk and Texize) to pick them up for the Greenville/SC market, but they didn’t. so another local agency bought them for Claussen’s Bread, for which they did Great Things, i seem to recall…
Then TBS started showing the Muppet Show
You’ve got to mean CBS there — unless you’re an awful lot younger than I am (in which case the age difference between you and Peter would be … well, certainly not illegal, but striking :-).
And boy, do I wish they’d just go ahead and release full seasons of the Muppet Show on DVD. I’ll happily take the occasional dud episode (Sylvester Stallone, anyone?) if it means I can have the whole thing unedited and in one place. So many marvelous memories — and if I don’t have them in good form by the time our daughter-to-be is old enough to appreciate them, it’ll be … unpleasant.
TWL
In Atlanta, were I grew up, Channel 17 was TBS and they were showing the Muppet Show in the Atlanta market. Yep, I even was hit on by Ted Tunner once. But at the time I don’t think there were many young females in Atlanta that couldn’t say that.
Kathleen
I stand corrected, then. I couldn’t recall TBS ever showing Muppets, first-run or otherwise. (TNT picked it up in reruns while I was in college, which was one of the few things that would make me get up at 6:30 in the morning.)
I’d forgotten that you grew up in Atlanta — my apologies. (Was this before TBS went national, perhaps?)
And given that one of my wife’s relatives spent several years working for President Clinton (he said, avoiding the term “serving under”), I’m just as happy to leave the Ted Turner line be. 🙂
TWL
This is a Muppets News Flash…. 🙂
I love the Muppets!! My favorite Muppet (sounds kinda like a TV show itself) is either Fozzy or Gonzo, with an edge towards Gonzo. My car is named Gonzo, and I’ve got a Gonzo Pez dispenser sitting on my dashboard, and my girlfriend got me a stuffed Gonzo that sits in my rear window.
The Muppets taught me the meaning of the words “melancholy” and “bittersweet.” Not the words themselves, but their meanings. Probably the prime example is Gonzo’s “I’m Going to Go Back There Someday” in the Muppet Movie. The other perfect example is when they did Jim Croce’s “Time in a Bottle.” For those who don’t know the sketch, there’s an old scientist singing the song and drinking a potion. Each time he drinks the potion, he gets younger and younger. Finally, the last time he drinks, he goes back to his older self again, that we saw at the beginning of the sketch. One of my favorite sketchs of all.
And who can forget Veterinarian’s Hospital- The continuing story of a quack, who’s gone to the dogs. That, and Fozzy, helped shape my love of puns and bad, nay terrible, jokes.
The DVDs. I only own one, currently. But it happens to be the one when the Star Wars characters showed up. Also has the Paul Simon episode, and the Rachel Welch episode. Currently, it’s kind of a tie as to which one is my favorite show from the disk, Star Wars or Rachel Welch. 🙂
And another wonderful bit of tie-in merchandise, if you can find it, is the 25th anniversary music CD. It’s got a lot of music from the show, plus a couple of songs from each of the movies. Definately recommended to find it if you can.
Okay, signing off now, since I can go on about the Muppets for way too long.
ObeeKris-
Have you seen the Giant Gonzo that Palisade Toys did? He’s bigger than a Barbie Doll and he come with his horn ala the opening of the Muppet Show.
Kath
Giant Gonzo?!?! As Igor would say “HUZZAH!! IT MUST BE MINE!!”
Nope, haven’t seen it, but now I must find it.
http://www.palisadestoys.com/new/MUPPETS_SITE/MUPPET_MAIN.html
is the main URL to a company that has managed to seperate me from a few of my dollars.
Kath
Have I ever told you you’re a goddess? 🙂