Category Archives: Muppets

2010/01/12 · 12:42 am

In Defense Of: Jimmy Fallon

I was planning to write this post a couple weeks ago, before the tornado of Leno-Conan-Local Affiliates-gate threw the entire late night landscape into a tumult (and what of George Lopez?), but this takes on even greater significance now.  At this very moment, with the future of NBC’s late night schedule hanging in the balance, possibly the future of television as we know it, possibly the future of the world, someone has to step up and say it:

Jimmy Fallon has been doing a pretty okay job.

And it would be a shame if NBC’s disregard for their local affiliates followed by their overwhelming compassion for their local affiliates affected Fallon’s momentum.

Now Fallon has gone on record as saying he doesn’t mind if he’s shifted back a half hour, since most of his viewers watch the show on DVR or online, and I believe him.  He seems to so genuinely enjoy hosting the show that he probably would do it at 1am or 3am or 3pm (of course, it’ll still be taped in the late afternoon so it’s not like it’ll make any real difference for his schedule).  But if Jimmy won’t say it, I will.  We’ve asserted many times here that Jimmy got off to a rough start.  That’s well documented and it’s no secret.  And while he’s still a work in progress behind the interview desk, he’s excelling in just about every other area.  And, well, that should be acknowledged.

Keep Reading: Examples! Charades! Joy Behar! Drag! Sweaters! Arli$$

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2010/01/06 · 7:23 pm

Muppet Wednesday: Slow down, Muppets, I can’t keep up!

If Jimmy Fallon didn’t already have the planet’s best house band, I’d say he should hire the Muppets, because, as seen in this outtake from their pre-Christmas visit to Late Night, the Muppets don’t only do Christmas Carols:

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Although, when I first saw the link I was hoping it was going to be this version of “One.”  Now, that would have been cool.

More Muppet News: Parades, Groins, Collectible Figurines!!!

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2010/01/05 · 1:07 am

It’s Just Another Muppet Monday

First Monday of 2010 and already we have enough Muppet material to last a month.  Talk about setting the bar high right off the bat.

Most notably, the Muppets appeared on last night’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (which begs the question, at this point, does EMHE really require the “Home Edition” designation.  Do people even remember the original Extreme Makeover, a less dirty, less Foxier version of Fox’s The Swan?).  Even better than renovating a home and changing a family’s life is that the Muppets got to work with Sam Champion, who boasts the 2nd best weatherman name, just behind Storm Field (interestingly, however, Champion might be the front-runner for best overall name.  It’s fascinating and complex how these things work).  As usual, the Muppets demonstrated their unique brand of mayhem, as well as their extra-large hearts inside adorably tiny bodies.  Coming on the heels of their work with Habit for Humanity, the Muppets now seem to be the go-to team for carpentry (speaking of which, as it is now 2010, make sure to check out Disney’s “Give a day, get a day” list of participating programs.  Surprisingly, being an extra on The New Adventures of Old Christine is already all filled up.  Even more surprising is that Disney considers being an extra on a CBS sitcom an acceptable form of volunteerism).  But really, will ABC just give the Muppets their own show already?  Yes, Muppets Tonight didn’t set the world on fire.  And yes, America’s Next Muppet didn’t make it to air.  But just because that didn’t work out doesn’t mean that the Muppets don’t deserve another crack at it (and, please, the opportunity should be on ABC, not The Disney Channel.  And if not on ABC, maybe they should put Kermit and Co. in a gritty cop drama and send them to FX).

Check out the full show here, and an exclusive clip below:

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In other news, it was just announced last week that the Muppets film debut, The Muppet Movie, was included on the list of features to be added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.  Finally, the government takes a real step to preserve a national treasure (also, many thanks to my roommate who righted a wrong and gave me The Muppet Movie on DVD for HanuChristmas.  I’m embarrassed to say that I only had it on VHS (although, I might as well just have waited until they perfect/release the technology to imprint it on my brain)).  I guess, unlike his predecessor, Barack Obama cares about the Muppets.

And, finally, I thought it really fitting/kinda sad that Amazon offered me these recommendations today.  It’s not that they’re wrong.  It’s that they’re so right.

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2009/12/28 · 2:54 pm

Muppet Monday: How the Muppets Are Already Improving Your 2010 (And Why Even Disney Knows That Kermit is Superior to Mickey)

We’ve well-documented how the Muppets are just dominating the end of 2009.  However, will it continue in 2010?  Well, that remains to be seen, but they’ve already made it so your 2010 will be a little better.

A few months ago Disney announced their “give a day, get a day” promotion, whereby if you volunteer for a day at a participating organization you’ll then receive a free one day ticket to a Disney park (I’m sure there are some annoying restrictions, but I’m not going to do all the work for you), and soon followed up with a series of commercials starring the Muppets touting the promotion.  Interesting that they’re using the Muppets and not Mickey and the gang (Disney first made the announcement by having their characters volunteer in five cities, sending Mickey & Co to four of the cities, and assigning Kermit and Miss Piggy to LA, the biggest media market of the five), but when you think about it, it does make sense.  Mickey, and the other full body suit characters, can’t talk, can’t emote, and has no expressions beyond hand gestures and head nods.  The Muppets, on the other hand, feel living and breathing.  You sometimes forget they are not real animate creatures, instead a hand surrounded felt and rubber and glue-on eyes.  But while Kermit can speak genuinely and effectively about the importance of Habitat for Humanity, if Goofy attempted to do the same thing it would seem, well, exactly that.  Goofy.

Below you can see the Swedish Chef wreaking his usual brand of havoc with Iron Chef Cat Cora, and then check out the additional spots with (ABC stars) Taye Diggs (maybe the only man with the power to make Miss Piggy forget about Kermit), Teri Hatcher, James Denton and Sara Ramirez.

The promotion starts January 1st, 2010.  So while we expect big things from the Muppets next year, they’ve already gone ahead and made an impact on the next decade.  Hopefully this also means that if you give a day, you get a day with the Muppets.  A larger presence at the Disney parks is far overdue, and, as Disney has implicitly admitted, Kermit can do more good than Mickey could ever imagine (and, in case you didn’t know, Mickey’s imagination is ridiculous).

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2009/12/24 · 1:35 pm

Christmas Eve Clipdown: Muppets. Killing. It. Christmas. Style.

On Christmas Eve My True Loves Gave to Me: One awesome Muppet video.

As if you didn’t know that the Muppets have just been dominating the last part of 2009, they dropped by Jimmy Fallon to put a festive exclamation point on what has been somewhat of a Muppet resurgence (it was a good year for The Roots and Jimmy Fallon as well, in that order).  The Muppets have traditionally done some of their best work during the holidays, and this is no exception, recreating their classic collaboration with John Denver, the “12 Days of Christmas,” this time with Fallon subbing in for the late great Denver (and a few Muppet substitutions as well: hello Sam the Eagle, Pepe and Rizzo; goodbye Janis, Dr. Teeth and Stadler & Waldorf.  Times have changed).

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And in the spirit of the holiday here’s the original:

And because it’s the giving season, and I’m guessing you can’t get enough of the Muppets and Christmas, here’s some more Muppet holiday cheer: A Muppets Christmas – Letters to Santa, A Muppet Family Christmas, A Muppet Christmas Carol, and, for good measure, Jim Henson’s The Christmas Toy (which was arguably later ripped off by Toy Story).

Sidenote: At last night’s pub trivia the final question was “What are all the gifts from the ’12 Days of Christmas?'”  Having just watched the Muppets and Fallon, I had an ace in the hole.  I still could only name about 8 of the gifts (hey, what do you expect from a Jew with a terrible voice?), but thanks to Fozzie I knew that day 7 brought sevens swans a swimming.  Much appreciated, Fozz!

Enjoy!  Merry Muppet Christmas Eve!

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2009/12/21 · 5:39 pm

Muppet Monday: Take That, ‘The Sing-Off!’

The boys of the Beelzebubs aren’t the only ones who are able to make “beautiful” music with just their voices.  Nope. Beaker, Animal and Swedish Chef can hold their own, as shown in the new holiday video from Muppets Studios, the “Ringing of the Bells:”

Doesn’t that just put you in the holiday spirit?

I had intended to post the Kermit/Robert De Niro duet of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” from Saturday Night Live, but even though it was included in “A Very Gilly Christmas,” it’s nowhere to be found on the interwebs.  Tragic.  But, it’s true, it is better to give than to receive.

Anyone else feel like watching Home Alone now?

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2009/12/15 · 11:01 pm

Muppet Monday Continues into Tuesday! Jim Henson: The Movie?

(and, yes, I realize that it is now Wednesday on the East Coast.  Deal with it.)

Doesn’t it just keep getting better and better for the Muppets?  If not for Bronson Pinchot, I’d say they were having the comeback of the year (but maybe they take the crown for best comeback of the last two months).

“Hollywood” released its annual “Black List,” the list of the top ten “favorite” unproduced screenplays.  #1?  The Muppet Man, a biopic of Muppets creator Jim Henson.  Described as “Man on the Moon, but with puppets,” it sounds quite intriguing, and as it’s set up at the Jim Henson Company, we know that it will be a faithful and fitting tribute to Henson’s life (good thing they didn’t sell the rights to Henson’s life story to Disney; we wouldn’t want a glossy Mickey Mouse version).  Even though the list isn’t exactly a “best of,” let’s hope the script is fast-tracked and the film is in theaters soon.  Seems like the perfect time.

And who to play Jim Henson?  Well, Man on the Moon star Jim Carrey seems like a possibility, based on his experience with biopics, but mostly on his grizzly beard (not to mention that Henson and Carrey share a first name!).  Or maybe James Cameron is interested in getting in to the acting game, at least before starting on the Avatar sequels (and they also share a first name!!).

No word on who would play the Swedish Chef.  But I am available.

Via Vulture

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2009/12/15 · 1:37 am

Hanukkah Muppet Monday: The Secret Connection Between ‘Growing Pains’ & ‘Sesame Street’

You didn’t think I’d let a Muppet Monday falling on Hanukkah pass by without posting some sort of hilarious video or funny picture or insightful essay relevant to both the Muppets and Hanukkah, did you? Well, it’s Tuesday now, so I guess you were sorta right.  But, still, a little faith would be nice.

I stumbled upon this video that combines perhaps the two things that I love most in this world: The Muppets and Growing Pains.  This video features Jeremy Miller (aka Ben Seaver, aka the cute kid who grew into an awkward bespectacled teen and was quickly supplemented (supplanted) by a young Leonardo DiCaprio) visiting the Jewish version of Sesame Street, Shalom Sesame, and hosting a Hanukkah inspired game show spoof entitled “Dreidel of Fortune.”  Watch and…well, watch.

I guess this means that Jeremy Miller is Jewish too.  Not nearly as exciting as the same news about Alison Brie.

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2009/12/15 · 1:14 am

Muppet Monday!

For the past few weeks, starting with the days around Thanksgiving and the hoopla over the Muppet’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” video, I’ve been posting Muppet-related entries every Friday (I think).  However, today, we usher in a new era of Muppet posts, “Muppet Mondays,”* a hopefully weekly addition to Jumped The Snark (however, this certainly does not preclude the possibility of posting Muppet-related material on days other than Monday).

The inaugural Muppet Monday post is not just a viral video, but something much greater than yet.  Yesterday, even though I’ve been visiting Southern California for the last 12 years and have been living here for the past 7 months (to the date, in fact) I had yet to visit the original Happiest Place on Earth, Disneyland.  Well, that all changed about 36 hours ago.  And sure, I enjoyed myself on the two Buzz Lightyear rides, was charmed by the Monsters, Inc attraction, was thoroughly spooked by Pirates of the Caribbean, and napped during the Finding Nemo submarine tour, these all paled in comparison to what was the clear highlight: Muppet*Vision 3D.

Continue: I see the show, my life is complete. Also, the Muppets & Disney, what could have been…

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2009/12/08 · 12:41 am

100 (and 1) Posts!

That’s right, with our latest SNL recap we officially hit 100 posts!  And now with this entry we’ll formally cross the century mark!  Huzzah!  All in less than a year!  Well on our way to our goal of completely toppling The New York Times.

In honor of reaching the big One Double O, and in hopes of many more unnecessary posts to come, here are a few of our favorite videos from the first hundred days (and by “days” we of course mean posts):

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And, of course, the presumed video of the year:

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Thanks for sticking with us so far; we’re looking forward to bigger and not necessarily better things in the future.  So say we all!

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