In honor of tonight’s outdoor viewing:
And a little flashback to what has become one of our top viewed posts.
See you out there!
Tag Archives: Muppets
You Remind Me Of The Babe (and David Bowie’s Codpiece)
Filed under Flashback!, Local Flavor, Muppets
And Another Muppet + Someone Awesome Team-up! (Jimmy Fallon, You’ve Done It Again)
Jimmy Fallon, I like you more and more.
Ten years ago you were the object of affection of every girl in my AP European History class, and the envy of every guy (well, not every guy). Then the constant giggling became kinda annoying, and then you went and made Taxi, and then you became sort of a joke. And, to be completely honest, we were pretty skeptical when you were named Conan O’Brien’s Late Night successor. Like the homecoming king who left the hometown only to flame out and return to work in his dad’s hardware store.
But damn if you haven’t gone and totally redeemed yourself. But this isn’t really about you. Rather, this isn’t really about your show. We talked enough about that. This is about you, once again, recognizing something brilliant. In this case it’s the maze of pipes hidden inside of Studio 6B dressing room decorated by Jim Henson and his confederates 40 years ago, before an appearance on Jack Paar’s Tonight Show. Fallon, love him or loathe him, appreciated the genius and made good on his promise to put the installation behind glass, and now the pipe-art is a new stop on the NBC Studio tour, as Fallon, along with Yoda, er, Frank Oz shows us here:
Vodpod videos no longer available.And, just to show that the more things change the more they stay the same, and that everything is cyclical, here’s a 30 year-old video of Henson giving a tour of the pipes to Gene Shalit (!). And look at that mop on Brokaw!
Vodpod videos no longer available.Guess I’ll have to go on the Studio tour now. Even though it’ll be awkward to return to network headquarters after NBC brass screwed me over and took my show away.
This Could Only Be Better If It Somehow Involved Pizza AKA LOST & Kermit!
Many years ago two of my greatest, if not my two greatest, passions united in a music video. I speak of course of Weezer and the Muppets, joining forces for the “Keep Fishin’” music video. Unfortunately, by that time Weezer was already on their way to retroactively ruining the fanatical affection I harbored for them during my high school years. The union was still unimaginably cool, but would have required a little bit more freak out control if it was made just a couple of years earlier (or perhaps that’s the benefit of time talking, as well as the carnage inflicted by Make Believe and The Red Album*).
However, I have no such bitterness about this new, brain-exploding team-up, the latest in the “Lost Slapdown” series. Yes, as odd as it may sound, God (and Disney corporate synergy) have brought together Lost and Kermit the Frog.
But although this is a monumental, colossal cross-over, I will not be getting a tattoo commemorating this meeting of Kermit, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, despite what some have suggested.
Make sure to check out the other Lost-Muppet joint ventures, including Pepe auditioning for the role of the Smoke Monster, Rizzo infiltrating the writers’ room and the Swedish Chef, an apparent avid Lost fan, running the ABC cafeteria.
*For a truly thought-provoking and thoughtful look at the devolution of Weezer, specifically Rivers Cuomo’s fall from ironic yet genuine songwriter to hackneyed hyper-self-aware song-crafter, we urge you to take a look at Chuck Klosterman‘s** essay on the subject in his anthology Eating the Dinosaur. And just go ahead and read everything else in the compendium, because it’s all genius.
**And if Chuck Klosterman*** does anything with the Muppets I’ll flip out just as much, if not more. Even if it’s an essay comparing Elmo to Helen Thomas.
***Just realized that “Klosterman” contains the word “lost.” Whoa.
Muppet Tuesday Nostalgia Corner In Memoriam: Jim Henson
As Entertainment Weekly so generously reminded me, this week is the 20th anniversary of the passing of Jim Henson. It’s sad to think that he’s been gone for so long, but it’s a testament to his work that I was not quite seven years old at the time of his death and yet he had already made an inedible, lifelong impact on me. He’s been gone for 20 of my 26 1/2 years, and yet in those first 6 1/2 he shaped the person I am years later. I remember even then being aware of this death, and saddened by it, and worried that it meant the end of the Muppets. In fact, it might have been my first experience with death; at least I can’t recall anyone passing before then.
And I still remember being moved by his memorial, which, per his request, was a celebration and not a dirge And it still moves me to this day.
And to the credit of the Henson family and the Muppet family they soldiered on, and soon after the memorial they allayed my fears with a special television tribute to Jim, promising me and all the despondent, confused young fans that Muppets would live on. The fact that they confronted his death head on was somewhat difficult for a 6-year-old to comprehend, and somewhat overwhelming, but it was also somewhat appropriate, for Henson made entertainment for both children and adults alike, and I’ll always appreciate the honesty in which the Muppet team handled his death. It was immensely sad, but also immensely inspirational.
For many years now my email signature has been a Jim Henson quote, “When I was young, my ambition was to be one of those people who made a difference in this world. My hope is to leave the world a little better for my having been there.” I think I first came across it when I read a Jim Henson biography at about 10 years old and it resonated instantly, so when I was young that was my ambition too. And it still is.
Because of Jim Henson I hope to leave the world a better place. And if I can make a hundredth of the difference that Henson made then I’ll feel like I accomplished my goal.
Thanks, Jim. 20 years later you’re missed more than ever.
However, Henson wouldn’t want his Jumped The Snark in memoriam to end on such a treacle note. And the good news is that it doesn’t need to: the Muppets are on the verge of returning to the spotlight. We’ve missed a lot of Muppet news over the past month and a half, but things continue to look up for Kermit and the gang. And luckily another one of our favorite Jim’s, Jim Hill, has taken the liberty of rounding up the latest Muppet developments over on his blog. Things are looking up.
20 years later, and the Muppets are still going strong. Jim would be proud.
Filed under In Memoriam, Muppets, Nostalgia Corner
200 Posts And Counting (Slowly)
Well, we did it, finally managed to hit 200 posts (actually, this happened about two weeks ago, but I didn’t have the time to acknowledge the feat). Back when I started selling copies of this blog out of the trunk of my ’73 Chevy Nova I never thought it would amount to anything. Now look at it. Over a year old. Amassing literally tens of hits of a semi-regular basis. And now passing the double century mark for posts (even if 75% of them were Late Night with Jimmy Fallon videos or Muppet news (and one of them actually was both).
Unfortunately, for the last six weeks our attention has been occupied elsewhere, and, as you may have noticed (or maybe not, if you’re not one of the three regular readers of this blog), our posts have basically come to a screeching halt. And while output will remain slim for the next few weeks, we here at Jumped The Snark are committed to Jumped the Snark, and fully intend to ramp up our commentary on NBC Thursday night comedies, just in time for the end of their seasons. But as there’s no such thing as a summer vacation for TV anymore, there will be no summer staycation for Jumped The Snark.
In addition, months ago we privately challenged ourselves to deliver 365 posts within the 2010 calendar year. We hit the ground running, but then were hampered by a cross-country move, and then got back in the rhythm only to be slowed once again by a new roadblock. As of press time, we’re only at 79 posts so our work is cut out for us, but we want you to know that we fully intend to fulfill this promise to you that you only just found out about 20 seconds ago.
And yes, this post counts.
And just to make sure, here’s an awesome video that’s full of worth:
Filed under Count Bleh
Muppet Thursday: Surprisingly Not a Muppet April Fools’
Muppet Studios uploaded another one of their delightful videos today, although it curiously doesn’t appear to tie into April Fools’ Day. One would think that if they were going to debut a video on April 1st it would be some sort of Muppet prank. But then again, maybe by not delivering an April Fools’ joke they’ve executed a reverse prank. Maybe the absence of the prank is the prank. Outsmarted us again, Muppets!
ANYWAY, this new video finds a furry, faux-bunny ear’d Muppet Monster hunting wabbit while crooning (murdering) the Ben E. King classic “Stand by Me.”
Not my favorite of the Muppet viral video series but damn do these uploads look good. It’s like the monster is stalking his prey right inside this coffee shop. AH! Stay away from my jasmine green tea!
Muppet Monday: Muppets on Your Body!
There may have been bigger Muppet news this past week (and, indeed, over the last few weeks), but outside the confirmation that Jason Segel will also star in the upcoming Muppet movie (as was assumed for some time) this is the coolest Muppet News Flash in recent memory. Check out one Muppet fan’s tribute to the Electric Mayhem:
And while we’re on the subject, take a gander at our friend Eliot’s amazing ink memorial to Bea Arthur, the goldest of The Golden Girls (Eliot is the father of Atticus, the pup of recent Jimmy Fallon fame)
BoingBoing via Vulture
Filed under Golden Girls, Muppet Mondays, Muppets
Muppet Monday Movie Thought
Since we covered the big Muppet movie(s) news last Friday, for this Muppet Monday post I just have a brief thought/question about the Muppet-verse going forward. In Muppets From Space Gonzo learns that he is not a weirdo or a whatever but an alien. However, I never really considered this official canon (not that the movie wasn’t good, but just that I didn’t buy the alien explanation). So the question is, as the Jason Segel-penned The Greatest Muppet Movie of All Time inches closer to production, will Gonzo maintain his alien status, or will it be brushed under the rug like Terminator 3?
*Indeed, Muppet Wiki entry on Gonzo notes that his alien origin has been disregarded. Let’s see if that holds.
Filed under Muppet Mondays, Muppets
Muppet Friday (Somewhat Nostalgic Too): The Muppet Man Lives?
Vulture reports that Disney is in talks with The Jim Henson Company to produce The Muppet Man, a Jim Henson bioipic that made last year’s “Black List,” the compendium of Hollywood’s “hottest” unproduced screenplays. Yay! With the new Jason Segel-penned Muppet movie seemingly on the horizon, could it be that we’ll soon be treated to two Muppet-related movies? Maybe!
Burning question? Who will play Kermit in the biopic? (Tina Fey?) And, for the record, I am available to play the Swedish Chef.
The film will undoubtedly touch on Henson’s personal life and his non-Muppet ventures, so with that in mind, here’s a clip from Time Piece, Henson’s trippy, experimental Oscar-nominated short film from 1966:
Vulture Exclusive: Disney Planning a Jim Henson Biopic
Filed under Mickey Mouse Club, Muppets, Nostalgia Corner
Aaaaaaand We’re Back!
We had a temporary return last week with the unfortunate memoriam for the late Andrew Koenig, but as you can see with the new header, you can now consider Jumped the Snark officially back in action, NY Style! Coming soon will be short thoughts on SNL, Funny or Die, The Office, Michael & Michael Have Issues, American Idol (BOWERSOX!) and Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. See you then (you, specifically)!
Filed under Count Bleh, Muppets
Jumped The Snark 