The Swedish Chef making turtle neck soup
Petula Clark (??? don’t think that’s right but it’s the best I can remember) singing The Boy from Ipanema with a string bean pink muppet that looked to be at least 3 stories tall
Does anyone remember when Beaker got was hiding in the copying machine that Dr. Honeydew was building? Beakers everywhere!
Zev Steinhardt
:eek: Jim Henson and Raymond Scott collaborated?!
Jumpin’ Jesus H. Wesley tap-dancin’ Christ on a French-fried pogo stick… I think I’ve found my purpose in life. Where in the HECK can I find me this stuff??
Zev, Termy-the-frog, it’s Mahna-mahna, and it was one of the bits that transitioned from Sesame Street to the Muppets (I remember it from Sesame Street ca. 1972), and I really shouldn’t admit that I care about this but there you are [sheepish grin].
I liked the formal-ball bits from the early Muppet Show. (What’s the song they always used? Dah-deee-da-da-deeeee-da-dumdumdumdum…)
“Tune in next time, when we’ll here Dr. Bob say…” [everybody looks for where the voice is coming from]
I loved the Loretta Swit bit when she’s singing “I Feel the Earth Move” - I think it was with Sweetums? Anyway, large muppets stomping around shaking the set down.
Are any of the cable channels running the Muppets?
One of the places I’ve been able to find Muppet episodes is here in New York at the Museum of Television and Radio by Rockefeller Center. I haven’t been in a while, but as I recall you can go to their archives, where they’ve got about 600-700 shows available at any given moment for public viewing. You never know what they’ll have (they rotate lots of things in and out) but it seemed that there were always a couple of Muppets episodes available. You can also request specific shows on one week’s notice.
[sniff] [feeling nostalgic]
http://www.timelife.com is selling a collection of 15 tapes, each with 3 episodes, for $20 a tape. Anyone know of another source? I’ve seriously been trying to find a way to squeeze $200 out of my budget…
The films are locked away someplace, but the soundtracks are on the 2-CD set “Manhattan Research Inc.”, Basta 90782. The collaborations take up only 5 of the 69 tracks of the set. There’s more info and some samples at http://www.raymondscott.com . You may be able to find the entire tracks somewhere on the web.
Remember on Sesame Street there was segment that used a disembodied head, drawn in outline on a black background in multicolored lines kind of like rubber bands, accompanied by synth music? I understand that “Limbo: the Fearing Mind” used that character. Also, JH adapted that for the Bufferin commercial 
Smeghead: I have seen commercials that say something like “First tape $9.95, second tape at same price if you call within 20 minutes.” Call the 800 number, tell them you’ve seen the commercial, and see what they say. Also about ordering on the Web, someone posted this on the Henson newsgroup about a month ago. It’s worth a try.
Anyone remember the show they did with Marty Feldman? He played Scheherazade, and told the story of Ali Baba and the Three Thieves (they were on a budget). The three thieves were Fozie and two wolves dressed in mobster outfits with machine guns, and they had to borrow Marty’s dress from Bette Midler. God, he was a bizarre man.
Just curious:
Does anyone here recall that the Muppets were Regulars during the first year or so of Saturday Night Live? Not Kermit et al, of course, but a set of “prehistoric” characters invented for the show. They lookerd like proto-“Dark Crystal” characters. Jim Henson and Frank Oz (among others)performed and voiced.
Kermit tap dancing with Gene Kelly! I haven’t thought about that in years. It was sooo goooooood!
Yes, the Muppets were on Saturday Night Live for the first year. And the writers hated them! They would pay out of their pockets whatever writer was willing to come up with a sketch.
Didn’t you see my mention of Scred and Lily Tomlin? They did a duet of “I’ve Got You, Babe” (though that was the second season, after they left SNL to start THE MUPPET SHOW – Tomlin liked the character so much, she asked for him back). A brief discussion; I loved the Mighty Favog, too – a stone god with a Brooklyn accent.
“Saturday Night Live” season #1 features new Muppet characters King Ploobis (Jim Henson), Queen Peuta (Alice Tweedy), Scred (Jerry Nelson), Wisss (Richard Hunt), Vazh (Fran Brill) and the Mighty Favog (Frank Oz).
What? No mention of Muppets Tonight? The episode with Martin Short was absolutely hilarious!
Here in Atlanta we have the Center for Puppetry Arts, which has an excellent relationship with Henson. There are always Muppets on display, Jim’s widow Jane Henson comes down to give talks every so often, and they give the Center grants and such too (the CPA is nonprofit).
One time they set up a special exhibit on Jim’s early career. It included a tape loop of the Sam and Friends material, plus the original Kermit, who’d been made by Jim out of an old green coat of his mother’s and a Ping Pong ball cut in half.
Interesting to note that Kermit was not a frog originally. You can tell that from his feet, which were thick and puffy instead of flipper-like. He also didn’t have his harlequin-like collar. He was just a general “monster” Muppet like Grover or some others on Sesame Street.
After Kermit had been appearing on TV for years and critics kept referring to Jim’s “frog-like character” he finally relented and said, “Okay, so he’s a frog already!” I think it made Kermit a better character. It certainly gives “It’s Not Easy Being Green” better resonance.
My favorite Muppet moment? There’s an early Sam and Friends sketch where Kermit and another Muppet operated by Jane lip-synched a Louis Prima/Keely Smith duet that was popular on the radio at the time. It’s indescribable, but it cracks me up every time I see it.
… both involving the late, great Zero Mostel.
In one, he did a number where he recited a poem about fears he had, but that they were just figments of his imagination. I know it doesn’t sound funny when I describe it, but it’s well worth a look at if you can get a hold of it.
Also on that show, he did a bit with Sam. Sam was giving some stern lecture with Zero standing behind him. Whenever Sam wasn’t looking at him, Zero was openly mocking, imitating and making fun of Sam. Of course, Zero “straightened out” whenever Sam turned around.
Zev Steinhardt
Amen to that.
The only real words Beaker ever said…I think. Dr. Bunson Honeydew (in The Muppet Movie) is talking about his growth formula and the fact that, “the effects are sadly temporary.”
Beaker looks up from his work, “Sadly temporary,” and then quickly goes back to work. This is my zen moment in the film.
The Swedish Chef helped scar me emotionally into what I am today. When I came to the U.S., I had a screwed up accent. I was nine years old, and kids would ask why I spoke funny. I’d say, among other reasons, that my mom was Swedish and…
Well, once I opened my damned mouth, all I heard for the next couple of years was, “Bork, Bork, Bork.”
Ah, the bitterness of my inner-child has readied it for bed.
Check out http://www.rinkworks.com/dialect/
This will translate any web page into, among other things, Swedish Chef.
Just digging up this thread to say Thanks y’all; you’ve made me cry.
My Muppet moment, besides the ones that have been mentioned, was/is Gonzo blowing his trumpet at the end of the theme song. Always something different: bubbles came out of it, or spring snakes, or the sound of Harpo’s horn, and so on. I always looked forward to that the way I look forward to the chalkboard and couch gags on the Simpsons.
Regarding the Swedish Chef: I read recently that there was an actual chef which inspired the Swedish Chef. I forget his name, but the first time he went to America, he didn’t know English. He goes on “Good Morning America,” makes a couple of “hoo-de-doo” noises, and Jim Henson sees the tape, and creates a Muppet based on this.
I also love the scene where Kermit and Fozzie first met Gonzo during “The Muppet Movie” they ask where Gonzo’s going and he says he’s going to Bombay, India to be a movie star, they say he should go to Hollywood instead and Gonzo says, “Sure, if you want to do it the easy way!”
Then last year something I was listening to NPR while driving somewhere and the reporter said “Here in Bombay, India’s movie-making capital…” I missed the rest of the story and about drove off the road from laughing so hard. The Great Gonzo was right all along.
Some of my favorite moments are the most strange…
The guy with the “Boomerang Fish” act
Gonzo’s creepy love obsession with the chicken Camilla
When Alice Cooper convinced Gonzo to sell him his soul
Scooter had no eyes! Sure, he had pupils on his glasses but…he had no friggin eyes!!!
There was a steamy hot sexy dance number between (I think) Lynn Redgrave and Sweetums
Elton John doing Crocodile Rock in the swamp. Everytime I hear the song I still see a line of alligators going “Laaaa…la la la la laaaa…”
Maybe you’re thinking of Señor Wences?