Exactly what I was thinking. Also, watching some of the early Muppet Show episodes on DVD, it’s kinda obvious that they weren’t always that “kiddie”.
Henson obviously knew that his humor focused a lot on physical violence- note this 1966 promotional film for La Choy in which, after a montage of explosions from Muppet TV commercials, the La Choy Dragon makes a comment about the Muppets’ “warm, gentle humor” that appeals to children, causing a businessman-type Muppet to comment “seem like a bunch of sickos to me,” followed by a comedic “behind-the-scenes” montage in which the Dragon’s fire causes a lot of problems. (The La Choy Dragon was a full-body character who was the inspiration for Big Bird.)
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- That man was a genius!
“Why don’t we go down to Mr. Slate and ask for our jobs back.”
Remember “Cigarettes and Whiskey and Wild, Wild, Women?”
Try as I might, I here “on” and not “to” there. A random sample of people around the house hear the same thing. I was actually wondering whether “going down on somebody” may have been an old idiom (like from “dropping in on” or something) that just has a different shade of meaning today.
Like I mentioned earlier, I remember seeing a Wilkins delivery truck in the late 90s around Washington, but a bit of Googling shows they seem to have changed their name to Royal Cup.
Oh, and pulykamell, it is “down to”, it’s just elided: down to -> down ta -> downa. Clear as a bell for me.
“Downna” makes sense to me.
“Get me a jury to show me how to say ‘in July’ and I’ll go down on you!”- Orson Welles in an infamous frozen-food outtake reel
I imagine he wasn’t asking for sex there…