Okay, okay…so maybe I do have a problem or something. But anyways, as a little kid I used to be an avid watcher of Sesame Street, like some sort of disciple or something. Well, I turned on the t.v. the other day, and up pops Sesame Street. Much to my dismay I could actually see the strings that controlled Grover’s arms! Sigh…the death of another happy childhood fantasy…woe is me…anyone else have some deep-hidden woe they must share? I think I need some sympathy…
I saw the wires as a kid.
How sad…a truly marred childhood, i’m sure.
Grover’s hand-wires have always had trouble staying out of sight.
Funny, I had just the opposite experience this weekend: Saturday night broccoli! and I had a bunch of friends/coworkers over and we watched The Muppet Show on DVD and it has brightened my mood for the past few days. Yeah, I saw the strings/wires/etc. but… it doesn’t matter. It’s the Muppets. 
Yeah, but have you seen Big Bird’s string?
I thought this was going to be yet another rant about Sesame Street’s format changes over the past few years.
I’m not sure I understand what was disillusioning about this experience? Were you laboring under the misconception that Grover actually was a little blue anthropomorphic monster and not a puppet? One of the things I always liked about the muppets is that they seemed so real despite the obvious presence of strings, etc. because they were fully-formed characters with personalities and quirks. I mean, Bert was into collecting bottlecaps and spotting pigeons, for crying out loud!
Honestly, Great One, wait until you have kids and have to watch Seseme Street every morning.
Muppet Show, however, is not meant just for little kids and has humor anybody can appreciate. So you see the sticks on their arms. So what? Just look at the explosions!!!
- Gorgon Heap, who gets his name from a muppet.
And his sig from the show, too.
He collects paperclips, too.
I was watching some segment on television about the Muppets (whether on their own show or on Sesame Street), and one cool thing they mentioned was about how good the puppetry and other things were, that it got you believing you saw things that you really didn’t. Particular things mentioned were Miss Piggy batting her eyelashes (they weren’t set up to do that), or Kermit flushing with embarrassment or frustration (again, how does felt blush?). I think I need to get a Muppet Show collection and watch it, I loved that show.
hey, does anyone remember the names of the purple alien monsters?
Not the two headed one that had the horns, I mean the ones that could put their mouths over the tops of their heads and the main part of their dialogue was:
yip
yip
yip-yip-yip-yip-yip
those guys were the coolest.
I saw the wires, but didn’t know what they were. I wondered why Kermit had strings hanging off of his wrists.
Wires? Strings? I don’t know what you people are talking about.
I know I might be getting a little off subject here. Is this a Hijack? Maybe this is my first Hijack, I’m not sure. Anyway, I grew up watching Sesame Street, The Muppets, Fraggle Rock, etc. I loved all of those shows. One of my favorite shows that they played at Christmas time for a few years was Emmit Otter’s Jug Band Christmas. It’s not a special that I had seen on tv since I was a kid so I was delighted to find it on VHS on Ebay a couple of years ago. I purchased it and I sat my 8 year old son down to watch a “real” Christmas special instead of Pokemon meets Digimon Christmas war or whatever crap they have on nowadays. About 3 minutes into the show I’m all excited to watch one of my favorite childhood shows and he turns around with a big frown on his face and says “you can see the strings”. Then he promptly gets up and proceeds to play with his Gameboy. Why is it that the strings change the enjoyment of the show?? I saw the strings when I was a kid but that didn’t matter. I was so bummed out about that.
Many of the guests on THE MUPPET SHOW have said that they promptly began talking to Kermit and the other Muppets as if they were real, even though they could plainly see the operators right below them. The illusion is strong.
Does anyone remember when the Muppets first starting appearing in little skits on Johnny Carson and Ed Sullivan? They were surrealistic and often downright creepy.
In the “Making of” extra on my Dark Crystal DVD, there’s a scene with one of the skeksis chatting with some of the crew…in character. He nods, grins, laughs, raises his eyebrows…it’s impossible to remember that you’re looking at a guy’s hand in a puppet. The crew is talking to the General, and it seems perfectly natural.
That said, the Muppets were real despite their strings. Good character development and gifted puppeteers made them come to life.
Ooh, I LOVE the Muppets!
If my mom has been listening, I am getting Muppet Show DVDs for my birthday this week.
She’d DAMN WELL BETTER have been listening.
When I was a small kid, maybe five, I was watching an interview with Jim Henson. Mom says I turned to her and said, “Mommy, that man sounds just like Kermit the Frog!”
I still miss him.
Hey, Greck!!! They’re called yip yips and are, I might add, one of my favorite characters!!!
yip yip yip yip yip yip yip yip yip yip yip
To all those who wonder at the “death” of a happy childhood memory:
Well…actually…it doesn’t really bother me that much, just wanted to rant on about my disillusioned self…even if the memory died, I can just make some more…
hmmmm…I think Sesame Street is on at 4:00…
Despite the wires I still can’t really force myself to believe that they’re not real. Even if cookie monster came up to me and said, “I’m not real” I still wouldn’t believe it. I mean the guy actually eats plates!!! Who could believe someone like that?