jim henson

The MuppetCast is not a podcast created by the Jim Henson company like the one I mentioned back in August, but rather a simple love letter to the Muppets from Steve Swanson, a longtime fan. In many ways, that makes it better than the other, "official" podcast because it's not simply a plug for upcoming projects from Jim Henson Studios. There's nothing wrong with updates on what's happening, but it's cool for a Muppet fanatic like myself to sit back and listen to someone who loves them as much as I do.

Here's a rather disturbing video (after the jump) of Sesame Street veteran Kermit The Frog singing about all of the people who have left him, the horrible life he's had, and Miss Piggy. This isn't "The Rainbow Connection," folks. This is Kermit doing an acoustic version of the Nine Inch Nails song "Hurt" (also covered by Johnny Cash). Kermit has hit rock bottom. This episode has been brought to you by the letter D, which stands for depressing.

I never really noticed this before, but if you close your eyes and listen closely, Kermit sounds a lot like Neil Young.

(Warning: NSFW...especially if your W is touchy about felt puppets masturbating and taking drugs.)

You can watch clips of the Jim Henson Company's Puppet Up! Uncensored improv shows on TBS' Laugh Lab site. New sketches will be added every Wednesday.

Puppet Up! Uncensored is an improved stage show from the Jim Henson Company that's essentially Who's Line Is It Anyway?, but with puppets. A Puppet Up! special was shown on TBS not long ago, and I found myself enjoying it, albeit intermittently.

Like many of you, I've been waiting since the 1999 film The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland for the little red Muppet to return to the big screen. Every morning I would wake up and check all the trade papers to see if li'l Elmo was ready to make his big screen comeback, and every day I was disappointed.

Actually, everything in that paragraph is a lie, though I did see The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland in the theater, along with my then three-year-old nephew and a theater full of little kids (they loved it). Muppet News Flash is reporting that a possible movie version of the "Elmo's World" segment on Sesame Street is in the very early stages of development. So early, in fact, that there's no guarantee the movie will be made at all. If it does get made, word is that it will put Elmo in a CG crayon-drawn world in the vein of Harold and the Purple Crayon or Chalk Zone.

I know parents and those of us who grew up with "classic" Sesame Street aren't especially fond of Elmo, but you can't deny the little guy has his fans. Also, it helps to keep in mind that Elmo is specifically designed to appeal to smaller children, not their older siblings.

We rejoiced when the first two seasons of the Jim Henson Company's Dinosaurs came out on DVD, and now it's time to rejoice again, because seasons three and four will be out on DVD in a single box set sometime this May. There's no official release date yet, and there are no details on extra features just yet, either. What we do know is that all thirty-six episodes from seasons three and four will be included, and that's awesome.

On a more personal note, an incidental character in the episode "If I Were A Tree" is actually named after a friend of mine (actually the younger brother of a friend, but a friend nonetheless) who passed away at a very young age. This is not a lie, the writers changed the name of the character after I wrote a letter to them asking them to dedicate a show to my friend, who liked the show. I consider the name change the next best thing to a dedication. In fact, I still have the episode on tape, and the script they sent me.

Muppet News Flash, my favorite place for all the latest Muppet information, reports that a repeat of A&E's Sesame Street Biography will air in two parts: the first part on December 18 at 4 AM, and the second part on December 19, again at 4 AM. Unless you're a farmer or a garbage truck driver and you're used to being up that early, I suggest you fire up the ol' DVR and record it. I caught the episode when it first aired, and it's a great look at the inner workings of the program, how ideas are developed, and how the performers and artists bring the Muppets to life.

The following morning of December 20, also at 4 AM, A&E will re-air the Biography episode featuring the late Fred Rogers of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. That's three days to relive your favorite childhood PBS memories.

Right up there with the themes to Charles in Charge and The Facts of Life on the list of songs that are always stuck in my head is that catchy "Mahna Mahna" Muppet ditty. Somebody has created a few musical mash ups by mixing "Mahna Mahna" with some modern tunes, including a song by Kanye West, and that easy listening staple, "Walking in Memphis." Check them out here, along with a few other Muppet and Sesame Street mash ups. The Kanye West track is pretty catchy, and I have to say this new version of "Walking in Memphis" is actually an improvement on the original. Maybe that's because I've never actually walked in Memphis, with my feet ten feet off of Beale. I assume the song is refering to Howard Beale, Peter Finch's character in the movie Network.

[via Boing Boing]