A Hippie in the House of Mouse (Jim Henson at Disney, 1980)
- Thread starter Geekhis Khan
- Start date
- Status
If Belushi lives longer then otl I like the idea of staring in american verison of Red Dwarf. Thier was a poilot for an ameircan red dwarf. The piolot was reject and the producer said the he decided that the only americann actor who do an american dave lister was john belushi
That's a little unjust. I could see Dave Coulier, or even Dom De Louise or John Candy working in a pinch. Well, okay, Candy is Canadian, but still.
But this is hijacking the thread. What if they decide to cast this hypothetical Red Dwarf after watching a guest star on The Muppet Show during a skit of Pigs in Space!
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So this is how you successfully solicit your readers for contributions - well done for cracking the code, @Geekhis Khan! 
Everyone who's on a weekly series that films in LA is available now, in a way they weren't when the show shot at Elstree. My big suggestion - and I'm torn between being pleased and disappointed that I'm the first - is John Ritter. Still shooting Three's Company at the time, one of the most brilliant physical comedians of his generation, and just an all-around great guy with a terrific sense of humour.
Robin Williams, disaster though he may be, is as close to a certainty as we'll get, I think. The episode will probably be a disaster (and not in a good way) if he's coked out of his mind, but the man did star in Mork and Mindy until 1982 IOTL, They might be able to get him on a good week.
Belushi and Aykroyd are a pretty likely pair, as is Gilda Radner. I think they might be able to get a hold of Bill Murray too, which would be fun to see, his deadpan underreacting to their madcap antics.
Of course I love the idea of Lucille Ball, and I think she might be convinced to "give it a whirl" (to coin a phrase)... after Ritter (with whom she was very close at this time) does it first and convinces her.
Larry Hagman coming on after the "Who Shot J.R.?" cliffhanger is a gimme, and I think it ought to happen.
Betty White would absolutely be game, and she's between shows at the moment - Mary Tyler Moore ended in 1977, Mama's Family didn't start running until 1982.
Awkward as it would be to everyone reading in the present day, Bill Cosby is very likely. He would do anything for a paycheque.
Olivia Newton-John is a great choice, and I'd love to see the Muppets do a parody of her "Physical" video.
David Bowie feels like a natural choice, he's starting to come out of his shell about this time, with "Under Pressure" in '82 and then "Let's Dance" in '83.
Likewise, Queen are at the very peak of their popularity in America at this time (they scored two #1 singles off their The Game album) and they did do Saturday Night Live in 1982 IOTL, their lone appearance on that show (performing "Under Pressure" sans Bowie and "Another One Bites the Dust"). Freddie as we all know is close with both Bowie and previous guest Elton John and they might encourage him to go along with it. Freddie would love the Muppets, Brian and Roger and John would all have fun too I'm sure.
I agree about Michael Jackson being a likely guest too, this is a very good time for him to appear since he hasn't gone all post-Thriller recluse yet. And again, close with Queen so that makes it more likely.
Another early '80s band that might show up are the Rolling Stones, who can't imagine Keith Richards and Animal hitting it off in a sketch?
With Raiders coming out in 1981 I can see them getting Harrison Ford to appear, and do some fun Indy sketches.
Similarly, since they're in LA now, have the Pigs in Space sketches star someone from Star Trek, Wrath of Khan is coming out in 1982 and William Shatner did lampoon himself in Airport II about this time, I think he'd be game.
Joan Collins showed up on Dynasty in 1981, again she never took herself too seriously and I think she'd have a lot of fun.
That's everyone who jumps to mind immediately. Everyone else has some great ideas too, hence my stealing from most of them. I'm like Milton Berle! He's already appeared, though
Everyone who's on a weekly series that films in LA is available now, in a way they weren't when the show shot at Elstree. My big suggestion - and I'm torn between being pleased and disappointed that I'm the first - is John Ritter. Still shooting Three's Company at the time, one of the most brilliant physical comedians of his generation, and just an all-around great guy with a terrific sense of humour.
Robin Williams, disaster though he may be, is as close to a certainty as we'll get, I think. The episode will probably be a disaster (and not in a good way) if he's coked out of his mind, but the man did star in Mork and Mindy until 1982 IOTL, They might be able to get him on a good week.
Belushi and Aykroyd are a pretty likely pair, as is Gilda Radner. I think they might be able to get a hold of Bill Murray too, which would be fun to see, his deadpan underreacting to their madcap antics.
Of course I love the idea of Lucille Ball, and I think she might be convinced to "give it a whirl" (to coin a phrase)... after Ritter (with whom she was very close at this time) does it first and convinces her.
Larry Hagman coming on after the "Who Shot J.R.?" cliffhanger is a gimme, and I think it ought to happen.
Betty White would absolutely be game, and she's between shows at the moment - Mary Tyler Moore ended in 1977, Mama's Family didn't start running until 1982.
Awkward as it would be to everyone reading in the present day, Bill Cosby is very likely. He would do anything for a paycheque.
Olivia Newton-John is a great choice, and I'd love to see the Muppets do a parody of her "Physical" video.
David Bowie feels like a natural choice, he's starting to come out of his shell about this time, with "Under Pressure" in '82 and then "Let's Dance" in '83.
Likewise, Queen are at the very peak of their popularity in America at this time (they scored two #1 singles off their The Game album) and they did do Saturday Night Live in 1982 IOTL, their lone appearance on that show (performing "Under Pressure" sans Bowie and "Another One Bites the Dust"). Freddie as we all know is close with both Bowie and previous guest Elton John and they might encourage him to go along with it. Freddie would love the Muppets, Brian and Roger and John would all have fun too I'm sure.
I agree about Michael Jackson being a likely guest too, this is a very good time for him to appear since he hasn't gone all post-Thriller recluse yet. And again, close with Queen so that makes it more likely.
Another early '80s band that might show up are the Rolling Stones, who can't imagine Keith Richards and Animal hitting it off in a sketch?
With Raiders coming out in 1981 I can see them getting Harrison Ford to appear, and do some fun Indy sketches.
Similarly, since they're in LA now, have the Pigs in Space sketches star someone from Star Trek, Wrath of Khan is coming out in 1982 and William Shatner did lampoon himself in Airport II about this time, I think he'd be game.
Joan Collins showed up on Dynasty in 1981, again she never took herself too seriously and I think she'd have a lot of fun.
That's everyone who jumps to mind immediately. Everyone else has some great ideas too, hence my stealing from most of them. I'm like Milton Berle! He's already appeared, though
This one's a no brainer:
The guest star for the Series Finale should be Jim himself.
If Ford gets on I think it would be neat if Carrie Fisher got to host at some point since then all three Star Wars leads will have done so.
Carrie Fisher would be a fun guest as well. If Belushi and Aykroyd did a guest spot on the Muppets in their Blues Brothers personas, Carrie Fisher reprising her role from the movie and hunting Jake and Elwood as various Muppets "help". When was the Blues Brothers out on video tape? Might work as a promotion for that.
fasquardon
fasquardon
I know he was mentioned in passing, but I’d go with John Candy. I’m not sure if he ever was on the Muppet Show, but Roger Moore with all the crew thinking he’s James Bond. Johnny Cash would also be a great guest star.
Thanks, all, those are all some fantastic suggestions (enough for 2.5 seasons!) and it will be hard to choose, really. I'll have to balance between fun, popular, likely, and liked here. FYI that Roger Moore, Johnny Cash, and Gilda Radner all did actual guest spots on TMS in our timeline and do so in this one too.
I appreciate the help! You will all be "immortalized" one way or another in the ensuing post.
Apparently so.
I appreciate the help! You will all be "immortalized" one way or another in the ensuing post.
So this is how you successfully solicit your readers for contributions - well done for cracking the code, @Geekhis Khan!
Apparently so.
Henson Bio IV: Jim as a Kermit Walkaround
Chapter 12: Bold New Directions (Cont’d)
Excerpt from Jim Henson: Storyteller, an authorized biography by Jay O’Brian.
One of the more interesting jobs awaiting Jim Henson as Disney’s newest executive was also one of the company’s most famous, if least glamorous ones: performing for a day as a Disney walkaround character at one of the parks. As was recently leaked in the press[1], it has been a longstanding, but secret tradition (and exercise in humility) for all new Disney managers and executives to work for a day as a walkaround performer, and new CCO Jim Henson was no exception. Naturally, he would perform Kermit.
(Image source “muppet.fandom.com”)
“It was a lot of work,” Jim remembered years later, once the secret was out and he could talk about it, “But [it was] also a lot of fun. We’d always interacted with the [walkaround performers] when [the family] visited the parks, and I always knew that someone was inside of them, but until you’ve donned the suit yourself, you have no real appreciation for how much work that job really is. I’m just glad I got to do it in Disneyland. I can’t imagine doing that in Disney World [in hot, humid Florida] in July.”
Before donning the costume, Jim had to go through an accelerated “boot camp” of sorts. One couldn’t just put on a walkaround character and, well, walk around, after all! With an attention to detail that impressed Jim, each walkaround had a set of characteristics, behaviors, gestures, and postures that had to be performed as you made the rounds. Goofy didn’t walk like Mickey. Daisy didn’t react like Minnie. None of them talked: only the in-human performers like Cinderella got to do that. Normally, each character came with a long sheet of notes, behaviors, and personality traits. But for the new Muppet-based walkaround characters, all of this needed to be invented.
A year and a half earlier Jim Henson, just after signing the deal with Disney, had done just that, recruiting Frank Oz, Richard Hunt, and his wife Jane[2]. Oz, who inevitably developed long, detailed backstories for his Muppet characters, would lead the background development effort. Hunt, a veteran walkaround Muppet performer perhaps best known for performing the bashful monster Sweetums, would help develop the gestures, mannerisms, and distinct walks. Jane made sure that it all stayed true to the characters. “It was a real challenge,” remembered Jim. “[Disney’s] standards were as anal retentive as mine, but it was a whole new skill set. As a Muppet you emote with your fingers. As a walkaround [character] you emote with your shoulders, hips, and arms. Thank god Richard was there.”
And Richard didn’t disappoint. “Frank’s characters were easy for him,” Jim recalled. Characters like Fozzie and Piggy already possessed grand, memorable physicality that was relatively easy for Hunt and the Disney crew to translate. “Kermit was a challenge.” As the inveterate straight man, much of Kermit’s performance relied on reacting with subtle grace and annoyance to the crazy antics of the others. Jim could express rather complicated emotions by how he curled his fingers, but with their fixed expressions, the walkaround versions would lack that ability. Eventually, using a combination of sharp shoulder turns and retreats, sinking shoulder drops that sunk the actor into the suit, and “floppy spaghetti arms”, they were able to express the subtleties of “Kermit” through the fixed-face suit.
Over a few days Jim, an experienced performer, but only occasionally a fill-in walkaround character performer[3], mastered the Walkaround Kermit. He also learned how to navigate the park with the help of his handlers despite the poor vision and learned the basics of how the customers would react, what they would want in terms of pictures and signatures (learning to sign a picture through big Kermit hands was a challenge), and also the unexpected hazards of the job (“you’ll get groped at some point”). Finally, Jim was ready to be Kermit again, but in a whole new way. His teachers were impressed with how quickly he picked it all up, but they shouldn’t have been. He’d been performing with kids and crowds for decades.
For Jim, three things struck him about the walkaround costumes: the weight and heat of the suit, the limited visibility it offered (Goofy was notoriously hard to see out of), and the amount of assistance one needed from the handlers just to not trip over things…or over children. And yet, compared to squeezing his tall body into small, cramped spaces for a Muppet performance, it was relatively easy. “At least I got to stand up straight,” he recalled, while also admitting that the walkarounds didn’t have the benefit of “takes” to allow a quick breather between performances. The experience led him to task Faz Fazakas and Brian with developing new ways to keep the performers more comfortable, ultimately resulting in a series of measures to improve the costumes. These included the “Mickey vision[4]” miniature cameras and viewscreens to improve visibility, and ways to dissipate heat starting with hidden vents and then to small, hidden fans to, ultimately, the NASCAR-grade cooling vests the performers use today[5].
Jim also found that he absolutely loved interacting with the guests, particularly with the children. “Unlike a lot of [my fellow Disney executives] I was used to [working with] kids. The hardest part for me was simply staying silent and not answering the kids’ questions in Kermit’s voice and [thereby] giving away the secret!” he laughed.
Like all his fellow executives, Jim Henson played a walkaround character for a day, but unlike most of the others he would go back to do it again, several times, over the years. He even recruited some of his fellow Muppet performers to take a turn or two. Richard Hunt even regularly played the part of Sweetums, in some of the original costumes. He reportedly shared Jim’s observation that “staying quiet was the hardest part”. Most of the Muppet performers agreed to the request, with Frank Oz being the notable exception. “Having my arm in a pig is more than enough, Jim,” he reportedly said.
[1] In our timeline it was only in the 2000s that this tradition got leaked. Many execs have reportedly said that the experience was a meaningful one that gave them both a sense of what their employees experience and also a sense of the “magic” of the Disney experience for the guests when they witness the innocent joy of a child upon meeting them, and thus “become” the character for that moment.
[2] Jane consulted on the Muppets Walkaround show in 1989.
[3] For example, in the opening of The Muppet Show he plays the "Mutation" walkaround on screen left.
[4] They used a similar arrangement for the Gorgs on Fraggle Rock called “Gorg-vision”.
[5] To the best of my knowledge this never happened in our timeline where Disney found it cheaper and easier to just hire additional underpaid local students to work in shifts than to engineer more wearer-friendly suits.
Excerpt from Jim Henson: Storyteller, an authorized biography by Jay O’Brian.
One of the more interesting jobs awaiting Jim Henson as Disney’s newest executive was also one of the company’s most famous, if least glamorous ones: performing for a day as a Disney walkaround character at one of the parks. As was recently leaked in the press[1], it has been a longstanding, but secret tradition (and exercise in humility) for all new Disney managers and executives to work for a day as a walkaround performer, and new CCO Jim Henson was no exception. Naturally, he would perform Kermit.
(Image source “muppet.fandom.com”)
“It was a lot of work,” Jim remembered years later, once the secret was out and he could talk about it, “But [it was] also a lot of fun. We’d always interacted with the [walkaround performers] when [the family] visited the parks, and I always knew that someone was inside of them, but until you’ve donned the suit yourself, you have no real appreciation for how much work that job really is. I’m just glad I got to do it in Disneyland. I can’t imagine doing that in Disney World [in hot, humid Florida] in July.”
Before donning the costume, Jim had to go through an accelerated “boot camp” of sorts. One couldn’t just put on a walkaround character and, well, walk around, after all! With an attention to detail that impressed Jim, each walkaround had a set of characteristics, behaviors, gestures, and postures that had to be performed as you made the rounds. Goofy didn’t walk like Mickey. Daisy didn’t react like Minnie. None of them talked: only the in-human performers like Cinderella got to do that. Normally, each character came with a long sheet of notes, behaviors, and personality traits. But for the new Muppet-based walkaround characters, all of this needed to be invented.
A year and a half earlier Jim Henson, just after signing the deal with Disney, had done just that, recruiting Frank Oz, Richard Hunt, and his wife Jane[2]. Oz, who inevitably developed long, detailed backstories for his Muppet characters, would lead the background development effort. Hunt, a veteran walkaround Muppet performer perhaps best known for performing the bashful monster Sweetums, would help develop the gestures, mannerisms, and distinct walks. Jane made sure that it all stayed true to the characters. “It was a real challenge,” remembered Jim. “[Disney’s] standards were as anal retentive as mine, but it was a whole new skill set. As a Muppet you emote with your fingers. As a walkaround [character] you emote with your shoulders, hips, and arms. Thank god Richard was there.”
And Richard didn’t disappoint. “Frank’s characters were easy for him,” Jim recalled. Characters like Fozzie and Piggy already possessed grand, memorable physicality that was relatively easy for Hunt and the Disney crew to translate. “Kermit was a challenge.” As the inveterate straight man, much of Kermit’s performance relied on reacting with subtle grace and annoyance to the crazy antics of the others. Jim could express rather complicated emotions by how he curled his fingers, but with their fixed expressions, the walkaround versions would lack that ability. Eventually, using a combination of sharp shoulder turns and retreats, sinking shoulder drops that sunk the actor into the suit, and “floppy spaghetti arms”, they were able to express the subtleties of “Kermit” through the fixed-face suit.
Over a few days Jim, an experienced performer, but only occasionally a fill-in walkaround character performer[3], mastered the Walkaround Kermit. He also learned how to navigate the park with the help of his handlers despite the poor vision and learned the basics of how the customers would react, what they would want in terms of pictures and signatures (learning to sign a picture through big Kermit hands was a challenge), and also the unexpected hazards of the job (“you’ll get groped at some point”). Finally, Jim was ready to be Kermit again, but in a whole new way. His teachers were impressed with how quickly he picked it all up, but they shouldn’t have been. He’d been performing with kids and crowds for decades.
For Jim, three things struck him about the walkaround costumes: the weight and heat of the suit, the limited visibility it offered (Goofy was notoriously hard to see out of), and the amount of assistance one needed from the handlers just to not trip over things…or over children. And yet, compared to squeezing his tall body into small, cramped spaces for a Muppet performance, it was relatively easy. “At least I got to stand up straight,” he recalled, while also admitting that the walkarounds didn’t have the benefit of “takes” to allow a quick breather between performances. The experience led him to task Faz Fazakas and Brian with developing new ways to keep the performers more comfortable, ultimately resulting in a series of measures to improve the costumes. These included the “Mickey vision[4]” miniature cameras and viewscreens to improve visibility, and ways to dissipate heat starting with hidden vents and then to small, hidden fans to, ultimately, the NASCAR-grade cooling vests the performers use today[5].
Jim also found that he absolutely loved interacting with the guests, particularly with the children. “Unlike a lot of [my fellow Disney executives] I was used to [working with] kids. The hardest part for me was simply staying silent and not answering the kids’ questions in Kermit’s voice and [thereby] giving away the secret!” he laughed.
Like all his fellow executives, Jim Henson played a walkaround character for a day, but unlike most of the others he would go back to do it again, several times, over the years. He even recruited some of his fellow Muppet performers to take a turn or two. Richard Hunt even regularly played the part of Sweetums, in some of the original costumes. He reportedly shared Jim’s observation that “staying quiet was the hardest part”. Most of the Muppet performers agreed to the request, with Frank Oz being the notable exception. “Having my arm in a pig is more than enough, Jim,” he reportedly said.
[1] In our timeline it was only in the 2000s that this tradition got leaked. Many execs have reportedly said that the experience was a meaningful one that gave them both a sense of what their employees experience and also a sense of the “magic” of the Disney experience for the guests when they witness the innocent joy of a child upon meeting them, and thus “become” the character for that moment.
[2] Jane consulted on the Muppets Walkaround show in 1989.
[3] For example, in the opening of The Muppet Show he plays the "Mutation" walkaround on screen left.
[4] They used a similar arrangement for the Gorgs on Fraggle Rock called “Gorg-vision”.
[5] To the best of my knowledge this never happened in our timeline where Disney found it cheaper and easier to just hire additional underpaid local students to work in shifts than to engineer more wearer-friendly suits.
AFAIK the tradition lives on in our TL, so no reason why it wouldn't in this one.
The no talking is no doubt due to the voice thing. Guests expect Mickey to "sound right". No guarantee every performer could do it.
Muppet Show Guest Stars
Thanks again to all who participated in the Muppet Guests event! Here is the result. Some of these folks may look familiar...
---------------
Muppet Magic Message Board
Topic: Muppet Show Seasons 6 & 7; Best Guest Stars?
Kermitfan143: So, yea, I know Seasons 6 & 7 (1981-83) aren’t everyone’s favs and the only reason Jim agreed to them was because of the Disney deal, but of them, who were your favorite Special Guest Stars?
The End: Mr. T. Definitely! “I ain’t got time for no jibber-jabber, Kermit!” [6 likes]
Grahamberly: Miles Davis. Jam session with Zoot, anyone? [3 likes]
BirdLives: Spot on, man!
Grahamberly: Also, Robin Williams. I still laugh at him as Mork on Pigs in Space. [7 likes]
Fort Knox: Yes!! Seconded! I don’t know which was funnier, Statler and Waldorf heckling him, or him joining them to heckle Fozzie!
Tim Servo: Thirded. Pure insanity!
N*B*C: Um, Williams was way too much for me. Overkill in my opinion. Even Gonzo couldn’t keep up! How much coke was he on? No, give me Lucille Ball & Jerry Lewis. That’s manageable insanity! [3 likes]
Hello Dali: You want insanity? Salvador Dali[1]!! I still have a poster of him with Gonzo, with Gonzo sporting the iconic mustache! [π likes]
Tim Servo: The Dali one was just weird and nonsensical.
Hello Dali: No, it was a masterpiece of surrealism! A paranoiac-critical exploration of the human subconscious with a side of a bumblebee buzzing around the dreaming mind of a young maiden. [√(-1) likes]
Prairie Dawn: Are you on drugs? [2 likes]
Hello Dali: I am drugs. [∫(-∞)^∞(e^(-iπx) dx) likes]
N*B*C: Andy Kaufman. That one was weird in a good way. He pulled an Anything Muppet off of a Muppeteer’s hand only for the un-handed Muppet to keep talking to him. He screamed and dropped it. Vintage Kaufman meta-humor. [4 likes]
Head_ina_Jar: Lucile Ball was great, as was John Ritter, who convinced her to do it.
HailtotheKing: Seriously, no one’s said Arnold Schwarzenegger?! Him as Conan battling Sweetums. [5 likes]
Iggy: Or Hulk Hogan, brother! Him wrestling The Masked Weirdo (Gonzo). Pure entertainment. [3 likes]
Head_ina_Jar: Don’t forget Harrison Ford! OMG Indiana Frog. [7 likes]
Tornahdo: And Carrie Fisher, just to round out the Star Wars cast! [3 likes]
Fort Knox: Ackroyd and Belushi. Speaking of cocaine and Carrie Fisher, I guess? Anyway, the Blues Brothers/Electric Mayhem sketch. Brilliant! They lost Jim Belushi not long after that[2]. ☹ [6 likes]
Kermitfan143: The hand of Bernie Brillstein at play. I think that he had to blackmail both of them given how much they hated the Gortch skits on SNL. Belushi called them “the Mucking Fuppets” you know.
Fort Knox: I don’t care how Bernie did it, I’m just glad that he did. Also: Michael Cane. [2 likes]
Iggy: Mathew Corbett and Sooty. [3 likes]
FAS: Seconded. And Gerry Anderson’s marionettes. Jim Henson always had love for his fellow puppeteers, whatever the form.
Master_of_Muppets: Yea, they both showed up on World of Magic too for one of the Puppetry Around the World sequences.
Prarie Dawn: No one’s said Fred Rogers? For shame! [3 likes]
Naresse: Seriously. Also, all the nerds on these boards and no one mentioned Tom Baker? Dr. Who meets Pigs in Space[3]. Classic. [4 likes]
Caliban: Larry Hagman. Seriously, the whole “Who Whatevered JR” (pied, shocked, exploded) running gag. [9 likes]
Enfuego: Yes! Seconded!
Khanette: I loved Piggy dressing up as Jeanie and winking JR back into Major Nelson. [4 likes]
Ryddle O’Sphynx: John Candy, of course. [3 likes]
Caliban: Kim Catrall. [3 likes]
Prevert: More like Kim Cat Call! ROWL!
Postvert: She looked pretty good back then!
Prevert: She looks pretty good now.
PrarieDawn: You two are incorrigible.
Prevert: Thank you!
Modinator: Enough natter. Stay on topic, folks.
InTheNavy: Mel Blanc. Larry Bird. Bill Cosby was a famous one. A little awkward now. Don’t let him make you a drink, Piggy! [3 likes]
Caliban: I loved the musical acts. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. The B-52’s. Oingo Boingo. Olivia Newton John. [7 likes]
Head_ina_Jar: Second on Olivia. “Let’s Get Physical” duet with Piggy. ‘80s squared. [2 likes]
Thesaurus_Rex: David Bowie and KISS! [3 likes]
Khanette: Cher was a lot of fun. Part of her big comeback tour. [1 like]
Fort Knox: Tony Bennet, Stan Freiberg, Dolly Parton, and Lionel Richie. Jim also wanted ABBA, but missed signing them. [7 likes]
Kermitfan143: Michael Jackson was a big one. Also a little awkward now. [8 likes]
Naresse: Seriously, people, Queen. Freddy Mercury vs. Miss Piggy singing duel. Bowie was great too. I just wish…no, I’m not going there. [5 likes]
Tim Servo: Totally seconding Oingo Boingo! You just know Tim Burton put them all up to it. Also, Weird Al Yankovic!
Grahamberly: Agreed on Weird Al. One of my all-time favorite ‘80s moments. [4 likes]
FAS: Um, @ Servo & Graham, that was World of Magic. Weird Al was just breaking out when TMS went off the air. [2 likes]
Tom Servo: Bugger. Still a great moment, though.
N*B*C: No one mentioned Betty White yet? Her and Animal singing a duet. Full stop. [6 likes]
Khanette: Everyone loves Betty White.
Pool_of_the_Dead [Banned]: Lord knows I do!
Modinator: Another account?!? How many times do I have to keep banning you, Pool?
Pool_of_the_Dead [Banned]: You know you love me, Modinator!
Bleach: For me, it was all about the Grand Finale host: Jim Henson Himself! [42 likes]
[1] Apparently, someone in the Muppet crew wanted Dali to guest star in our Timeline!
[2] As much as I’d love to butterfly Jim’s death, he was fully committed to his hard-partying ways.
[3]
😊
---------------
Muppet Magic Message Board
Topic: Muppet Show Seasons 6 & 7; Best Guest Stars?
Kermitfan143: So, yea, I know Seasons 6 & 7 (1981-83) aren’t everyone’s favs and the only reason Jim agreed to them was because of the Disney deal, but of them, who were your favorite Special Guest Stars?
The End: Mr. T. Definitely! “I ain’t got time for no jibber-jabber, Kermit!” [6 likes]
Grahamberly: Miles Davis. Jam session with Zoot, anyone? [3 likes]
BirdLives: Spot on, man!
Grahamberly: Also, Robin Williams. I still laugh at him as Mork on Pigs in Space. [7 likes]
Fort Knox: Yes!! Seconded! I don’t know which was funnier, Statler and Waldorf heckling him, or him joining them to heckle Fozzie!
Tim Servo: Thirded. Pure insanity!
N*B*C: Um, Williams was way too much for me. Overkill in my opinion. Even Gonzo couldn’t keep up! How much coke was he on? No, give me Lucille Ball & Jerry Lewis. That’s manageable insanity! [3 likes]
Hello Dali: You want insanity? Salvador Dali[1]!! I still have a poster of him with Gonzo, with Gonzo sporting the iconic mustache! [π likes]
Tim Servo: The Dali one was just weird and nonsensical.
Hello Dali: No, it was a masterpiece of surrealism! A paranoiac-critical exploration of the human subconscious with a side of a bumblebee buzzing around the dreaming mind of a young maiden. [√(-1) likes]
Prairie Dawn: Are you on drugs? [2 likes]
Hello Dali: I am drugs. [∫(-∞)^∞(e^(-iπx) dx) likes]
N*B*C: Andy Kaufman. That one was weird in a good way. He pulled an Anything Muppet off of a Muppeteer’s hand only for the un-handed Muppet to keep talking to him. He screamed and dropped it. Vintage Kaufman meta-humor. [4 likes]
Head_ina_Jar: Lucile Ball was great, as was John Ritter, who convinced her to do it.
HailtotheKing: Seriously, no one’s said Arnold Schwarzenegger?! Him as Conan battling Sweetums. [5 likes]
Iggy: Or Hulk Hogan, brother! Him wrestling The Masked Weirdo (Gonzo). Pure entertainment. [3 likes]
Head_ina_Jar: Don’t forget Harrison Ford! OMG Indiana Frog. [7 likes]
Tornahdo: And Carrie Fisher, just to round out the Star Wars cast! [3 likes]
Fort Knox: Ackroyd and Belushi. Speaking of cocaine and Carrie Fisher, I guess? Anyway, the Blues Brothers/Electric Mayhem sketch. Brilliant! They lost Jim Belushi not long after that[2]. ☹ [6 likes]
Kermitfan143: The hand of Bernie Brillstein at play. I think that he had to blackmail both of them given how much they hated the Gortch skits on SNL. Belushi called them “the Mucking Fuppets” you know.
Fort Knox: I don’t care how Bernie did it, I’m just glad that he did. Also: Michael Cane. [2 likes]
Iggy: Mathew Corbett and Sooty. [3 likes]
FAS: Seconded. And Gerry Anderson’s marionettes. Jim Henson always had love for his fellow puppeteers, whatever the form.
Master_of_Muppets: Yea, they both showed up on World of Magic too for one of the Puppetry Around the World sequences.
Prarie Dawn: No one’s said Fred Rogers? For shame! [3 likes]
Naresse: Seriously. Also, all the nerds on these boards and no one mentioned Tom Baker? Dr. Who meets Pigs in Space[3]. Classic. [4 likes]
Caliban: Larry Hagman. Seriously, the whole “Who Whatevered JR” (pied, shocked, exploded) running gag. [9 likes]
Enfuego: Yes! Seconded!
Khanette: I loved Piggy dressing up as Jeanie and winking JR back into Major Nelson. [4 likes]
Ryddle O’Sphynx: John Candy, of course. [3 likes]
Caliban: Kim Catrall. [3 likes]
Prevert: More like Kim Cat Call! ROWL!
Postvert: She looked pretty good back then!
Prevert: She looks pretty good now.
PrarieDawn: You two are incorrigible.
Prevert: Thank you!
Modinator: Enough natter. Stay on topic, folks.
InTheNavy: Mel Blanc. Larry Bird. Bill Cosby was a famous one. A little awkward now. Don’t let him make you a drink, Piggy! [3 likes]
Caliban: I loved the musical acts. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. The B-52’s. Oingo Boingo. Olivia Newton John. [7 likes]
Head_ina_Jar: Second on Olivia. “Let’s Get Physical” duet with Piggy. ‘80s squared. [2 likes]
Thesaurus_Rex: David Bowie and KISS! [3 likes]
Khanette: Cher was a lot of fun. Part of her big comeback tour. [1 like]
Fort Knox: Tony Bennet, Stan Freiberg, Dolly Parton, and Lionel Richie. Jim also wanted ABBA, but missed signing them. [7 likes]
Kermitfan143: Michael Jackson was a big one. Also a little awkward now. [8 likes]
Naresse: Seriously, people, Queen. Freddy Mercury vs. Miss Piggy singing duel. Bowie was great too. I just wish…no, I’m not going there. [5 likes]
Tim Servo: Totally seconding Oingo Boingo! You just know Tim Burton put them all up to it. Also, Weird Al Yankovic!
Grahamberly: Agreed on Weird Al. One of my all-time favorite ‘80s moments. [4 likes]
FAS: Um, @ Servo & Graham, that was World of Magic. Weird Al was just breaking out when TMS went off the air. [2 likes]
Tom Servo: Bugger. Still a great moment, though.
N*B*C: No one mentioned Betty White yet? Her and Animal singing a duet. Full stop. [6 likes]
Khanette: Everyone loves Betty White.
Modinator: Another account?!? How many times do I have to keep banning you, Pool?
Bleach: For me, it was all about the Grand Finale host: Jim Henson Himself! [42 likes]
[1] Apparently, someone in the Muppet crew wanted Dali to guest star in our Timeline!
[2] As much as I’d love to butterfly Jim’s death, he was fully committed to his hard-partying ways.
[3]
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