News Update: August 15, 2014

AUGUST 15, 2014

It was announced this week that Constantine, the World's Most Dangerous Frog, would be appearing at Walt Disney World's "Villains Unleashed" event on August 23rd at Disney's Hollywood Studios. This announcement pretty much officially solidifies Constantine into the ranks of the Disney Villains! Very exciting. For more information, visit the Disney Parks Blog.

Sesame Street revealed on its Facebook and Twitter pages that another new parody is coming to the show in Season 45. This parody, "House of Bricks" will be a direct parody of Netflix's major-hit House of Cards. One can only predict that the Big Bad Wolf will be involved in the parody. Check out the teaser image below:

Disney and Sony Entertainment have released a trailer for a really awesome looking new Muppet video game called The Muppets Movie Adventure. The game will be exclusive to PS Vita (for now), but the trailer for the game looks incredible. You can play as Kermit, Miss Piggy, Animal, and Gonzo! Firefly and Dr. Who parodies! Uncle Deadly and Timmy Monster!

The Muppets appeared, mostly via pre-recorded videos, at a baseball game for the Brooklyn Cyclones last week. Our friends at ToughPigs.com have a fantastic write-up of the game, including video of Sweetums throwing out the first pitch, and photos of some of the other appearances. Be sure to check it out!

The Muppets took over The View on ABC last Friday, and videos of the appearance have appeared online. Unfortunately, only two videos have shown up, but they're wonderful moments from a wonderful appearance.





By far the most somber news for the entire world this week was the news of legendary actor and comedian Robin Williams' passing. Robin was a good friend to Sesame Street and the Muppets, and we join the world in our devastation over this crushing loss. To read more of our tribute to Robin Williams, visit our sister site The Mickey Mindset. Below are some of our favorite Robin Williams' Sesame Street moments. Thanks for the laughs, Robin.















The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com

45 Seasons of Sunny Days

Earlier this week, Sesame Street released a number of videos promoting it's legendary and groundbreaking 45th Season. You can watch every one of the new videos below!

The Sizzle Reel for Season 45 features a minute jam-packed with celebrities, Muppets, and Cookie Monster parodies.



"Numeric Con" is one of the upcoming Street Stories for Season 45, a parody of Comic Con and other fan conventions. This episode was actually shown in its entirety at Comic Con last weekend. And if you look closely, you'll see ToughPigs.com's Joe Hennes at the very end of the clip!



In one of the full clips released, we see First Lady Michelle Obama return to Sesame Street, this time hanging out with furry, lovable Grover in this wonderful video.



The most surprising and impressive video released is "How Bert Rolls," which features Bert riding a bike and singing a fantastic song. The puppetry implemented in this video is majorly impressive.



Another full clip sees actor Taye Diggs helping Elmo imagine going for a drive. They sing the classic Sesame tune "Let's Go Driving."



A short preview of one of the new "Elmo: The Musical" segments, this one spotlighting Tomatoes!



A beautiful, wonderful, instant-classic song called "Color of Me."



So there you have it! We'll be on the lookout for more Sesame Street Season 45 updates as they come! The new season premieres on PBS on September 15th!





The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com

Weekly Muppet Wednesdays: Professor Hastings

Written by Michael Wermuth.

PROFESSOR HASTINGS

Performed by...
Frank Oz

First appearance...
Sesame Street Season 1 (1969)

Most recent appearance...
Sesame Street Season 2 (1971)

Best known role...
Boring, old professor

WHO IS PROFESSOR HASTINGS?

Professor Hastings is an old professor who gave lectures that were so boring that even he fell asleep while he was giving them.  For example, if his lecture was on feelings, groups of happy, sad, and angry Muppets would walk by while he was sleeping (and they would somehow wake him up, allowing him to move on). Many of his lectures were introduced by Kermit the Frog, who sometimes had to help with the lectures, such as showing parts of the body. A running gag would be for Professor Hastings to ask, “are you aware that you are a frog?” Some topics Professor Hastings discussed included the letters Y and U, the number 2, and how two trucks are different and the same.

One of Professor Hastings’ first appearances was in a performance of “Spinning Wheel”, in which he honks a horn. In this early appearance, he looks a little different from how he would later look. He had reddish-brown hair, giving him more resemblance to Mr. Johnson. Later on, his hair would be white. Perhaps he’s one of the few Muppets to actually age.

Professor Hastings once appeared as a contestant on Guy Smiley’s game show “What’s My Part?”, in which he kept falling asleep and mistakenly thinking he was supposed to give a lecture. In fact, he ended up winning by accident – the mystery guest was a foot, and his foot happened to fall asleep.

Unfortunately, Professor Hastings was taken off the show for being too dull. Although he was dropped pretty early, he was more popular in European countries, where his material continues to be shown, and has appeared in quite a bit of European merchandise (sometimes mistaken for Mr. Johnson, though).

WHY DOES SESAME STREET NEED PROFESSOR HASTINGS?
Well, Sesame Street is an educational show, and a good educational show needs somebody to give lectures and… educate and… Teach such subjects as… Zzzzzzzzzz…

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com

Comic Con Street

San Diego Comic Con was held over the weekend, and as we noted in our News Updates, Sesame Street and The Jim Henson Company both held panels at the world's biggest fan convention. Updates on the Henson panel are still coming in, but the Sesame Street panels were a major success.

Our friends at Nerdist.com have a great recap of the main Sesame Street panel, which featured Eric Jacobson and Grover, Joey Mazzarino and Murray, David Rudman and Cookie Monster, and Carol-Lynn Parente (and hosted by Nerdist's own Chris Hardwick).

The first panel held for Sesame Street was a conversation with the Muppet performers and Muppets, hosted by the amazing Zachary Levi. Lucky for us non-Comic Con attendees, NerdHQ filmed the entire panel for us. It's half an hour long, and 100% delightful. I highly, highly recommend watching it. Joey Mazzarino and Murray steals the show.



Earlier that day, Sesame Street took to Vine to show off Bert's new cosplay costume. Is he Bertman? Batbert? The world may never know.



Then, Murray presented a special edition of "Word on the Street."



And finally, Cookie Monster found his favorite Comic Con costume.



Sesame Street also shared a lot on Instragram from the photo shoot available with Grover, Murray, and Cookie Monster later in the day. Check out some of the great photos below!



Chris Hardwick with his furry friends.



The Nerdist panel.



Zachary Levi with the gang.



Bertman scales the building.



Chris Hardwick with Grover.



Our friend Gina Selim with Bert!



We'll be back with more Comic Con coverage as it comes down the pipeline!





The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com

Weekly Muppet Wednesdays: Humphrey & Ingrid

Written by Mike Baldasare and Ryan Dosier.

HUMPHREY & INGRID

Performed by...
David Rudman (Humphrey)
Joey Mazzarino (Ingrid)

First appearance...
Humphrey - Sesame Street Season 22 (1990)
Ingrid - Sesame Street Season 25 (1994)

Most recent appearance...
Humphrey - Sesame Street Season 35: Episode 4059 (2004)
Ingrid - Sesame Street Season 32: Episode 3955 (2001)

Best known role(s)...
Doting, dopey parents of Baby Natasha; husband and wife

WHO ARE HUMPHREY & INGRID?

Humphrey and Ingrid are slow-witted but parents of Baby Natasha, they are also a happily married couple. The duo were named after Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, stars of Casablanca. Humphrey and Ingrid worked at the Furry Arms Hotel during the "Around the Corner" seasons. Humphrey was proceeded on the show by Baby Natasha by a few seasons. It wasn't until Season 22, when Humphrey was introduced as Natasha's father. In his earliest known appearance on Sesame Street, Humphrey asked Maria to babysit Natasha while he has to go to the store.

Humphrey, Ingrid, and Baby Natasha appeared in many segments together, mostly prominent in the 1990s. Humphrey and Ingrid performed a number of songs together on Sesame Street, including "Natasha's Lullaby," which Humphrey sang to Natasha before bed and "Oh, Look What Our Baby Can Do," which Humphrey and Ingrid both sang, showcasing Natasha's many talents. A number of street stories, especially during the "Around the Corner" years, focused on Humphrey and Ingird taking care of Natasha, showing off her talents, or helping her learn new things.

When "Around the Corner" came to an end during Season 30 (1998-1999), Humphrey and Ingrid continued taking care of Natasha, but in much less frequent appearances. When Sesame Street changed its format during Season 33 (2002), they both rarely appeared in street stories while Natasha returned to being a solo character again. After 2001, Ingrid was not seen in any prominent capacity again. Humphrey most recently appeared on the show in Season 35: Episode 4059 (2004), where he reports the results of a porridge survey for Monster News.

WHY DOES SESAME STREET NEED HUMPHREY & INGRID?
Like most fan-favorite Muppet characters of Sesame Street, Humphrey, Ingrid, and Baby Natasha have been phased out of the show. It would be nice to see this loving and colorful monster family continue to make appearances in future episodes. The trio represents a loving, if silly, family relationship, which is important for kids to see.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com

Weekly Muppet Wednesdays: Baby Natasha

Written by Mike Baldasare.

BABY NATASHA

Performed by...
Kevin Clash

First appearance...
Sesame Street Season 18 (1986)

Most recent appearance...
Sesame Street Season 41 (2010)

Best known role...
Baby monster; daughter of Humphrey and Ingrid; very fast crawler

WHO IS BABY NATASHA?
Natasha is the furry baby daughter of Humphrey and Ingrid. She speaks in baby babbles and loves to blow raspberries. Natasha is best known on Sesame Street as a very fast crawler. Her parents can't keep her in one place or catch up to her once she gets going. In her earliest appearances just before her parents made their debut appearances, many various Sesame Street characters babysat Natasha. These babysitters include Oscar the Grouch, Snuffy (who taught her to say "Oh, dear."), Telly Monster, and Fran Drescher, aka TV's The Nanny.

In the late 1990s, Natasha was best known as Super Baby. In one sketch, Humphrey and Ingrid have a large bottle of milk, but no baby, and they don't want it to got to waste, so Super Baby arrives and drinks the milk. In another sketch, Humphrey and Ingrid wonder what Super Baby is going to do that begins with the letter S, which turns out to be "sleep." In another sketch, Super Grover talks about Super Baby as she constantly flies back and forth. She also appears in Elmo's World: Sky in this persona.

Natasha also had her own talk show segment, titled "Baby Talk," which was a spoof of The X-Files. She also earned a place in the opening credits during Seasons 26-29. Some of Natasha's more memorable moments include playing Baby Jesus in Elmo's World: Happy Holidays, singing "Baby, You Can Count on Me" with Count von Count, babbling in Sesame Street's 20th and 25th anniversary specials, and in Elmo Saves Christmas. In the 90s, Baby Natasha ranked at number four overall in Sesame Street Magazine's poll asking parents and children their favorite characters.

WHY DOES SESAME STREET NEED BABY NATASHA?
Baby Natasha was a favorite character of many children watching Sesame Street in the 1990s. Her role on the show has since become much smaller, but she is always adorable and funny, as many non-vocal Muppets tend to be. But Sesame Street needs her, because Baby Natasha shows educational lessons about babysitting and taking care of others. Plus, you can't resist a baby that can blow raspberries.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com

News Update: June 27, 2014

JUNE 27, 2014

This week, the annual Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony was held and, of course, Sesame Street won quite a few of them! In fact, Sesame was tied for the most trophies won this year! Below are the awards they won. Our huge congratulations to everyone at Sesame Street on their fantastic and much-deserved wins.

• Outstanding Preschool Series
• Outstanding Writing in a Children's Series
• Outstanding Directing in a Children's Series
• Outstanding Achievement in Multiple Camera Editing
• Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing - Live Action 
• Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing - Live Action

D23, the official Disney fan club, posted a great article all about Rowlf the Dog last Thursday and somehow we missed it until this week. The article covers quite a few fun facts about Rowlf, and gives lots of credit to Jim Henson, The Jimmy Dean Show, and lots more. It's really a wonderful look at Muppet history, which is always exciting to see from Disney. It's also quite nice to see Rowlf get some more love.

Remember a few months ago when those awesome photos of Ricky Gervais, Constantine, and Matt Vogel started making the rounds? Well, Brad Trent, the hugely talented photographer who shot the photos, recently posted some behind the scenes shots from the awesome photo shoot. Check out the full article for all of them, but below are five our favorites from the post.

Earlier this week, Ryan Dosier (hey, that's me!) held an impromptu live-tweet of a few episodes of Season 1 of The Muppet Show on The Muppet Mindset's Twitter account (@MuppetMindset). It was a lot of fun and a lot of people seemed to enjoy it, so we're going to do it again--and invite you to join us! On Monday, June 30 at 7:30pm Central Time/5:30pm PST, I'll be watching The Muppet Show Episodes 201 and 202 (the first two episodes of Season 2) and live tweeting from @MuppetMindset. Join us in the watching, join us in the tweeting, join us in the fun! We hope to see you then, Muppet fans!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com

Muppet Retro Reviews: Sesame Street Sing-Along

Michael Wermuth - Sing-Along is a Sesame Street video themed around songs. The linking footage involves the cast having a sing-along on the roof of 123 Sesame Street. Bob even goes so far as to bring a piano to play. While the sing-along is going on, Biff and Sully are also on the roof, fixing a TV antennae. They fix it early on, but then they keep breaking a TV set, having to fix and re-fix it. The scenes with them testing out the TV allows for transitions to the inserts, though not all segments begin on the TV.

This video focuses more on the linking plot than on segments, however. But for the most part, the linking material is good, and much of it is great. Most of the songs are traditional kids songs, like “The Alphabet Song” and “Old McDonald.” At one point, Big Bird wants to sing a song that Granny Bird had taught him, “Cheer Up,” but Bob (on the piano) doesn’t know that song. Fortunately, Sully does know the song, and gets a chance to play the piano while Big Bird leads the others in the song. And for the big finale, the cast sings a show stopping rendition of “What’s the Name of That Song?” which begins on the roof but soon leads to other parts of the street, with special appearances by Luis and Susan, Oscar the Grouch, the Honkers, and the Two-Headed Monster.

This video only has five inserts from the show, but they are all good choices. The inserts are “Sing After Me” with Madeline Kahn and Grover, “Sing” with Olivia and Linda, “We All Sing with the Same Voice,” “Rubber Duckie” with Ernie, and “Doin’ the Pigeon” with Bert. Most of these segments start when Biff turns the TV on, but one notable exception comes before “Rubber Duckie,” when Ernie can be heard from down in his apartment, saying he has a song but can’t come up to sing it because he’s in the bath tub. Although it’s just a vocal role, this introduction makes this one of the few Sesame Street videos to feature involvement from Jim Henson in the linking footage.

All five of the inserts on this video would go on to appear in later video releases as well. In fact, each of them has been included in one of the three volumes of Sesame Street: Old School. But even if you have all of those segments on other videos, Sing-Along is still worth it for the linking footage, especially the Biff and Sully material and the finale.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com

News Update: June 19, 2014

JUNE 19, 2014

The biggest news this week is that Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy will be appearing on PBS's annual A Capitol Fourth special celebrating the 4th of July. Kermit and Piggy will perform "Rainbow Connection" with the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of conductor Jack Everly. The appearance will be in conjunction with the promotion for Muppets Most Wanted on Blu-ray and DVD August 12th. A Capitol Fourth airs at 8:00pm EST on PBS on July 4th!

The O'Neill Puppetry Conference is one of, if not the most important puppetry conference and gathering of puppeteers. The Henson family, especially Jim and Jane Henson, were and are integral parts of the conference and have been since its inception. In honor of that, and Jim and Jane's influences on puppetry, The O'Neill Puppetry Conference will erect a new building named in honor of Jim and Jane Henson. According to our friends at ToughPigs.com, The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut is currently constructing a new building to dedicate to the Hensons, set to be unveiled in 2015.

Last week, we reported that The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper had been added to Netflix instant streaming. We also said that they should add the other Muppet movies to Netflix... and lo and behold, The Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island were added this week! Now, The Muppets, Muppets From Space, and Muppets Most Wanted are the only remaining Muppet features not on Netflix. Hopefully we'll see those and other Muppet productions will be added soon. But for now, you have no excuse not to watch Muppet movies!

As part of the promotional run for I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story, The LA Times profiled Caroll in a wonderful new article. The article shows, once again, how truly incredible Caroll is, stating that there's no way his final season performing on Sesame Street is coming anytime soon. "If you rest, you rust," Caroll says in the article. The article also sheds more light on Caroll's understudy for Big Bird, Matt Vogel, and has more info on the documentary that Muppet fans are dying to see. Be sure to give the exceptional article a read.

Yesterday Sesame Workshop announced an exciting new development for the future of Sesame Street. For their 45th season, Sesame Street will air both 60-minute and 30-minute versions of the show daily on PBS. The 60-minute show will continue to air in the mornings, with the 30-minute show airing in the afternoon. This allows Sesame Street to be watched by kids at home both in the mornings and afternoons. Below is some info from the official press release:

Furthering a commitment to using the power of media to educate and entertain America’s children, PBS KIDS and SESAME STREET will introduce a bonus half-hour program this fall on-air and on digital platforms. Starting Monday, September 1, the additional half-hour program will air on weekday afternoons on PBS stations, complementing the one-hour series that airs weekday mornings (check local listings). For the first time, selected full episodes of the 30-minute show will also be available for free online at pbskids.org/video, on the PBS KIDS Video App and on the PBS KIDS Roku channel.  By offering this bonus half hour of SESAME STREET in an additional timeslot and through a growing number of digital services, PBS KIDS hopes to reach even more children with one of America’s most beloved and educationally powerful children’s series.

“We’re thrilled to extend our reach on PBS. What better way to celebrate our 45th anniversary season than to touch more children’s lives,” added Terry Fitzpatrick, Chief Content and Distribution Officer at Sesame Workshop. “These days, families expect to be able to connect with their favorite SESAME STREET friends at any time of day. The new afternoon show is a great complement to our continuing efforts to reach more kids with engaging lessons that will help them grow smarter, stronger and kinder.”

The half-hour version of SESAME STREET will help kids learn a variety of skills, including the school readiness skills – such as impulse control and socio-emotional lessons – for which parents are increasingly seeking resources.

Each half-hour episode of SESAME STREET is a shortened version of each one-hour program and will include a “Street Story,” a “Word on the Street” segment, a celebrity vocabulary segment, songs, spoofs, dance breaks and popular segments like “Cookie’s Crumby Pictures” or “Super Grover 2.0.”

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com

News Update: June 13, 2014

JUNE 13, 2014

Netflix is the new streaming home for both The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper. Both films are now available to watch on Netflix Instant service. So if you don't have both films on DVD, Blu-ray, VHS, or laser disc, there's finally a way for you to watch these Henson/Muppet classics! If you don't have access to any of these means... I'm so sorry. With these additions, this leaves only The Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island, The Muppets, and Muppets Most Wanted as the only Muppet feature films not on Netflix. Hopefully these will be added soon as well.

As we reported in our last News Update, Archaia is publishing a new graphic novel based off an unproduced 1968 screenplay from Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl called The Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow. The graphic novel will feature art from the extremely talented Roger Langridge (of The Muppet Show Comic Book fame). USA Today officially announced the project a few days ago, and our friends over at ToughPigs.com have done a bang-up job of collecting all of the info in one convenient place. Check it out! The graphic novel will release in stores this October!

The folks over at The 13th Dimension website recently posted a fantastic tribute to the late John Henson. The tribute goes in depth with John's career as both a puppeteer and an artist. The author, Aimee LoSecco, notes how John's work was always larger than life, yet completely relatable, which is one of the finest descriptions of the man I've heard. The whole tribute is very beautiful and I suggest giving it a read, plus you get to see some of John's rarely-seen Kermit golfing illustrations (see right).

A few weeks ago, Disney announced the release of Disney Infinity 2.0, a sequel to their ultra-popular Disney Infinity video game/toy system. With this announcement, it was revealed that Marvel characters would be playable in the game and a whole slew of new Power Discs (in-game items) were revealed as well. One of these Power Discs is Miss Piggy's U.S.S. Swinetrek (see right), which allows players to bring the Swinetrek into the game and ride it. Always great to see the Muppets getting more representation in the Disney family!

This week, Variety published an article interviewing the writers of Sesame Street, Joey Mazzarino and Belinda Ward, about the upcoming, groundbreaking 45th season of the show. The article is really interesting, discussing everything from their spot-on "Homelamb" parody to the challenges of writing for both kids and adults. It's incredibly interesting.

Last but not least, last week Ricky Gervais tweeted the picture below, revealing that he had filmed a guest spot on Sesame Street, presumably for the upcoming season. I'm so glad to see Ricky is still working with the Muppets and coming back to Sesame Street!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com