Punk Rock Merit Badges: The Muppets and Alt-Rock

Dan V. - The Muppets and alternative music are two of my greatest passions. What I admire most about both is how adventurous they are. Think about it; the Muppets can pull off surrealism and sadness equally well. Meanwhile, “alternative” can mean anything from synthesizers to sitars. All caution about being “too weird” is thrown to the wind. Their unique styles speak more to me (and millions of other fans) than more traditional art ever could. And it’s also way cooler. You can’t forget that.

With that in mind, it’s not surprising that the Muppets and alternative collide quite often. Below are five of my favorite examples.

Debbie Harry on The Muppet Show
The dance-punk queen herself hosted a classic season 5 episode! She’s absolutely electric during her performances of Blondie hits “Call Me” and “One Way or Another”. However, it’s when she croons “Rainbow Connection” with Kermit that this episode shines. Debbie trades in her typical smirk for a charmingly sincere smile.

In my favorite scene, she teaches the Frog Scouts how to pogo and attain their “punk merit badges”. The Frog Scouts are so eager to become “punk” that it’s oddly heartwarming.  Their enthusiasm perfectly captures the thrill of discovering a new passion. When art connects with you (Muppets/Punk/etc.), it shapes your personality and views. I see a little of my own fandom in how excitedly they thrash on electric guitar. It’s the power of art encapsulated in just one scene! Besides, hearing Jerry Nelson shout “we think she’s real PUNK!” is pretty hilarious.

Debbie Harry as guest star was an inspired choice, but it wasn’t Jim Henson’s idea. It was actually his son Brian’s! As recounted in Brian Jay Jones’ “Jim Henson: The Biography”, Jim would ask his kids “Who excites you?” when looking for potential guest stars. 16-year-old Brian suggested the alt-rock pioneer and a classic episode was born!

Jareth the Goblin King (David Bowie) in Labyrinth
No list of Alt-Muppet moments could be complete without this iconic Labyrinth performance. Bowie’s had as many styles as the Muppet Wiki has articles, but his look here is amazing. That hair! Those high-waist pants! So beautifully 80s! Although Bowie’s songs here veer towards standard dance-pop, they’re still pretty fun. Not much else to say beyond that. As much as I love Bowie, Jareth has already been written about to death. Next!

“Once in a Lifetime” by Talking Heads on Muppets Tonight
Here’s something a little more obscure! “Once in a Lifetime” is already one of my favorite songs, so a Muppet rendition was a match made in nerd heaven. I’m just surprised this crossover didn’t happen earlier. Talking Heads blended existential lyrics with irresistibly catchy melodies. In other words, it’s perfect Muppet music!

Kermit struts his stuff to this new-wave classic while wearing David Byrne’s iconic “big suit.” More Talking Heads homages abound; everything from the lighting to Kermit’s movements references the classic concert film “Stop Making Sense.” You know how cool tMuppets Tonight’s existence, that’s how cool it is.
his clip is? It completely justifies

“Keep Fishin” with Weezer and the Muppets
The early 2000s weren’t a great time for either Alt Rock (Linkin Park?) or the Muppets (The Muppets' Wizard of Oz?). The “Keep Fishin” video bucked the trend; it’s still hilarious today! It takes place during a typical Muppet Show episode, with all the hijinks that that entails. Miss Piggy totally steals the show when she kidnaps drummer Patrick Wilson. At least Weezer has Animal to fill in while Pat’s tied up (literally). The video plays like a classic episode but with a modern spirit; I would so watch a new Muppet Show that looked like this.

Anyway, it’s undeniably fun to watch the Muppets head-bang to this track. “Keep Fishin” is fun, upbeat, and loud; sounds like the Muppets to me! I also buy Kermit as a Weezer fan (both are as far from “hip” as you can get).

“Do It Anyway” Ben Folds Five with the Fraggles
This video serves as a perfect intro to either the band or the Fraggles in general. The song’s message of plucky perseverance would fit perfectly in a Fraggle Rock episode. It’s also upbeat enough to “dance your cares away” to. In the video, Gobo and the gang travel through a Fraggle hole and ambush a Ben Folds Five recording session. The band’s oddly eager to let them jam out; not exactly a typical response to breaking-and-entering. Like in the Weezer video, it’s so much fun to see these characters interact with the band.

Appearances by other famous Muppet fans (Chris Hardwick! Anna Kendrick! Rob Corddry!) make this a must-see. Hearing Dave Goelz reprise his role as Uncle Travelling Matt is just icing on the cake.

There are way more alt moments in Muppets history (R.E.M. on Sesame Street, Creature Shop work in music videos), but these are just my personal favorites. You can add more in the comments – unless you’re not as PUNK as Debbie Harry.

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

Weekly Muppet Wednesdays: Geri & The Atrics

Written by Abigail Maughan.

GERI & THE ATRICS

Performed by...
Jerry Nelson (Geri)
Louise Gold (Guitar player)
Steve Whitmire (Tuba player)
Dave Goelz (Drummer)
Frank Oz (Pianist)
Kathy Mullen (Knitter)
Richard Hunt (False Teeth)

First appearance...
The Muppet Show Episode 404: Dyan Cannon (1980)

Most recent appearance...
The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years (1986) (As a group)
Muppets Most Wanted (2014) (One single member, the drummer)

Best known role...
Old lady rock band

Memorable quotes...
“Get with it, you turkey! We’re what’s happenin’!” –Geri

“Yeeeeaaaaah!” –The Singing Dentures

WHO ARE GERI AND THE ATRICS?
Geri and the Atrics are an energetic group of elderly women (and one talking pair of dentures) who perform ‘50s and ‘60s rock and roll hits with orchestral instruments on The Muppet Show. The band consists of a woman who we assume is Geri herself, played by Jerry Nelson, a pink tuba player played by Steve Whitmire, a humanoid guitarist played by Louise Gold, a big-nosed blue pianist played by Frank Oz, a wrinkly-faced knitter played by Kathy Mullen, a green drummer played by Dave Goelz, and a singing pair of dentures played by Richard Hunt.

Who is Geri? One would assume that she’s the lead singer of the group, but the leader is actually a completely different puppet from the band’s first two appearances to the next one, although they are both voiced by Jerry Nelson. The first is the yellow cellist who led the band’s renditions of “Hound Dog,” and “Do Wah Diddy Diddy” and was never seen after that. She was subsequently replaced by a humanoid tambourine player who was seen as the leader in the final performance and every group appearance after that. Are they both Geri? Is either of them Geri? If that’s the case, then who is the real Geri? The world may never know.

The band performed three times on The Muppet Show. In the Atrics’s first appearance, they sang “Hound Dog” as the opening number of the canine-centric episode guest-starring Dyan Cannon. An old hound dog sat in on this performance. Their performance of “Do Wah Diddy Diddy” was the UK spot of episode 413, which guest-starred Dizzy Gillespie. In their final appearance on the show, episode 517 featuring Hal Linden, the group was appropriately (but later regrettably) hired by Statler and Waldorf to perform a flashy “Who Put the Bomp in the Bomp Bomp Bomp” as the opening number.

While they never took the stage as Geri and the Atrics again, members of the group, all but the singing teeth and the original Geri, have been included and reused in various projects throughout the years, including but not limited to Muppet Treasure Island, The Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppets Tonight, and even The Ghost of Faffner Hall TV series. Some notable appearances:

• Some of the Atrics were in attendance at Kermit and Miss Piggy’s wedding in The Muppets Take Manhattan, singing a line about time passing in the song “He’ll Make Me Happy.”
• The band’s guitarist was transformed into Howard Tubman’s butler Carter on Muppets Tonight.
• Also on Muppets Tonight, the guitarist and Geri 2.0 became the fast-footed act of the Dancing Grandmas, the only performance that would satisfy the invading Rock Lobsters in the episode featuring Pierce Brosnan.
• The Atrics’ pianist was among a group of women singing about Ebenezer Scrooge’s possible goodness in the opening number of The Muppet Christmas Carol. (“Naaah!”)
• In The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years, Geri and the Atrics sat with fellow old geezers Statler, Waldorf, and Pops.
• The band’s drummer appeared as recently as 2011’s The Muppets, singing in The Muppet Show theme song and interacting with Sweetums backstage, and 2014’s Muppets Most Wanted, again in the Muppet Show arches.

WHY DO THE MUPPETS NEED GERI AND THE ATRICS?
Geri and the Atrics are a very random, nutty, unique act, but a surprisingly pleasant one, making music, bringing laughter, and loving their work. In other words, they are exactly what the Muppets stand for. While some would be quick to ascribe old age as an obstruction to rocking and rolling, Geri and the Atrics would quickly prove anyone with that assumption wrong.

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

Weekly Muppet Wednesdays: Mean Mama

Written by Michael Wermuth.

MEAN MAMA

Performed by...
Various

First appearance...
The Muppet Show Episode 201: Don Knotts (1977)

Most recent appearance...
Dog City TV Series (circa 1994)

Best known role...
Large, mean looking monster

Also known as...
Big Mama

WHO IS MEAN MAMA?
Mean Mama is a large brown monster with a big mouth. She got her name from her first appearance, in a sketch with Don Knotts on The Muppet Show called "Beast of the Week," in which she was the mother of the featured beast. Having been locked in a cage, Mean Mama manages to break out and save her child (who was never seen again after that sketch).

Mean Mama was often seen in sketches with other monsters, rarely being the sole focus of a scene. Notable moments include her opening each section of "Ugly Song," playing a starving monster in an animal shelter sketch with Dom DeLuise, eating John Cleese's agent, and playing a hungry alien in a "Pigs in Space" sketch, where she ended up eating Miss Piggy.

Although she's called Mean Mama, she usually looks more masculine, and in her few speaking appearances had a gruff masculine voice. Although big, Mean Mama was not a full-body monster... At first. But late in the second season, she was rebuilt as a full-body character, though the regular puppet version would still make occasional appearances afterwards. The full-body version would usually look more feminine, often dressed with feminine eyelashes and dresses.

Mean Mama has made only a few appearances since The Muppet Show ended. She would go on to appear in Here Comes the Puppets and in episodes of Ghost of Faffner Hall and Dog City. According to The Muppets Character Encyclopedia, Mean Mama is currently retired but is willing to step in if the young monsters don't have what it takes.

WHY DO THE MUPPETS NEED MEAN MAMA?
Well, the Muppets need monsters, as many as they can get. Mean Mama is the only one to have functioned as both a regular-sized puppet and a full-body walk-around, as well as being one of the few female Muppets (even if she usually looks male). Her large mouth allows her to be one of those Muppet monsters who can eat on-screen.

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

Weekly Muppet Wednesdays: Vendaface

Written by Mitchell Stein and Ahmad Usufzy.

VENDAFACE

Performed by...
Jerry Nelson

First Appearance...
The Muppet Show Episode 121: Twiggy (1976)

Most Recent Appearance...
The Muppet Show Episode 318: Leslie Uggams (1978)

Best known role...
Makeover vending machine

WHO IS VENDAFACE?
Vendaface is a face vending machine on The Muppet Show who rarely (if ever) satisfies its customers with what they want (on the contrary, most of his customers get a good beating). Vendaface first appeared in Episode 121 of The Muppet Show guest starring Twiggy. Vendaface was a machine created to give advice and help to the Muppets with a handy face lift or even for psychology purposes. Much like for many of the other voice-over positions on The Muppet Show, Jerry Nelson provided the voice to the machine.

In it's first on-screen appearance, Fozzie seeks psychiatric evaluation from Vendaface, who alerts him he is much too generous and has a bad temper. The sketch ends with Vendaface choking poor Fozzie, Vendaface made several other appearances after that sketch where it plays a "face lift machine" rather than the psychiatric machine it played in it's first appearance. Other appearances include the Kaye Ballard episode, and the Mummenschanz episode, where Statler decides to try out the machine, but Vendaface only helps by punching Statler in the face!

Vendaface also makes a small cameo in a season three episode (Leslie Uggams) but this time as "Vendawish" but missing various different parts. Vendaface was dropped completely after that episode, probably because all it did was injure most of the Muppets.

WHY DO THE MUPPETS NEED VENDAFACE?
Season two of the Muppet Show proved that the Muppets in fact do not need Vendaface. According to David Lazer, the puppet was only supposed to appear once, but the machine was so expensive to build that they decided to use him in a few other episodes too.

That being said, even though it hasn't appeared since the 70s, Vendaface was a worthy addition to the machine type Muppets, plus he really gave us a good laugh. If the Muppets ever need cheap plastic surgery, they should give Vendaface a call.

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

Weekly Muppet Wednesdays: Singing Food

Written by Mike Baldasare.

SINGING FOOD

Performed by...
Various

First appearance...
The Muppet Show Episode 208: Steve Martin (1977)

Most recent appearance...
My Muppets Show mobile app game (2013)

Best known role...
Anthropomorphic Muppet fruits, vegetables, bread, cake, etc. that sing or talk

WHO ARE THE SINGING FOOD?
The Singing Food is a collection of anthropomorphic fruits and vegetables and other foods that have appeared in many Muppet productions over the years. They made their debut in an episode of The Muppet Show guest starring Steve Martin, as a collection consisting of a tomato, potatoes, a cabbage, a cauliflower, an asparagus, a cantaloupe, a few bunches of grapes, and a pack of beans, and served as a chorus under the direction of Marvin Suggs. He and the singing vegetables, known as the All-Food Glee Club auditioned with the song "Yes, We Have No Bananas." The singing vegetables also sang the short version of the song in another Muppet Show episode guest starring Jean-Pierre Rampal.


Among the many credits of the Singing Food are appearances in The Great Muppet Caper, The Muppets Take Manhattan, The Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island, Muppets From Space, The Muppets, The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years, and Muppets Tonight. In almost all of these appearances, the food sings, usually as part of a chorus or back-up to the main singer.

Other known food types include the many Sesame Street fruits and vegetables, which have appeared throughout the show for many years. In contrast to the Singing Food in the Muppet Show universe, most of Sesame Street's Singing Food have black pupils on white eyes. Singing food on Sesame Street appeared in the song "Healthy Food" and the "Healthy Habits for Life" segment that introduced every episode of Season 36.

Over the years, there were many different individual food characters that took supporting roles in various productions. On The Muppet Show we saw an Avocado critic, a singing Cheesecake, and a Japanese cake made by the Swedish Chef. On Muppets Tonight, the Longhorn Cheddar Cheeses were booked to sing with Garth Brooks. In The Muppets Take Manhattan a chorus of singing cakes assisted in "Somebody's Getting Married," in The Muppets a group of Singing Food sang back-up in "Me Party," and in Muppets From Space a Talking Sandwich communicated with Gonzo. We've also seen countless bananas, pies, carrots, eggs, loaves of bread, a jar of orange marmalade, baby asparagus, and plenty of other friendly foods.

WHY DO THE MUPPETS AND SESAME STREET NEED THE SINGING FOOD?
The Singing Food contribute greatly to one of the core ideas of the Muppets: everything and anything can be alive and sing. The Singing Food is part of Jim Henson's grand tradition of anthropomorphizing anything and everything to make for a funny moment. The idea of an eggplant or an avocado singing surely tickled Jim, and they continue to tickle audiences to this day. What's funnier than a scallion with a beautiful voice? And without the Singing Food we never would've gotten this wonderful piece of advice from Rizzo the Rat: "Mother always taught me, never eat singing food."

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

Weekly Muppet Wednesdays: Jim

Written by Ed Castle.

JIM

Performed by...
Jim Henson

First appearance...
The Perry Como Winter Show (1972)

Most recent appearance...
The Muppet Show Episode 322: Roy Rogers & Dale Evans (1978)

Best known role...
Banjo player for The Country Trio; puppet representation of Jim Henson

WHO IS JIM?
Jim is the banjo player for the Country Trio band, alongside Jerry on guitar and Frank on bass. He first appeared with the band on The Perry Como Winter Show in 1972 where they performed "You Don't Mess Around with Jim." The following year Jim returned to TV with the band on The Dick Cavett Show to perform the classic tune "Mamma Don't Allow."

Jim would later appear briefly in The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence pilot in 1975 sitting in with the Electric Mayhem. When The Muppet Show began in 1976, Jim would make a few appearances both with the Trio and solo. His first Muppet Show appearance was with the Trio in perhaps their most well-known performance of "To Morrow" in Episode 105: Rita Moreno. In the song, Jim took the lead vocals as the traveler who was visiting the fabled city of Morrow, Ohio. The Trio also performed "In The Summertime" in Episode 123: Kaye Ballard, where Jim once again sang the lead vocals.

Jim's final notable appearance was in Episode 322: Roy Rogers & Dale Evans in Season 3 where he and Jerry performed the song "A Four Legged Friend" while atop a pair of cows. It should be noted that in this sketch Jim referred to Jerry as "Tex".

Jim also appeared in the book The Muppet Show Diary 1979, a schedule book published in the United Kingdom, treating the year itself as if it were the special guest star of an episode of The Muppet Show. Jim was also notably immortalized in action figure form, as released by Palisades Toys in 2004, packaged in a special red-curtained box featuring a veritable who's who of Muppet characters, as well as biographical information and photos of Jim Henson himself.

WHY DO THE MUPPETS NEED JIM?
Without Jim Henson, there would be no Muppets...  Jim is a Muppet representation of Jim Henson...  It helps preserve the legacy and respect due to Jim himself, enough said.

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