Favorite Muppet

Scott Horowitz | January 21, 2005
Who is your favorite muppet?


Mine is a toss up between the Swedish Chef and the Count.

Anna Gregoline | January 21, 2005
I really like that Peppy the Prawn guy, Swedish Chef, Beaker, and the old dudes.

Why don't I just name everyone? =)

I hate Kermit's nephew.

Erik Bates | January 21, 2005
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Jackie Mason | January 21, 2005
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Kris Weberg | January 21, 2005
Well, friggin' everyone loves Gonzo, I think. And I always had a soft spot for Fozzie Bear, whose sense of humor resembles my dad's.

Anna -- Scooter was way worse than Kermit's nephew, IMHO.

Erik -- Yeah! Swedish Chef! Even his tie-in cereal was pretty damn good.

Jackie -- They never showed Nanny's face. I suspect that she was, in fact, moonlighting as the similarly unseen Doctor Claw on Inspector Gadget.

Anna Gregoline | January 21, 2005
I hate Scooter too, but Kermit's nephew bugged me more cause of the "baby questioning" factor.

Bork! Bork! Bork!

Scott Horowitz | January 21, 2005
Kermit's nephew is Robin, btw.

Another personal fave has got to be Animal. I love the scene in Muppets take Manhattan where he runs down going "BROADWAY BROADWAY BROADWAY"


Has anyone seen The Great Muppet Caper lately? The opening scene of that movie is so fucked up it's great. Gonzo is talking going up in a hot air balloon without the balloon (aka plummeting to death). It is great!

Erik Bates | January 21, 2005
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Scott Horowitz | January 21, 2005
Waldor And Statler. I love those guys.

Dave Stoppenhagen | January 21, 2005
yeah the old dudes cracked me up but Animal is still the favorite

Scott Horowitz | January 21, 2005
People say that my friend Kevin and I act like a bunch of crotchedy old men. So, we talked about starting a radio show called "The Waldorf and Statler" Hour.

David Mitzman | January 22, 2005
Sam Eagle. Hands down. Die hard patriotic muppet.
At the Muppett 3D Spectacular at Disney World...

Kermit: "Sam, what's the name of your piece?"
Sam: "A tribute to all great nations... but mostly America"

E. M. | January 22, 2005
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Scott Hardie | January 22, 2005
Waldorf and Statler were my favorites as a kid (possibly because they were the most human-looking?), but their put-down humor has appealed to me less as I've aged. Dr. Bunsen & Beaker and the Swedish Chef are still hilarious just in the general silliness category. (I love Beaker's fate in that Disney World movie.) I also like Pepe, who did some pretty good Long John Silver's commercials. Why do Anna and I have the same taste in Muppets? I also like Sweetums, but they don't really do much with him.

Least favorite Muppet: Miss Piggy! Never funny. Ever.

Lori Lancaster | January 22, 2005
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Amy Austin | January 22, 2005
I loved the Muppet Show, too. Nothing like it, before or since, really. I find it really difficult to pick a favorite, but I thank Dave for reminding me of good ol' Sam Eagle -- what a riot... the only true dead-pan muppet!

Also, I find Scott's take on "the old guys" (because I never did know their names...) somewhat ironic. I always thought they were mildly funny, but mostly mean! as a child. Now, as an adult, I find them much more amusing. Perhaps my enjoyment of "put-down" humor speaks to the levels of disillusionment and cynicism that have developed within me over the years, because (believe it or not,) I was a pretty sweet and innocent kid.

Having more "adult" experience now, I can also see just what inspired these two characters -- old people (especially men) really *are* "crotchety"!!! And I really don't mean this in any kind of condescending or disparaging way... it just seems to be a fact of life that once people reach a certain age, they become quite close-minded and cantankerous... no matter what kind of person they might have been in their youth, or even just five years ago. I've watched this happen to my great-grandmother and am now watching it happen to my very dear grandparents, to whom I have been incredibly close all these years. And from sharing stories of aging relatives with others, I know that it isn't an isolated experience, but a life one.

Not to take the Muppet thread on a downer here -- I just wanted to point out that the "crotchety old man" stereotype is based in reality and can be quite funny, if you let it! Jack Klugman and Walter Matthau are two examples that come immediately to mind... but I can understand that it isn't the sort of humor for everybody.

I also find it very interesting to think that these two could possibly have been many a child's favorite... based on nothing more than sheer anthropomorphism!

Steve Dunn | January 23, 2005
Sam the Eagle. Definitely the coolest looking Muppet, and rare.

I also love the whole band - you know, the band in which Animal is the drummer. There's the guitar player with the gold tooth and the skinny blonde woman. I like them because they are stoners.

Scott Horowitz | January 23, 2005
Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem Band.... I really need to get a life.

Amy Austin | January 23, 2005
I like the band a lot, too, Steve... the kind of Muppets I see myself hanging with.

E. M. | January 23, 2005
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Amy Austin | January 23, 2005
The development of my role in our marriage as The Perfect Wife can be attributed to *many* influences, E... of which Piggy was but one of the first -- thanks for noticing.

Lori Lancaster | January 24, 2005
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Amy Austin | January 24, 2005
Quite right, Lori... and hey! I bet she'll be worth something, too!

Erik Bates | January 24, 2005
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Anna Gregoline | January 24, 2005
Well, I guess she could be considered a good feminist, as I remember her saying at least once that a woman could do everything a man could - but the violence and the overall cattiness is really annoying to me.

Ah well, though. Her character is SUPPOSED to be annoying, as they usually use her to chase after Kermit. I think today her image wouldn't exactly fly, if she was a newly introduced character and we weren't used to her.

Lori Lancaster | January 24, 2005
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E. M. | January 25, 2005
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Scott Horowitz | January 25, 2005
Ummm, Sesame Street and Muppets are the Same thing.

Scott Horowitz | January 25, 2005
Did anyone see the Muppet special on TV when they said goodbye to Jim Henson? It was probably one of the saddest things I have ever seen on TV.

Jackie Mason | January 25, 2005
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Scott Horowitz | January 25, 2005
Here's the IMDB entry about that special.

(link)

Lori Lancaster | January 25, 2005
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Scott Horowitz | January 25, 2005
Wish I did.... It was great!

Anthony Lewis | January 30, 2005
You know...the characters on Sesame Street count as Muppets too.

So I would say my favs are:

Beaker, Swedish Chef and Animal from the Muppet Show...and from Sesame Street, Telly, Grover and Roosevelt Franklin (because he was the only Muppet that you knew represented Black people).

Lori Lancaster | January 30, 2005
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Kris Weberg | January 31, 2005
Do Muppets really have ethnicity? I mean, half of them are blue or something.

Lori Lancaster | January 31, 2005
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Kris Weberg | January 31, 2005
Not to mention Kermit. 'It ain't easy bein' green."

Jackie Mason | February 1, 2005
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Lori Lancaster | February 1, 2005
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Scott Horowitz | February 1, 2005
The Mah Nah Mah Nah Commercial? I saw it last night during 24.

Erik Bates | February 1, 2005
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Jackie Mason | February 2, 2005
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Scott Hardie | February 2, 2005
That's just wrong.

Cherry Vanilla Diet Dr. Pepper, I mean. Not the commercial.

Kris Weberg | February 2, 2005
How many damn flavors does that make, anyway? Four? Five?

I though Dr. Pepper was already sorta cherry-flavored, anyway.

Scott Hardie | February 2, 2005
Just don't believe the old urban legend that Dr. Pepper is made from prune juice. (link) It's my favorite soft drink, so understandably I get tired of hearing that one.

David Mitzman | February 2, 2005
I never heard that rumor before. Now as for Mr. Pibb, that lazy son-of-a-bitch couldn't even get his Doctorate in soda-ology. Damn lazy beverage >:[

Kris Weberg | February 2, 2005
Pibb has a doctorate, it's just that it's in accounting and he thinks it'd be pretentious to go by "doctor."