User:MuppetArchives/Today on Muppet Wiki Archive 04

Archive of Today on Muppet Wiki, December 2006 -

December 2006

 * December 31 &#8226; New Year's Eve is a yearly holiday which involves everybody standing around asking each other what time it is. The 1993 special Sesame Street Stays Up Late celebrated the holiday by visiting Sesame characters from around the world, including Moishe Oofnik from Rechov Sumsum, Tiffy from Sesamstrasse, and Elmonoske, Elmo's cousin from Japan. Miss Piggy has also celebrated New Year's Eve by standing on a freezing rooftop and shouting at Jay Leno in 1996, and going on an awkward date with Matt Lauer in 1997. Happy New Year's!


 * December 30 &#8226; Joseph McCarthy was a Wisconsin senator who became infamous for his aggressive investigation and claims of Communist infiltration in the United States of America. In one 1950 lecture at a Republican Women's Club meeting, McCarthy claimed that "I have here in my hand a list..." of known Communists working in the State Department. Over the following days and weeks, McCarthy's claims of the number of Communists on "the list" changed, and it seems likely that an actual list never existed. Over the next few years, McCarthy's was made Chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and used this pulpit to make wide-ranging claims of Communist infiltration. The Muppets have made reference to McCarthy on The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock and Dinosaurs. Really!


 * December 29 &#8226; Professor Krassman is the world's leading authority in the rapidly growing field of mind control in frogs. Krassman is hired by Doc Hopper in The Muppet Movie to force Kermit the Frog to appear as a commercial spokesman for Doc Hopper's Frog Legs. The result of many late nights at his laboratories in Cologne and Dusseldorf, Krassman's latest achievement is an imposing device used to perform an electronic cerebrectomy, a process by which a frog's brain is reduced to guacamole. Due to the timely intervention of Miss Piggy, Kermit's gray matter is saved, and Krassman becomes a victim of his own machine.


 * December 28 &#8226; Fay Ray was the Weimeraner dog most often used by photographer/filmmaker William Wegman in segments on Sesame Street. Wegman, who had had success with his dog Man Ray from the 1970s until Man Ray's death in 1982, bought Fay, then known as "Cinnamon Girl", as a puppy in 1985. Wegman first began photographing Fay in 1986, and she made her screen debut in Wegman's 1986 short Dog Baseball. In November 1987, Wegman was contacted by Sesame Street producer Arlene Sherman, who invited him to supply short films for the series. Fay was the natural choice to star. Wegman, in voice-over, would narrate and give instructions, and Fay would demonstrate everything from math skills to letter concepts. Fay Ray passed away in 1995 at the age of 11; her children continue to appear on Sesame Street.


 * December 27 &#8226; Tarzan is the son of a British Lord and Lady, marooned in Africa by mutineers, and raised by Great Apes. Various Muppets have portrayed Tarzan, including Link Hogthrob, Kermit, Elmo, Elvis and Gonzo, opposite Lily Tomlin as Jane.


 * December 26 &#8226; Thelma Thumb was a series of animated segments on Sesame Street. Designed to teach pre-science concepts, the series was produced by John Korty using his Lumage system, which utilized fabric cut-outs. The central character was little Marcia Middlewell, a seemingly average girl who harbored a secret alter-ego. When accidents appeared inevitable or other trouble spots occurred, Marcia would enter a phone booth. With the utterance of her magic phrase, "Zapper jiffy squincher scrum, make me into Thelma Thumb!", she would shrink to the size of a salt shaker and fly to the rescue.


 * December 25 &#8226; Jesus Christ is the central figure of Christianity. Christian views of Jesus center on the belief that Jesus is the Messiah as promised in the Old Testament and that he was resurrected after he died on a cross. The Nativity story has been represented twice in Muppet productions -- narrated by John Denver in the 1979 special John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together, and presented as a Sesame Street pageant in the 2002 video Elmo's World: Happy Holidays. In the latter, Natasha played the baby Jesus, with Bert as Joseph and Rosita as Mary. Seriously. Merry Christmas!


 * December 24 &#8226; The Twelve Days of Christmas is a traditional and lengthy English Christmas carol. The song is based on the premise that the singer receives one gift per day from his or her "true love" over the 12 days immediately following Christmas Day. Each verse repeats all of the previous gifts listed; thus, one could say that the singer receives 364 gifts total -- or one a day until next Christmas, when the process begins all over again. The Muppets have recorded five versions of the song, each lasting well over four minutes. Listening to them all in a row might help to pass the time until Christmas. Then again, it might not.


 * December 23 &#8226; A Special Sesame Street Christmas is one of the strangest artifacts of the Muppet Christmas season. The special was produced for CBS in 1978, the same year that Christmas Eve on Sesame Street aired on PBS -- and it's obvious that the Sesame Street creative team only worked on the PBS special. The script is a vague takeoff on A Christmas Carol, with Oscar the Grouch in the Scrooge role, but the emphasis is on the celebrity guests and the musical numbers, which pop up in the most unlikely places. Guest star Leslie Uggams makes it her mission in life to bring Christmas spirit to Oscar, and enlists various celebrities to help, including Anne Murray, Imogene Coca and Dick Smothers. Henry Fonda and Michael Jackson also make walk-on appearances. Oscar sings "Yakety Yak", Ethel Merman sings "Tomorrow", and Maria takes in an injured kitten named Tiny Tim. 1978 was a very different world, even at Christmas.


 * December 22 &#8226; Ma Bear's Farmhouse is the rural home of Emily Bear in A Muppet Family Christmas. The home where Fozzie Bear grew up, the house is now solely occupied by Emily, at least on a normal basis. For the holidays, she lets the house to Doc and Sprocket, with the intention of spending Christmas in Malibu. Soon an array of Muppet guests arrive, however, completely filling the country home. Since bed space is limited, Gonzo and Animal have to sleep on hangers in the closet and Bert and Ernie will build bunk beds in the broom closet. The spacious kitchen is quickly utilized by the Swedish Chef, and the basement includes a Fraggle hole, connecting to Fraggle Rock. The precise location of the farmhouse is unclear, although the Sesame Street Muppets are able to make the trek from New York City, apparently on foot. During the winter months, harsh blizzards tend to isolate the house. An additional safety hazard is the icy patch on the front porch.


 * December 21 &#8226; Refrigerator Day: The happiest holiday in Pangaea is approaching and Earl, carried away by the commercial side of the occasion, overspends on presents for the family. When the traditional WESAYSO bonus fails to come through for Earl, the family is placed in financial jeopardy. Any hope for a joyous holiday is dashed when their refrigerator is repossessed. With no food, no refrigerator and no money, the family is forced to fall back on the spiritual side of the holiday.


 * December 20 &#8226; Chanukah: Shalom Sesame celebrates the holiday with songs and stories of Jewish tradition. Moishe Oofnik sells sufganiyot from a 2,000 year old family recipe while Kippi Ben Kippod races to bring the Chanukah torch to Jerusalem. A trip back in time to the days of Judah Maccabee and a dreidel game show further help to illustrate the traditions of the holiday. Also, Jeremy Miller from Growing Pains is Jewish, apparently.


 * December 19 &#8226; Mr. Applegate is a tenant who pleads with Ebenezer Scrooge in The Muppet Christmas Carol. Behind on his mortgage payments, the nervous Mr. Applegate repeatedly asks Scrooge not to shout at him, while relating his family's woes, before being flung bodily out the door.


 * December 18 &#8226; Santa Chef Action Figure: For Christmas 2004, Palisades Toys made an action figure of the Swedish Chef dressed as Santa Claus. I'd hate to think what he might leave under the tree...


 * December 17 &#8226; American Greetings Muppet Christmas Ornaments: This year, American Greetings has released three new Christmas ornaments, and they're very pretty. One of them depicts Kermit the Frog sitting on a log, playing "The Rainbow Connection" on his banjo. The other ornaments are Kermit and Miss Piggy dancing, and a set of three mini-ornaments with Kermit, Piggy and Gonzo celebrating Kermit's 50th anniversary.


 * December 16 &#8226; The World in which Kermit was Never Born: In It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, Kermit tells his guardian angel, Daniel, that he wishes he had never been born. To teach Kermit a lesson, Daniel shows him what would have happened if he had never been born. In this nightmarish world, Gonzo is a depressed street performer, Scooter is a cage-dancing go-go boy, Beaker is a musclebound bouncer and Doc Hopper's French Fried Frog Legs is a successful fast-food chain. Shocked by what he sees, Kermit returns to the real world with a new resolve.


 * December 15 &#8226; I Can't Wait Until Christmas is a 1989 Little Golden Book that tells the story of Big Bird not being able to wait until Christmas. He and Granny Bird have surprise presents for each other, and Big Bird doesn't know what to do with himself while he's waiting. His friends help him out by engaging in typical Christmastime activities -- decorating a tree, making cookies and visiting Santa at Nickles Department Store. Will Big Bird be able to wait until Christmas?


 * December 14 &#8226; Joe Snow, the would-be narrator of It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, is a parody of Burl Ives' character in the Rankin/Bass Christmas special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Joe's attempts to narrate the movie are thwarted, at first by the camera crew, and later by the Safari Animal Tracker, who shoots him with a tranquilizer dart meant for Fozzie.


 * December 13 &#8226; Happy Hooby Holidays: The Hoobs are coming! Groove, Iver, Tula and Roma have been traveling around the UK in the Hoobmobile for five years, and now they're finally heading to the United States on PBS Kids Sprout. The series will kick off on Christmas Day with a six-hour Hoobs marathon, with specially recorded interstitials. Hoobalicious!


 * December 12 &#8226; John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together is a popular Christmas album that ties in with the TV special of the same name. The album includes "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" as performed by John Denver and Rowlf, the Electric Mayhem's rendition of "Little Saint Nick", and the Muppet cast singing "Deck the Halls" and "The Twelve Days of Christmas". The complete album has been out of print for several years, but a new Limited Collectors Edition was released this year, including all 13 tracks remastered.


 * December 11 &#8226; Pa Otter is the late husband of Alice Otter and father of Emmet in Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas. Although he died a couple of years before the start of the story, his presence is felt throughout the special. Pa was a snake oil salesman, though business wasn't always good. As Pa often joked, "There aren't enough people who want to oil a snake!" Pa was also an early environmentalist, establishing the family tradition of the Christmas branch. Every year, he'd go out and vow to bring back a whole Christmas tree. He never had the heart, reflecting that the tree, if allowed to live, would remain for another hundred years.


 * December 10 &#8226; Christmas Carolers: A quartet of Anything Muppet carolers appeared to serenade Elmo and his goldfish Dorothy in Elmo's World: Happy Holidays. Unfortunately, the carolers only knew one song -- the chorus to "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" -- but they added some variety with a special chorus for Dorothy, "We Fish You a Merry Christmas". Other Muppet carolers include the Sesame Street gang, singing on the road to Ma Bear's Farmhouse in A Muppet Family Christmas, and Bean Bunny, who gets smacked upside the head with a wreath in The Muppet Christmas Carol.


 * December 9 &#8226; Sababa Christmas Kermit Plush: One of your stranger Muppet Christmas toys, this is a plush toy of Kermit the Frog in snowy Christmas white, with a gray collar and mouth. He wears a traditional red and white Santa outfit, with a jacket and cap. Some of the people who see this toy think it's adorable; some think it's disturbing. But that's Christmas for you.


 * December 8 &#8226; Episode 0330: The Fix-It Shop opened its doors on Sesame Street on January 21, 1972. At the time it was known as "the L and R Fix-It Shop", and was owned jointly by Luis and Rafael. If you don't remember Rafael, he was played by Raúl Juliá. This was before Kiss of the Spider Woman, obviously. Rafael disappeared after the third season, and Luis took over the Fix-It Shop by himself. Man, the learning just never stops on Muppet Wiki.


 * December 7 &#8226; Little Richard is a rock 'n' roll singer who rose to fame in the 1950s with such hit songs as "Tutti Frutti" and "Good Golly, Miss Molly." He's appeared with the Muppets several times -- performing "Rubber Duckie" on Sesame Street and "I Hear You Knockin'" on Muppets Tonight, plus a cameo in the Muppets' video for "She Drives Me Crazy". Plus, Beaker does an uncanny Little Richard impression.


 * December 6 &#8226; Good Morning America: Kermit the Frog is making the rounds of the talk shows this week to promote his book, Before You Leap. He'll appear on Good Morning America on December 7th, and Live with Regis and Kelly on December 8th.


 * December 5 &#8226; Happy Birthday, Muppet Wiki! This website was launched on December 5, 2005 -- and in this year, we've created an enormous, crazy database, full of odd facts and interesting connections. As of this morning, there are 12,130 articles on the wiki -- including 1,766 Muppet Characters, 548 Sesame Street Books, 521 Muppet Show Songs, and 42 Grouches. Muppet Wiki has everything from A to Z, including Kermit the Frog, Dave Goelz, the Statue of Liberty, Little Golden Books, Cleopatra and Gorilla Suits. We've got the Sun and the Moon, Superman and Batman, and Statler and Waldorf. So far, 135 people have contributed to the wiki -- thank you to everyone who's helped to make the wiki a fun project to work on and to read! It was a very good year...


 * December 4 &#8226; Saturday Night Live: The Complete First Season: The box set is out in stores tomorrow -- your first chance to see the infamous Land of Gorch sketches on DVD. The set contains 14 Gorch sketches, including King Ploobis' disastrous Christmas party, Queen Peuta's torrid affair with Scred, Scred's duet with Lily Tomlin, and the Mighty Favog's desperate offer to Chevy Chase: If Lorne Michaels doesn't fire the Muppets, Favog can get him the Beatles. The decline and fall of Gorch, all on one DVD set.


 * December 3 &#8226; Bear in the Big Blue House Christmas Books: If anybody knows how to celebrate the holidays, it's Bear. He decorates the Big Blue House within an inch of its life, he buys presents for rambunctious young animals, and he helps out the homeless. And with all that to do, he still found the time to star in four storybooks -- including Bear's Berry Christmas, an adaptation of the 1999 special "A Berry Bear Christmas".


 * December 2 &#8226; Santa's Workshop is the home and assembly line workplace of Santa Claus and his elves. The workshop figures most prominently in The Great Santa Claus Switch, where it lays adjacent to the cave of Cosmo Scam and his Frackles. Elmo has visited the workshop twice -- in Elmo Saves Christmas and Elmo's World: Happy Holidays.


 * December 1 &#8226; Gorham Sesame Street Plates: Christmas is coming, so we might as well get started. We'll kick off with some pictures of the Sesame Street Christmas plates made by Gorham Fine China in the early 1980s, illustrated by Sesame artists Mike Smollin and Joe Mathieu. Gorham made a big series of neat collectibles, including figurines, Christmas music boxes, and piggy banks. Obviously, these are only available at places like eBay now, but if you can find them, they would make terrific Christmas gifts for the Muppet fans on your list, like for example the administrators of a certain Muppet-related encyclopedia website. I'm just saying.