User:MuppetArchives/Today on Muppet Wiki

January

 * January 8 &#8226; Luna is the name of the moon on Bear in the Big Blue House. At the end of every episode, Bear climbs to the attic to talk to the moon about the day's events. Together they sing "The Goodbye Song" to close the show. Bear and Luna are old friends. Luna often knows just what Bear is thinking and sometimes speaks in unison with him. Because she is very old, Luna is full of wise advice.


 * January 7 &#8226; In 1957, Jim Henson was approached by a Washington, D.C. coffee company to produce ads for Wilkins Coffee. The local stations only had ten seconds for station identification, so the commercials had to be lightning-fast -- essentially, eight seconds for the commercial pitch and a two-second shot of the product. From 1957 to 1961, Henson made 179 commercials for Wilkins Coffee and other Wilkins products, including Community Coffee and Wilkins Tea. The ads were so successful and well-liked that they sparked a series of remakes for companies in other local markets throughout the 1960s.


 * January 6 &#8226; Crazy Harry is the pyrotechnic expert on The Muppet Show. An unkempt figure with wild eyes and a mad cackle, he delights in blowing things up. In addition to explosions, he played the triangle bell in the Muppet Orchestra during the first season opening and closing. His finest hour may well have been in episode 306, accompanying Jean Stapleton on the explodaphone for a particularly frantic rendition of "I'm Just Wild About Harry."


 * January 5 &#8226; Most Muppets have wide open eyes and small or non-existent eyelids. However, sometimes it is necessary for them to be shown with their eyes closed.  At this point they appear to grow eyelids.  This is usually done to create the appearance of sleep, when the simpler method of turning the character's eyes from the camera won't work for the scene.


 * January 4 &#8226; Scouting is a worldwide youth movement of multiple organizations for both boys and girls whose aims are to develop young people physically, spiritually and mentally so that they may take a constructive place in society. Jim Henson was a Cub Scout. As a child, the den meetings were held at his house, with his parents serving as Den leaders.   In addition, several Muppet characters belong to fictional Scouting groups - including the Frog Scouts and the Worm Scouts.


 * January 3 &#8226; Gladys Ormphby was a frumpy spinster who originated on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In in 1968, and was one of the few characters to remain on the series for its entire five-year run. In the 1990s, when Ruth Buzzi was a regular on Sesame Street as Ruthie, Gladys made a few guest appearances, including a sketch with Cookie Monster and the celebrity version of "A New Way to Walk."


 * January 2 &#8226; Fran Brill is an actress and puppeteer who has worked on Sesame Street since 1970. Best known for performing Prairie Dawn and Zoe, Brill was the first female Muppeteer hired by Jim Henson. Serving as the performer of Kami for U.S. appearances, and a variety of other Sesame characters, her illustrious career has also included many film and television roles, including a handful of cameos on Muppet projects.


 * January 1 &#8226; Lexine Bondoc appeared on Sesame Street as one of the kids for several seasons, from approximately 1993 through 1998. She was a frequent background player in street scenes, notably during the 1998 storyline in which Slimey goes to the moon, and appeared in several skits with Cookie Monster.

More "Today on Muppet Wiki"

 * "Today on Muppet Wiki" nominations
 * Archive #1: January - June 2006
 * Archive #2: July - August 2006
 * Archive #3: September - October 2006
 * Archive #4: November - December 2006
 * Archive #5: January - February 2007
 * Archive #6: March - April 2007
 * Archive #7: May - June 2007
 * Archive #8: July - August 2007
 * Archive #9: September - October 2007
 * Archive #10: November - December 2007