Forum:Foo-Foo's gender

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Is it worth tracking Foo-Foo's gender? We're using feminine pronouns on the article, which I assume has been the norm in Muppet productions. But, Piggy says, "how did you get him to do that" in the Lifesty segment of Episode 105: The I.T. Factor.. —Scott (talk) 10:41, August 28, 2020 (UTC)

On The Muppet Show, they used female pronouns (beginning with Dyan Cannon, and so did The Muppet Show Fanclunb behind the scenes article. So that's pretty clear on at least the original intent. Apparently a 1999 TV Guide chat used "he," but then there's the People press quote from Piggy for the 2011 movie (quoted on Foo-Foo) which uses female pronouns. I think the Muppets Now thing is a basic "It's been so long and no longer anyone originally involved with the character, so we forgot" instance (and/or related to some hasty things on that series).

A slight surprise is that male pronouns *might* be used more often in story books. It's definitely the case in Gonzo and the Giant Chicken. Our page for Foo-Foo, Where Are You? uses male pronouns but it's unclear which, if any, were used in the book (as one of those sound books where the picture is used for the character, there might not have been any pronouns). Kyle, who hasn't been around in over a year, added it back in 2008, when we weren't as careful at double checking that sort of thing. And other times, no pronouns are involved fer sure (If You Were Miss Piggy: "You would have a darling little dog named Foo-Foo.") -- Andrew 17:16, August 28, 2020 (UTC)

Nice detective work! So I'm thinking it's probably not worth tracking them all, but this seems good enough to at least say on the article that it's never been consistent. And, who knows, maybe the writers/performers see it similar to the Camilla situation in that Foo-Foo has been several or Miss Piggy's pets of the same breed and name. —Scott (talk) 17:30, August 28, 2020 (UTC)

They kept it consistent during The Muppet Show period (see episode 520, "Foo-Foo and her trainer") and per the newsletter, but after that and since Foo-Foo by then was just a background figure (and as the article notes, more of a prop than a personality anyway), it seemed to depend on whoever was writing. (Which seems a pretty good way to sum it up in the article). I don't think Miss Piggy's Guide to Life even mentions Foo-Foo.

The two occasions when Foo-Foo has been used as other dogs (JHH in the Bootsie and Brad bits and Muppets Tonight, once as the cute critter to be eaten by Big Mean Carl), they had male names. Also, they couldn't keep Gloria Estefan's gender pronouns consistent for a matter of months. So no surprise Foo-Foo got tricky post TMS. --Andrew 18:08, August 28, 2020 (UTC)

Looking at the transcript for Episode 404, while Foo-Foo is often referred to as female, in the first introduction Kermit uses "he" pronouns, but that's clearly a case of Kermit not really knowing or caring. --Minor muppetz (talk) 15:39, October 2, 2020 (UTC)