The MuppetCast (Archive)

Show #98 – February 22, 2009

Written by

Steve Swanson

in

This week we head back to Orlando for more action from the opening weekend of Jim Henson’s Fantastic World. As part of the festivities, Jane Henson gave a special talk called “Look Both Ways” featuring some early Muppet work from shows like Sam and Friends. I’ll bring you all the details.

The Muppet Central Forum Awards show has been moved a few weeks down the line to allow for other projects to be developed. Listen for that episode in March!

Show #100 is coming up very soon. If you’d like to leave a voicemail to be played on that very special episode, call it in at 614-364-4270. Can’t wait to hear from you!

With the popularity of the Orlando based MouseFest, a new annual event has been created: Mousemeets! Read all about it.

Jim Henson’s Fantastic World will be on display in Orlando until May 3. Recently, the Dr. Phillips Charities – the group sponsoring this Florida visit – invited some local area children to explore the exhibit.

Farscape fans get your wallets ready. BOOM! Studios will be offering a limited holofoil edition of their sold out comic FARSCAPE #1 available exclusively during WonderCon 2009.

Muppet-Beatle connections are always interesting. The artist formerly known as Cat Stevens (now called Yusuf Islam) recently recorded a version of “The Long and Winding Road” at the Jim Henson Company lot.

Don’t you get tired of people unnecessarily coming down on Sesame Street characters? So does this writer.

Caroll Spinney is a fascinating performer. At 75 years of age he’s still performing Oscar the Grouch and the forever childlike Big Bird. Read more about him here.

Sesame Street is taking kids into the digital age, not only with the exploration of the Joan Ganz Cooney center into the new digital media platforms, but by bringing new and innovative digital artists to the Street right now!

The Minneapolis-based Children’s Theatre Company’s 2009-10 season will include a world premiere musical based on Sesame Street. Bert & Ernie, Goodnight! will open in previews Sept 8 and will close Oct 25.

Listener Corey O. and friends are branching out their podcast, Total Domination. You can now find the main website here and the video component here. Also check out listener Chris W.’s podcast Interview with a Podcaster. I was lucky enough to be the guest in his very first show!

Questions/Comments about the Muppets or The MuppetCast can be emailed to me@muppetcast.com, or called in to the voicemail line at 614-364-4270. Even better, stop by the Muppet Central Forums and discuss this and many other episodes with Muppet fans worldwide.

Have a great week!

-Steve

Comments

2 responses to “Show #98 – February 22, 2009”

  1. Ariel Segal Avatar
    Ariel Segal

    Hello Steve! I have been listening to the MuppetCast from the beginning, and I wanted to finally express my deep thanks for putting this material on the web. Your podcast is one of my favorites!

    I live in Silver Spring, MD. I went to the University of Maryland, College Park for both undergraduate and graduate studies, and thus experienced lots of Muppet goodness 🙂 :). I went to a 1996 UMD Muppet exhibit where I first saw The Frog Prince. I then attended the dedication of the Jim Henson & Kermit Statue at the Stamp Student Union in 2003, where I truthfully told Jane Henson that Jim’s passing affected me more than that of any non-family member. I grieved for several weeks after that awful day in Spring 1990.

    On a happier note, I loved the Muppet Show and Sesame Street since my youngest childhood. I especially remember with fondness “The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years”, which my family would play again and again, and “Christmas Eve on Sesame Street,” even though I am an Orthodox Jew-Its deep compassion, humor, and love transcend religious differences, IMHO.

    The Muppets also provided some primal spookiness, as I was terrified of Mt. Snuffleupagus in Hawaii, the YipYip Martians[now a proud member of the Yahoo YipYip group], and the Gene Kelly Episode with Pigs in Space coming to the “End of The Universe!” [What can I say, I was 4.]

    I wanted to inform you that I attended a 2006 conversation at Maryland with Jane Henson and other people from the days of Sam & Friends on Jim’s 70th birthday, and chatted with her again [it was the afternoon before Rosh Hashanah, and I had to get home before sunset-I would not do just any event with such time pressure!]

    UMD has many Henson clips and shows digitized, but they can only be viewed on campus; See

    http://www.lib.umd.edu/digital/henson/

    Again, thanks for this wonderful podcast!

    Sincerely, Ariel Segal [Male; got some smart remarks when the Little Mermaid came out.]

    P.S. Much of my family went to University of Michigan, but I still admire you even though you probably are a Buckeye fan >:)

    Reply
  2. ReneeLouvier Avatar
    ReneeLouvier

    I feel bad, I couldn’t find my microphone.

    Reply

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