Other puppet shows you watched

[Skeeter Muppet]

Oh man, when I was little I used to watch Pinwheel and Today's Special religiously. Those two, plus cartoons like Mysterious Cities of Gold, The Little Prince, David the Gnome and Belle and Sebastian...what's happened to Nick programming since then?

I remember watching Eureeka's Castle, and I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet but Noel MacNeil (who now performs Bear) was one of the performers for the dragon Magellean on that show! I just think that's so cool.

I also watched Puzzle Place, although by the time it aired I was considered "too old" to be watching shows like that. I did it anyway.

I actually preferred Dumbo's Circus over Welcome to Pooh Corner (although it always bugged me that Dumbo had his 'magic feather' to help him fly when in the movie he realized that he didn't need the feather). My favorite character was Fair Dinkum, the koala bear ringmaster.

-Kim

 

[BEAR]

Oh man, when I was little I used to watch Pinwheel and Today's Special religiously. Those two, plus cartoons like Mysterious Cities of Gold, The Little Prince, David the Gnome and Belle and Sebastian...what's happened to Nick programming since then?

I remember watching Eureeka's Castle, and I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet but Noel MacNeil (who now performs Bear) was one of the performers for the dragon Magellean on that show! I just think that's so cool.

I also watched Puzzle Place, although by the time it aired I was considered "too old" to be watching shows like that. I did it anyway.

I actually preferred Dumbo's Circus over Welcome to Pooh Corner (although it always bugged me that Dumbo had his 'magic feather' to help him fly when in the movie he realized that he didn't need the feather). My favorite character was Fair Dinkum, the koala bear ringmaster.

-Kim

Yeah, whatever happened to Timothy Mouse as Dumbo's ringmaster?

Noel MacNeil also performed the Black kid on The Puzzle Place, and I think he does stuff on Sesame Street too.

 

[GaryBaum6566]

How could I forget Greg the Bunny? When it was on, myself and my father watched every episode of that show. And I just remembered another slightly oddball, presumably Canadian creation: a show called "Pappyland". I think this show had some puppet work, but I'm not positive. I can't remember much about the show, except the main character was an old man that must have been on drugs, he was that excited. MrsPepper or anyone else: do you remember this show?

There were puppets on Pappyland. Pappy always loved drawing, I think that was the main thing on the show, and he always showed artwork from boys and girls from all over.........probably Mrs. Argyle's first grade class that was up the road from the studio, I dunno.

But, I do remember that there were puppets on that show.

 

[Skeeter Muppet]

Yeah, whatever happened to Timothy Mouse as Dumbo's ringmaster?

Noel MacNeil also performed the Black kid on The Puzzle Place, and I think he does stuff on Sesame Street too.

Beats me. Maybe the people who thought up the show didn't think he was as popular as Dumbo? Although technically Timothy wasn't a ringmaster; he dressed similarly to Lionel the Lion, the barker/pitchman for the circus, except his outfit was red instead of blue.

And I remembered Noel voicing the African-American boy on Puzzle Place after I went looking for pics and such about PP last night (didn't find any ). Funnily enough, if you turn the name of his character - Leon - backwards, you get the name of his puppeteer!

-Kim

 

[That Announcer]

There were puppets on Pappyland. Pappy always loved drawing, I think that was the main thing on the show, and he always showed artwork from boys and girls from all over.........probably Mrs. Argyle's first grade class that was up the road from the studio, I dunno.

But, I do remember that there were puppets on that show.

Good, so my memory's not starting to go early. That show was part of my morning ritual.

Oh, and I just remembered the worst puppet show of all time: Bobby Goldsboro's "The Swamp Creatures". Mix bad animatronic puppets with weak storylines and nickel-and-dimed sets, all overseen and voiced (badly, might I add) by the man who sang "Honey", which garnered major hate in Dave Barry's infamous Bad Song Survey, and you have a recipe for disaster. No wonder it only lasted a small while.

 

[Blink]

Good, so my memory's not starting to go early. That show was part of my morning ritual.

Oh, and I just remembered the worst puppet show of all time: Bobby Goldsboro's "The Swamp Creatures". Mix bad animatronic puppets with weak storylines and nickel-and-dimed sets, all overseen and voiced (badly, might I add) by the man who sang "Honey", which garnered major hate in Dave Barry's infamous Bad Song Survey, and you have a recipe for disaster. No wonder it only lasted a small while.

Wow! I had never even heard of that show. I found the official website
here. I am almost tempted to buy a video to see how bad it really is.

 

[That Announcer]

Wow! I had never even heard of that show. I found the official website
here. I am almost tempted to buy a video to see how bad it really is.

One word: Don't. At least "Teletubbies" you could make jokes about. This series was so god-awful, well, I can't find the words to describe it.

 

[GSmiley2007]

There is also this other puppet show I remember, but have no clue as to the title. There were various animal puppets, and the show took place in an old house, with a courtyard-like area. There was also a garbage dump area, and this home under a bridge type thing for one of the characters. I can picture the scenery perfectly in my mind, but I cannot recall the characters. I'm positive they were animals though. Cats, possibly. Or Tigers. I believe there was a dog of some sort, the one who lived under the bridge. I wish someone else knew what show I'm thinking about!

Could you be talking about "Kitty Cats"? I do remember this show airing on TLC every morning back in the mid '90s, and I do recall a dog named Charlie on the show. Don't recall the names of the cats, though.

 

[jcnegron]

Well, now that you have resurrected this old thread, I am surprised that nobody mentioned Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and the other supermarionation shows. I saw them on reruns, wasn't a big fan, actually, they used to scare me a bit for the realism of the faces. Are these not considered puppet shows?

 

[bunnypicnicker]

God, sorry most of these will go over your heads unless you were in the UK but here goes... In no particular order.

I was a bit young for Muffin the Mule/Andy Pandy/Larry The Lamb/Pipkins/Pinky and Perky et al but I do remember Bill and Ben, who terrified me. I think I have an issue with a lot of marionette puppetry because of the odd ways they move - it feels so creepy sometimes (although it does depend how creepy the face looks - I've seen some live marionettes for children recently and it's come on leaps and bounds but it's definitely a good way of scaring me to have a sharp nose, thin face and move it like a stringed marionette! eeek! *hides behind the settee*.
Funnily enough, I hated (at the time - although they grow on me a bit more now) the more traditional puppets like Emu and Basil Brush - largely because I didn't like the human interaction, which is why I never really got into Sesame Street, I think (not that we got to see it much over here in the UK at the time). Although later I quite liked Gordon the Gopher - but again, didn't like Ed the Duck as he was too abusive and up himself and not as cute.
Greg The Bunny - Saw it relatively recently when they screened it over here on ITV4 and loved it. I think it's really charming - which I find is quite rare in an 'adult' show. It was rude but still had a pathos and I liked that. It screened too late though and everyone missed it as ITV4 was a rather obscure channel at the time.
Nanalan - I've only recently got into The Grogs as I previously never knew they existed. I found this via YouTube and I wish the DVDs I bought (via Canada!) included more of the YouTube Mr Wooka moments because I'm utterly in love with those mini puppet shows within a puppet show. Bring those out on DVD if you're reading this!
Mr Meaty - gross and yet hilarious. I wish it was on TV 24 hours a day (but Nickelodeon here in the UK isn't screening it at the moment). They need a Mr Meaty day like Spongebob gets constantly.
Apollo's Pad - not on TV (yet, perhaps?) but I really love this. Although it does veer off a bit too far into the gross sometimes but so far it makes you like Apollo and again, I like the humanity of him.
Stingray/Thunderbirds/Joe 90 - Watched it but didn't like it much. I think I'm a phobic/discriminatory towards marionettes. I should work on that.
Terrahawks - I loved this. It scared me. Well, Zelda did. She grossed me out but I refused to miss an episode (which is one reason I gave up Judo classes when I was 9).
Space Precinct - I remember watching it but I don't remember it really engaging me. Same with Farscape. I watched it but it never really 'did it' for me for some reason. I think it's that human element again. I like puppets and like humans but I dislike them together.
Orm and Cheep - I think this is a bit obscure but me and my friend Carol loved it. Again, made you really love the characters. We loved Cheep.
Fingermouse / Fingerbobs - papercraft and songs. Simple puppetry very well done.
This Morning With Richard Not Judy had the two birds for Histor's Eye and the Lettuce Family which always made me laugh.
The Wind in the Willows puppetry version - I remember seeing that on TV (http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/515213/index.html)
Sooty and Sweep (I never liked Soo - she was a party pooper)
Live and Kicking had the two Leprecauns. Almost floor managed for them once!
Look and Read - was Wordy considered a puppet? Hmm.
And Rentaghost - Claypole had the diddy stick... That almost counts.
Star Fleet - all I ever remember about this show is the helmets! Especially the evil commander with the face over his eye one and the henchman with the centipede on his helmet (You can read more about that at this fansite I think) http://www.fab1.net/s-fleet/starfleet.htm
Button Moon - classic UK kids TV. Again, made puppetry look so simple and yet was very clever.
Mopatops Shop - I LOVED Mopatop. He was the sort of person you wanted to run to when you cut your knee. (I was an adult when I saw this but I thnk he's very like Big Bird and Bear in that respect - you look up to them and they seem so kind and wise).
Bear In The Big Blue House - Again, I got into this obsessively as an adult. I love everything about it.
Five Children and It - the It was a puppet.
Star Wars films - Yoda. I preferred him as a puppet. As CGI I just didn't like him at all. The puppet made him so much more human and frail and likeable (even when he was being mean).
Tale of the Bunny Picnic - Hence my name! I loved Bean. I used to play this over and over on my old clapped out video recorded off the TV. I was quoting it for years and I'd completely forgotten where the quotes where from until I purchased it off ebay and fell in love with it all over again. It still makes me cry!
Spitting Image - they were so ugly but so clever! I didn't even know who most of the political characters were at the time I watched it, so it was a good way of teaching me about the politics and characters. I thought they were wonderful, especially the little David Steel, he cracked me up.
Secret Life of Toys - This almost entirely passed me by because we had similar named shows here which were rubbish and I assumed it was that, and it was pure luck I watched it. I wish you could get it on DVD now.
Roland Rat (I preferred Kevin).
Pets. Bit repetitive and the rudeness does grate on me after a while but it's well done. I've only seen it via the podcasts.
Zig and Zag were again rude but still the best thing about The Big Breakfast. In fact most breakfast shows had puppets of some kind. I quite like Neville but again, don't like the human interaction. ITV's Fully Booked had a Yak or something similar.
Let's Pretend had that scary caterpillar in the titles which always freaked me out a bit.
Dinosaurs - I remember watching it but I didn't like it - it was too obviously humans and as I've mentioned, I like puppets but dislike puppets and humans together. Like Barney the Dinosaur.
Bodger and Badger - mash potay mash potay mash potay! I loved Badger. Tolerated Bodger but only because Badger bullied him.
Pob was disgusting and quite rude. I couldn't work out if I liked him or not.
Mortimer and Arabelle - oh I loved the crow! He was great. Made me want a pet crow. Really liked this series.

Although technically it wasn't a TV series over here, I did see the film of H. R Pufnstuf and was utterly mesmerised by it.
Bunnytown! - rocks. I annoy my girlfriend by singing the songs constantly.

I have seen and enjoyed Avenue Q.