A mistake in the Season 1 Muppet Show Guide

[Boppity & Gloat]

I have noticed that in the Muppet Show Guide Season 1 that there is a mistake. In the episode guide for Joel Gray, on the side column when talking about the Muppet Monster names the person wrote that in the guide when they mention that one of the puppeteers performed the "Green Frackle" it was the green version of the blue frackle Boppity. Well that is wrong. The green frackle is called Hunchback Frackle. He appears in all the Muppet Monster scenes from Season 1 and then disappears. He later makes an appearance in the Milton Berle episode with the opening skit "Ugly" with the Warthog,Crocodile,Boppity,Gloat,Miss Kitty,and the Green Scoff. The Green version of Boppity never made an appearance on the Muppet Show. The only time I ever saw him in the Muppet theater is the Muppets Special "Muppets Go To The Movies." It was the scene when Lily Tomlin was introducing the Horror movies and the Muppet Monsters appeared around her. From my memory there were 3 Boppity's(Blue,Green and Red/Pink ones), the Devil,Gloat,Luncheon Counter,Hunchback and a few others and the original Boppity(Blue) Chocked out Lily and made her pass out as they all laughed at it. The green version of Boppity also hosted the Monster Marathon on the Jim Henson Hour where he was known as Boss Man and he was at the 30 years celebration when Sweetums interrupted Fozzie. He was right below the Blue Boppity who was dressed in DRAG! and was standing with Flower Eating Monster,Luncheon Counter Monster and Miss Kitty in the Pigs section. U also see the Red/Pink Boppity in the 5th Season of the Muppet Show as well as a new and improved look of Huncback Frackle. Both of these Frackles as well as the Cranberry colored Boppity in the Muppet Show,Great Muppet Caper(in the truck) and in the 30 year celebration

 

[jediX]

"Boss Man"? Where'd you get that name from?

 

[dwmckim]

Thanks for the input. I love Muppet Monsters so anyone who pays close attention to them always has a big thumbs up in my book

As indicated in the guide's introduction, many of the background characters/monsters don't have clear names and sometimes there's contradictions between various sources so when a puppet is introduced in the guide that could be referred to as different things (or could be confused with another puppet with the same name), those issues will be addressed in the notes. What to call a particular Muppet sometimes comes down to personal preference and may not meet 100% concensus with all fans. So each time such a situation occurs, the pros and cons of each possible name has to be weighed and the ultimate decision comes down to which will cause the least amount of confusion or jives best with "official" or "canon" sources.

The Frackles are some of the trickiest. Boppity and Gloat for example were commonly referred to on set and in scripts (and even a Muppet annual) as "Blue Frackle" and "Green Frackle" respectively. If a company like Palisades ever decided to do a pvc of Boppity, they'd probably end up marketing it as "Blue Frackle" since that's how it's generally referred to within Henson even though we fans know those characters actually had names that were said onscreen in the Great Santa Claus Switch and most of us refer to them by those names in our Muppet Fan discussions and forums!

So the guide sticks with the names "Boppity" and "Gloat" for those characters and says when one sees "Green Frackle" in the guide, it's referring to the puppet that appeared (at that time) that bore a closer resemblance to the puppet we're calling Boppity. The term Frackle comes from the Great Santa Claus Switch special where it was a generic term for "Muppet Monster" and encompasses other types of Monsters from Snerfs to Thog. After that special, most of those puppets lost the title of Frackles and were just classified "Muppet Monsters" except for a few of them that had a distinct kind of look...ones that look along the same kind of design as Boppity for example. So when the guide says "Green Frackle" is like a green variation of Boppity, that's the connotation. Aside from Gloat, that puppet is really the only "Frackle"-like monster that's green in hue until the later introduction of the monsters that are essentially different colored versions of Boppity so when we get to the seasons where these puppets start popping up, they'll be referred to as Red Boppity for example. If the guide was to go beyond the show itself and include specials such as "Muppets Go to the Movies", you'd see "Green Boppity" for the puppet in the horror movie intro scene.

I opted to use "Green Frackle" over "Hunchback Frackle" since Hunchback Frackle's an adopted name that comes from the fan community to describe that puppet but since other later Fracklish monsters could also be interpreted as having a "hunchback", that opens a whole other can of worms!! By using "Green Frackle", a fan can more immediately know in his/her head which puppet is being referred to. Another possibility was "Snake Frackle" since that's how the puppet was referred to in the original design sketches for Santa Claus Switch but given that the puppet itself had morphed into a more "standardized" Frackle after the special where it had its original lizardlike form and that other design sketch names were either later changed ("Droop" in favor of "Dripsnout") or repetitive (both Boppity and Scoff were labeled "Blue Frackle"), this was also ruled out.

Muppet Monsters must have become monsters after lifetimes of identity crisis'! Their names are often changed, forgotten, or duplicated and their features continually played with and changed! Here's hoping we never see the Muppet Monsters doing a musical number of "You Can Call Me Al" or joining the Secret Society of Poohbahs where they all would have to be called "Fritz"!