Kermit opens up about showbiz and love

[Muppetfreak]

http://www.insidebayarea.com/bayarealiving/ci_2940407

Kermit opens up about showbiz and love

By Bruce Dancis, SACRAMENTO BEE

KERMIT THE FROG has agreed to give up some of his carefully guarded privacy and meet the press (figuratively) on the occasion of the release of the first season of "The Muppet Show," from 1976. It's now out on DVD (four discs, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, $39.99, not rated).

Q: Kermit, thanks for doing this e-mail interview. One question immediately comes to mind: How can frogs type? Are you able to do so because, unlike other frogs, you have five fingers on each hand, er, limb?

Kermit: Hw cn frgoos typeee? Bdly ... Just pulling your leg, er, arm, er, limb. Whatever.

Q: Legend has it that you made your first TV network appearance at the age of 1, in 1956, on Steve Allen's "Tonight Show." What do you remember about that experience?

Kermit: It's true, the great Steve Allen had the Muppets on his show back in 1956. By that time, we already had a local show in Washington, D.C., called "Sam and Friends" that ran for five minutes each night. Steve gave us our first big break and that led to appearances on a lot of other shows.

Q: Of course, you first came to national attention on "Sesame Street," beginning in 1969. What was it like being a teenager and getting noticed?

Kermit: I wasn't actually a teenager at that time. (We frogs calculate our age not by the calendar, but by how many highways we're able to cross successfully.) That said, "Sesame Street" really got all of us noticed. Lucky for me, it's pretty easy to avoid the paparazzi when you're standing next to an 8-foot-tall yellow bird.


Q: On "The Muppet Show," you got to flirt with female guest stars, which in the first season included Connie Stevens, Rita Moreno, Lena Horne and Candice Bergen. Did you ever get, ahem, closer to any of these guests off camera?

Kermit: That sort of flirting with female guest stars only happened during the first season. By the start of the second season, Miss Piggy had won a restraining order ... and her black belt in karate. As for, ahem, getting close with these guest stars off camera: I don't talk about personal matters like that, especially when they can get me hurt.

Q: Since we're talking about your love life, do you mind if we inquire about the status of your relationship with Miss Piggy?

Kermit: Miss Piggy and I are just friends and professional colleagues; any suggestion that we have a quote/unquote "love life" is a misstatement, a fabrication and the result of an intensive media blitz by Piggy and her PR machine.

Q: The first "Muppet Movie" came out in 1979, three years after "The Muppet Show" debuted. Was it difficult for you to make the transition from television to motion pictures?

Kermit: Making the transition from TV to movies isn't that hard. The biggest difference is that you have to buy a ticket.

Q: What projects are you working on?

Kermit: Well, since I'm celebrating 50 years in show business this year, there are a bunch of special events and appearances being planned. I don't have details now, but I can guarantee that whatever happens it will involve a pig.

Q: Are there any roles you really wanted to play? Were you ever approached about playing Mr. Toad in "The Wind in the Willows"?

Kermit: I auditioned for that part. So did Yoda. But I understand they went with the Hulk. There aren't a heck of a lot of parts for green leading men.

Q: For a frog who's been in show business for 50 years, how do you manage to look so young?

Kermit: I keep in touch with my inner tadpole, and I soak daily in swamp water. Nothing like pond scum to keep you green and wet behind the ears.

 

[Muppetfreak]

Am I alone with wishing all Muppet personelle are on the same page with the Miss Piggy/Kermit thing. Half of them deny is his with Piggy the others just act like its a big of a domineering relationship.

Standardize!

 

[Muppetfreak]

Another one:

<a href="http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8854190/site/newsweek/" target="_BLANK">http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8854190/site/newsweek/</a>

Everyone’s Favorite Frog

As the first season of ‘The Muppet Show’ comes out on DVD, Kermit looks back on his 50-year career.

WEB EXCLUSIVE
By Ramin Setoodeh
Newsweek
Updated: 12:07 a.m. ET Aug. 7, 2005
Aug. 6, 2005 - It's not easy being green—or is it? Kermit the Frog is now pushing 50, from the day Jim Henson created him out of fabric from his mother's coat. Everyone's favorite frog made his debut on "The Tonight Show" in 1958, co-hosted "The Mike Douglas Show" in 1966 and saw the premiere of "The Muppet Show" in 1976. The star of six feature-length movies, with a voice that doesn't croak, Kermit spoke with NEWSWEEK's Ramin Setoodeh. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: What are you up to these days, Kermie?
Kermit the Frog: I am just living my life as a frog. At the moment I'm at home at the swamp, where I like to spend my spare time. I always go back to my roots when I'm not working. It keeps me centered.

Does the smell prevent visitors?
Well, it's not so much the smell. It's the mud and the mosquitoes. There's not a lot of traffic through here.

Do you get mosquito bites?
No. For me, it's a food source. They have to worry about the biting part.

The first season of "The Muppet Show" is coming out on DVD. I remember watching it as a kid. Are there any episodes that stand out in your mind as memorable?
You know, we did five years of the show. I look back really fondly to those days. It wasn't easy getting a show going back then as a frog. We depended on our friends that first season—people like Juliet Prowse and Joel Grey. Ethel Merman may have been the first singer in history who could reach the whole audience live. She had this voice that could blast through different countries.

Did anyone need earplugs?
I didn't. It’s questionable as to whether or not I have ears. We actually shot that show in England. After the first season, we were this new thing—and everyone thought we started in England because we were such a big hit over there.

Was it hard living on the other side of the pond?
It's one of the biggest ponds I've ever lived on the other side of. During that time, I got to meet the queen. It was an honor for me. After all the years in show business, I got to meet someone who could turn a frog into a prince.

Did she give you a kiss?
She did, as a matter of fact. Nothing happened. I think she turned and kind of spat—that's what queens do. They don't spit, they spat.

You did "Sesame Street" as well. Is Big Bird a big diva?
Big Bird is terrific. It's an odd thing, he's being doing "Sesame Street" for 37 years but he's only 6 years old.

I hope you don't think this is too personal, Kermit, but are you still dating Miss Piggy?
The official answer is yes. I can give you a scoop. Should I tell you this? You could put this in the press—I could get hurt really badly. I get around when I'm in Hollywood.

Do you only date pigs?
I've only ever dated one pig. And that is Miss Piggy. But I think a lot of men can empathize with that. Probably women, too.

What was the last movie that you saw?
The latest "Star Wars." Yoda and I go way back. We both auditioned for that role at the time it happened. I don't know why they chose him exactly; we're exactly the same size.

You're not green with envy?
I'm always green, with various emotions. Envy could be one of them. But I guess I wasn't wrinkled enough. Of course, that's a good thing.

How often do you see the old gang?
We're together pretty often these days. We did this “Muppets' Wizard of Oz” film last year, which was great fun. People stay consistent through the years and they grow and change—it's like a high-school reunion every time we get together.

Who had a better voice—Ashanti or Miss Piggy?
Well, I'm going to go out on a limb and say Ashanti. But you know that's a tough call in my case. For most people it would be an easy call—tough for me.

Other movies in the future?
We certainly will be. We also just finished doing a Christmas album, with a lot of normal carols and some originals. I did “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” We're always talking about doing new stuff on TV. There are reality shows now. I think what we're best at is surreality—we're more surreal.

Is there ever fighting on the set?
Sometimes. There's a particular person who I work with often who sometimes causes problems.

Would that be Animal?
I won't give you her name. It's a she. But her initials are Miss Piggy. She can be difficult. But she's an artiste, or at least that's what she says. I see there's no problem with my arguing with that. It was a tough schedule working on "The Muppet Show." We'd spend hours and hours—trying to get Piggy out of her dressing room.

Is your dressing room bigger today than when you started?
Well, actually, I don't have a dressing room. We can only afford one dressing room, and I think you know who gets that.

So where do you change?
Well, it's pretty easy for me, because I normally appear naked.

 

[MrsPepper]

Ooh, yeah, continuity issues. REALLY cute interviews, though.

 

[Beauregard]

Other movies in the future?
We certainly will be. We also just finished doing a Christmas album, with a lot of normal carols and some originals. I did “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” We're always talking about doing new stuff on TV. There are reality shows now. I think what we're best at is surreality—we're more surreal.

What is this? Huh? What?

Intrigued I am.

 

[unclematt]

another great read. Made me laugh

 

[Fozzie Bear]

These are great articles!!

RUMOR TIME!!
This line stuck out to me:

Do you only date pigs?
I've only ever dated one pig. And that is Miss Piggy. But I think a lot of men can empathize with that. Probably women, too.

What does that mean? Men empathize with him for dating Miss Piggy because they've dated her, too; OR did Kermit go out with some dude? And, what about "Probably women, too."? Does that mean women empathize with Piggy for having dated Kermit themselves, or they empathize with Kermit because they've dated Piggy, too? That one line just says so many different things, and I have NO IDEA What it means.

 

[MrsPepper]

It's like the Jon Stewart moment: Can we just start this again? I think Kermit opened his mouth too soon.

 

[Beauregard]

These are great articles!!

RUMOR TIME!!

What does that mean? Men empathize with him for dating Miss Piggy because they've dated her, too; OR did Kermit go out with some dude? And, what about "Probably women, too."? Does that mean women empathize with Piggy for having dated Kermit themselves, or they empathize with Kermit because they've dated Piggy, too? That one line just says so many different things, and I have NO IDEA What it means.

It means: *cough* I only dated one pig. But I think that a lot of men can empathize with dating a pig. And a lot of women too. becuase people can be real pigs sometimes. *end cough*

 

[Fozzie Bear]

It means: *cough* I only dated one pig. But I think that a lot of men can empathize with dating a pig. And a lot of women too. becuase people can be real pigs sometimes. *end cough*

I'm game to that. You know, men can be male-chauvenist PIGS, so maybe that's what he means. Women empathize with him and his relationship with Piggy because they've been through the same kind of relationship with a man.