The Great Gonzo the Great

[scarecroe]

Tranquil ....

 

[Sidebottom]

Originally posted by Chilly Down
as well as having the singing brick Amy.

I love how Gonzo apologizes to Amy when he loses a customer. That was a nice touch.

Something I've noticed, though, and correct me if I'm wrong. Gonzo's always done painful things. These days, he seems to do painful things because they're painful. But back on The Muppet Show, he did painful things because he thought they were art.

It's like he's gone from a brilliant but misunderstood artist to a masochist.

Anyone else notice this?

-Sidebottom

"Kermit, from now on, I'm gonna be a songwriter."
"You write songs?"
"Yeah! You wanna hear one of them?"
"No!"

 

[Chilly Down]

Sidebottom, I think you have a point. Gonzo is not a maschosist, but he will overlook any physical injury in the name of art. However, I think what most of us are saying here is that the daredevil/performance artist aspect of his personality is just gone these days. He's not doing painful things for art OR pain; he's just not doing painful things at all. A key moment in MFS came when Dr. Van Neuter wanted to cut Gonzo's head open, and Gonzo got nervous and did everything he could to escape. The old Gonzo would have thought that was a cool idea! Even after his friends rescued him, Gonzo would be saying, "But wait...when do I get my head sawed off?"

So anyway, your observation has validity, though I think (and someone correct me if I'm wrong) that most of us are seeing it differently.

 

[Thijs]

Gonzo has become (just like Kermit) a very boring character. A good character, but he doesn't make me laugh anymore. And that's not all. In the old days he could almost make me cry, I always felt so sorry for him, and at the same time he made me laugh.
He does the role in MMC very good, but it is not Gonzo anymore, I mean not the Gonzo I like. It started with the movies, where he has more lines. They made Gonzo to big.
Nowadays he is best friends with Rizzo. They form a good couple, but guys: Gonzo and Rizzo, and Rizzo is the weirdest??? There is really something wrong with the new Gonzo.

You know wich Gonzo I like?
The Gonzo that keeps saying "didn't wanna do it" in the closing song with George Burns.
The Gonzo next to Sam when Sam, Gonzo, Kermit, Hilda and Mildred discuss "men's role in the universe"
The Gonzo that sings a duet with Lena Horne
The Gonzo that always found himself a true artist.
The Gonzo that always got hurt when performing, but never liked getting hurt

Thijs

 

[Drtooth]

Originally posted by Chilly Down
A key moment in MFS came when Dr. Van Neuter wanted to cut Gonzo's head open, and Gonzo got nervous and did everything he could to escape. The old Gonzo would have thought that was a cool idea! Even after his friends rescued him, Gonzo would be saying, "But wait...when do I get my head sawed off?"

I never thought of that. I mean, Gonzo's kinda weird like that. In the Paul Simon episode he was to perform open heart Surgery on himself (or something to that extent) but decided not to. When Kermit asked him why, Gonzo replied, "I dunno! The last time I did it, I died" To me, that's Gonzo right there.

I mean, I loooove Gonzo and all, but not doing stunts anymorew is like... well, if they brought back Marvin Suggs, and he was a Muppaphones rights activist.

But if you really need a "weird, classic Gonzo" fix, watch the Paul Simon episode.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Gonzo has always been an "artiste" and has always called himself some sort of entertainment icon and guru. I forgot how he signed my autographed photo of himself, but seems "Guru" and "artist(e)" was in there somewhere.

His look has changed for the better, and I think he has much more expression and personality than he used to have.

I'm also glad he's more in the spotlight now and that they're bringing Fozzie and Piggy back in as well.

FOZ

 

[Muppetfreak]

I call it the Muppet Babies symdrome.

On Muppet Babies, Kermit was kinda boring. The show was all about Gonzo to the point that he had to become less weird so that he could anchor the show in a way that Kermit couldn't and he became lame.

I think the same thing happened when Steve took over Kermit. Its a tamer Kermit and so for a while Gonzo (and Rizzo) became the main event and had to become "straight men" rather than insane fringe characters.

THIS should have been my senior thesis.

 

[David French]

Characters/personalities change all the time. I suspect that the writers (quite rightly) realized that characters like Gonzo tended to be slightly 1-Dimensional in the first season of TMS and so expanded/changed the character so he became less of a one-joke character. I mean, would TMS have been as successful as it became if Gonzo still tried to eat Rubber tires in Season Five? I think not.

Going back to the original query - he's mainly the Great Gonzo for the first two seasons, but in the later seasons it changes to Gonzo the Great.

 

[Saironi]

It's true the earlier Gonzo was best described as a twerp or a geek. He was always whiny and bratty like a little kid determined that others should see things his own way, such as him being an artist. It's most likely he started out small with acts like growing tomatoes and eating tires in an attempt to gain acceptance, no matter what he said, as he tells Kermit that he has "fans", then says "I don't play for the masses". Gonzo sort of also bought into Scooter's idea of being a female impersonator. In other words, he didn't do much thinking on what the auidience might like to see for himself, as to why his acts were such failures.

In season 2, Gonzo seemed to become more self-confident and seemed to gain a bit more respect from the auidence from acts like catching a cannonball, regardless of how much Floyd and Fozzie picked on him. From the start, Gonzo always, deep down, felt hurt and like a failure when booed offstage, indicating that he himself didn't have much confidence in himself, but during season 2 and beyond, seemingly discovering how interesting wierd things could be, Gonzo started actually enjoying his "art" with a wild zeal and persisted no matter what anyone said fullheartedly, often recruiting those willing, seeming to make him more self confident.

That's my analysis on his character development.

 

[Xerus]

Sidebottom, I think you have a point. Gonzo is not a maschosist, but he will overlook any physical injury in the name of art. However, I think what most of us are saying here is that the daredevil/performance artist aspect of his personality is just gone these days. He's not doing painful things for art OR pain; he's just not doing painful things at all. A key moment in MFS came when Dr. Van Neuter wanted to cut Gonzo's head open, and Gonzo got nervous and did everything he could to escape. The old Gonzo would have thought that was a cool idea! Even after his friends rescued him, Gonzo would be saying, "But wait...when do I get my head sawed off?"

So anyway, your observation has validity, though I think (and someone correct me if I'm wrong) that most of us are seeing it differently.

I think the reason Gonzo didn't want his head cut open was because if that happened, he wouldn't be able to meet his family at long last.