The Museum of Television and Radio: A Trip Report - Day One, Part I

[Jeffrey Gray]

Well, I'm back from Southern California, and the Museum of Television and Radio. I am now going to give a report of my visits there:

Day 1 (Thursday, August 8)

I drove down to L.A. and got to the Museum around 1:40. They said that a console wouldn't be open until 2:15, but if I was a member, I could go up immediately. So I forked over the $35 to receive the "student" membership, and was immediately given a ticket, and went up to the library. I picked four programs, and since I was a member, I got a 3-hour window to watch the programs, instead of a 2-hour window. Here's what I picked the first time around, followed by brief (and maybe not very thought-out...I didn't take notes while watching them) analyses:

-A Compilation of Jim Henson's Early Years

Until I watched this, I had seen absolutely nothing of Jim Henson's early work, outside of still photographs. Thus, this compilation was very fascinating to me. We got classic skits like "That Old Black Magic," "Poison to Poison" with Harry the Hipster and a Muppet caricature of Alfred Hitchcock, Rowlf on the Jimmy Dean Show, Kermit doing Inchworm on Jack Paar's program, and some clips from Al Hirt's "Fanfare" program, including a version of the "slinky" skit. These clips had primitive Muppets, primitive writing, primitive everything...but the puppetry style was already firmly in place by the later skits on this compilation. Also, these were complete skits, not the edited versions that appear on "The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years" and "The World of Jim Henson."

-Sesame Street (premiere)

Until the advent of Noggin, I had seen absolutely no early Sesame Street. Even on Noggin, I did not see this episode. So I decided to watch this episode. It wasn't better or worse than the late-80s version of Sesame Street that I grew up with, or even the 70s/80s episodes I saw on Noggin. It was just...different. Matt Robinson does make a great Gordon. Big Bird looks very different, and I would go as far to say he looks weird, with the primitive face and lack of feathers on his head. His goofy early voice is NOT performed by Frank Oz, as some guides say, but by Carroll Spinney. Oscar does not look good in his orange version, and I for one am glad he was changed to green. A lot of the skits were too long, too boring, or were repeated. I didn't really like the film skits in this episode, which were overly long; nor the 30-dots animations; nor the Buddy and Jim segment (which, actually, reminds me of Laurel and Hardy). There was a lack of Muppet segments, which was surprising, since there was always a healthy amount of Muppets on this show, even in the episodes I saw on Noggin. At least there were some great "commercials" in this one, including the "baker" one (with cameos by Jim AND Brian Henson), and the "racecar"/"spies"/"jazz" one. This was a great look at the show's beginnings, no matter how primitive it may seem.

-The Muppet Valentine Show

I had heard of this special, but had never seen it. It was apparently the genesis for The Muppet Show, and I decided to watch it to find out what it was like. Kermit had a good role in this one, but Wally was basically the main character. Now I can see why Kermit was chosen to host The Muppet Show...Wally wasn't really interesting. The "Froggy Went A-Courtin'" skit was pretty good, and the "Real Live Girl" skit was kind of boring. However, there was one skit that I really liked, and that was the Koozebane skit, which was deemed good enough to use on The Muppet Show. This format didn't click with me...and I can now see why they changed it.

-The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence

Now we're getting somewhere. This was sort of like The Muppet Show, except with a "cutting back-and-forth" format...which I actually kind of like. Nigel is more interesting than Wally, but not as good as Kermit (who gets one bit part in this). I got a laugh out of Rowlf's comment "At the Dance," where he says "I used to be on TV with Jimmy Dean...but nobody remembers me anymore." The Swedish Chef parts were funny, as they always are. The Electric Mayhem song is great. I like Waldorf's comment "Did that clock stop ticking, or did we just die?" I liked how we see the puppeteers operating the Muppets at the end.

Well, that's part one of day one. I went to dinner afterwards, and then came back...

Coming up next time:
-A Muppet Family Christmas: The Uncut Version!
-A look at the very first episode of The Muppet Show!
-Our very first look at Fraggle Rock!
...AND MUCH MUCH MORE!

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

[Jeffrey Gray]

The Museum of Television and Radio: A Trip Report - Day One, Part II

OK, to avoid making a bunch of threads, I decided to condense my trip report into one thread. So here goes...

When we last left me, I was leaving the Museum to go get dinner. I ate at the Koo-Koo-Roo about 4 buildings down, and walked back to continue my day at the Museum. I went to the library, and ordered four more programs. Here is what I viewed:

-The Muppet Show (Juliet Prowse)

I have never ever seen the first episode of The Muppet Show. Not on Nickelodeon, not on Odyssey, not anywhere. So I decided to watch the first episode of The Muppet Show, with Juliet Prowse. It wasn't as good as later episodes, but I can't really go into depth about how good or how bad it was compared to other episodes, since I haven't seen any other Muppet Show episodes since 2 years ago. But here was the thing that surprised me: This was not the version that aired on TV. This was apparently an alternate "pilot-episode" version made before they decided to re-edit and rework it into the version that appeared on TV. The original opening (and a much longer version with alternate lyrics, at that) was intact, a lot of the skits were shuffled around (for example, Mahna Mahna appeared around the middle of the episode, instead of at the beginning), and some stuff was actually missing from this early version. For example, any and all of the backstage stuff with Scooter and/or Muppy, and the scenes of Gonzo actually eating the tire. Philip, do you know about this at all?

-The Muppet Show: John Cleese

Now this is the Muppet Show I remember. Corny, silly, and funny (mostly because it's corny and silly). John Cleese plays Long John Silverstein to Link Hogthrob on "Pigs in Space," Kermit reports on the Koozebanian Spoobol (which a Koozebanian gets drunk on); and the infamous closing number. I can't really say much about this, and don't need to, since all of you have probably seen it.

-Fraggle Rock: The Beginning...

This is another premiere which I have never seen. You all know the plot, so I'll just say that this was a great introduction to all the main elements of Fraggle Rock (except maybe the Gorgs, though they would be fleshed out in the second episode). I always love it when Philo and Gunge do that "NAAAAAAAAA!" thing.

-A Muppet Family Christmas

You know, I have wanted to watch this again ever since it aired on Nickelodeon in Christmas 1994. But the video is edited, and ever since I found it out, I have patiently waited for an opportunity to see the unedited version. And I got the opportunity here. I had never seen this special in its completely unedited form (even Nickelodeon edited parts out), but let me tell you, I enjoyed every minute of it. If they had been able to obtain the rights to use the songs on video, they definitely would not have edited the video. All the scenes that were missing from the video and DVD are priceless, and I don't think they'd ever want to sacrifice these scenes if they didn't have to. I loved how they even brought out a song from Fraggle Rock, along with all the Christmas classics. And Jim Henson's appearance at the end is shortput it on my "watch every Christmas" list, right up there with A Christmas Story.

So after all that, I left the museum, checked into my hotel, and went to bed. But I was ready for another day of TV viewing...

Coming up next time:
-Death comes to Sesame Street!
-The Muppets' gala 30th anniversary celebration!
-The Muppets celebrate the premiere of The Muppet Movie!
-Emmit Nervend! (Well, maybe not Emmit Nervend...)

Tune in next time for further details!

 

[Gorgon Heap]

Ooooh, can you tell us any more about the pilot version of the Juliet Prowse episode? Pleeeeaase?

David "Gorgon Heap" Ebersole

 

[Phillip]

Jeff,

My guess is that what you saw was the original version of the first episode. Late into the first season they went back and edited in some new segments here and there for a variety of reasons in a few episodes so my hunch is that is what you saw. Do you have a full run-down of the episode or did you not notice that it was unique until later?

 

[Jeffrey Gray]

I knew something was different, but by the time I really found out by reading this site's guide, I had forgotten most of the differences. Nothing from the original edit was removed from the final edit, though...I think that this episode must have been substantially shorter than its final running time, though...did this version ever make it to air?

 

[Jeffrey Gray]

The Museum of Television and Radio: A Trip Report - Day Two

When we last left me, I was asleep in my hotel. The next morning, I woke up, and watched bad TV shows. Then I went to the Museum, and picked out more programs. Here is what I picked:

-Saturday Night Live w/ Richard Pryor

I only picked this because it had a Muppet skit in it. I watched most of the program (fast-forwarding through the musical guests, the Albert Brooks film, and the commercials), and saw some funny skits. But the highlight was Scred and Ploobis getting drunk. And I think that it's funny when the Mighty Favog says "The Mighty Oz has spoken." Is that supposed to be referencing the Wizard of Oz, Frank Oz, or both? Anyway, as I said before, the Gorch segment was the highlight of the show. I wish they had more skits per show...

-The Muppets Go Hollywood

This was basically just the Muppets socializing with celebrities, a couple musical numbers, and my favorite part: An interview with Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher about "The Rainbow Connection." I really liked it when Paul sang the song, and it then slowly dissolved into Kermit singing it. And I was surprised that Miss Piggy would tell Christopher Reeve to "bug off," considering how she reacted to him on The Muppet Show...

-Fraggle Rock: Wembley and the Gorgs

Well, I decided that, since I saw the first episode of Fraggle Rock, the next one I should see is the second. And that I did. I enjoyed how the other Fraggles thought the Gorgs were going to make them slaves, Wembley disagreed, and then the Gorgs DID end up wanting to make them slaves...and I also liked the Travelling Matt segment with the balloons and kites, and Sprocket's reaction every time Doc mentioned Mr. Schimmelfinney.

-Sesame Street: The Death of Mr. Hooper

Some classic skits were in this. For example, Grover, Herry, Cookie, and Frazzle doing "Fuzzy and Blue (and Orange)", Ernie and Bert at the movies (the skit with the woman with the very tall hat), the Madeline Kahn/Grover version of "Be My Echo," the animated skit about the life cycle of frogs (memorable ending line: "HEEEEEEEEEY, KERMIIIIIIIIIIIT!"), the News Flash where the princess kisses Kermit, and she turns into a frog, and, of course, the famous street segment. You know, until I watched that skit, I had been feeling incredibly unhappy about the fact that Jim Henson was dead (12 years after it happened!), and that there was nothing I can do about it. Then, something made me realize that it was meant to be: Big Bird's line "Why does it have to be this way?" and Gordon's response "Just because." This truly was a wonderful moment on the show...

-Of Muppets and Men: The Making of the Muppet Show

I loved the book. And I loved the documentary. This was a wonderful documentary, filled with footage of the Muppet Show cast and crew at work, writing, rehearsing, taping, etc. etc. etc., all narrated by Jim Henson himself. Many clips were presented, either in finished form, or as behind-the-scenes tapings, such as "In the Navy," the backstage skit where Miss Piggy announces that she and Kermit are engaged, and many many more. I loved it...I wish I could work with the Muppets.

So that concluded another day at the Museum of Television and Radio. But stay tuned next time to find out:

-What happens when the Muppets go to Walt Disney World!
-What happens when the Muppets celebrate 30 years!
-What happens when the Storyteller doesn't have a story to tell!
-What happens when you mix nitroglycerin and a lit match! (Well, maybe not that...)

But anyways...stay tuned next time to find out more about my amazing trip to...THE MUSEUM OF TELEVISION AND RADIO!

 

[Jackie]

Re: The Museum of Television and Radio: A Trip Report - Day Two

Originally posted by Jeffrey Gray
Big Bird's line "Why does it have to be this way?" and Gordon's response "Just because." This truly was a wonderful moment on the show...

One point was, Big Bird was being silly earlier on in the show, walking backwards and looking backwards through his legs, and Gordon asked him why he was doing that. Big Bird replied "Just...because" and that's how Gordon ended up explaining Mr. Hooper's Death to Big Bird.

 

[Jeffrey Gray]

The Museum of Television and Radio: A Trip Report - Day Three

Well, moving right along...after the first two days at the Museum, I spent two more. Here is a report of the third day (pardon the short reviews, I am very tired):

-Sesame Street: 1973 Season Premiere

Unbeknownst to me, I had already seen about half of this episode on Noggin. But this version was unedited, and I was able to not only catch what I missed, but also the stuff that was cut out during the parts I did watch. I really like Stevie Wonder's song "1-2-3 Sesame Street". This episode had the "A-B-C-D-E-F-G, H-I-J-K, Cookie Monster!" skit. Also, it had two classic Ernie/Bert skits: "Doin' the Pigeon" and the skit where Ernie talks about Bert's face and he's traced over by a blue line, making a picture of him. The opening street shot of this episode, like all season-premiere episodes, is filled with characters. I wonder why that only seemed to happen on season premieres....

-The Muppets Go to the Movies

Good special. I got a kick out of the "Silent Strawberries" segment, the silent-movie segment ("Hot cross bunny! I get it now!" "And so the talkies were born..."), the war-movie spoof, and the clips from The Great Muppet Caper. Also, the movie logo parodies were quite funny (especially Metro-Goldwyn-Bear). And am I the only one who thinks that the "Fool of the Roman Empire" segment was deliberately claustrophobically-framed, to make fun of how films are cropped for television?

-The Muppets at Walt Disney World

Also a good special. I liked how Charles Grodin's character was too stupid to recognize the Muppets (and how he always called them the "Kismet gang"). I spotted Baskerville, Sprocket, and all the Dog City dogs in Rowlf's song. I liked the song "Rockin' Around the World." And the whole ending with Mickey sounds like some sort of explanation for the proposed merger that almost happened. All in all, a great special, and the one that everyone seemed to met Jim at while he was taping.

-The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years

Excellent special. I liked seeing the Sam and Friends Muppets in the audience. The clip sequences were great, especially the "monsters/explosions" one. Why is it that "Little Muppet Monsters" was taken off CBS' schedule after only 3 of the 13 episodes aired? I thought it was quite funny when Jim read the bill. There were a lot of clips here I had never seen before (and some ones I had). Fun special.

-Down at Fraggle Rock: Behind the Scenes

This was a great special, because of the incredible amount of clips from episodes I had and hadn't seen before, and the explanations of how the Gorgs and Doozers were performed. I don't know why Jim didn't say anything about how he wanted this show to help end war. Why is it that Richard Hunt aged so quickly? He looked sick, even though he hadn't gotten HIV yet (or had he?).

-The Storyteller: A Story Short

Now here is something I had never seen before: An episode of The Storyteller. It's completely different from the Muppets (as we all know). This one was about the Storyteller himself, when he was a beggar, and ended up telling a story to a king every night for a year, and what happened when he couldn't think of a story for the final night. One interesting thing was that I finally learned the origin of the "stone soup" story. This show is great, and I hope I can get the opportunity to see more episodes.

Well, that wrapped up yet another day at the museum. But some questions remain unanswered:

-Will I be able to get to watching everything I wanted to watch by the end of my final day at the museum?
-What will happen when Sesame Street celebrates 20 years?
-Will Miss Piggy ever realize that "The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show" is a special, and not a weekly series?
-And what about Naomi?

Stay tuned to find out, in my trip report of day 4 at The Museum of Television and Radio?

 

[GWGumby]

Hey Jeffrey. Thanks for these interesting reports. I'm finding them curiously entertaining. I'm not usually one who enjoys reports of other people's vacations, but I am enjoying yours. Especially learning about the various shows and specials out there that I've never seen.

Thanks again.

 

[Jeffrey Gray]

The Museum of Television and Radio: A Trip Report - Day Four

Okay...I finally got around to typing this. I had watched a glut of Henson material, but I still had one more day. So I decided to make the last day just as good as the other three. Here is what I watched:

-John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together

This wasn't actually a very good special. Sure, it had good singing, and some good skits, but it wasn't as good as it could have been. "It's in Every One of Us" was OK, and the toy soldiers skit was OK, and the Nativity sequence was stop-motion that reminded me of the Sesame Street skit "The King of Eight." But the rest of the special wasn't very good.Give me "A Muppet Family Christmas" over this any day.

-The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show

Only three words can describe this special: Over the top. And of course, that was what it was meant to be. From the opening number, to the luau number, to Piggy's great version of "I Will Survive," this special was over the top. And I loved it. I loved both the control room sequences with all the other Muppets, and the actual sketches with Miss Piggy. I also liked Tony Clifton in particular...he did a good rendition of "Sing." Oh, and in the control room, has anyone noticed that the "Camera 3" monitor is showing a Bert/Ernie skit? By the way, John Ritter wearing a blonde wig and a pig snout was hilarious.

-A Rocky Mountain Holiday with John Denver and the Muppets

OK...after "A Christmas Together," I didn't think this would be a very good special. I was wrong. This was leaps and bounds ahead of that special. Great songs, great moments with the Muppets (I liked the part where Rowlf was in the plane...I wonder if they really took Rowlf and John up in a plane for those closeup shots), and we even got Statler and Waldorf. Every song in this show was great, and I loved the group version of "It's In Every One of Us" (originally sung by just John and Kermit in "A Christmas Together). All the other songs were great too. And I especially liked the parts with Robin, who is one of my favorite Muppets.

-Sesame Street: 20...And Still Counting

Bill Cosby hosts a wonderful special honoring 20 years of Sesame Street. I loved every minute of it, from Kermit trying to get people to answer his question "Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?" (and his interview with Grover), to the clips of John-John and Herry counting to 20, both with John-John as a little kid, and all grown up. I loved the many memorable clips, and I really loved the big finale song, "Sing" sung by the entire cast (adults, kids, and Muppets). I loved the clips of the pinball skit, the "King of Eight" skit, and the "Bill Cosby and Bill Cosby" skit. (I like the comment Cosby says about "when people ask me about that, I tell them that's my son.") I even enjoyed the conversation between Jim Henson and Joan Ganz Cooney. It all helped remind me how great Sesame Street really is (or was).

-Henson's Place: The Man Behind the Muppets

Boring. That's all I can say about it. Boring. Lots of interviews with Jim, Jane, Frank, and Lew Grade. Apart from a couple good variety-show appearance clips, this was boring, and a waste of time.

I then watched an Electric Company episode (featuring Spider-Man!), and left the Museum. And then I drove home, and began my reports on Monday.

That was four, four days at the Museum of Television and Radio! Ah, ah, ah! (thunder and lightning)

THE END