Muppet Halloween Costumes on ABC!

The Muppets may have a new ABC show, but that's not the only place they popped up on the alphabet network this week.

Immediately following the latest episode of the show Tuesday, Fresh Off The Boat aired a Halloween episode that featured two Muppet costumes. 

While the show takes place in the early nineties, neither of of these costumes is period accurate. 

Check out the scene below:

Fresh Off The Boat  wasn't the only ABC show this week to feature a Muppet costume either. Wednesday night on The Goldberg's, a neighborhood kid dressed up as Kermit.

"Kermit" was seen a few times throughout the episode!

While also not period accurate, we'll cut the kid some slack- maybe his mom made it. 

Anyway it's always great to see random Muppet love! 

Happy Halloween!

Tillman, the skateboarding English bulldog, has died!

Tillman, the skateboarding English bulldog, has died at the age of 10. 

He was fixture at Venice Beach and in 2008 appeared with the Muppets in series of viral videos.

You can read more about Tillman's life at CNN.

"The Muppets" Gets Full Season Order!

"The Muppets" has been picked up for full season by ABC!

According to Deadline:

ABC has picked up three more episodes from new comedy series The Muppets, bringing its first-season order to 16 episodes. After big expectations and a strong ratings start, The Muppets has slipped but has done an OK job opening Tuesday night for ABC at 8 PM, with its ratings running on par with lead-out Fresh Off the Boat, which just received a Back 9 order, bringing its Season 2 pickup to a full-season 22.

The Muppets had been earmarked for a limited run. Laying out ABC’s midseason plans at the upfronts, network topper Paul Lee said the idea is that after The Muppetsends its limited run, Fresh Off the Boat would move to 8 PM and used to launch new family comedy The Real O’Neals. Of course, if The Muppets had blown up in the ratings, those plans probably could’ve been adjusted to accomodate more Muppets episodes. 

Season to date, The Muppets still ranks as Tuesday’s highest-rated new TV show among Adults 18-49 (2.6). On average, the freshman show is improving its half-hour for ABC by 69% in Total Viewers (7.6 million) and by 86% in Adults 18-49 (2.6), standing as the net’s strongest performing Tuesday comedy in 4 years. In its most recent airing this week, The Muppets returned against the World Series with an uptick in Adults 18-49 (+8%). 

The Hollywood Reporter, also confirmed that:

The additional three-episode pickup is six shy of the standard back-nine order, with insiders stressing the shortfall is to accommodate the network's midseason fare.

The Muppets, ranks as Tuesday's highest-rated new series among adults 18-49 and has improved the network's Tuesday slot by 69 percent among total viewers versus last season's short-lived Selfie (7.6 million vs. 4.5 million) and 86 percent among adults under 50 (2.6 vs. 1.4).

The Muppets was as ABC's final fall freshman series to get a back-order.

Throwback Thursday: Muppet Hallmark Puzzle Card!

It's Halloween week, The Muppets had a crime caper movie last year, and Hallmark has been releasing new Muppet merchandise. What year is it?

If in you guessed 1982, you would have seen this Hallmark Puzzle Card at your local greeting card store. 

As the name implies it was puzzle, but also a card! There was even a place to sign your name so the person you gave it to would always know who it was from. 

The tag says "Hope your Halloween's a real thriller." Little did Hallmark know Micheal Jackson's mega hit "Thriller" would be released almost a month after that years' Halloween. Spooky!

Muppet Show Clock Unboxing!

Like many of you, I've gotten a few notices from The Bradford Exchange stating that the Muppets cuckoo clock had been delayed. I even received one after a large white box arrived...

Let's see what's inside!

As you can see the final product looks just like the prototype we showed back in March:

While we didn't show the Kermit pendulum in the video, rest assured it was there, and looks just like the one pictured above.

I hope you don't have to wait too long to add it to your collection!

New Muppets with Reese Witherspoon Tonight!

Reese Witherherspoon (but probably with out it - Wocka Wocka) will be tonight's guest on The Muppets!

Check out these two trailers for the show:

And don't forget The Muppets airs tonight at 8/7c on ABC!

The Great Conjunction: The Legacy of The Dark Crystal Documentary - Now Crowd Sourcing!

The Great Conjunction, a fan made documentary about The Dark Crystal and it's impact, have launched their crowd sourcing campaign! 

The film is being made by JM Prater and Philip Mitchell, two mega fans of the film. 

Here's what they have to say about the project:

"We've been asked "why make a documentary about The Dark Crystal, when there was one created in the early 1980s?"

Our goal with this film is multifaceted. What interests us as filmmakers and artists is the impact that The Dark Crystal had on the filmmaking community at that time (Star Wars), showcasing many of the artists and craftspeople who worked on the film that aren't as well known as Jim Henson, Frank Oz, or Brian & Wendy Froud.

What's also important is chronicling how The Dark Crystal inspired and changed the lives of a generation of children who are now adults. This portion of the film will lead us all over the globe."

Check out their pitch video:

You can find more info about the film, the perks for contributing, and pledging your support to making this film at Indiegogo.

NYCC 2015 Roundup!

At long last I was finally able to get my report from this year's New York Comic Con together! 

While there wasn't as much official Muppet items as in past years, you'll see that there was still PLENTY of great Muppet stuff to be found around the con. 

In Artist's Alley, talented Muppet comic artists like Katie Cook, and Jay Fosgitt were spotted along with Amy Mebberson, James Silvani, and David Petersen who were gracious enough to sign their Muppet Snow White covers. 

               

I also saw two very different types of Muppet fan art on display. Marvel colorist Justin Ponsor, had these awesome Muppet mashups for sale. 

While Colin Lawler had terrific water colors of Bunsen and Beaker and The Swedish Chef:

This year's "Creatively Energizing Young People with Comic Books and the Arts" panel was once agian moderated by Mike Lopez and featured:
Arthur Novell, from The Jim Henson Legacy:

Alex Simmons & Paul Castiglia from Archie comics and  founders of Kids Comic Con, 

Noel MacNeal from Sesame Street and Bear in The Big Blue House, and Artist/Educator Ray Felix.

Who each told wonderful stories about Jim Henson, The Muppets, and how to inspire young audiences. 

On the show floor we spotted a number of interesting items including a Funko Pop! prototype of Snuffy - for $600!

 A Muppet Babbies Castle playset for $425!

 Some beautiful, but also too expensive original Sesame Street puppets:

 And one of my grail items, a Muppet Shrinky Dinks set - still sealed! 

We may never know how many kids got burnt trying to make these, but I remember them being well worth it!

If you had a good eye, there were Muppets hanging around all over the place.  

 Sir Didymus finally got the respect he deserves and is got his own t-shirt!

As they did at San Diego, Hallmark showed off thier 2016 Muppet ornament - The Electric Mayhem bus!

While Diamond Select officially unveiled some their upcoming Muppet mini-mates and action figures:

Our pal James Carroll helped on the Mini-mates, but really contributed to the overall perfection of the action figures. 

 Fozzie will be packed with Scooter and each have around 10 points of articulation!

Gonzo will come with Camilla:

Kermit has 13 points  of articulation, and will come not only with both his banjo stool and log, but with both Robin and Bean as well!

While at the Diamond booth we spotted Sam, of Mo Monster fame and his hand crafted Kermit puppet. 

Sam also came ready to cosplay as his favorite ToughPig - our friend Joe Hennes, who just happened to be right around the corner! (Kermit wasn't as impressed)

We caught a glimpse of fan art that placed it's star into various pop culture situations, including this one of Kermit's "But's That's None of My Business" meme. 

 Zen Monkey Studios had their new Doozer shirts available:

Mid afternoon we heard Funko sold out of their NYCC Exclusive flocked Cookie Monster, 

But for hose that those that's couldn't get one, we have one for sale on eBay, along with Funko's convention exclude flocked Snuffy!

On the way out of town I spotted this cover of New York magazine cover featuring an unlicensed Times Square Elmo recreating the famous V-J Day kiss. 

Another very whirlwind NYCC with plenty of cool Muppet items to be found. 

By the end of the trip I wound up adding a Colin Lawler Swedish Chef print, a pack of unopened American Greeting Muppet invitations, a full box of Dark Crystal trading cards, an original Muppets Take Manhattan program, the Funko pop! flocked Cookie Monster, a sealed DVD of Johnny and the Sprites (found the day before a shop in Brooklyn), and - I couldn't resist - the Muppet Shrinky Dinks to my collection. And yes, if you look closely, Noel MacNeal was gracious enough to sign two Bear in Big Blue House items for me.