University of Maryland Lecture Series With Kermit the Frog!

To celebrate Jim Henson's birthday, his alma mater, The University of Maryland, is hosting a lecture with Kermit the Frog.

To honor the life and legacy of distinguished alum Jim Henson ’60, the College of Arts and Humanities (ARHU) presents a special evening with “the world’s most famous amphibian,” Kermit.

Created by Henson in 1955, Kermit the Frog is a global icon of kindness, positivity, humor and heart. As Henson’s signature Muppet, Kermit starred in Sesame Street, The Muppet Show and numerous films and TV specials, always embodying his creator’s gentle wisdom and creativity.

At UMD, Kermit will be joined by Muppet performer Matt Vogel, along with ARHU Dean Stephanie Shonekan, for a vibrant evening of conversation, reflection and celebration featuring musical performances by students, faculty and members of the community—and of course by Kermit himself.

A signature event of ARHU, this event is co-sponsored by the Arts for All initiative with support from the American Banjo Museum, and created in partnership with the UMD School of Music and the UMD School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies.

 A Q&A will be included.

Tickets and info here. Tickets are free but registration is required. 

Rare Clip: Jim Henson Promoting The Muppet Show on Jonny Carson!

The Johnny Carson YouTube channel uploaded a rare clip of Jim Henson and The Muppets promoting The Muppet Show.

Typically, we'd save something like this for our Rare Muppet Clip series but it's just too good not to share by itself. 

The appearance is from September 14, 1976, which was only a week after the The Muppet Show premiered in the US. 

When The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, The Muppet Show's second pilot, premiered March 19, 1975, it wasn't a huge hit. However, Johnny Carson's Tonight Show was appointment television, so this was likely many people's first introduction to characters such as the Swedish Chef and Fozzie Bear. 

There's even a even more behind the scenes look at the musical number "Rag Mop" which was reused in 1981's of Muppets and Men: The Making of The Muppet Show, but again this was most peoples first look at how Muppet magic comes to life. 

Enjoy!

EW Celebrates TV Romances with the Muppets!

Entertainment Weekly's February issue celebrated "The Best TV Romances of All Time." 

Coming in at number 11 was Miss Piggy and Kermit. 

While the magazine only has 50 couples, the online version has 100, and bumped Miss Piggy and Kermit up to the 10th spot!

 

10. Miss Piggy and Kermit

The Muppets

No TV couple personified the je ne sais quoi mystery of love more than this world-famous pig and frog on The Muppets. Emotional and biological opposites, the two entertainers bonded over showbiz — but passion kept them together through every karate chop for nearly 40 years, until their breakup in 2015. Is there hope for a reconciliation? Says a spokesperson for the Muppets, "Kermit and Miss Piggy deeply care for each other and love working together. Kermit is very busy with various projects, and Miss Piggy is even busier being Miss Piggy. Whether they reunite as a couple remains an open question. When you're talking about the world's greatest interspecies romance, anything is possible." —K.B.

 

You can see the full list here and pick up Entertainment Weekly's February issue on newsstands. 

Muppet Stuff Video: "Krazy After Dark"!

 This past Monday night we went "Krazy After Dark" with Krazy Joe and Megapodtstic. 

Watch below as we talk Spider-man, Star Trek, Ghostbusters: Afterlife and of course Muppets!

You can find more Megapodtastic videos on their youtube channel. 

Animal Appears in New GEICO ad!

Insurance company GEICO has a long history of using famous licensed characters in their ads and now it's The Muppets turn to shill for your 15 minutes to save to 15%. 

Animal appears in the first ad titled "There's An Animal In The Attic."

Sure, maybe there’s an Animal in your attic. And maybe that Animal has been working on that drum solo all night. But at least you can bundle and save with GEICO.

I'm going to go out a limb and guess we'll be seeing Kermit as a non-sequitur "frog in someone's throat", or Miss Piggy's "hamming it up" in future spots. But hey, anything that keeps the characters we love in their preverbal 15 minutes of fame, can't be all bad just as log as they don't lose 15% of their charm along the way. 

Big Bird Lights Up The Empire State Building!

Big Bird, Deb and Caroll Spinney went to the Empire State Building for a special 50th anniversary lighting ceremony where mayor Bill De Blasio declared today "Caroll Spinney Day." 

 

Look for the iconic building to be green and yellow Sunday!

Sesame Street Crashes The Late Late Show with James Corden!

A few of our Sesame Street friends stopped by The Late Late Show with James Corden last night.

Check out their appearance below: 

The Muppets to Appear on Drop the Mic!

The Muppets are set to Drop the Mic. 

To promote the new season of the comic battle rap competition series, The Muppets appear in a new video singing, host of the show, Method Man's "Bring The Pain."

Other celebrities in the video include Lonzo Ball, T-Pain, Mark Cuban, Taran Killam, Jason Biggs, Boy George, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, and more!

The show is based on a popular segment from The Late Late Show with James Corden and is hosted by Method Man and Hailey Bieber.

Each week, celebrities face off in a rap battle. At the end of each head-to-head battle, Method Man picks the winner.

While we don't have a date yet for The Muppets' episode, The new season of Drop the Mic premieres tonight at 10PM EST on TNT.

UPDATE:
The Muppets will battle it out Wednesday, January 30th at 9pm on TNT!

Adorkable Rachel Visits The Inkhole Lounge (EXPLICIT)

Last week we told you that among the promotion for The Happytime Murders was The Inkhole Lounge, a pop-up where you could interacted with some of the characters from the film.  

Today our good friend Rachel takes us inside The Inkhole and the dirty world the of Happytime puppets. WARNING EXPLICIT CONTENT!

Kermit Gives American Idol a "Rainbow Connection"!

Kermit appeared on the live season finale of American Idol last night where he performed  "Rainbow Connection" with eventual winner Maddie Poppe. 

Update: Here is Kermit plugging hi appearance before the show:

The Muppets Shill for Barclaycard Entertainment!

You may have heard that The Muppets are performing a set of live shows at London's O2 arena in June.

What you may not know, is that Barclays bank is an official partner of the venue, and now the all three have teamed up to promote the shows. 

Over the weekend Barclay's had a wrap around ad in the UK paper Evening Standard. As you can see below, the ad features Kermit, Floyd, Animal, Beaker, The Swedish Cehf, Camilla, and Gonzo.

Photos courtesy of Ben Piddington

Yes, they're all basic stock images we've seen before, but they work well in the ads. 

That's not all though. To coincide with the ads, Barclays enlisted the actual Muppets for a TV commercial as well. 

The whole things is timed to promote The Muppet Take the O2 July 13 & 14th. Tickets are on sale now. 

The Jim Henson Retrospectacle Takes New Zealand!

There a special event happening right now for those able to get to New Zealand. The Jim Henson Retrospectacle, a 3 week Jim Henson extravaganza, began last week and we're now beginning to see some news makes it way to the states.

If your unfamiliar, The Jim Henson Retrospectacle is sort of like all the Henson appearances and live events we've been lucky to have here in the US over the last few years all rolled into one.

Yesterday, Bret McKenzie hosted a panel featuring Ernie and Kermit.This is not only extremely rare because the Muppets and Sesame characters are not owned by the same companies anymore, but that both characters used to be performed by the same person - specifically Jim Henson then Steve Whitmire, which would have made a live appearance like this extremely difficult. 

You can watch the entire panel below: 

Make sure to check out their website, and if you can make a trip to New Zealand wile the festival is running, do. 

It's great that there is such a full fledged effort to bring the characters and their performers to audiences around the world.

And while most of us won't be able to make any of the events in the series, we can all live vicariously through the reports and videos that are starting to surface.Friday and Saturday night is the full "Jim Henson Retrospectacle Live in Concert" featuring Bret McKenzie, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and characters from The Muppets, Sesame Street,and Fraggle Rock.

Which seems like it will be similar to 2012's "Jim Henson's Musical World at Carnegie Hall."We'll be sure to share any videos that surface of the shows. 

Miss Piggy at the Fashion Awards!

The Swarovski Fashion Awards, yes that's apparently a thing, asked Miss Piggy to be a correspondent on their red carpet this year.

First, she sat down with Bustle to talk about the gig.

The divine swine was so honored by the request that she had trouble figuring out what to wear...

She even asked Vogue Paris editor-in-chief, Emmanuelle Alt for help....

She finally managed to figure out what to wear and you can watch her entire appearance on the red carpet below from Facebook Live:

Let the selfies begin!

Rare Trash From Jim Henson!

A rare video of Jim Henson and the Muppets surfaced on YouTube yesterday. 

The video features Muppet trash and was part of the 1973 TV special Keep U. S. Beautiful.

According to the Muppet Wiki: 

Keep U. S. Beautiful was a comedy-variety special with an anti-pollution/litter theme, which debuted over NBC on March 27, 1973. Hosted by Raymond Burr, the special was divided into a series of sketches, with celebrity performers

Thanks to the internet and you tuber Rick Thomas, you can watch the Muppets' entire segment here!

Storyboard of the sketch

The concept of Muppet trash was "recycled" in 1989 for The Jim Henson Hour, which is itself a Henson rarity. 

Dancing to "The Rainbow Connection"!

Last night was "Disney Night" on ABC's Dancing With The Stars. The contestants two-stepped to a trove of familiar Disney tunes from Steamboat Willie to the upcoming Coco.
They even overlaid a few of the animated characters into the performances and practice videos which was a nice touch.

The one Disney star actually in attendance was Kermit the frog himself. Kermit made taped appearances throughout the episode, then hopped behind the judges table to watch Drew Scott and Emma Slater waltz to "The Rainbow Connection."

You can see their dance below, which Kermit gave a unofficial "10."

The dance even saved the couple from being eliminated and the song itself was so beautifully reworked its a shame it was so short. Disney should seriously consider releasing a full length version. 

There was much also much more Kermit in this episode then just in this brief video and we'll update this post as more come online.

As a side note, this was Matt Vogel's first prime time appearance as Kermit.Overall it was really good, though I think he Matt could use a bit more enthusiasm in his "yeeeaaaahhss."  

The Dark Crystal: The Ultimate Visual History Now Available!

The long awaited The Dark Crystal: The Ultimate Visual hits books store shelves today. 

Caseen Gaines' in depth chronicle of the  making of The Dark Crystal features an introduction by Brian and Wendy Froud and a foreword by Cheryl Henson. 

Dark Crystal: The Ultimate Visual History is the definitive collection of rare artwork, interviews, and on-set photos from the beloved Jim Henson fantasy classic.

A true masterpiece brought to life by the ingenious puppetry and peerless storytelling of Jim Henson, Dark Crystal is revered by an entire generation of fans. For the first time, this deluxe and highly comprehensive book tells the complete story of this deeply personal Henson project, highlighting the unique creative journey and groundbreaking techniques that brought the film to the screen. Drawing from unseen archive interviews with Jim Henson and new interviews with the film’s behind-the-scenes creative team, Dark Crystal: The Ultimate Visual History leaves no stone unturned in chronicling the entire production, from the initial concept based on themes close to Henson’s heart to the ingenious conceptual design, puppet construction, and logistics of the shoot itself. The book also delves into the wider world of Dark Crystal, exploring the creation of comics, novels, and other official projects inspired by the film. 

This deluxe coffee-table book contains an in-depth look at the day-to-day production of the film and showcases a huge range of incredible visuals, including candid set photography, previously unseen concept art, storyboards, production notes, and more. The book also features a plethora of amazing removable items, such as script pages, notes and sketches from Henson, and other unique treasures. Definitive, enthralling, and revelatory, Dark Crystal: The Ultimate Visual History is the last word on an enduring modern classic and the book that fans of the film have been waiting for.

 

Caseen Gaines will be joined by Cheryl Henson tomorrow evening at Barnes & Noble Tribeca to talk everything Dark Crystal, Henson, and Muppets and sign copies of the book. 

Want a signed copy of your very own, but can't make it to New York? Caseen was gracious enough to have a few copies signed by Cheryl Henson and himself available through his facebook page.  

Otherwise, the book is available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and at a book store near you. 

The Muppets on WE Day Special!

As previously reported, The Muppets will be appearing on tonight's WE Day special!

The "entertainment special celebrating the transformative power of individuals acting together to create change in their communities and around the world" that was taped back in April finally makes it debut.

This week a few more videos of the Muppets with one of celebrity guests surfaced:

Here's the spot with Rowlf and Alicia Keys we previusly shared as well. 

You may recall that this isn't the first time the Muppets appeared on WE Day. Last year The Muppets opened the special with a very familiar tune.

You can see last year's entire special below:

In case you want to just skip to The Muppet parts, Gonzo appears around the 6:41 mark, Bobo at 19:55, Kermit and Zooey Deschanel at 26:10, and finally Scooter at the 38.18 mark.

Be sure to set those DVR's for tonight WE Day Special at 8/7c on CBS!

The Muppets To Appear with Kendall Jenner in 'Love' Magazine!

Paparazzi recently tracked Kendall Jenner to a photo shoot with The Muppets!

The shoot took place last week in New York for an upcoming issue for UK magazine Love. 

The furry attire is apparently part of designer Miu Miu‘s Fall/Winter 2017 collection.

Kermit, Miss Piggy, Janice, and Animal will be appearing in the spread, but judging by the pictures it looks like none of the performers were present. 

The final photos will appear in Love issue 18 which will be released later this year.

DVR Alert: Miss Piggy on VH1 Big in 2015 with Entertainment Weekly!

Set those DVRs as Miss Piggy is set to appear on VH1 Big in 2015 with Entertainment Weekly tonight at 9/8c PM on VH1.

Update: 
We now have a brief clip from her appeance:

TV Shows - Full Episode Video - Reality TV Shows

DVR Alert: The Muppets Return to "Dancing with the Stars" Tonight!

Be sure to set those DVR's at The Muppets return to "Dancing with the Stars" tonight at 8/7 central on ABC. 

And just in case you miss it, we'll be be sure to update this post tomorrow with video from the appearance.