More sad news as Muppet Show guest Jaye P. Morgan has died.
Born Mary Margaret Morgan, she gained fame for her 1950s hit "That's All I Want from You," as well as judging on The Gong Show.
In 1956, she had her own show, The Jaye P. Morgan Show, and made guest appearances on other variety shows including The Jackie Gleason Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, and The Jack Benny Program.
She guest starred in the second season of The Muppet Show where she performed "Tweedle Dee" and "That Old Black Magic."
Her other credits as herself include appearances on The Odd Couple, The Dating Game (as a celebrity contestant), and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
You can read more about Jaye P. Morgan at Variety.
We lost another legend as Tim Curry has passed away.
Curry memorably played Long John Silver in 1996's Muppet Treasure Island a role he reprised for the CD-ROM game.
It's been said that while Michael Cain treated The Muppets as fellow actors for The Muppet Christmas Carol, Tim Curry considered himself a fellow Muppet forMuppet Treasure Island. At the conclusion of filming, Curry was given a Muppet caricature of himself as a gift, which you can see here.
He also provided voices for a number of characters in the Henson series Dinosaurs.
He also actor contributed a Lemon-Stuffed Roasted Chicken recipe for Miss Piggy's cookbook, "In the Kitchen with Miss Piggy" and narrated A Sesame Street Christmas Carol.
In 1998, Curry starred in Madness Reigns, an unaired pilot produced by the Jim Henson Company, playing an exiled king.
His numerous film credits include The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Annie, Clue, Legend, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Stephen King’s It TV movie, and the 2000 feature film adaptation of Charlie's Angels.
He also provided voices for FernGully: The Last Rainforest, The Rugrats Movie, Rugrats in Paris, and The Wild Thornberrys Movie.
His stage credits range from The Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance to Spamalot.
But to us he'll always be "Professional Pirate" Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island.
Sad news as legendary singer, songwriter, author, and actress Dolly Parton has died.
Parton had many notable hits including “Jolene," "I Will Always Love You," “Here You Come Again,” and “Islands in the Stream” with Kenny Rogers.
In the 80's she expanded into acting with hits movies The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias, and 9 to 5 - which garnered her both a Golden Globe acting nomination and another hit song.
She opened the Dollywood theme park in her home of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee to create jobs for her friends and neighbors.
In 1986, she received an "Honorary Muppet Award" in Muppet Magazine.
The following year. both Kermit and Miss Piggy appeared on her TV variety show, Dolly.
You can read more about filing these appearances in Jim's Red Book.
In 2012, Kermit and and Dolly reunited on Good Morning America and sang "Islands in the Stream.
Parton was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Country Music Hall of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. She was a National Medal of Arts honoree and a Kennedy Center Honors recipient.
Join me as I hunt for Muppet stuff at Play With This Toy's Street Fair Toy Show in Merchantville, NJ then I head to House of Fun for even more hunting!
More info on the locations and events in this video:
Entertainment fans around the world were shocked to learn that Hayden Panettiere died suddenly this week.
Panettiere grew up in front of the camera, having her first role at just 11 months old in a 1990 Playskool train commercial. Her other credits include roles on the soar operas One Life to Live and Guiding Light, Ally McBeal, Malcolm in the Middle, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a breakout role in the hit NBC super hearo drama, Heroes and later the ABC music drams Nashville.
Her film credits included Remember the Titans, Ice Princess, Bring It On: All or Nothing, Scream 4 and 6, the voice actress for Dot in Pixar'sA Bugs' Life, Suri in Disney's Dinosaur, and Kairi in the English version of the Kingdom Hearts video game series.
In 1996, Panettiere appeared in the Henson series Aliens in the Family's 5th episode "Too Good to Be True."
I've been hearing a lot about this new movie called "The Odyssey." Apparently, it's based on a book of stories by a guy called Homer and not even the yellow one from Springfield.
Well, as usual, this Hollywood blockbuster is years behind Jim Henson and the Henson Company.
For you see, before there was Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey," there was Henson and Hallmark's Odyssey Network.
What's a mere 3 hours when you have 24hrs a day 7 days straight!
So let's look back at the one, true original, Odyssey - The Odyssey Network!
The Odyssey Network began in 1998 after the Faith & Values Network cable channel was bought by The Jim Henson Company and Hallmark Entertainment.
In addition to airing classics like The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, and Muppet Babies, the network also aired lesser known show like The Ghost of Faffner Hall, Aliens in the Family, The Secret Life of Toys, and Mother Goose Stories.
It was these airing of The Muppet Show were Brian Henson's introductions first appeared.
Henson also produced new content including a continuation of the series Donna's Day (which previously ran for two season on PBS) as well as interstitials like Muppetisms and Movie Mania that aired during commercial breaks, many of which were later released as DVD bonus features.
And while not the same story as "The Odyssey" nor having aired on The Odyssey Network, Jim Henson produced a spin off to The Storyteller titled The Storyteller: Greek Myths that followed a Greek storyteller played by Michael Gambon and his talking dog retelling classic greek myths as "Perseus and the Gorgon", "Orpheus and Eurydice", "Theseus and the Minotaur", and "Daedalus and Icarus."
Just like Nolan's "The Odyssey" had exclusive popcorn buckets, The Odyssey Network had exclusive items given out to employees like this Applause Kermit plush with Odyssey tags, and Kermit adorned luggage.
So if you're a fan of this new epic retelling of "The Odyssey," remember Henson did it first and longer - as well as some guy named Homer too, I guess.
And you should see Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey," it's really good, even if it doesn't have any Henson connections.
Couldn't make it to D23 this weekend, well fret not as some of the "exclusive" Muppet Show 50th Anniversary merchandise is now available at the Disney Store!
The line includes a replica of Scooter's jacket, T-shirt, a cardigan with plush
This Muppet Show t-shirt always has your back. And your front! Hang out with Kermit, Miss Piggy and the cast of the show that's celebrating its 50th anniversary. This vintage-inspired tee commemorates all the laughs, music and memorable characters.
It's time to get things started. It's time to dress-up right. It's time to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of The Muppet Show tonight! Give a hand to the inspirational, Muppetational stars of the show – Kermit and Miss Piggy – on a limited edition, golden mini jumbo pin with commemorative logo and window display box. Yay!
Wake up – it's showtime! Set the stage for a sensational, Muppetational day with this collectible mug and matching coaster set featuring Scooter, one of six sets, each sold separately, celebrating the 50th Anniversary of The Muppet Show. Collect all six!
The other mugs haven't been released yet, but as you can see the rest of the set includes, Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Rowlf, and Sam Eagle.
