Muppet Commentary Mondays

To Whom it may Concern (and frankly, if you are reading this website in the first place you probably have cause to be concerned),

I am sending this letter, much like a message in a bottle, from an undisclosed water-based location (okay, it’s my bath, but that’s beside the point). The point is, I have jammed all normal transmissions from the Dosier of Ryan while he foolishly thought it wise to travel abroad leaving the blog unguarded and -- much like pirate radio of old -- I am taking over this blog in the name of freedom, honour and the right to boogie. (Okay, not that last one. But the others apply.)

Seeing as I was unceremoniously banished from this website following several unfortunate incidents during my previous takeover (note to Ryan: I still intend to replace your cat…) I have decided that the only way to prove my worth and return to writing articles of value for this most treasured and important of websites is to delve deep to my West Coast Smuggler roots and pirate the website for a week.


By the time Ryan regains control he’ll know I’m too important to be dropped by the roadside (which may actually be what happened to Ryan’s cat…).


Now, indulge me just this once and read this Pirated article!


-The British Correspondent

And now in my first outlandish act of piracy…

MUPPET COMIC MONDAYS TO BE REPLACED BY MUPPET COMMENTARY MONDAYS BY THE BRITISH CORRESPONDENT (our apologies to the Muppet Comic Guru James Gannon…just go with it for the sake of comedy, okay?)


Greetings. It has been a while since I found myself (as I mentioned) cut off from the land of the blogging and so it has been for quite some time that you poor readers have been deprived of my deepest thoughts and most intimate feelings regarding recent Muppet happenings, so let's get a quick rundown...

Prince Charles will not be appearing in the new Muppet movie. As Ryan mentioned a few days ago, the British Prince Royal will not be appearing in the movie because he has important engagements opening parks and helping old ladies cross the street...And good for him! Everyone knows that doing volunteer work is more important than appearing in some movie. Hang on... Where is he sourcing these rumours? That article has nothing to do with bonny Prince Charley...it's all about some actor named Charles Grodin. Goodness...well, I don't know what I think about that! How dare Charles Grodin put volunteer work ahead of the Muppets! Well! I'm shocked, shocked I say, at such selfish behaviour. Tsk tsk. (Views expressed by the British Correspondent do not necessarily reflect the views of this blog...)

My Uncle (twice-removed) will not be appearing in the new Muppet movie. Based almost entirely upon salacious rumours, Ryan felt that it was important to blog here that my Uncle would be playing a deadly part within the new Muppet movie, however I can confirm that my uncle is currently laid up with gout and will certainly not be making a transatlantic flight to appear within the movie no matter what James Bobin or Nicholas Stoller may have said in interviews over the weekend. Who are these people anyway? One sounds like the name of a beach pony and the other like a French beverage...What's that? According to a list of Muppet People You Should Know they are the Director and co-Writer of the movie respectively? ...Oh well...in that case I take back the remark about french donkeys and beach drinks and...right...yes...I just realised that original article was about the Muppet named Uncle Deadly...so...not really my uncle then...right...moving on... (Special thanks to the person whose baby picture I stole borrowed for the formatting of this article)

Sam's opinion on American women was revealed the other day but there is still no word as yet regarding his opinion of the British Woman...or, as I like to refer to them, "Ladies" but I am suspicious that it is somewhat similar to his feelings regarding Canadian Rock Bands...

Anyway, that, my friends, is a Muppet Commentary Monday. I do so hope it has been informative... (And I do so hope that Muppet Comic Mondays will return to its normally slotted time next week...but shh...I'm pirating!)

Stay tuned this week for more piracy, an unexpected Weekly Muppet Wednesday and possibly (depending how long I can keep this connection open and the Interns and Ryans of this blog out) much much more!

Yours as ever,
-TBC

Uncle Deadly Will be in the New Muppet Movie!

Uncle Deadly, the semi-obscure Phantom of The Muppet Show (see the Twiggy episode of The Muppet Show) has been a fan-favorite character for years, even receiving his own action figure in he Palisades Toys line. Well, he's also a favorite of The Greatest Muppet Movie of All Time director James Bobin, who, Nicholas Stoller confirmed, injected Uncle Deadly into a scene in the upcoming film. Don't believe me? See for yourself in this clip from an interview with Nicholas Stoller from Moviefone Minute.

I love how the interviewer pretends to know who Uncle Deadly is... but we Muppet fans know, and we should be super excited! It looks like this film is in extremely capable hands!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

People Muppet Fans Need to Know

Ryan Dosier - Recently, it has come to my attention that there are a lot of important Muppet people working right now that a lot of casual Muppet fans have never heard of. I was very bothered by this, since all of these people are doing such awesome things with the Muppets right now, it's a shame that they're not more well known among the fan-base. I thought I would solve that little problem by compiling a list of some People Muppet Fans Need to Know.

The Muppets

• Lylle Breier - General Manager of The Muppets Studio and all-around awesome lady. A lot of this recent push of the Muppets back into the limelight was thanks to her.
• Jim Lewis - Muppet Consultant and writer. He's responsible for making the Muppets just that: Muppets. He makes sure Piggy says Piggy things and Kermit says Kermit things and so on. He can probably be attributed to why the Muppets have been so good recently.
• Jason Segel - Writer and human star of the upcoming The Greatest Muppet Movie of All Time. Segel's pitch for a new Muppet movie is what ignited this whole Muppet Renaissance. Also, self-proclaimed Muppet fanatic. Starred in the Muppet-referencing Forgetting Sarah Marshall and in the TV show How I Met Your Mother.
• Nicholas Stoller - Writer of the upcoming The Greatest Muppet Movie of All Time. Has been promoting the heck out of The Greatest Muppet Movie of All Time. 
• James Bobin - Director of the upcoming The Greatest Muppet Movie of All Time. Has been noted as a sort of Muppet freak. Also directed Flight of the Conchords.
• Matt Vogel - Muppet performer. Performs Floyd Pepper, Robin the Frog, Lew Zealand, Crazy Harry, and others. Also writer and director for Sesame Street.

Fraggle Rock

• Cory Edwards - Writer/director of the upcoming Fraggle Rock feature film. Huge Muppet fan who knows exactly what he's doing.

Sesame Street

• Carol-Lynne Parente - Executive producer of Sesame Street since season 37. Accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Daytime Emmys.
• David Rudman - Daytime Emmy-nominated Muppet performer. Performs Baby Bear and Cookie Monster for Sesame Street. Performs Scooter and Janice for The Muppets.
• Joey Mazzarino - Daytime Emmy-nominated Muppet performer. Performs Murray Monster and various other characters on Sesame Street. Also writer and director for the show.
• Louis Henry Mitchell - Associate Design Director of Special Projects for Sesame Street. Ace photographer, and one of the nicest guys around.
• Neil Patrick Harris - Self-proclaimed Henson fanatic. Most well known roles include Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother, Doogie Howser in Doogie Howser, M.D., and Dr. Horrible in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. No really important reason to know him... but he's at the top of my list for cameos in the next Muppet movie.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

The Muppets Are Making a Movie!

Muppet fans... it's really happening.

The Muppets are officially making a movie! The Greatest Muppet Movie of All Time has officially moved from an idea on paper to physical movements towards production. CHUD.com reports that this past weekend, the Muppets had a table read for the new film written by Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller and to be directed by James Bobin. Here's a transcript of the article:

THE MUPPETS JUST DID A TABLE READ FOR THE NEW MUPPET MOVIE

The table read is a vital part of the filmmaking process. At a table read all the actors with speaking roles gather (around a big table, as the name suggests) and go through the script, reading out loud their parts. It's often the first time everybody in a movie gets together, and it's when the actors and the director start truly zeroing in on the characters in a way that isn't just theoretical.

It turns out that when you do a table read for a Muppet movie, you have to have the Muppets on hand. Talking to Nick Stoller, director of Get Him to the Greek and co-writer (with Jason Segel) of the upcoming humbly named The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made, I learned that the Muppets themselves just did a table read.

'They had the table read Saturday with all of the puppets, and it went quite well,' he told me. When I asked for clarification - were the actual Muppets there - he confirmed it. 'They had the puppets do the table read. You have to have The Muppets there! They filmed it for the DVD.'

I wonder if the puppeteers kept the Muppets going in character during script discussions or during breaks. I kind of hope they just include the entire table read on the DVD.

Stoller is, understandably, psyched to be working on the Muppets' return to the cultural mainstream. 'Just to be able to play with those characters is incredibly exciting,' he said. 'The first time I wrote Kermit as a character in Final Draft I was like, 'Oh my God.''

This film is going to be true to the original The Muppet Movie, which means it's going to be very modern feeling. 'If you watch The Muppet Movie now it's amazing how much they break the fourth wall and how Simpsons-esque it is, but obviously before The Simpsons. It's very self-aware and kind of amazing. I call The Muppets the gateway drug for all comedy nerds - it's what you see that makes you want to do comedy for the rest of your life.'


So, there you have it. The Muppets have officially moved forward with their new film, the Muppeteers were on-hand (pun totally intended), it was filmed for the DVD, and gosh darn it, The Greatest Muppet Movie of All Time is HAPPENING!

Come, Muppet fans, join me in blasting Mahna Mahna from the rooftops and dancing the dance of our people: The Kermambo! Everybody now!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier