Joining me this week to talk about Coming Home: Military Families Cope With Change is Dr. Jeanette Betancourt, VP of Outreach and Educational Practices at Sesame Workshop. Dr. Betancourt joined us last year to talk about the “Talk, Listen, Connect” initiative, and in this episode she and I talk about this new half-hour special airing on PBS Wednesday, April 1 at 8pm Eastern (check local listings).
Other guests on this week’s show include author Michael Davis, author of “Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street“, and listener Hilarie Mukavitz for a new Muppet List segment in which we discuss Muppet Show music hall numbers.
Michael is gearing up to do a book signing tour throughout the southeastern US, and he’d like your suggestions on where he should appear! Contact him through his website. In the meantime, here are the confirmed dates for the book tour as it stands:
FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 7 p.m.
REGULATOR BOOKSHOP
720 9th Street
Durham, NC
SATURDAY, APRIL 25, 1 p.m.
BARNES & NOBLE
8725 Townley Road
Huntersville, NC
MONDAY, APRIL 27, TIME TBA
A CAPELLA BOOKS
Atlanta, GA
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 8 p.m.
BOOKS AND BOOKS
Coral Gables, FL
FRIDAY, MAY 1, 7 p.m.
SARASOTA NEWS & BOOKS
Sarasota, FL
Stay tuned next week for a special announcement concerning Show #105, The MuppetCast’s 2nd Birthday!
The MuppetCast is brought to you by the letters A, I, G, and Bell, Book & Comic! Life should be more fun!
Sadly, Francis Essex, a TV executive who helped bring the Muppets to Britain, died this week. Essex worked closely with ATV’s chairman Lew Grade to bring Henson’s vision of The Muppet Show to life.
The Muppet Show Comic Book #1 was a decided success this week, as comic book distributor Diamond Comics is sold out of the book! More copies are being printed, but this book has seen a warm reception among Muppet fans. You can review and rate the book for yourself over at IGN Comics, and Muppet Central Forum member BlakeMP has a fantastic review of his own at ComiXtreme!
Sesame Place theme park in Pennsylvania will add a new waterplay structure to the range of rides on offer at the park this summer. Denver-based water ride manufacturer SCS Interactive will supply the new attraction, called Count’s Splash Castle.
MusicRadar.com recently posted their 11 greatest Sesame Street guest songs, with YouTube clips to compliment each listing.
The Muppet News Flash tells us that The Jim Henson Company and DECODE Entertainment are teaming up to produce a brand-new animated series based on the industrious little characters from Fraggle Rock known as Doozers. The company will produce 26 half-hour episodes of a new series entitled The Doozers.
After “Jim Henson’s Fantastic World” is finished in Orlando, FL, where’s it heading next? Glad you asked; the exhibit will make its way diagonally across the US to Seattle, WA, to the Experience Music Project!
Listener Melanie offered up a link to the podcast Major Spoilers, a quality comic book-related show, to an episode discussing Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal.
Check out The MuppetCast Flickr Page for new additions from Matt, David, and Darrin. Darrin also sent some YouTube links to classic Canadian children’s puppet-based programs, including:
Casey & Finnegan
Sesame Park (the Canadian export of Sesame Street)
Friendly Giant’s Castle
Nic & Pic (a French Canadian production)
Happy Birthday to listener UncleMatt!
Listener Rafi sent a link to a blog post talking in satirical terms what the recession means to the characters of Sesame Street.
Questions/Comments about the Muppets or The MuppetCast can be emailed to me@muppetcast.com, or called in to the voicemail line at 614-364-4270 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 614-364-4270 end_of_the_skype_highlighting. Even better, stop by the Muppet Central Forums and discuss this and many other episodes with Muppet fans worldwide. Follow the show on Twitter and join the Facebook page too!
Have a great week!
-Steve
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