About 2 months ago, I found myself in the ER for the first time in my life. 22 years old without one single trip to the hospital was quite the accomplishment. I’m all good now, but while there I found myself reverting to a state of childlike wonder with everything surrounding me. One video I used to watch as a child came to mind as I sat in the ER room with my mom and sister waiting on test results: “Sesame Street Visits The Hospital.” This 1990 direct-to-video special helped kids understand that the hospital is where you go to get better, and that it’s ok to be scared. But it’s also important to be brave and focus on getting healthy again. As a 22-year-old college student, riding the hospital bed to the X-Ray room brought back memories of watching Big Bird doing the same. I realized from watching that video as a young child, I never had any fears or worries about going to the hospital. All because of what I learned from Sesame Street.
While characters such as Gina, Gordon and Elmo make minor appearances, the bulk of the video features Big Bird and his friend Maria, who takes him to the hospital when he gets sick. Big Bird hates being there and gets angry at Maria for taking him, until he begins to learn about what a hospital really is. The spcecial features two very catchy songs, and even after not having seen this video for years, I instantly remembered them. Sonia Manzano wrote both of these songs, although the second one she co-wrote in fact alongside Tony Geiss (who also wrote “Eight Balls of Fur”, “Elmo’s Song” and “I’m Proud to Be a Cow”).
The song “Busy Getting Better All the Time” features Big Bird meeting new friends in the hospital play room, as he begins to discover they aren’t just playing, but getting healthier as they play. One of my favorite characters in the song is the Grouch girl who is in the hospital because she’s feeling happy. The second song, titled “You Gotta Be Patient (To Be a Patient)” happens when Big Bird wants desperately to go home, so Maria and Orderly Jim explain that he needs to be patient and do what the doctors tell him, and pretty soon he’ll be able to go home.
I appreciate how this video takes children through the step-by-step process of what a trip to the hospital is like. That way, when a child is actually in this situation, they already have an idea of what a hospital is all about, and that can calm their fears.
Of course, this video isn’t the only time Sesame Street has tackled hospital visits and I’m sure it won’t be the last one. A 1985 storybook, “A Visit to the Sesame Street Hospital”, features Grover visiting the hospital to get his tonsils taken out. He’s nervous about spending the night there, so he takes a tour of the hospital with Bert, Ernie and his mother. In an interesting twist, a season 28 episode of Sesame Street in 1996 featured Maria going to the hospital, and Big Bird recalling his previous visit to the hospital to her daughter Gabi. Noah Wyle, at that time starring on the popular TV drama ER, guest starred as Maria’s doctor, assuring Big Bird, Gabi and Luis that Maria will be okay.
Big Bird continues to help ease children’s fears of a trip to the hospital at the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. There, a Big Bird statue was purchased from the Briarwood Mall and donated to the University of Michigan’s children’s hospital. It’s a beautiful statue of Big Bird and a really nice nod to Big Bird’s trip the hospital. He is still helping kids feel peaceful during what can sometimes be a scary time in life.
Sesame Street really did a fantastic job addressing hospital visits and helping to ease any fears children may have about them. I wouldn’t be surprised if the topic is covered again in the near future, as it is an important thing for children to understand. I have fond memories of “Sesame Street Visits the Hospital” even to this day, and one day I’m sure I’ll show it to my children.
While there was talk of having human characters go though a divorce on Sesame Street to highlight that important issue, it was instead decided to use Muppet characters, feeling children had grown too attached to the human characters on the show. With pregnancy, however, the idea of making a human character pregnant was more natural. Especially since star Sonia Manzano was pregnant herself at the time, which became a primary reason for introducing it into the show. They could incorporate Manzano’s own real-life pregnancy into the character of Maria. 
The story arc continued a few episodes later, when Maria’s mother came to visit Sesame Street and an ultrasound of a baby is shown to kids. It is a special device that allows the baby to be seen on a small monitor, with Maria’s doctor even pointing out the baby’s parts and Luis snapping pictures of a pregnant Maria. Maria’s mother also sings a sweet song called “My Baby’s Going to Have a Baby.” Later on in the season, Maria and Luis decorate the baby’s room with help from Big Bird, once again allowing for there to be a character in the story to whom children can relate. Another episode has dream sequences of Maria and Luis imagining what it will be like to hold their baby when it arrives, again putting special attention to the love of a parent to their child in the womb. 
Towards the end of the season, Maria goes into labor, an important moment for children to understand (including a special part where Big Bird witnesses Maria doing breathing exercises). The season finale was dedicated to the birth of Luis and Maria’s daughter, Gabi. Telly Monster helps answer an important question many children have, when he has a sweet conversation with Susan and Gordon while they read a book to their son Miles. Telly asks how they could be doing something so normal when there’s so much going on around Sesame Street, with everyone being so excited for the arrival of the baby. Susan explains to Telly that even though having a new baby around will change things, many things will stay the same, a simple lesson that many children who are anticipating the arrival of a sibling need to understand. Even Oscar gets a special part of the episode when he realizes he’s happy the baby is coming (something grouches should never be). The episode ends with the cast visiting Maria and Luis in the hospital and meeting the new baby, with Maria even saying that the experience of giving birth was an adventure. 
In Season 34, Sesame Street showed how children can adjust to having a new baby in the home, with the addition of a new character: Curly Bear, the baby sister of Baby Bear. Throughout the season, Baby Bear learns to adjust to no longer being the baby in the family, while also dealing with Curly Bear’s disinterest in porridge and her ability to growl louder than her big brother. What I love about this storyline is the sweetness of the relationship between brother and sister, with Baby Bear protective of his baby sister and Curly Bear being so fond of “Bebo” (her name for Baby Bear). It begins with a three-part episode focusing on the arrival of the baby, including Mama Bear pregnant and leaving for the hospital, and Gina taking care of Baby Bear while his parents are away. When Gina takes Baby Bear to the hospital to see his parents and new baby sister, Baby Bear sings a cute little song to his new baby sister called “I’ll Show You the World,” all about what kind of big brother he’ll be to her.
I personally love how Sesame Street approached the topic of pregnancy, and how much heart they included in helping kids understand and learn to adjust to having a new baby in the family. They used both human and Muppet characters to help highlight the story and, over the years, allowed viewers to watch Gabi and Curly Bear grow up and adjust to the challenges of going from baby to child and, for Gabi, from teenager to adult.
On Friday, May 6, 
Even in the midst of this modernizing and digitizing, however, Sesame Workshop has not wavered from its educational focus. Kay Wilson, Sesame Workshop Sr. VP of Creative Development, said, “Our goal is what it’s always been: to engage children with compelling, meaningful content…We want new content, new characters and new creative…We look at this as being a whole new crop of Creative talent. Kids who love Sesame Street are going to love Sesame Studios, and others will find that it is different and fresh.”
In continuation of my series on Sesame Street helping children understand important moments in life from 
The landmark Sesame Street episode dealing with Mr. Hooper’s death aired on Thanksgiving in 1983, during the show’s 15th season. Norman Stiles, the show’s head writer, consulted with numerous child psychologists to create a script designed to help explain losing a loved one to children. The script avoided “sugar-coating” the topic, choosing not to use words children might not understand like “passed away” and instead using a direct and honest approach. Mr. Hooper’s cause of death was not discussed, nor was the process of growing old. The producers instead directed the message as, “Mr. Hooper died, he won’t be coming back, and we are all going to miss him.” Flashbacks were also rejected as it was believed kids would be confused by seeing Mr. Hooper still on their screen again. It was also important for producers that Mr. Hooper not be said to have died in a hospital, for fear it would make children afraid to go to the hospital, despite the fact that was in fact where Will Lee passed away. 
The episode’s airing on Thanksgiving was no mistake, according to actress Loretta Long, who noted during an interview on The Tavis Smiley Show, “We were very careful to do it over the Thanksgiving holiday, where there would be a lot of adults in the house to help the children.” Filming the episode was emotional for the cast and crew, all who had grown close to Will Lee during his 14 years on the show. Norman Stiles also adapted the episode into a book, “I’ll Miss You, Mr. Hooper.” Hooper’s Store has continued to serve as a landmark location on Sesame Street, with ownership changing through the years to its present owner and operator, Alan. Mr. Hooper’s death came up two other times after the episode, once in a Season 16 episode in which Big Bird and Maria reminisce about Mr. Hooper, and again in Season 28 when famous bird art collector Leo Birdelli wants to buy Big Bird’s drawing of Mr. Hooper, in exchange for birdseed. In that episode, Big Bird goes on to explain the meaning of the picture. The Daytime Emmys would go on to recognize the episode as one of the 10 most influential moments in daytime television. In a 2006 interview, Carroll Spinney recognized it as a proud achievement for Sesame Street, “The best episode we ever did was Mr. Hooper’s death. Those were real tears. Will was the sweetest man.”
Recently, I’ve written how 
In 2013, Sesame Workshop produced a new video, as part of their 
This topic is extremely interesting, in that it has been attempted by Sesame Street twice as featured stories, but only once did it finally make its way to the public. I was surprised to learn the topic was brought up much earlier than I thought. In 1989, a song appeared on Sesame Street in an episode of the show’s 22nd season. The song appeared during a News Flash sketch with Kermit the Frog interviewing a bird. Besides the topic it addresses, what’s special about this sketch is that it was the last day Jim Henson spent time in the studio recording Sesame Street material. 
3 years later in 1992, 
More than 20 years later, the issue of divorce was approached again, this time successfully. Instead of focusing on how a character is going through the process, the show illustrated how a character has gotten over a divorce. The topic was featured in a new research initiative for Sesame Street called “Little Children, Big Challenges,” a multimedia outreach program that focused on helping children persevere through changes and challenges in their life. It was specially made available for the general public through various family courts, counseling services, parenting and child care programs and other similar outreach outlets. The video and research kit were both released online in 2012 and featured a current Sesame Street popular character, Abby Cadabby, explaining to Elmo, Rosita and Gordon that her mommy and daddy are divorced, while she also shares the emotions she went through during this change in her life. Kevin Clash, who also performed Elmo, directed the special episode, in possibly one of his final performances as the character before resigning from Sesame Workshop. This special also includes the same song from the News Flash sketch in 1989, “The Bird Family,” here with the little bird performed by John Tartaglia, alongside Abby Cadabby and his bird parents, performed by Kevin Clash and Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, who also performs Abby.
“It’s in the singing of a street-corner choir, it’s going home and getting warm by the fire, it’s true wherever you find love, it feels like Christmas…”
You Must See: Muppet Christmas Carol is the best, if you ask most Muppet fans. It feels the most like a Jim Henson-made Muppet production, possibly because it was the first major production undertaken after his death, and the fact that it was directed by his son, Brian Henson.
You Must See: Muppet Family Christmas, Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, and Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas. All 3 are essential viewing for Muppet fans of any age.
You Must See: The Bells of Fraggle Rock tells the “Fraggle” equivalent of a holiday story, in which Gobo goes off to find the Great Bell of Fraggle Rock. Cantus the Minstrel (performed by Jim Henson) appears as an unlikely guide, and the Fraggles find the true meaning of the holiday season within themselves. That sounds like something you’d read on the back of the VHS box, doesn’t it? But I really wrote it myself, just now.
You Must Listen To: Almost all of them.
On Monday, July 11, Feinstein’s/54 Below hosted an evening that can easily be described as one word: “Muppetational!” Often referred to as “Broadway’s living room”, the club was filled with Muppet fans young and old as a tribute was held for the music and mayhem of Jim Henson and the Muppets.
The show started appropriately with the house band performing their own rendition of “The Muppet Show Theme” and the night even included two hecklers in the audience “balcony”, performed by comedians Dru Johnston and Noah Forman, offering familiar quips and comments to the night’s performances and comedy routines in a way only Statler and Waldorf could. The evening included a mix of songs, comedy bits and stories that highlighted Muppet memories from the movies, television shows and more. Rick Lyon (Avenue Q, Sesame Street) absolutely stole the show when he walked on-stage, duffle bag in hand and discussed his history with the Jim Henson Company and his special connection to Jim Henson, having worked for him as a puppeteer and puppet builder. He noted how he built his own impressive puppet replica of one of Jim’s characters in tribute to his mentor and then proceeded to open up his duffle bag and pull out a Kermit the Frog puppet. He made sure to clarify it was not a Muppet, but his own puppet replica of the character. Lyon, using his own take on the Kermit the Frog voice, then went on to sing “Bein’ Green.” In that moment, the entire room, no matter what age, became children again as everyone gazed upon their favorite amphibian singing his signature song.
Rick Lyon wasn’t the only Muppet alum in the show, as Stephanie D’Abruzzo (Tony Award nominee for Avenue Q, Sesame Street) and Jennifer Barnhart (Avenue Q, Sesame Street) also took the stage to perform, each also discussing their love for the Muppets and Jim Henson, as well as honoring their fellow Muppeteers. Barnhart performed, on ukuele, her own tribute to Jerry Nelson, whose 82nd birthday would have been the day before, by singing “When the River Meets the Sea” from Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas. D’Abruzzo performed two beautiful songs from Sesame Street: “Imagination” and “Little Things.”
Olivier Award winner Lesli Margherita (Dames At Sea, Matilda the Musical) channeled her inspiration by performing Miss Piggy’s “The Christmas Queen”, a track on the Muppets holiday album A Green and Red Christmas. Her performance included the Miss Piggy-like diva behavior and determination to be the center of attention. The Skivvies (Nick Cearley & Lauren Molina), a musical duo who perform literally stripped down to their underwear, sang another song from The Muppet Movie as they performed “Movin’ Right Along”, with Cearley wearing a Kermit the Frog collar and Molina arranging her hair to resemble Fozzie Bear ears. Their performance included a “fork in the road” as a large fork was raised from the audience, and a hitchhiker looking for her way to 54 Below.
Grace McLean (Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812), George Salazar (Godspell), Julia Mattison (Godspell), Molly Pope (Molly Pope Likes Your Status), Laura Shoop (She Loves Me) and Emily Padgett (Bright Star) also performed Muppet favorites, everything ranging from “I’m Gonna Always Love You” to “Man or Muppet” to “Don’t Blame the Dynamite.” The evening concluded with Rick Lyon returning to the stage with his Kermit, now with a banjo around his shoulder, as Kermit mentioned that the final number was written inspired by Jim Henson’s favorite movie The Wizard of Oz. The two then proceeded to sing “Rainbow Connection” and were quickly joined onstage by James Monroe Iglehart, Max Crumm, Stephanie D’Abruzzo, The Skivvies and Jennifer Barnhart. Of course, a Muppet tribute wouldn’t be complete without a performance of “Mahna Mahna” which the house band sang as the show came to a close.
Sonia Manzano retired from a 44-year career on 
Manzano discovers her abilities slowly throughout her childhood, as the oppression of everyday life makes self-realization almost impossible. She didn’t even have a fully-formed an interest in performing until her teenage years, and then through a slim opportunity earned her way into the performing arts high school which would give her confidence as an actress. It’s gratifying and illuminating to hear her tell her own story, as she earns a part in a new musical, Godspell, and returns “home” from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, to perform in New York. Her dismay comes through her words (and her voice, if you get the audiobook), as she tries to share her success with her family, who can’t understand her new life. After all, what does “achievement” look like if you can’t imagine it?
There are so many Muppet Christmas moments I could highlight, but I finally decided that I wanted to focus on my earliest Muppet Christmas memory: the 1996 TV special 
I have such fond memories of watching this special as a kid. I was a huge Elmo fan growing up, owning everything from Elmo slippers to Elmo pacifiers. I wrote in my first blog post, I even named my plush Elmo toy “Elmo Harff,” and put bow ties on him for holidays, and brought him to church with me on Sundays. I remember finding Harvey Fierstein as the Easter Bunny so odd but intriguing, and now as a young adult knowing of his work on Broadway in Hairspray, I can’t help but laugh and enjoy that performance. I also have more of an appreciation for the casting of Doc Hopper as Santa Claus. I loved this special so much I would have my Mom get me a kids sketch book so I could create the story in my own book form, drawing my own pictures of the characters and retelling the story on the pages.
This Thanksgiving, as we all gobble down on turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie and all of those classic Thanksgiving treats, a bigger Thanksgiving tradition will occur that morning for the 89th time: 
The 1981 parade featured Beauregard’s taxi, with Beauregard driving around the parade carrying passengers Kermit, Fozzie Bear and Gonzo to promote The Great Muppet Caper. The Kermit balloon and Sesame Street float made appearances in the 1980-1982 parade, before being joined by a third Henson property for the 1983 parade: Fraggle Rock. The popular children’s show debuted its own float that year, featuring Junior Gorg sitting on top of a set based on the Gorg’s garden, while Uncle Traveling Matt hid below Junior’s sight. Below the garden set, the float opened into a set of the Fraggle caves, where the main Fraggle characters played instruments and sang, including other Fraggles around them, with two specifically balancing on a seesaw. This was a lavish set filled with so much going on, especially for a parade float. The Fraggle Rock float returned for an encore performance in 1984 alongside the Kermit balloon once again as well as a Sesame Street car replacing the typical float. The show used its walk-around characters of Ernie, Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Bert to march alongside a car carrying Oscar the Grouch in puppet form. While the walk-around characters would return in other parades to promote Sesame Street Live!, this was the only appearance of a Sesame Street car, with 1985 and 1986 returning to the usual format of having a Kermit balloon and a Sesame Street float. The 1985 parade saw the Kermit balloon rip its stomach along Central Park West after heavy rain weighed down the balloons that year. The balloon was punctured by a tree and almost fell onto spectators, with its left foot dragging along the street. The balloon ended with about 20% helium remaining inside and had to be carried by its handlers, dressed in Kermit green. Both returned in 1987 as well, which also saw Jim Henson and Kermit the Frog accepting the Rollie Award live on the telecast, an award for their years of service to the parade. 
For the 1988 parade, the Kermit balloon did not return, instead joining the Sesame Street float was a new Big Bird balloon. Designed by Michael Frith, best known for designing such Muppets as Fozzie Bear, The Swedish Chef, Dr. Teeth and so many more. The Big Bird Balloon featured the character wearing a winter cap and a sweater, and carrying alphabet blocks. The Big Bird balloon and Sesame Street float returned in 1989. 1990 brought an explosion of Muppet appearances with the returns of both the Big Bird balloon and Sesame Street float as well as walk-around characters and the return of the Kermit the Frog balloon after the 1985 incident. Kermit and Miss Piggy walk-arounds rode in a Rolls-Royce car, while Ernie and Bert walk-arounds marched along the parade route singing “Do You Like Me?”, a song featured in a segment on Sesame Street. The broadcast also incuded a tribute to Jim Henson, who had passed away earlier that year. From 1991 to 1997, the Kermit and Big Bird balloons as well as the Sesame Street float made various appearance, also joined by walk-around characters of Kermit and Miss Piggy again in 1994. A new Sesame Street float debuted in 1998 and continued alongside the Big Bird balloon through 2000. In 2001, the Sesame Street float was joined by a Kermit walk-around, who appeared on a commemorative float with other classic children’s characters, while a new Big Bird balloon made its debut. The previous balloon had its stitching frayed and was extensively patched up, with the new one showing Big Bird playing a pair of cymbals. 
2002 saw the introduction of a new Kermit the Frog balloon, 78 feet long, 61 feet high and 36 feet wide, containing 11,000 cubic feet of helium. Kermit became the official holiday mascot for Macy’s in 2002, with Kermit riding on Santa’s sleigh at the end of the parade as well as joining Miss Piggy for an interview with Today Show weatherman Al Roker, promoting their new TV movie that aired a day later, It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie. The 2002 Sesame Street float celebrated a message of peace and universal goodwill as the American cast of the show were joined by international Sesame Street characters from all across the world including characters from the show’s adaptions in Egypt, China, Germany, Mexico and Israel. The Sesame Street float and both the Kermit and Big Bird balloons were joined in 2003 by a third balloon: Super Grover. These four parade pieces returned for 2004, although with a new float, a colorful recreation of the 123 Sesame Street apartment building with Big Bird’s nest on display at the front of the float, carrying Big Bird alongside Elmo and Zoe, while other characters pop out from the windows. The two balloons and float returned in 2005 and 2006. 2007 saw Abby Cadabby join the Kermit the Frog balloon and Sesame Street parade float. Standing at 56 feet long, 37.5 feet wide and 48.5 feet high, both Abby and her magic wand are filled with 16,100 cubic feet of helium. 
In 2008, the Kermit and Abby balloons as well as the Sesame float were joined by a special live performance by the real Kermit the Frog. Kermit sat perched on a log wearing a candy cane striped scarf on a special Central Park float. Joined by Camp Broadway, Kermit sang a brand new Christmas song written specifically for the Macy’s parade called “I Believe”. This format returned in 2009, including Kermit returning to perform “I Believe”, this time on the Bountiful Harvest Cornucopia float alongside Disney Channel star Tiffany Thornton, who at that time was starring on the Demi Lovato sitcom “Sonny With A Chance”, and who also recorded a music video of the song with Kermit that aired frequently on Disney Channel at that time. From 2010 through 2012, the Kermit the Frog balloon and Sesame Street float made appearances in the parades.
As you can see, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, besides becoming an American tradition and beloved parade, show and television event, has a long history and close ties to Jim Henson and his characters. I can only hope that the future will bring more balloons and floats. Wouldn’t it be cool to have the Electric Mayhem bus return riding down the parade route promoting “The Muppets”. Or a balloon flying high in the sky of Animal with drumsticks in hand and most definitely chasing the Rockettes dancing in front of him. Thanks for reading this, and I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!
This week, I wanted to take a different approach to my “What If” series. I could go on and on imagining what it would be like having performers like Richard Hunt or Jerry Nelson with the Muppets today, but I’m sure I’d be repeating myself. We’re so lucky to have Frank Oz around still, and I loved seeing him appear at Star Wars Weekends earlier this year to discuss the Muppets a little, as well as seeing him on the PBS special about Jim Henson (which I highly encourage everyone to watch, purchase and support!). Yet while Frank isn’t totally absent from the Muppet community, he’s still not around as much as I’m sure we’d all hope he was. Sure, Frank once in a while finds his way back to Sesame Street to perform a sketch as Bert or Cookie Monster or Grover. But his presence is still often missing, even if wonderful performers such as Eric Jacobson and David Rudman have stepped in and taken on the roles of his characters brilliantly. The 2011 Muppets film itself proved how remarkable Eric Jacobson is at especially performing Miss Piggy, and David Rudman has certainly given Cookie Monster new life with viral videos. Why did Frank Oz really leave it all behind? Will he ever return? And what would it be like if he didn’t leave?
Why did Frank Oz leave the Muppets? From my own research, the reason why Frank Oz retired from the Muppets was due to his directorial career. After directing The Dark Crystal alongside Jim Henson in 1982, the two began to pursue separate projects, with Henson creating Labyrinth and The Storyteller, and Oz directing comedy films such as Little Shop of Horrors and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Frank’s first solo directorial film, however was The Muppets Take Manhattan, which gave him the opportunity to get comfortable in the director’s chair in a familiar surrounding. In 1989, The Jim Henson Hour premiered on television and Henson included segments known as “MuppeTelevision” to feature his classic Muppet characters. Due to the demands of his film projects, Oz filmed solo segments with Fozzie Bear and Miss Piggy, including the special “Miss Piggy’s Hollywood.” 
Will Frank Oz Return? What I find most interesting about Frank Oz is, I think his return would come down to business and respect. Frank was originally approached for the 2011 Muppets film, but turned it down as he didn’t like the script or feel the film did the characters justice. Now I personally loved the film, but I do wonder why Disney wouldn’t just give Frank what he wants at least one time. Let us have one Muppet film or television special with Frank Oz in control, at least as a director. If he would agree to make one last performance as Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear, I’m sure we’d all be thrilled. I think what he brings to the Muppets is classic comedy again. He knows how the characters work (and don’t work) and along with Jim Henson, was part of one of the greatest comedy duos of all time. In recent interviews, Frank has said that he would return if he were asked. Why is Disney not asking? It could be over money or it could be over concern with whether or not Frank can keep the “Disney image.” I don’t know and I don’t want to speculate. What I do know is that, as Muppet fans, we want the chance to see Frank with the Muppets again in some capacity. 
While I’ve grown to love Eric’s Miss Piggy, I miss seeing Frank’s Fozzie Bear on screen, and found myself often wishing he’d at least return to play that character, although I think Eric is slowly grasping the character much better with each performance. The Muppets need Frank Oz. They need that “father figure” who knows the characters like the back of his hand and knows where they belong and where they should go. I think with the loss of Jim Henson and Jerry Nelson, the company needs a voice to keep the integrity of these characters, although I applaud individuals like Dave Goelz and Steve Whitmire who have been working with the characters for so many years and continue to introduce them to new audiences. So in conclusion: Disney, please bring back Frank Oz. If not as a performer, let him direct a Muppet project. Let him bring the characters back to where he feels they belong.
Hi-Ho! Wocka Wocka! I thought I would use my first post to introduce myself and share a little bit about myself and my love for the Muppets. My name is Jordan Harff and I am a 22-year old college student currently pursuing my Bachelor’s in film and video, already having an Associate’s in journalism. I live in Long Island, New York and have lived here my whole life. I’m the oldest of 4 kids and we all have been, at some point, involved in Community Theater as actors, while I have also had the fortunate opportunities of being able to be a director and stage manager of musicals a few times in the past. Since before I was born, my father has been a children’s pastor, and through this I was exposed at an early age to a gift he possessed since college: puppetry. 
It’s never just “your birthday.” It’s your “birthday weekend” or “birthday week,” right? If you turn 18 on a Sunday, it’s your birthday weekend. If you turn 40 on a Wednesday, it’s your birthday week. If you turn 21 in October then…you get the idea.
What a humongous show this week! First, JD Hansel stays true to his word and re-records the new MuppetCast intro (with some coaching from yours truly). Next, Joanna May Hunkins from the Cleveland Stage Alliance joins me to talk about the upcoming show The Electric Mayhem: A Musical Tribute to Jim Henson. 
The New York wing of The MuppetCast (Jarrid and Teresa) takes over this week, presenting the audio from a recent screening event at the Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI). The event is called “