The Leprechaun Brothers

The Leprechaun Brothers sing Danny Boy, one of the most brilliant things ever done for television.

Fraggle Rock #3 [1985] (Random Comics Theatre)

Random Comics Theatre

Fraggle Rock #3 [1985]

Among the many books of Marvel's Star Comics line of the 1980s was FRAGGLE ROCK, eight issues based on the Jim Henson created TV show (with some of the issues being reprinted a few years later in a second series). The issues that I've seen are all loosely adapted by writer Stan Kay from episodes of the show (this one from the episode "Believe It or Not"), but the real reason to pick them up is for the excellent artwork (and colouring) by Marie Severin. She was perfect for this book, capturing the look and feel of the Muppet characters and the sets of the show while still using a lot more open storytelling than was possible with the puppet constraints of the show. Not that easy to to, and I've seen some awful Fraggle Rock and other Muppet merchandise to prove it. In particular she does a great job of capturing the the body language which was always a big part of the charm of the show.

The 22-page story in this issue is re-titled to "The Monster That Could Be Anything", and as I said it's based on one of the episodes of the show, but very loosely. For one thing, it completely drops the Doc and Sprocket framing sequences, which aren't much of a loss in this case, and makes a few other modifications, a few of which are actually improvements. The story has Red and Wembley deciding to go off on an adventure (which, of course, means Red deciding and Wembley going along) and meeting a creature in the Gorg garden who has the power to become whatever other people believe he is. They name him Skenfrith and plan to take him back to Fraggle Rock, but before they can he winds up in the water-filled Gorg cellar, where his noises cause the Gorgs to think he's a monster, which means that's exactly what he becomes.

The second half of the story deviates more from the TV version, with Skenfrith actually leaving the cellar in his monster form and briefly even flying and breathing fire, instead of Ma Gorg getting trapped in the cellar with Skenfrith and the Fraggles. The comic version is definitely an improvement, especially with the more open layouts available. The ending is roughly the same, with Wembley managing to convince Ma Gorg that Skenfrith isn't a monster, but makes a bit more sense in the comic. Eventually Skenfrith ends up back to his old self, and a pet of Junior Gorg.

Pretty good adaptation overall, and especially great to have some quality Marie Severin artwork in her best comedy style. I like her super-hero and fantasy work well enough, but she really didn't get enough chances to work the funny after NOT BRAND ECHH (and where's my ESSENTIAL NOT BRAND ECHH?).

Jerry Juhl, R.I.P.

Jerry Juhl passed away this past Monday. Over the past few months I've been re-watching a lot of the two shows he wrote for the Jim Henson Company, THE MUPPET SHOW and FRAGGLE ROCK, both among my favourite TV shows ever, and just wanted to say thanks. Read more about his life at IGN and Jim Hill Media.

The Muppet Show - John Denver (73)

Episode 73 - John Denver

One of the human guests I most associate with the Muppets is John Denver. This episode (the first of season four) always seems to be one of the first I catch when the show comes up in syndication, and I used to catch the two specials he did with the Muppets a few times even when the original show wasn't on anywhere locally. He works nicely with the Muppets, very much interacting with the characters. And he kind of looks like a Muppet...

(I didn't used to be a big fan of Denver outside of his Muppet related stuff, but a few years ago I picked up an album of him doing acoustic versions of many of his songs, and I liked it a lot more than the standard radio versions of most of those songs, thanks to the absence of the country twang that infects those)

Anyway, it's a great episode, with a lot of highlights. On the top of the list is the "Happy Wanderers" number (listed on that episode summary linked to above as "Falderee, Falderah" for some reason). That one makes my list of top ten Muppet Show skits easily, and probably one of the few featuring pigs to make the list (I'm not a big fan of the pigs, overall). In particular I love the inflections of the final pig as he goes from nervous to triumphant.

Second best of the show is Denver's first number, "Magic Garden" (or as I originally learned it, "Inch by Inch"). One of my favourite kids songs growing up, and Denver does a great job singing it here with a bunch of Muppet produce.

I also like the rather odd version of "Why Can't We Be Friends" (with very different lyrics). A good use of the old Muppet stand-by of blowing things up. Denver's version of "Grandma's Feather Bed" with full background and visual accompaniment by the Muppets, is also great fun, although I prefer the version Kermit sings on an old Muppets audio tape I have.

It's a pretty rare episode where there are four musical numbers and I rate them all so highly. I also liked the backstage plot, of Kermit planning a trip back to the swamp and the various complications that ensue. You know it's a good when the Swedish Chef is by far the weakest part of the show.

Fraggle Rock - Sprocket's Big Adventure (71)

Continuing the occasional looks at various Jim Henson related projects with the 71st episode of FRAGGLE ROCK, the season 4 debut.

Sprocket's Big Adventure

An unusual episode, one of the few I've seen where the Sprocket, the dog, takes center stage. In earlier episodes he'd finally made friends with Gobo, although still having no luck convincing Doc of the existence of furry creatures beyond the hole in the wall. However, plumbing problems lead to a hole in the floor, which allows Sprocket to dig through to Fraggle Rock, where he encounters Doozers (in a Gulliver's Travel type scene), Gorgs and the Trash Heap before finally returning home. Busy day.

I especially liked some of the extended Doozer scenes (including of course Cotterpin) in this episode, as they're one of my favourite bits of the show, with that odd way they look and move and are operated, which makes them a bit different from the everyday muppets. I also thought it was a nice touch that they remembered to do a few camera affects to make Sprocket smaller than he would normally be in relationship to the Gorgs naturally (as they always use smaller full-figure models of the Fraggles when they interact directly with the Gorgs).

As mentioned before, the first season of FRAGGLE ROCK is being released next week. Based on the stuff I've been watching in the past few weeks, I'm leaning towards picking it up, as most of my favourite MUPPET SHOW episodes are in later seasons, while the FRAGGLE ROCK stuff starts off stronger (but I'll probably also pick up the final FRAGGLE set, as about two-thirds of the episodes I've never seen will be on there).

The Muppet Show - Mark Hamill / Star Wars cast (89)

Episode 89 - Mark Hamill / Star Wars cast

This fourth season episode was a favourite of mine from the original run, being a young fan of the first Star Wars movies but not having a chance to see them in theatres multiple times (this being the same reason I was a fan of the Star Wars movie adaptation from Marvel, despite the art in the first one). It was great to see this little bonus back then. Of course, a quarter century later, Star Wars stuff is available all over the place, and is a lot less special, what with the Dark Lord of the Sith trying to sell me chocolate. So while I still like this episode now, it's more for the Muppet stuff than the Star Wars stuff (and Yoda is my favourite part of the later Star Wars movies, too). The Star Wars stuff is still fun, Mark Hamill really hams it up as both Luke Skywalker and himself, exactly what the role calls for, and where else are you going to get Chewbacca in a dance number (well, I haven't seen the latest movie yet, and I wouldn't put it past Lucas).

My favourite scene in this one would be the backstage sequence where Luke switches with his "cousin Mark Hamill", who tries out for the show, doing some awful impressions of Kermit and Fozzie and even worse singing. I also liked Hamill's later gargling Gershwin with Angus McGonagle, the Argyle Gargoyle, just for Angus' name if nothing else. Scooter's big number with Electric Mayhem was good, too.

The Muppet Show - Edgar Bergen (31)

Apparently the DVD of the first season of the Muppet Show is out now. I still haven't decided which season I'll pick up first, but I'm leaning towards getting a later one first, although hopefully I'll get them all eventually. There's a good overview of the set on Muppet Central, which also details the songs they had to cut for the sake of music rights.

For now, going over the stuff I already have on tape, I'll start with a favourite from the second season:

Episode 31 - Edgar Bergen

(fortunately people over at Muppet Central have already done the hard work of doing a complete episode run-down with screen captures, so I'll just go over my own impressions quickly)

Of course this was going to be a special episode, Bergen and his act being a big part of defining puppetry for the previous generation. It doesn't disappoint, with all of the Bergen related sections of the show being very funny (including, although he doesn't appear in it, Fozzie Bear's attempt at ventriloquism, a perfect example of Fozzie's "not quite getting the point" charm. "He won't talk to me!"). Bergen and his characters played off the regular cast nicely, I thought, with just the right combination of snide (from Charlie McCarthy) and affection.

Of the non-guest scenes, I thought the rendition of "Time In a Bottle" (with an old scientist gradually getting younger) was really good, both with the visuals and how the voice kept changing and getting clearer. It's easy to forget how good the Muppet people (I think it was Henson in this case) are at acting, managing subtle inflections like that while singing in a made-up voice. Pigs in Space was pretty good, too, although like most of the regular skits I like it in small doses at best. Not quite sure I understand chickens singing "Baby Face"

Fraggle Rock - A Friend in Need (34)

As I think I mentioned before, they're finally going to start releasing full season sets of FRAGGLE ROCK and THE MUPPET SHOW this fall. While glad to see them, being a big fan of all things Henson, I have to face the reality that for the moment I'm going to have to pick and choose which to buy (and which seasons in particular). So I figure I should do some re-watching of the episodes I've recorded over the years, plus other assorted Muppet related bits I have, and write about them here on occasion. And y'know, there's something wrong with the fact that I can have access to over 200 channels and not one of them shows any Muppet related stuff other than Sesame Street?

Let's start with FRAGGLE ROCK. This show ran from 1983 to 1987, with 96 episodes over five seasons (though 4 and 5 were half-seasons, so when collected will probably be in one set), plus at least two specials, one "behind the scenes" and one a clip-show of songs from the show. I loved the first season as a kid, but for some reason never could remember when it was on after that (I think it either kept being moved around or was on a channel that would preempt it for sports). Caught it a few times since, fortunately it was on at a convenient time to tape, as well as getting a copy of the final two episodes with the big finale dubbed from someone.

I'm going to assume anyone continues reading past this point is somewhat familiar with the show and use odd words, names and phrases without explanation.

First up, the 34th episode:

A Friend In Need

Rather neatly, picked it at random and it turned out to be one of the episodes directed by Henson (he directed about a dozen, plus did voices of non-regular Fraggles Cantus the Minstrel and Convincing John). This is also a kind of interesting episode as it has the inklings of a warming of relationships between the Fraggles and some of the other species that inhabit their world, the giant Gorgs and the dog from "outer space" (ie, our world), Sprocket. When I finally got a chance to see some of the later episodes I liked how the status quo on the show was allowed to change over the years.

But mostly I just love the main cast, who never really change. They're drawn broadly but very clearly, there are all sorts of little personality quirks that reinforce the basic character niche each one fills, from the way they look to their voices to how they move and especially what they say.

Anyway, the basic plot of this one involves Sprocket chasing a ball through the hole into Fraggle Rock from outer space and getting stuck halfway. Gobo tries to free him, and goes to get something from the Gorg garden to help, but gets caught in a trap. Meanwhile, the other Fraggles go to look for Gobo and think he's been eaten, which leads to a touching moment when Wembley forgets himself and shows some courage. Gobo meanwhile is able to use his wits to gain some sympathy from the Gorg Queen and get released and finish off his mission, along with providing some unintended aid to Doc.

Man, I still love this show. I'm definitely going to pick up at least one season set of it. The basic theme of the inter-connectedness of all things really appeals to me for some reasons, and the weird ways that always comes up on various episodes manages to surprise me far more often than it should.