The Muppets and the Beach Boys

With legendary rock band The Beach Boys reuniting for a world tour and delivering a brand new album produced by Beach Boy and music legend Brian Wilson it's time to look at the marks they left behind in Muppet history and look back at some of the Beach Boys tributes Jim Henson and his colleagues made.

Miss Piggy and the Muppet pigs performing "I Get Around"

With I Get Around being the first number one hit by the Beach Boys in the United States it seemed like a logical choice for a Muppets cover. The usual beach and sea atmosphere was hard to find in this sketch though as it was performed by the Muppet pigs dressed as a biker gang. Interesting about the production of this number is that in order to make it look authentic the producers ordered real operational (Muppet sized) motorcycles. However, when they arrived, they wouldn't be allowed to run. Because of safety regulations the studio wouldn't allow gas vehicles to run. Muppet fans got a scene behind this hard to make segment in the special Of Muppets and Men.

Kermit performing "Kokomo"

When the Muppets made a album titled Beach Party they covered several Beach Boys songs but only one of the songs on the album was made into a video and that's Kermit's version of Kokomo. This video is particulary noteworthy since it was one of the first videos produced in which Steve Whitmire performed Kermit. The video actually differs a bit from the original recording as it features an alt sax solo that was not heard on the album.

Kermit, Sweetums, and the frogs performing "Surfin USA"

Being that Surfin' USA is one of the most famous Beach Boys songs it's perhaps a bit odd that it got covered so late in the Muppet Show's run but the performance was well worth the wait. In this episode Kermit plays the part of Sinbad the Sailor who, along with his frog henchmen wants to get into a cave. Problem is, the cave is guarded by Sweetums who got strict orders to guard the cave from Sinbad. However, Kermit soon convinces him that he's not Sinbad the Sailor but sinbad the Surfer by singing the Beach Boys hit song.

Surfin' USA was later covered by Kermit and Clifford on the earlier mention Muppets Beach party CD.

The French Muppet Show: Muppets TV

The review of the home release of The Muppets 2011 will be posted soon but in the meantime let's take a look at a Muppet project that most people don't know about, even though it starred most of the original cast. If I'de ask people how many iterations of the Muppets Show have aired most will say one, referring to the original Muppet Show. Most Muppet fans will say two, referring to both the original Muppet Show and the short lived Muppets Tonight that aired in the mid nineties. Ask this question to a French Muppet fan however and he'll probably answer "trios" (three) since France got their own version of the Muppet Show. This wasn't a simple dub of the Muppet Show or Muppets Tonight but an entirely new program, made specifically for the French market starring the original Muppets alongside French guest stars called Muppets TV.

How did this all come about? Let's take a trip back to this year 2005...

French network TF1 and French radio comedian Sebastian Caudet made a deal with the Walt Disney Company to produce a new series for the French market where the Walt Disney Company send the actual puppets to France to get puppeteered by French puppeteers. Caudet himself provided the voice of the French Kermit and was a guest star in the final epsiode.

The show started in 2005 as a 15 minute pilot which featured French humorist Franck Dubosc as the guest star. The pilot contained several sketches including a parody on French TV series Mon Incroyable Fiance starring Miss Piggy. After the pilot a ten episode season was made to air in 2006.

Besides Kermit, a large part of the original cast of the Muppet Show was used in Muppets TV, including Muppets that had been retired for a long time in American Muppet productions like Rowlf, Scooter, the Muppets Newsman and Dr Teeth. Complementing these established stars were new Muppets like Denise and several Whatnots. (nameless Muppet 'extras') In contrast to the American series which were set in a old theater (The Muppet Show) and a television studio (Muppets Tonight) Muppets TV was set on a talk show stage. Like Muppets Tonight, it featured two guest stars per show. Each episode lasted 45 minutes and was broadcast on Sundays. The best bits of each weeks episode where rerun in 5 minute segments from Monday through Friday

Unfortunately, the show failed to hold the interest of the viewing audience and was cancelled in mere months with only 10 episodes produced. While the show was exclusively in France, foreign Muppet fans today can catch a glimpse of the show on Youtube:

5 Great Sesame Street Parodies


While Sesame Street has the focus on the younger viewers, the producers of the show always seem to sneak in a few segments with a wink to the older viewers in order to make them enjoy the show with their children. Some of the most memorable 'adult' segments are parodies of popular movies, music of tv shows. While the young ones won't always 'get' the joke it sure makes for some entertaining television. While there are a lot of parodies to choose from, here are five that still stand the test of time.


Cookie Monster as Isaac Hayes, "Shaft"
While a lot of younger readers will remember Isaac Hayes as the love driven Chef from South Park, older readers will remember him for his Soul career. One of his best known hits is the tune to the Shaft series. knowing this, Sesame Street dressed Cookie up as Isaac, complete with gold chains and beard and let him perform his version, called "Cookie". Can you dig it?

The Beetles as The Beatles performing "Letter B"
The Beatles were and still are one tof the most influential rock groups of all time. Sesame Street and The Muppets have done a lot of parodies of the Fab four, ranging from album covers like Sesame Road (Abbey Road) to performing Beatles songs on both shows. Sesame Street had a number of songs however in which not only the songs but also the members of the band were parodies. Insect pop group the Beetles (without the a) performed several parodies but the best one had to B "Letter B", a parody of "Let it Be". Paul McCartney, the Beatle who had written Let it Be later wrote a letter to Christopher Cerf, writer of "Letter B" saying he liked the parody.

"24"
The most interesting aspect of hit show "24" was that it took place in real time which is a big contrast to other series. Every minute of the in-show time lasted a minute in real life. A great concept which also made for a great Sesame spoof also called "24". Lasting 24 seconds, it is the Counts favorite show as he happens to count every second.

Grover performing as "Spider-Monster"
The Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn of the dark has had it's fair share of parodies but even so it was surprising to see Sesame Street take a jab at it. Since the musical is known for accidents happening to the actors who better than Grover to play the part of "Spider-Monster" while Mr Johnson watches the play? It gets even better when the original composer of the musical, Bono gets spoofed by the appearance of Bono monster. I haven't seen Turn of the Dark yet but I would gladly pay to see Spider-Monster the Musical.

Donald Grump in "The Grouch Apprentice"
With the Apprentice being a hit on TV and Donald Trump's haircut being so outspoken it was only a matter of time before it was parodied on Sesame Street. In September 2005 a very special guest appeared on the world's most famous street; Donald Grump, the grouch who has the most trash in the world. Visiting Sesame Street looking for a apprentice to sort his trash. Ultimately, both Oscar and Grundgetta got to be his apprentices. However, they soon learn they have to help Donald and ultimately firing him, ending the parody.

Bizarre Muppet crossovers 

Muppets and celebrities go hand in hand. The best example of this of course is the Muppet Show which featured a celebrity every week but the roles have often been reversed when Muppets were guests on another programme to provide comic relief or plug an upcoming project. To list all the programs that had a Muppet guest appearance is a seemingly impossible task but a look at the more bizarre crossovers is certainly an entertaining thought. The Muppet characters are pretty weird in nature and when mixed with 'normal' or equally bizarre shows the results can be entertaining, disappointing but certainly unexpected. Without further ado, I present three bizarre Muppet crossovers:

Batman and Superman on Sesame Street

Especially in the wake of the release of the Dark Knight a few years back it's hard to imagine the caped crusader appearing on a kids programme, much less Sesame Street. And yet...it happened. Batman appeared in animated segments in the earlier Sesame Street years teaching young viewers about topics like traffic safety. Along with Batman, his young ward Robin and arch enemy The Joker appeared in several short clips. Due to Sesame's nature however, things always ended fairly clean without Batman and the Joker actually fighting. Animated by Filmation, who later produced the The New Adventures of Batman cartoon in the same style, Batman appeared in a mere four segments but that doesn't make them any less memorable.

Fellow Justice League hero Superman also appeared on the most famous street in the world. Also animated by Funimation, Clark Kent's alter ego appeared in two segments in the first season. Maybe somewhat contradictory with the character of Sesame Street, the first segment, which aired in the Sesame Street pilot, consisted of Superman punching a giant ape down to the ground. Refering to the door-like shield Superman used to counter the giant's ape laser eyes (yeah, I know) he proudly exclaims “D”, celebrating the fourth letter of the alfabet.

The second segment features Superman naming several S-words as he flies around the world, battling spaceships and saving a sailboat from a storm before proclaiming the letter S as his favourite letter.

Sesame Street meets Star Wars
In the late seventees and early eighties Star Wars was everywhere and George Lucas made sure that his characters got as much exposure as possible. C-3PO and R2-D2, two droids (robots) that appeared in all three classic Star Wars movies, seem to get exposed the most with them appearing in things their own cartoon show, getting their won cereal and even doing public service announcements in which they urged kids not to smoke. A Muppet crossover seemd inevitable and sure enough, they appeared on The Muppet Show with Mark Hamill and Luke Skywalker, with a cameo by  Chewbacca  but this spot on the list is reserved for the Star Wars appearance on the other big Muppet project. 

Back in 1979 aliens landed on Sesame Street, in the form of C-3PO and R2-D2. Arriving in what looks like a frisbee, the droids from Star Wars interact with Big Bird and the gang while R2-D2 falls in love with a fire hydrant. In Sesame Street tradition the episode featured a song, revealing that  while C-3PO can interpret six million languages, he clearly wasn not build for singing. It's all in good fun though and C-3PO saying "Better to have loved a fire hydrant than never to have loved at all" is pretty funny. The droids starred in two episodes and filmed a song, Beep, to be used in later episodes.

The Muppets invade WWE RAW
That the Muppets would invade a plethora of shows in 2011 was expected with the new movie coming out but this crossover was unexpected even by the biggest wrestling fan. While the Muppet Show pilot featured a wrestling segment nobody knew what to expect when this news broke a few months before their Halloween appearance. Would the Muppets wrestle before a live audience? Would there only be one or two 'backstage' segments? The fact that both Muppets and pro wrestling are portrayed as real made the whole situation even more puzzling. What wrestling fans eventually got was a mix of everything and it was clear that WWE treated the Muppets with respect and integrated them in several ways in the show.  
Segments included a backstage segment where Bunsen Honeydew send out Beaker to deliver a 'Muppet Labs potion' to a weaker wrestler in order for the wrestler to win the match. . Subsequently Beaker encountered the equally red haired Sheamus, who has mockingly been called Beaker by his opponents. Talking to Beaker however, wrestler Sheamus revealed that he and Beaker are related but that Sheamus can't make it to the family reunion, effectivly saying wrestler Sheamus is a Muppet.
The most bizarre moment of the evening however was Beaker interfering in a wrestling match when he got another Muppet Labs potion and suddenly appeared next to the ring and handed over the potion to a wrestler while mimmicking that he had to drink it. On TV it looked pretty well but I'm wondering how it must have looked for the people in the arena, watching a Muppeteer under Beaker, trying to alter the ending to a wrestling match.