>Steve Whitmire, performer of Kermit the Frog since 1990, is no longer working with the Muppets.
>The other half of this bombshell is that Matt Vogel, Muppet performer since 1996, will be Kermit’s new performer. The irony that Matt previously performed Kermit imitator Constantine in Muppets Most Wanted is not lost on us. However, Matt has proven to be a talented and professional torch bearer for other classic characters, such as Floyd, Lew Zealand, and The Count, so we are intrigued to see how he will continue Kermit’s legacy.
>And yet, we still have many, many questions. We don’t know anything about the reasons for Steve’s departure. We don’t know what will happen with his characters, both the ones he inherited (like Beaker) or the ones he originated (like Rizzo the Rat). With hope, we will have answers to these questions and more as time goes on.
Is there anything new happening with muppets anyway?
Caleb Bennett
The Muppets are falling apart. And how's Matt gonna balance Kermit with the one dozen other roles he inherited from Jerry Nelson?
Carson Bailey
No one has known just what the hell to do with the muppets since the mid-90's
They make the occasional movie but it does not do as well as any of the 80's ones. They made a show that was cancelled in 4 months, nothing ever works out for them.
They are just not going to get the same level of popularity they had 30 years ago no matter how many times they try to revive it.
Camden Martin
I must admit I am a bit sad about this since I grew up Steve's Kermit. Something must have happened in his personal life or behind the scenes to cause him to leave. >They made a show that was cancelled in 4 months That was because Disney kept interfering with the production and scheduling. It wasn't until the new showrunner came on that it started getting good, but by then, the damage had been done.
Ryder Garcia
They've had a pretty big online presence for awhile now, even before the ABC show. They mainly do little sketches or musical numbers and put them up on YouTube. Sometimes, but rarely, they go on talk shows like The Tonight Show or Jimmy Kimmel to keep themselves in the public eye.
Nathan Cruz
So they have fallen to the level of college students making a project?
Connor Brown
Current state of the muppets is actually pretty sad. How many kids even care about Kermit nowadays.
Aaron Thomas
All they need to do is rerun the OG stuff during the oceans of reruns that is daytime television.
Grayson Watson
>that time they played second fiddle to Disney kidcom stars
Brody King
>All they need to do is rerun the OG stuff during the oceans of reruns that is daytime television. This is baffling to me. Why doesn't Disney do this?
Jose Evans
They did. Disney Channel used to play The Muppet Show and Muppets Tonight in the early 2000s.
Jonathan Kelly
I thought Kermit's performer left years ago
Hunter Clark
He was probably upset that Disney was gonna start making shit like this (this is a thing that's really happening).
Robert Martin
The first muppets movie was damn good. They really should hire jason segel as a permanent writer for them because he made that movie (at least...I think that's what they said?)
The show was ok and got good near the end with new showrunners, but Disney had it on the chopping block along with other things like Disney Infinity, etc because they were balancing out the budget after heavy construction in...I think it was Tokyo Didney parks
Ryan Adams
>They really should hire Frank Oz cause he understands them more than anyone Fixed
Michael Anderson
"start"? Muppet Babies has been a thing for decades.
Gavin Barnes
>he doesn't like Muppet Babies
Do you enjoy being a fag?
Nolan Jackson
>In a better timeline, Jim would be just now retiring as CCO of Disney.
Blake Edwards
I don't have a problem with OG Muppet Babies, but this just seems like a bad idea to me.
Wyatt James
Sweet mercy
Parker Cox
this is just new spin on old concept. its fine, and gets kids to know brand
Daniel Price
In a way, though, that kind of works in favor of the Muppet brand. Their identity has always been as underdogs and their humor has been self-deprecating from the start.
Them being at the bottom and regarded as hasbeens who keep trudging on beyond all common sense is sort of their thing.
Cooper Baker
Who's going to be playing these characters? The usual Jim Henson employees or will they be trying to bring in the voice actors from the original show (ie, Frank Welker as Baby Kermit once again).
Daniel Stewart
>Jim Henson: Dead >Frank Oz: Retired out of bitterness with Disney >Jerry Nelson: Dead >Richard Hunt: Dead >Steve Whitmire: Retired under mysterious circumstances >Kevin Clash: Touched a bunch of kids and forced to retire
What the fuck, is Dave Goelz the only first generation Muppeteer left? Do Louise Gold and Kathryn Mullen still work?
And what about the second generation Muppeteers? Whitmire's done and Clash is battling lawsuits. We're getting into a third generational powergap of Muppeteers where not only is no one around from the original era, but nobody was even mentored by the founders.
Jacob Campbell
>Touched a bunch of kids and forced to retire I honestly feel bad for him. Those kids were 16, older than any of the decoys on To Catch a Predator.
David Green
>is Dave Goelz the only first generation Muppeteer left?
Sadly, yes.
>Do Louise Gold and Kathryn Mullen still work?
Louise does the occasional voice over cameo (she was in the last two movies for a line or two) but for the most part is retired.
Kathryn retired from the Muppets a long, long time ago and hasn't done anything with the Henson brands in decades.
Gonzo is the last Muppet left.
Luke Powell
So like, why did he retire?
Did he get tired of doing nothing with the Muppets? Did someone in his family die? Does he have a disease?
Blake Campbell
He's been a Muppeteer since 1978.
Maybe after 40 years he decided he'd had enough?
Liam Walker
they need to start doing adaptations again-- the muppets are better as side players, not main characters-- muppet treasure island and muppet christmas carol are great-- they need to do musical adaptations of classic stories again.
Julian Rivera
We don't know anything about this except it will air on Disney Junior in 2018. I suspect we'll hear something about it at D23 in a couple days.
Ryan Scott
Did he ever own up to it or did he just step down to not ruin Sesame Street's good name.
Blake Morris
Yes he, did. He said that what went down between him and those 16 years olds was between "consenting adults."
He willingly stepped down because he didn't want to hurt the company's image.
Luke White
Right after Rizzo made his come back in the series. He's one of my favourites.
Cooper Baker
It will always be too soon for that joke.
Joshua Ramirez
>Christian Scientist thinks he can pray his pneumonia away >Fuckin dies for no good reason because of it
It was sad to lose such a tremendous talent, but he died in one of the stupidest fucking ways possible.
Jason Fisher
it's possible, but at the same time, many of the first gen muppeteers lasted until they died, so who knows.
Hopefully we can find out the reason sometime soon.
Luis Reyes
He died before he could see the world as it is today. Lucky man.
Gabriel Stewart
I just figured it was over a creative dispute with Disney.
That's what made Oz walk away.
Adam Reed
Isn't Carroll Spinney still working?
Brody Jackson
The show was shit because they tried to make it The Office instead of making it SNL with puppets like the original. I want to sketches and duets with celebrity guests. The Lady Gaga Thanksgiving special they did was an amazing.
Muppets Wizard of Oz with Ashanti is a masterpiece.
Dylan Anderson
I thought it was lung cancer.
Wyatt Russell
>Not making it 30 Rock since that was basically the damn Muppet Show in the first place.
Idiots I tell ya.
Levi Perez
That's what I thought my whole life, too.
Then I read up on it and it turns out he had pneumonia, but wouldn't let his family take him to the hospital because he was raised as a Christian Scientist and he had it in his head to never trust doctors. By the time he agreed to go to the hospital it was too late and he died a few hours later.
Nathaniel Baker
Val Kilmer is going the same way with cancer.
David Powell
The Muppets are dead. Bury it.
Grayson Perez
I heard HBO recently got rid of him but I'd need to look it up myself
Nice trips
Luke White
It won't have charming licensed movie footage scenes but this isn't bad at all. A lot of 90s kids were exposed to muppets through the previous show.
Jaxson Brown
Nice dubs my man. But I thought he was still working on pbs as big bird?
Adam Gutierrez
Spinney is still at it, although I think in the next 5 years or so he's gonna retire.
Kayden Fisher
Ok, seems like I was mistaken and he's still there, but have you guys heard how Big Bird sounds recently? Sounds like he's begging for someone to put him out of his misery.
>but have you guys heard how Big Bird sounds recently? No because I stopped watching Sesame Street like 14 years ago.
Nathaniel Williams
Puppetting big bird is extremely physically exhausting. It's very hard on the puppeteer.
Easton Martin
Started watching it again and I'm really enjoying it. There is a noticeable improvement in the second half. It just feels more muppet-ish and embracing the silly than the first half.
Jeremiah Ramirez
it was good overall, like you said second half was better than the first, but it was just too little too late to fix the show or ratings
