1.
Hey Cinderella
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Hey Cinderella is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Suzy Bogguss. It was released in November 1993 as the single from her album Something Up My Sleeve. The song reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in February 1994, the single also entered the UK pop chart, reaching number 92 on September 25,1993. It was written by Bogguss, Matraca Berg and Gary Harrison, lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
2.
Jim Henson
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James Maury Henson was an American puppeteer, artist, cartoonist, inventor, screenwriter, film director and producer who achieved international fame as the creator of the Muppets. Born in Greenville, Mississippi, and raised in Leland, Mississippi, while he was a freshman at the University of Maryland, College Park, he created Sam and Friends, a five-minute sketch-comedy puppet show that appeared on television. After graduating from the University of Maryland with a degree in economics, he produced coffee advertisements. Feeling the need for more output, Henson founded Muppets Inc. in 1958. Henson became famous in the 1960s when he joined the educational television program Sesame Street. He also appeared on the comedy show Saturday Night Live. In 1976, after scrapping plans for a Broadway show, he produced The Muppet Show and he won fame for his creations, particularly Kermit the Frog, Rowlf the Dog, and Ernie, and was involved with Sesame Street for over 20 years. Rowlf the Dog was a cast member on the Jimmy Dean Show in the early 60s, during the later years of his life, he also founded the Jim Henson Foundation and Jim Hensons Creature Shop. His involvement in two television programs—The Storyteller and The Jim Henson Hour—led to Emmy Award wins, in the weeks after his death, he was celebrated in a wave of tributes. He was posthumously inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1991, and as a Disney Legend in 2011. He was raised as a Christian Scientist and spent his childhood in Leland, Mississippi, before moving with his family to University Park, Maryland, near Washington. In 1954, while attending Northwestern High School, he working for WTOP-TV. After graduating from school, Henson enrolled at the University of Maryland, College Park, as a studio arts major. A puppetry class offered in the arts department introduced him to the craft and textiles courses in the College of Home economics. As a freshman, he had asked to create Sam and Friends. The characters on Sam and Friends were forerunners of Muppets, Henson would remain at WRC for seven years, from 1954 to 1961. A marionettes arms are manipulated by strings, but Henson used rods to move his Muppets arms, when Henson began work on Sam and Friends, he asked fellow University of Maryland sophomore Jane Nebel to assist him. The show was a success, but after graduating from college
3.
Frank Oz
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Frank Oz is an English-born American puppeteer, filmmaker and actor. His career began as a puppeteer, where he performed the Muppet characters of Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, and Sam Eagle in The Muppet Show, and Cookie Monster, Bert, and Grover in Sesame Street. He is also known for being the puppeteer and voice of Yoda in the Star Wars films and his work as a director includes Little Shop of Horrors, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, What About Bob. In & Out, Bowfinger, The Score and Death at a Funeral, Oz was born in Hereford, England, the son of Frances and Isidore Oznowicz, both of whom were puppeteers. His father was also a window trimmer and his parents moved to England after fighting the Nazis with the Dutch Brigades. Ozs Dutch/Polish father was Jewish and his Flemish mother was a lapsed Roman Catholic, Oz left England when he was six months old and lived in Belgium until he was five. Oz and his moved to Montana in 1951. They eventually settled in Oakland, California, Oz attended Oakland Technical High School and Oakland City College. He worked as a puppeteer at Childrens Fairyland as a teenager with the Vagabond Puppets, a production of the Oakland Recreation Department. Oz is known for his work as a puppeteer, performing with Jim Hensons Muppets and his characters have included Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, and Sam Eagle on The Muppet Show, and Grover, Cookie Monster and Bert on Sesame Street. In addition to performing a variety of characters, Oz has been one of the primary responsible for the development of the Muppets over the last 30 years. His puppetry work spans from 1963 to the present, although he retired completely from the Muppets in 2000, in 2001, his characters were taken over primarily by Eric Jacobson (with David Rudman as Cookie Monster. Oz is also known as the performer of Jedi Master Yoda from George Lucas Star Wars series, Jim Henson had originally been contacted by Lucas about possibly performing Yoda. Henson was pre-occupied and suggested Oz to be assigned as chief puppeteer, while Stuart Freeborn designed and fabricated the Yoda puppet, Oz performed the voice and puppet for Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi and Star Wars, Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Oz also provided the voice of the computer-generated imagery Yoda in Star Wars, Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Star Wars, the conversion to CGI was met with some criticism among fans but Oz himself said that was exactly what should have done. Oz had a deal of creative input on the character and was himself responsible for creating the characters trademark syntax. Inspiration as a film-maker came to Oz upon a viewing of the film Touch of Evil, I think it opened up my view of film—that theres so much more that could be done. Actually, by breaking so many rules, he allowed other people to say, Hey, I can maybe think of some stuff and he just opened up the possibilities more for me
4.
Jerry Nelson
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Jerry L. Nelson was an American puppeteer, singer, and musician, best known for his work with The Muppets. Renowned for his range of characters and singing abilities, he performed Muppet characters on Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock. On Sesame Street, Nelsons longest-running character was Count von Count, Nelson did the voice and puppetry for the Count from 1972 until 2012 and continued to provide the Counts voice until his death. Nelson was the first puppeteer to perform Mr. Snuffleupagus, keeping the role from 1971 to 1978. But the reasons for giving it up were because at that time we were doing The Muppet Show and he was a part of the show. So they asked if Id mind giving it up and he also performed many characters on The Muppet Show, including Sgt. Floyd Pepper, Pigs in Space star Dr and he performed Statler in the pilot episode but was replaced by Richard Hunt when he could not perform full-time in the first season. He was a performer for the rest of the shows run. Nelson was also selected to play Statler after Hunts death, after the end of the show, Nelsons Muppets on The Muppet Show were all only supporting roles, but they did occasionally play a central role in an episodes plot. Nelson performed the puppet and voice of Emmet in Emmet Otters Jug-Band Christmas and he later performed the signature song from that show, When the River Meets the Sea, as Robin, in a duet with John Denver for a Muppet Christmas special. That version of the song gets frequent radio airplay during the Christmas season, on Fraggle Rock, he performed Gobo Fraggle, Pa Gorg, and Marjory the Trash Heap. Frank Oz did not perform on Fraggle Rock, and Jim Henson and Richard Hunt limited their time on the show, for this reason, Nelson was asked to perform Gobo, the central role on the show. Nelsons characters were often singers or musicians, Most of his main characters in all three shows sang songs at one time or another. He reprised the role of the announcer in The Muppets and his final performance as the said announcer was part of the Jim Hensons Musical World concert at Carnegie Hall. Archive audio of his role was reused in Muppets Most Wanted. Nelson also performed the voice of General Public in the Cartoon Network animated series Sheep in the Big City. In December 2009, Nelson, who summered in Truro, Massachusetts on Cape Cod, released Truro Daydreams, Nelson had a daughter named Christine from his first marriage to Jacqueline Nelson Gordon. Christine had cystic fibrosis and died from the disease in 1982, caring for her limited Nelsons involvement in the The Muppet Shows first season
5.
Joe Raposo
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He also wrote music for television shows such as The Electric Company, Shining Time Station and the sitcoms Threes Company and The Ropers, including their theme songs. Raposo was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, the child of Portuguese immigrant parents Joseph Soares Raposo. He was known as Sonny to his family, Joseph Sr. was an accomplished musician, classical guitarist, violinist, flutist, pianist, music teacher and Joes first music teacher. He was a graduate of B. M. C, durfee High School in Fall River. A1958 graduate of Harvard College, he was known for writing the scores for several Hasty Pudding shows there. He was also a graduate of LEcole Normale de Musique in Paris, Raposo worked in musical theater both before and after his work for the Childrens Television Workshop and Sesame Street, musical theater was where he first encountered future collaborator Jim Henson. Upon hearing Raposos musical skill, Schwartz claims in his autobiography he urged Raposo to give up piano bar playing in Boston, Raposos decision to take Schwartzs suggestion and move in 1965 eventually led him to his fated meeting with Henson, to Sesame Street, and toward international fame. Raposo was the supervisor and arranger of the original off-Broadway run of Youre a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Raposo is best known for the songs he wrote for Sesame Street from its beginning in 1969 through the mid-1970s, and also for a time in the 1980s. He wrote the Sesame Street Theme – various versions of which have opened every episode – as well as many of its most popular songs, such as Bein Green, C is for Cookie, Sing and ABC-DEF-GHI. A version of Sing recorded by The Carpenters in 1973 reached #3 on the Billboard top singles chart, for many years, most of the music used in Sesame Streets film segments was also written — and often sung — by Raposo. Aside from his contributions, Raposo performed several uncredited stock characters on Sesame Street during the early 1970s. According to his son Nicholas in a 2002 telephone conversation, Joe Raposo usually chose to portray anonymous, silly characters in these segments and he also did voice-overs for a few animated segments. The Sesame Street character Don Music maintained a framed and autographed glamour photograph of Raposo on the wall of his Muppet atelier, Raposo was very fond of sweets according to many who knew him. One favorite food of his was cookies, Raposo was actually the first puppeteer to operate Cookie Monster on television for Sesame Street. His widow Pat Collins-Sarnoff celebrated his life with a milk and cookies reception, one of Raposos Sesame Street compositions, The Square Song, was used in the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. In 1971, Childrens Television Workshop created the show The Electric Company, Raposo served as the musical director of the show for its first three seasons, and contributed songs throughout the shows run, until 1977. Raposo performed joke characters for film segments on The Electric Company similar in style to what he had done on Sesame Street, although primarily known for work in live-action and animated childrens television, Joe Raposo actually aspired to become a Broadway musical composer
6.
The Jim Henson Company
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The Jim Henson Company is an American entertainment company, a leading producer of childrens and family entertainment, and best known as the creators of the renowned Muppets characters. Founded in 1958 by puppeteer Jim Henson and performing partner and wife Jane Henson, the company has also produced many films, including The Muppet Movie, The Dark Crystal, and Labyrinth. Henson also operates Jim Hensons Creature Shop, a puppet, animatronics, and visual effects workshop, in 1989, the company entered merger negotiations with The Walt Disney Company, but the deal fell through following Jim Hensons unexpected death in 1990. Following Hensons death and the calling off of the Disney merger, the company was taken over by Hensons children, Lisa, Cheryl, Brian, John, and Heather, with Brian at the helm. In 2000 Henson was sold to EM. TV & Merchandising AG, a German media company, but by the end of year, EM. TVs stock collapsed. In 2004, Henson sold the rights to the Muppets and Bear in the Big Blue House to The Walt Disney Company, but retains the rights to the rest of its characters, program library, and assets. As of 2014, Brian, Lisa, Cheryl, and Heather Henson run the company, Brian Henson serves as chairman, while Lisa Henson serves as CEO. Since 2000, The Jim Henson Company has been headquartered at the Jim Henson Company Lot, Jim and Jane Henson officially founded Muppets, Inc. on November 20,1958, three years after Sam and Friends debuted on WRC-TV in Washington, D. C. In 1968, the company started creating characters and more than 20 short films for the childrens show Sesame Street. During this time the shows host, Jimmy Dean, turned down the opportunity to own forty percent of the company because he didnt feel that he had earned it. For many years, Jim Henson had tried to sell several different shows to the major American networks, some ideas were made as unaired pilots, and some were never produced. Then, in 1976, British media-mogul Lew Grade approached Jim Henson to produce a show based in England. The success of The Muppet Show led to movies, specials, videos. The British company ITC originally owned The Muppet Show, among other Henson productions, during the 1980s Jim Henson produced new television series such as Fraggle Rock and The Jim Henson Hour. In August 1989, Jim Henson and Disney CEO Michael Eisner announced a deal in which Henson would merge his company with The Walt Disney Company, the deal, reportedly valued at $150 million, also included a fifteen-year contract for Hensons personal creative services. On May 16,1990, while negotiating with Disney. Under the changed circumstances, the two sides could not come to an accord, negotiations officially ended in December 1990, and Henson would remain an independent company. The Henson family took over management of the company, and Brian Henson was named president, chairman, in 1995, Henson signed a deal with Capital Cities/ABC to produce primetime television series, a deal which led to Muppets Tonight and Aliens in the Family
7.
CBC Television
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CBC Television is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network that is owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6,1952 and its French-language counterpart is Ici Radio-Canada Télé. Almost all of the CBCs programming is produced in Canada, on October 9,2006 at 6,00 a. m. the network switched to a 24-hour schedule, becoming one of the last major English-language broadcasters to transition to such a schedule. Most CBC-owned stations previously signed off the air during the morning hours. Its French counterpart, Ici Radio-Canada Télé, still signs off every night, until 1998, the network carried a variety of American programs in addition to its core Canadian programming, directly competing with private Canadian broadcasters such as CTV and Global. Since then, it has restricted itself to Canadian programs, a handful of British programs, since this change, the CBC has sometimes struggled to maintain ratings comparable to those it achieved before 1995, although it has seen somewhat of a ratings resurgence in recent years. In the 2007-08 season, popular series such as Little Mosque on the Prairie, in 2002, CBC Television and CBC News Network became the first broadcasters in Canada that are required to provide closed captioning for all of their programming. On those networks, only outside commercials need not be captioned, all shows, bumpers, billboards, promos and other internal programming must be captioned. The requirement stems from a human rights complaint filed by deaf lawyer Henry Vlug, the CBCs flagship newscast, The National, airs Sunday through Fridays at 10,00 p. m. EST and Saturdays at 6,00 p. m. EST. This second airing was replaced with other programming, and as of the 2012-13 television season, was replaced on CBCs major market stations by a half-hour late newscast. There is also a news update, at most, on late Saturday evenings. During hockey season, this update is usually found during the first intermission of the game of the doubleheader on Hockey Night in Canada. Other newscasts include parts of CBC News Now airing weekday at 6,00 a. m. weekly newsmagazine the fifth estate is also a CBC mainstay, as are documentary series such as Doc Zone. One of the most popular shows on CBC Television is the weekly Saturday night broadcast of NHL hockey games and it has been televised by the network since 1952. During the NHL lockout and subsequent cancellation of the 2004-2005 hockey season, CBC instead aired various recent and classic movies, branded as Movie Night in Canada, on Saturday nights. Other than hockey, CBC Sports properties include Toronto Raptors basketball, Toronto FC Soccer and it was also the exclusive carrier of Canadian Curling Association events during the 2004–2005 season. Due to disappointing results and fan outrage over many draws being carried on CBC Country Canada, after the CBC threatened legal action, both sides eventually came to an agreement under which early-round rights reverted to TSN. CBC Sports suffered another blow when it was announced that after the 2007 season, the CFL regular season games
8.
American Broadcasting Company
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The network is headquartered on Columbus Avenue and West 66th Street in Manhattan, New York City. There are additional offices and production facilities elsewhere in New York City, as well as in Los Angeles and Burbank. Since 2007, when ABC Radio was sold to Citadel Broadcasting, ABC originally launched on October 12,1943, as a radio network, separated from and serving as the successor to the NBC Blue Network, which had been purchased by Edward J. Noble. It extended its operations to television in 1948, following in the footsteps of established broadcast networks CBS, in the mid-1950s, ABC merged with United Paramount Theatres, a chain of movie theaters that formerly operated as a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures. Leonard Goldenson, who had been the head of UPT, made the new television network profitable by helping develop, in 1996, most of Capital Cities/ABCs assets were purchased by The Walt Disney Company. The television network has eight owned-and-operated and over 232 affiliated television stations throughout the United States, most Canadians have access to at least one U. S. ABC News provides news and features content for radio stations owned by Citadel Broadcasting. In the 1930s, radio in the United States was dominated by three companies, the Columbia Broadcasting System, the Mutual Broadcasting System and the National Broadcasting Company. The last was owned by electronics manufacturer Radio Corporation of America, in 1938, the FCC began a series of investigations into the practices of radio networks and published its report on the broadcasting of network radio programs in 1940. The report recommended that RCA give up control of either NBC Red or NBC Blue, at that time, the NBC Red Network was the principal radio network in the United States and, according to the FCC, RCA was using NBC Blue to eliminate any hint of competition. Once Mutuals appeals against the FCC were rejected, RCA decided to sell NBC Blue in 1941, the newly separated NBC Red and NBC Blue divided their respective corporate assets. Investment firm Dillon, Read & Co. offered $7.5 million to purchase the network, Edward John Noble, the owner of Life Savers candy, drugstore chain Rexall and New York City radio station WMCA, purchased the network for $8 million. Due to FCC ownership rules, the transaction, which was to include the purchase of three RCA stations by Noble, would require him to resell his station with the FCCs approval, the Commission authorized the transaction on October 12,1943. Soon afterward, the Blue Network was purchased by the new company Noble founded, Noble subsequently acquired the rights to the American Broadcasting Company name from George B. Meanwhile, in August 1944, the West Coast division of the Blue Network, both stations were then managed by Don Searle, the vice-president of the Blue Networks West Coast division. The ABC Radio Network created its audience slowly, the network also became known for such suspenseful dramas as Sherlock Holmes, Gang Busters and Counterspy, as well as several mid-afternoon youth-oriented programs. S. From Nazi Germany after its conquest, to pre-record its programming, while its radio network was undergoing reconstruction, ABC found it difficult to avoid falling behind on the new medium of television. To ensure a space, in 1947, ABC submitted five applications for television station licenses, the ABC television network made its debut on April 19,1948, with WFIL-TV in Philadelphia becoming its first primary affiliate
9.
Cinderella
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Cinderella, or The Little Glass Slipper, is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world, the title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances, that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune. The oldest documented version comes from China, and the oldest European version from Italy, the most popular version was first published by Charles Perrault in Histoires ou contes du temps passé in 1697, and later by the Brothers Grimm in their folk tale collection Grimms Fairy Tales. Although the storys title and main characters change in different languages. The word Cinderella has, by analogy, come to one whose attributes were unrecognized, or one who unexpectedly achieves recognition or success after a period of obscurity. The still-popular story of Cinderella continues to influence popular culture internationally, lending plot elements, allusions, the Aarne–Thompson system classifies Cinderella as the persecuted heroine. The story of Rhodopis, about a Greek slave girl who marries the king of Egypt, is considered the earliest known variant of the Cinderella story, a version of the story, Ye Xian, appeared in Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang by Duan Chengshi around 860. Here, the hardworking and lovely girl befriends a fish, the rebirth of her mother, the fish is later killed by her stepmother and sister. Ye Xian saves the bones, which are magic, and they help her dress appropriately for the New Year Festival, when she loses her slipper after being recognized by her stepfamily, the king finds her slipper and falls in love with her. The Indonesian and Malaysian story Bawang Merah Bawang Putih, are two girls named Bawang Putih and Bawang Merah. While the two countrys respective versions differ in the relationship of the girls and the identity of the protagonist. Both have a fish as the fairy godmother to her daughter. The heroine then finds the bones and buries them, and over the grave a magical swing appears, the protagonist sits on the swing and sings to make it sway, her song reaching the ears of a passing Prince. The swing is akin to the slipper test, which distinguishes the heroine from her sister. In Indonesia, Bawang Putih is the girl, who suffers at the hands of her evil stepmother and stepsister, Bawang Merah. When the Prince enquires after the singer on the swing, Bawang Merah lies, the angry prince forces Bawang Merah and her mother to tell the truth. They then admit that there is another daughter in the house, Bawang Putih comes out and moves the magical swing by her singing. In the end, she and her prince marry and live happily ever after, in the Malaysian version, it is Bawang Merah and her mother Mak Labu who are good, while her half sister Bawang Putih and her mother Mak Kundur are evil
10.
The Muppets
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The Muppets are an ensemble cast of puppet characters known for their self-aware, burlesque, and meta-referential style of variety-sketch comedy. The Muppets debuted on the television program Sam and Friends, which aired from 1955 to 1961, after appearing on skits in several late night talk shows and advertising commercials during the 1960s, the Muppets began appearing on Sesame Street in 1969. In the late 1970s and into the 1980s, the Muppets diversified into theatrical films, including The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper. The Walt Disney Company began involvement with the Muppets in the late 1980s, Disney acquired the rights to the Muppets in 2004, allowing the characters to gain broader public exposure than in previous years. Under Disneys control, the Muppets enjoyed revitalized success, starring in two films—The Muppets and Muppets Most Wanted —as well as a primetime television series on ABC. The Muppets were created by puppeteer Jim Henson in the 1950s, beginning with Kermit the Frog, in 1955, the Muppets were introduced on Sam and Friends, a television program that aired on WRC-TV in Washington D. C. Instead, Henson utilized the natural four-sided frame of a set that viewers would already be watching through as the programs theatre. During the 1960s, the characters—notably Kermit and Rowlf the Dog—appeared on skits in several late-night talk shows and advertising commercials, Rowlf became the first Muppet with a regular spot on network television when he began appearing as Jimmy Deans sidekick on The Jimmy Dean Show. In 1966, Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett began developing a television program targeted towards children. Produced by the Childrens Television Workshop, the show debuted as Sesame Street in 1969, by the early 1970s, the Muppets continued their presence in television, namely appearing in The Land of Gorch segments during the first season of Saturday Night Live. As his involvement with Sesame Street continued, Henson mused about the possibility of creating a television series featuring the Muppets. Two pilot specials, The Muppets Valentine Show and The Muppet Show, Sex and Violence, aired on ABC in 1974 and 1975, respectively. Debuting in 1976, The Muppet Show introduced characters such as Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo and Animal, as well as showcasing regulars Kermit and Rowlf. Through its syndication, The Muppet Show became increasingly popular due to its sketch comedy variety format, unique brand of humor, the show went on to receive twenty-one Primetime Emmy Award nominations during its run, and winning four awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series in 1978. Altogether, the three films received four Academy Award nominations, by 1983, Henson had introduced another television series, Fraggle Rock, which ran on HBO in the United States until 1987. By the late 1980s, Henson entered discussions with Michael Eisner and The Walt Disney Company, in which the latter would acquire Jim Henson Productions and in turn, Disney was interested in purchasing the company for $150 million. In addition to the company and Muppet characters, Eisner expressed a desire to include the Sesame Street characters as part of the acquisition, Henson, declined the proposal, however, consistently referring to such a motive as a non-starter for the deal. As discussions between the two continued, Henson and Walt Disney Imagineering preemptively began developing Muppet-themed attractions for the Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World
11.
Kermit the Frog
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Kermit the Frog is a Muppet character and Jim Hensons most well-known creation. Henson originally performed Kermit until his death on May 16,1990 and he was voiced by Frank Welker in Muppet Babies and occasionally in other animation projects. Kermit performed the hit singles Bein Green in 1970 and Rainbow Connection in 1979 for The Muppet Movie, the latter song reached No.25 on the Billboard Hot 100. The earliest trace of Kermit first appeared in 1955 on WRC-TVs Sam and this prototype Kermit was created from a discarded spring coat belonging to Hensons mother and two ping pong ball halves for eyes. Initially, Kermit was a lizard-like creature and he subsequently made a number of television appearances before his status as a frog was established. His collar was added at the time to him seem more frog-like. The origin of Kermits name is a subject of some debate and it is often claimed that Kermit was named after Hensons childhood friend Kermit Scott, from Leland, Mississippi. Joy DiMenna, the daughter of Kermit Kalman Cohen who worked as a sound engineer at WBAL-TV during Jim Hensons time with Sam and Friends. Both were NBC affiliates then, and WBAL carried the show, Mr. Henson was introduced to members of the sound and camera crew, including Mr. Cohen. When he heard his name, Jim turned around, snapped his fingers and said to his wife, as Sesame Street is localized for some different markets that speak languages other than English, Kermit is often renamed. In Portugal, he is called Cocas, o Sapo, and in Brazil, his name is similar, Caco, in most of Hispanic America, his name is la rana René. In Spain, he is named Gustavo, in the Arabic version, he is known as Kamel, which is a common Arabic male name that means perfect. In Hungary, he is called Breki, in Turkey, although he is known as Kermit on The Muppet Show, in Sesame Street episodes, he was called Kurbağacık. With the release of The Muppets in 2011, most of the countries have begun using Kermit as the characters name. Jim Henson originated the character in 1955 on his television series, Sam. He continued to perform the character until his death in 1990, Hensons last known performance as Kermit was for an appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show to promote The Muppets at Walt Disney World. Henson died twelve days after that appearance, following Hensons death, veteran Muppet performer Steve Whitmire was named Kermits new performer. His first public performance as Kermit was at the end of the television special The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson and he has remained Kermits principal performer since then
12.
Sheet music
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Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms and/or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. The first printed sheet music made with a press was made in 1473. Sheet music is the form in which Western classical music is notated so that it can be learned and performed by solo singers or instrumentalists or musical ensembles. Many forms of traditional and popular Western music are commonly learned by singers and musicians by ear, Score is a common alternative term for sheet music, and there are several types of scores, as discussed below. Sheet music from the 20th and 21st century typically indicates the title of the song or composition on a page or cover, or on the top of the first page. If the song or piece is from a movie, Broadway musical, or opera, if the songwriter or composer is known, her or his name is typically indicated along with the title. Black market sheet music, such as illegal jazz fake books may or may not indicate the songwriter or composer, the type of musical notation varies a great deal by genre or style of music. In most classical music, the melody and accompaniment parts are notated on the lines of a staff using round note heads, the lyrics, if present, are written near the melody notes. However, music from the Baroque music era or earlier eras may have neither a tempo marking nor a dynamic indication. The singers and musicians of that era were expected to know what tempo and loudness to play or sing a song or piece due to their musical experience. In the contemporary music era, and in some cases before, composers often used their native language for tempo indications. These conventions of music notation, and in particular the use of English tempo instructions, are also used for sheet music versions of 20th. Popular music songs often indicate both the tempo and genre, slow blues or uptempo rock, pop songs often contain chord names above the staff using letter names, so that an acoustic guitarist or piano player can improvise a chordal accompaniment. In other styles of music, different musical notation methods may be used, in jazz, while most professional performers can read classical-style notation, many jazz tunes are notated using chord charts, which indicate the chord progression of a song and its form. Like popular music songs, jazz tunes often indicate both the tempo and genre, slow blues or fast bop, professional country music session musicians typically use music notated in the Nashville Number System, which indicates the chord progression using numbers. Chord charts using letter names, numbers, or Roman numerals are widely used for notating music by blues, R&B, rock music. Many guitar players and electric bass players learn songs and note tunes using tablature, tab is widely used rock music and heavy metal guitarists. Singers in many music styles learn a song using only a lyrics sheet
13.
The Muppet Show
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The Muppet Show is a family-oriented comedy-variety television series that was produced by puppeteer Jim Henson and features The Muppets. The programmes were recorded at ATVs Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, England, the series shows a vaudeville or music hall-style song-and-dance variety show, as well as glimpses behind the scenes of such a show. Kermit the Frog stars as a showrunner who tries to control of the antics of the other Muppet characters. The show was known for physical slapstick, sometimes absurdist comedy. Each episode also featured a human guest star, as the shows popularity rose, many celebrities were eager to perform with the Muppets on television and in film. Many of the puppeteers also worked on Sesame Street, Jerry Juhl and Jack Burns were two of the show writers. The music was performed by Jack Parnell and his orchestra, since 1969, Sesame Street had given Jim Hensons Muppet creations exposure, however, Henson began to perceive that he was pigeonholed as a childrens entertainer. He sought to create a programme that could be enjoyed by young, Two specials were produced and aired on ABC that are considered pilots for The Muppet Show. Neither led to the sale of a network series. However, the prime-time access rule had just been enacted, which took the 7,30 to 8 pm ET slot from the networks and turned it over to their affiliates. CBS suggested it would be interested in Hensons proposal as a series it could purchase for its owned-and-operated stations. According to the pitch reel, Rowan & Martins Laugh-In co-creator George Schlatter was originally going to be involved. Henson put aside his misgivings about syndication and accepted, the Muppet Show Theme is the shows theme song. It is the opening and closing theme for episode of The Muppet Show and was performed by The Muppets in a scene of The Muppets. Each episode ended with an instrumental performance of The Muppet Show Theme by the Muppet orchestra before Statler. Some last laugh sequences featured other Muppets on the balcony, for example, in one episode, the Muppets of Sesame Street appeared behind the duo who told them, How should we know how to get to Sesame Street. We dont even know how to get out of this stupid theater box, every series, the TV version of the song was presented with re-worked lyrics. While the opening sequence evolved visually over the course of the five series
14.
Prince Charming
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Prince Charming is a fairy tale character who comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress, and stereotypically, must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell. The prominence of the character makes him an obvious target for revisionist fairy tales. Prince Charming is also used as a term to refer to the man some people dream of as a future spouse. Charles Perraults version of Sleeping Beauty, published in 1697, includes the text at the point where the princess wakes up, Est-ce vous. Lui dit-elle, vous vous êtes bien fait attendre, Le Prince charmé de ces paroles. Ne savait comment lui témoigner sa joie and it has sometimes been suggested that this passage later inspired the term, Prince Charming, even though it is the prince who is charmed here, not who is being charming. In the 17th century, Madame dAulnoy wrote two fairy tales, The Story of Pretty Goldilocks, where the hero was named Avenant, and The Blue Bird, where the hero was Le roi Charmant. When Andrew Lang retold the first for The Blue Fairy Book, he rendered the name as Charming. Although neither one was a prince and the first was not royal, then, Oscar Wildes 1890 novel The Picture of Dorian Gray refers ironically to Prince Charming, perhaps the earliest use of the exact term. The main character, Dorian, is supposed to be a young actresss Prince Charming, but he abandons her and in despair she commits suicide. In the early Disney animated feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, when Snow White tells the dwarfs about her prince, she says, Anyone could see that the prince was charming, however, he is never referred to specifically as Prince Charming. In other languages, like Spanish and Italian, he is called the Blue Prince, in Portuguese, a translation mistake occurred and he is called Charmed Prince, coincidentally closer to the sense in Perraults story mentioned atop this section. The Broadway musical Into the Woods explores the character as polygamous, and where there are not one, here, they are shown as brothers pursuing Cinderella and Rapunzel, then later, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White, after they have married their first loves. Cinderellas Prince has an affair with the wife as well. As implied by the title, the 1991 fantasy novel Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming by Roger Zelazny, Prince Charming is a prominent character in the Fables comic book. Polygamy is explored again, in version, he successively married Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. He himself comments, I always truly love a woman when I first pursue her. Im just no good at the happily-ever-after part. He parlays his charm into election as the mayor of Fabletown, the underground Fable community and he Died in the Battle for the Homelands by activating a Bomb to End the War
15.
Gardener
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A gardener is someone who practices gardening, either professionally or as a hobby. The garden designer is someone who will design the garden, the term gardener is also used to describe garden designers and landscape gardeners, who are involved chiefly in the design of gardens, rather than the practical aspects of horticulture. Garden design is considered to be an art in most cultures, distinguished from gardening, vita Sackville-West, Gertrude Jekyll and William Robinson were garden designers as well as gardeners. Garden design is the creation of a plan for the construction of a garden, the design can include different themes such as perennial, butterfly, wildlife, Japanese, water, tropical, or shade gardens. In 18th-century japan, country estates were refashioned by landscape gardeners into formal gardens or landscaped park lands, such as at Versailles, France, or Stowe, Professional landscape designers are certified by the Association of Professional Landscape Designers. The designer also provides directions and supervision during construction, and the management of establishment, the gardener is the person who has the skill to maintain the gardens design. Weeds tend to thrive at the expense of the more refined edible or ornamental plants, gardeners need to control weeds using physical or chemical methods to stop weeds from reaching a mature stage of growth when they could be harmful to domesticated plants. Early activities, such as starting young plants from seeds for later transplantation, are performed in early spring
16.
Geranium
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Geranium is a genus of 422 species of flowering annual, biennial, and perennial plants that are commonly known as the cranesbills. They are found throughout the regions of the world and the mountains of the tropics. The long, palmately cleft leaves are circular in form. The flowers have five petals and are coloured white, pink, purple or blue, geraniums will grow in any soil as long as it is not waterlogged. Propagation is by cuttings in summer, by seed, or by division in autumn or spring. The genus name is derived from the Greek γέρανος or γερανός ‘crane’, the English name ‘cranesbill’ derives from the appearance of the fruit capsule of some of the species. Species in the Geranium genus have a mechanism for seed dispersal. This consists of a column which springs open when ripe. The fruit capsule consists of five cells, each containing one seed, joined to a column produced from the centre of the old flower. The common name comes from the shape of the unsprung column. However, many species in this genus do not have a long beak-like column, geraniums are eaten by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including brown-tail and mouse moth. The species Geranium viscosissimum is considered to be protocarnivorous, confusingly, geranium is also the common name of members of the genus Pelargonium, which are also in the Geraniaceae family. These are generally half-hardy plants which are grown from seed every year, or offered as bedding in spring. Linnaeus originally included all the species in one genus, Geranium, other former members of the genus are now classified in genus Erodium, including the plants known as filarees in North America. The term hardy geranium is often applied to geraniums to distinguish them from the pelargoniums, however, not all geranium species are winter-hardy. The shape of the flowers offers one way of distinguishing between the two genera Geranium and Pelargonium, a number of geranium species are cultivated for horticultural use and for pharmaceutical products. Some of the commonly grown species include, All the above species are perennials and generally winter-hardy plants, grown for their attractive flowers. They are long-lived and most have a habit, with palmately lobed foliage
17.
Coachman
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A coachman is a man whose business it is to drive a coach, a horse-drawn vehicle designed for the conveyance of more than one passenger — and of mail — and covered for protection from the elements. He has also called a coachee, coachy or whip. In a great house, this would have been a specialty, but in more modest households, in early coaches he sat on a built-in compartment called a boot, bracing his feet on a footrest called a footboard. An ornamented, often fringed cloth called a hammercloth might have hung over the coachmans seat and he could be seen taking refreshments at a type of public house called a watering house, which also provided water for horses. The role of the coachman, who sat along with the passengers in the vehicle, was contrasted with that of the postillion, a coachman was sometimes called a jarvey or jarvie, especially in Ireland, Jarvey was a nickname for Jarvis. In the first of his Sherlock Holmes stories, A Study in Scarlet, others dubbed him a Phaeton, harking back to the Greek Phaëton, son of Helios who, attempting to drive the chariot of the sun, managed to set the earth on fire. When there was no coachman, a postilion or postillion sometimes rode as a guide on the horse of a pair or of one of the pairs attached to a coach. The driver of a wagon or cart drawn by an animal was known as teamster or carter. The English word coach, the Spanish and Portuguese coche, the German Kutsche, Kocs was a Hungarian post town, and the coach itself may have been invented in Hungary. Hungarian villages still hold Coachman of the Year competitions, the coachman soon became a prominent figure in Hungarian folklore. As the Clever Coachman, he turns up unexpectedly in the heros life, after the hero enters the coach, the coachman becomes a kind of guide. He may not take the hero to where he wants to go, many of Steven Brusts novels play with this image of the coachman. Coachman is also a synonym for the pennant coralfish, the Royal Coachman is also a type of fly used for fly fishing, which exists as both a dry-fly and a wet-fly. The pattern was composed in England pre-1860, media related to Coachmen at Wikimedia Commons Gentlemen Coachmen, by Anne Woodley. George Borrows, The Stage-Coachmen Of England, A Bully Served Out, the stables - Coachmen 1662-1837 | British History Online
18.
Fairy godmother
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In fairy tales, a fairy godmother is a fairy with magical powers who acts as a mentor or parent to someone, in the role that an actual godparent was expected to play in many societies. In Perraults Cinderella, he concludes the tale with the moral that no personal advantages will suffice without proper connections. The fairy godmother is a case of the donor. Actual fairy godmothers are rare in fairy tales, but became familiar figures because of the popularity of the fairy tales of Madame dAulnoy and other précieuses. Many other supernatural patrons feature in fairy tales, these various kinds of animals. The fairy godmother has her roots in the figures of the Fates, this is clear in Sleeping Beauty, where they decree her fate. Typically, the fairy godmothers protégé is a prince or princess and the hero of the story, the most well-known example is probably the fairy godmother in Charles Perraults Cinderella. Eight fairy godmothers appear in The Sleeping Beauty, of Charles Perraults, the popularity of these versions of these tales led to this being widely regarded as a common fairy-tale motif, although they are less common in other tales. Indeed, the fairy godmothers were added to The Sleeping Beauty by Perrault, no such figures appeared in his source, Sole, Luna, in the Grimm Brothers variant of Cinderella, Aschenputtel is aided not by her fairy godmother but by her dead mother. A great variety of figures may also take this place. She is portrayed as kind, gentle and sweet, likewise, in her The White Doe, the fairy godmother helps the evil princess get revenge on the heroine. In Henriette-Julie de Murats Bearskin, the heroine has a fairy godmother, but she is offended that the marriage was arranged without consulting her. Fairy godmothers appear frequently in fantasy, especially comic versions and retellings of Cinderella. Whenever events are right for a tale to recur, the relevant Fairy Godmother steps in to make sure that the tale in question runs its course with as few fatalities as possible. In the television animated Halloween special Witchs Night Out, the witch is mistaken for a fairy godmother by the two children, Small and Tender and their sitter, Bazooey corrects them by addressing the fairy godmother as a wicked witch. The Fairly OddParents is a humorous animated TV Series where the fairies Cosmo, in Shrek 2, the fairy godmother who appears is an evil twin sister of Cinderellas fairy godmother. She is a conniving, crooked businesswoman, who is willing to resort to blackmail and/or murder to further her own interests. The Discworld novel Witches Abroad also features a fairy godmother, Lady Lilith de Tempscire
19.
Horse
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The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus. It is an ungulate mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature, Eohippus, into the large, humans began to domesticate horses around 4000 BC, and their domestication is believed to have been widespread by 3000 BC. Horses in the subspecies caballus are domesticated, although some domesticated populations live in the wild as feral horses. There is an extensive, specialized vocabulary used to describe equine-related concepts, covering everything from anatomy to life stages, size, colors, markings, breeds, locomotion, and behavior. Horses anatomy enables them to use of speed to escape predators and they have a well-developed sense of balance. Related to this need to flee from predators in the wild is an unusual trait, female horses, called mares, carry their young for approximately 11 months, and a young horse, called a foal, can stand and run shortly following birth. Most domesticated horses begin training under saddle or in harness between the ages of two and four and they reach full adult development by age five, and have an average lifespan of between 25 and 30 years. There are more than 300 breeds of horse in the world today, horses were historically used in warfare, from which a wide variety of riding and driving techniques developed, using many different styles of equipment and methods of control. Many products are derived from horses, including meat, milk, hide, hair, bone, humans provide domesticated horses with food, water and shelter, as well as attention from specialists such as veterinarians and farriers. Specific terms and specialized language are used to describe equine anatomy, different life stages, colors, depending on breed, management and environment, the modern domestic horse has a life expectancy of 25 to 30 years. Uncommonly, a few animals live into their 40s and, occasionally, the oldest verifiable record was Old Billy, a 19th-century horse that lived to the age of 62. In modern times, Sugar Puff, who had listed in Guinness World Records as the worlds oldest living pony. The exception is in endurance riding, where the age to compete is based on the animals actual calendar age. The following terminology is used to describe horses of various ages, Colt, a common terminology error is to call any young horse a colt, when the term actually only refers to young male horses. Filly, A female horse under the age of four, foal, A horse of either sex less than one year old. A nursing foal is sometimes called a suckling and a foal that has been weaned is called a weanling, most domesticated foals are weaned at five to seven months of age, although foals can be weaned at four months with no adverse physical effects. Gelding, A castrated male horse of any age, mare, A female horse four years old and older
20.
Humpty Dumpty
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Humpty Dumpty is a character in an English nursery rhyme, probably originally a riddle and one of the best known in the English-speaking world. He is typically portrayed as an egg, though he is not explicitly described so. The first recorded versions of the date from late eighteenth-century England. Its origins are obscure and several theories have been advanced to suggest original meanings, the character of Humpty Dumpty was popularised in the United States by actor George L. Fox. As a character and literary allusion, he has appeared or been referred to in a number of works of literature and popular culture. The rhyme is listed in the Roud Folk Song Index as No.13026, the rhyme is one of the best known and most popular in the English language. The most common modern text is, It is a quatrain with external rhymes that follow the pattern of AABB and with a trochaic metre. The melody commonly associated with the rhyme was first recorded by composer and nursery rhyme collector James William Elliott in his National Nursery Rhymes, the Roud Folk Song Index catalogues folk songs and their variations by number, and classifies this song as 13026. The riddle probably exploited, for misdirection, the fact that humpty dumpty was also eighteenth-century reduplicative slang for a short, the riddle may depend upon the assumption that a clumsy person falling off a wall might not be irreparably damaged, whereas an egg would be. The rhyme is no longer posed as a riddle, since the answer is now so well known, the rhyme does not explicitly state that the subject is an egg, possibly because it may have been originally posed as a riddle. There are also theories of an original Humpty Dumpty. This was on the basis of an account of the attack. The link was nevertheless popularised by a childrens opera All the Kings Men by Richard Rodney Bennett, in 1648, Colchester was a walled town with a castle and several churches and was protected by the city wall. The story given was that a cannon, which the website claimed was colloquially called Humpty Dumpty, was strategically placed on the wall. A shot from a Parliamentary cannon succeeded in damaging the wall beneath Humpty Dumpty which caused the cannon to tumble to the ground. The Royalists attempted to raise Humpty Dumpty on to part of the wall. Author Albert Jack claimed in his 2008 book Pop Goes the Weasel, elsewhere, he claimed to have found them in an old dusty library, an even older book, but did not state what the book was or where it was found. Humpty appears in Lewis Carrolls Through the Looking-Glass, where he discusses semantics and pragmatics with Alice, I dont know what you mean by glory, Alice said
21.
Snow White
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Snow White is a fictional character and a main character from Walt Disney Productions first animated feature film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The character of Snow White was derived from a tale known from many countries in Europe. Snow White is the first Disney Princess and the first fictional character with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Snow White first appears in the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, after many years, the Queens Magic Mirror confirms Snow White as being the fairest of them all, which causes the Queen to cast Snow White out and send a huntsman to kill her. But when he refuses to do so because she means no harm, Snow White stumbles upon the home of the Seven Dwarfs, who happily aid her. When the dwarfs are away the hag arrives at the cottage and offers Snow White the poisoned apple. Snow White bites into the apple and falls into a coma, the dwarfs discovering what had happened track down the Queen, a short fight ensues and the Queen is killed. Believing her dead too, the build a open grave for Snow White to rest on. Time passes and the Prince comes across Snow White, saddened by her apparent death, he kisses her, causing her to awaken. As the Seven Dwarfs dance with joy, Snow White and the Prince go off to live together, Snow White is a princess, and the fairest in the land. She is described by her stepmothers Magic Mirror as having hair as black as ebony, lips as red as the rose and her voice is also the inspiration for that of Minerva Mink in Animaniacs. Along with yellow shoes, a red cape, and a red bow in her hair, Snow White is innocent, kind, gentle, sweet, and cheerful. Her generous, trusting and helpful nature can cause her trouble, as people might take advantage of it, such as her vain. Although she is sensitive and soft-spoken, she can be energetic and stern, Snow White is motherly, compassionate and delights in keeping house for the lovable Seven Dwarfs while she waits to meet her beloved prince again. With her kindness and ethereal beauty, Snow White charms every creature in the kingdom except the Queen and she also shows great resilience and an inner strength against adversity. Animators initial sketches for Snow Whites character, some of which bore a resemblance to Betty Boop, did not meet Walt Disneys expectations, as they were too cartoonish. This was a challenge Luske and co-animator Les Clark had previously asked to explore while developing the character of Persephone for the Silly Symphonies animated short The Goddess of Spring. Of that project, Les Clark later remarked, Im sure Walt was thinking ahead to Snow White, Snow White and the Queen were refined by Grim Natwick and Norm Ferguson, who would often override Walt Disneys instructions
22.
CBS
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CBS is an American commercial broadcast television network that is a flagship property of CBS Corporation. The company is headquartered at the CBS Building in New York City with major facilities and operations in New York City. CBS is sometimes referred to as the Eye Network, in reference to the iconic logo. It has also called the Tiffany Network, alluding to the perceived high quality of CBS programming during the tenure of William S. Paley. It can also refer to some of CBSs first demonstrations of color television, the network has its origins in United Independent Broadcasters Inc. a collection of 16 radio stations that was purchased by Paley in 1928 and renamed the Columbia Broadcasting System. Under Paleys guidance, CBS would first become one of the largest radio networks in the United States, in 1974, CBS dropped its former full name and became known simply as CBS, Inc. In 2000, CBS came under the control of Viacom, which was formed as a spin-off of CBS in 1971, CBS Corporation is controlled by Sumner Redstone through National Amusements, which also controls the current Viacom. The television network has more than 240 owned-and-operated and affiliated stations throughout the United States. The origins of CBS date back to January 27,1927, Columbia Phonographic went on the air on September 18,1927, with a presentation by the Howard Barlow Orchestra from flagship station WOR in Newark, New Jersey, and fifteen affiliates. Operational costs were steep, particularly the payments to AT&T for use of its land lines, in early 1928 Judson sold the network to brothers Isaac and Leon Levy, owners of the networks Philadelphia affiliate WCAU, and their partner Jerome Louchenheim. With the record out of the picture, Paley quickly streamlined the corporate name to Columbia Broadcasting System. He believed in the power of advertising since his familys La Palina cigars had doubled their sales after young William convinced his elders to advertise on radio. By September 1928, Paley bought out the Louchenheim share of CBS, during Louchenheims brief regime, Columbia paid $410,000 to A. H. Grebes Atlantic Broadcasting Company for a small Brooklyn station, WABC, which would become the networks flagship station. WABC was quickly upgraded, and the relocated to 860 kHz. The physical plant was relocated also – to Steinway Hall on West 57th Street in Manhattan, by the turn of 1929, the network could boast to sponsors of having 47 affiliates. Paley moved right away to put his network on a financial footing. In the fall of 1928, he entered talks with Adolph Zukor of Paramount Pictures. The deal came to fruition in September 1929, Paramount acquired 49% of CBS in return for a block of its stock worth $3.8 million at the time
23.
Captain Kangaroo
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In 1986, the American Program Service integrated some newly produced segments into reruns of past episodes, distributing the newer version of the series until 1993. The show was conceived and the character was played by Bob Keeshan. Keeshan had portrayed the original Clarabell the Clown on The Howdy Doody Show when it aired on NBC, Keeshan performed as the Captain more than 9000 times over the nearly 30-year run of the show. The May 17,1971, episode had two changes on the show, The Treasure House was renovated and renamed The Captains Place. It was cancelled by CBS at the end of 1984 and he was the voice of Aniforms puppet TV Fred, and was the artist behind the Magic Drawing Board. Sam Levine as The Banana Man, the character was created by Adolph Proper, bill Cosby as himself, the host of the Picture Pages segment Debbie Weems appeared as Debbie, she also provided the voice for the puppet character Baby Duck. Even the opening sequence could change, the show generally began with the theme music starting up, then the Captain would unlock and open the doors of the Treasure House from the inside, and viewers would catch their first glimpse of him. Then he would put the Treasure House keys on a nail, however, sometimes the Captain could not get the keys to stay on the nail, and when they fell off, the theme music would begin playing again. Tom had a sidekick named Mighty Manfred the Wonder Dog, other cartoons included Lariat Sam, which was developed by veteran game show announcer Gene Wood, then a show staffer. The British cartoon Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings appeared in the 1970s, another British-produced cartoon, Ludwig, about a magical egg-shaped robot, was also included around the same time as Simon. The cartoons musical score consisted of selections from the works of Beethoven, episodes were generally a few minutes each and basically revolved around teaching children the importance of dental care. A silent cartoon in the 1970s named Crystal Tipps featured the adventures of a young girl, later reruns were narrated by the voice of Mr. Moose. Another British favorite, The Wombles, was also featured, the Red & Blue shorts from Italy were also shown. The Undersea Adventures of Captain Nemo, featuring a family of sea explorers, was featured, beginning in 1974 and continuing throughout the rest of the 1970s and into the 1980s, the show opened with different people wishing the Captain good morning. Spock, characters from the Peanuts cartoons, and Fred Rogers from Mister Rogers Neighborhood, the montage of good mornings always ended with the Captain himself returning the greeting before the opening credits ran. The Sweet Pickles books were also featured, carmino Ravosa was a songwriter on the show from 1975 to 1977. On the first show of every month, the Captain had a cake for all of the children with birthdays that month. Keeshan also had a role as the Town Clown, a pantomime piece that took place in
24.
Bob Keeshan
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Robert James Bob Keeshan was an American television producer and actor. Keeshan also played the original Clarabell the Clown on the Howdy Doody television program, Keeshan was born in Lynbrook, New York. He attended Fordham University on the GI Bill and a few years at Hillsdale College, network television programs began shortly after the end of the war. Howdy Doody, a show which premiered in 1947 on NBC, was one of the first. Debuting on January 3,1948, Keeshan played Clarabell the Clown, one horn meant yes, two meant no. Clarabell often sprayed Buffalo Bob Smith with a bottle and played practical jokes. Keeshan gave up the role in 1952, and was replaced, by September 21,1953, Keeshan was back on the air on WABC-TV, in a new children’s show, Time for Fun. He played Corny the Clown, and this time he spoke, later that same year, in addition to Time for Fun, Keeshan began Tinkers Workshop, a program aimed at preschoolers, with him playing the grandfather-like Tinker. CBS approved the show, and Keeshan starred as the character when it premiered on CBS on October 3,1955. Keeshan described his character as based on the relationship between grandparents and children. The show was an success, and he served as its host for nearly three decades. Recurring characters included his sidekick Mr. Green Jeans, Dennis, the New York Times commented, Captain Kangaroo, a round-faced, pleasant, mustachioed man possessed of an unshakable calm. was one of the most enduring characters television ever produced. Keeshan also had a Saturday morning show called Mister Mayor during the 1964–65 season, Keeshan, in his role as the central character in both Captain Kangaroo and Mister Mayor, heavily promoted the products of the Schwinn Bicycle Co. a sponsor, directly on-air to his audience. He had come to the city to accept a childrens service award, Keeshan underwent triple-bypass surgery and received an estimated 5,000 get-well wishes from fans. Following the heart attack, Keeshan received three Emmy awards for Outstanding Performer in 1982,1983, and 1984. Despite these accolades, Keeshans show was shortened from its format to a half hour in 1981. The program was retitled Wake Up with the Captain, and was moved to a new 7,00 am time slot, at the start of 1982, the show was rescheduled to an even earlier slot of 6,30 am. In the fall of 1982, CBS installed it as a weekend-only hour offering, tired of CBSs constant reductions of his show, Keeshan left Captain Kangaroo when his contract with the network ended in December 1984, just nine months shy of the shows 30th anniversary
25.
National Collegiate Athletic Association
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The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a non-profit association which regulates athletes of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations, and individuals. It also organizes the programs of many colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. The organization is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 2014, the NCAA generated almost a billion dollars in revenue. 80 to 90% of this revenue was due to the Division I Mens Basketball Tournament and this revenue is then distributed back into various organizations and institutions across the United States. In August 1973, the current three-division setup of Division I, Division II, under NCAA rules, Division I and Division II schools can offer scholarships to athletes for playing a sport. Division III schools may not offer any athletic scholarships, generally, larger schools compete in Division I and smaller schools in II and III. Division I football was divided into I-A and I-AA in 1978. Subsequently, the term Division I-AAA was briefly added to delineate Division I schools which do not field a football program at all, in 2006, Divisions I-A and I-AA were respectively renamed the Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision. Inter-collegiate sports began in the US in 1852 when crews from Harvard University, as other sports emerged, notably football and basketball, many of these same concepts and standards were adopted. Football, in particular, began to emerge as a marquee sport, the IAAUS was officially established on March 31,1906, and took its present name, the NCAA, in 1910. For several years, the NCAA was a group and rules-making body, but in 1921, the first NCAA national championship was conducted. Gradually, more rules committees were formed and more championships were created, a series of crises brought the NCAA to a crossroads after World War II. The Sanity Code – adopted to establish guidelines for recruiting and financial aid – failed to curb abuses, postseason football games were multiplying with little control, and member schools were increasingly concerned about how the new medium of television would affect football attendance. The complexity of problems and the growth in membership and championships demonstrated the need for full-time professional leadership. Walter Byers, previously an executive assistant, was named executive director in 1951. Byers wasted no time placing his stamp on the Association, as college athletics grew, the scope of the nations athletics programs diverged, forcing the NCAA to create a structure that recognized varying levels of emphasis. In 1973, the Associations membership was divided into three legislative and competitive divisions – I, II, and III, five years later in 1978, Division I members voted to create subdivisions I-A and I-AA in football. Until the 1980s, the association did not offer womens athletics, instead, the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, with nearly 1000 member schools, governed womens collegiate sports in the United States
26.
Sesame Street
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Sesame Street is a long-running American childrens television series, produced by Sesame Workshop and created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett. The program is known for its content, and images communicated through the use of Jim Hensons Muppets, animation, short films, humor. The show has undergone significant changes throughout its history, with the creation of Sesame Street, producers and writers of a childrens television show used, for the first time, educational goals and a curriculum to shape its content. It was also the first time a shows educational effects were studied, the show was initially funded by government and private foundations but has become somewhat self-supporting due to revenues from licensing arrangements, international sales, and other media. By 2006, there were independently produced versions, or co-productions, in 2001 there were over 120 million viewers of various international versions of Sesame Street, and by the shows 40th anniversary in 2009, it was broadcast in more than 140 countries. By its 40th anniversary in 2009, Sesame Street was the childrens television show in the United States. A1996 survey found that 95% of all American preschoolers had watched the show by the time they were three years old, in 2008, it was estimated that 77 million Americans had watched the series as children. As of 2014, Sesame Street has won 167 Emmy Awards and 8 Grammy Awards—more than any other childrens show, Sesame Street was conceived in 1966 during discussions between television producer Joan Ganz Cooney and Carnegie Foundation vice president Lloyd Morrisett. Their goal was to create a television show that would master the addictive qualities of television and do something good with them. The program premiered on television stations on November 10,1969. It was the first preschool educational television program to base its contents and production values on laboratory, initial responses to the show included adulatory reviews, some controversy, and high ratings. By its 40th anniversary in 2009, Sesame Street was broadcast in over 120 countries, Sesame Street has evolved from its initial inception. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become an American institution, the cast and crew expanded during this time, with emphasis on the hiring of women crew members and the addition of minorities to the cast. The shows success continued into the 1980s, Sesame Streets curriculum has expanded to include more affective topics such as relationships, ethics, and emotions. After the turn of the 21st century, Sesame Street made major structural changes, for example, starting in 2002, its format became more narrative and included ongoing storylines. After its thirtieth anniversary in 1999 and due to the popularity of the Muppet Elmo, upon its fortieth anniversary in 2009, the show received a Lifetime Achievement Emmy at the 36th Daytime Emmy Awards. In April 2017, Sesame Street will introduce a new puppet called Julia with Autism to the show, and will be voiced by Stacey Gordon, who started Puppet Pie and has a son on the autism spectrum. From its first episode, Sesame Street has structured its format by using a visual style, fast-moving action, humor
27.
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
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Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment is the home video distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. Disney began distributing videos under its own label in 1980 under the name Walt Disney Home Video, before Disney began releasing home video titles itself, it licensed some titles to MCA Discovision for their newly developed disc format, later called LaserDisc. According to the Blam Entertainment Group website, which has details of DiscoVision releases. One of these was the feature film Kidnapped, the others were compilations of Disney shorts. Disneys agreement with MCA ended in December 1981, in 1980, Disney established its own video distribution operation as part of Walt Disney Telecommunications and Non-Theatrical Company with Jim Jimirro as its first president. Home video was not considered to be a market by Disney at the time. WDTNT also handled the marketing of other ancillary items such as short 8 mm films for home use. Disneys first releases on tape were 13 titles that were licensed for rental to Fotomat on March 4,1980, initially in a four-city test, the agreement specified rental fees ranging from $7.95 to $13.95. Later, on December 30,1980, Mary Poppins was added to make 14 titles in all, from January 1 to March 31,1981, Disney had a License One — Get One Free promotion to encourage dealers to sign up. They also offered free use of a 7-minute Mickey Mouse Disco videocassette for customers who rented any title from an Authorized Rental Dealer from February through May 1981. Disney was unusual among the studios in offering a program for authorized rentals. Most of the studios involved in the videocassette market at the time were trying to find ways to stop dealers from renting out their movie tapes. Magnetic Video ceased doing business with Fotomat after Fotomat began renting Magnetic Video cassettes without authorization, disneys rental cassettes in blue cases looked completely different from sale cassettes, which were in white cases. In the late-1980s, Disney began seeking other outlets to distribute its video, and decided to ink deals with mass-merchant retailers such as Target, Caldor, in 1989, Disney sought to further control the distribution of its products by eliminating the use of rack jobbers. Around this time, the studio began partnering with major retailers for advertising campaigns, Buena Vista Home Video was incorporated on February 13,1987. In April 1996 due to ongoing post Disney-CC/ABC merger realignment, Buena Vista Home Video was transferred out of the Disney Television, Buena Vista Home Video was renamed Buena Vista Home Entertainment in 1997. The first of the Disney animated features canon to be released on videocassette was Dumbo on June 28,1981, the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was released for rental and sale at the same time. Alice in Wonderland was released on October 15,1981, for rental only, Fun and Fancy Free was released in 1982 as Fun and Fancy Free Featuring, Mickey and the Beanstalk, to popularize on the more well-known segment from the film
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Buena Vista (brand)
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The logos for the various Buena Vista brands featured the Buena Vista wordmark superimposed over the Disney Castle image to signal the affiliation between Buena Vista and Disney. The name means, literally, good view in the Spanish language, some films were distributed by RKO until 1956 because of preexisting contracts. Disney semi-retired the Buena Vista name in May 2007, the Walt Disney World Resort is located in the city of Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The citys namesake lake was known as Black Lake before Walt Disney Enterprises acquired the land in the 1960s, the entrance area and themed land of Buena Vista Street at Disney California Adventure Park at the Disneyland Resort also makes reference to the brand and real-life street in Burbank. The following Buena Vista brands have been retired or renamed to a Disney and/or ABC name, BVS and Lake Buena Vista however, did not change their name. ° Retained Buena Vista as its legal name
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Street Gang
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Street Gang, The Complete History of Sesame Street is a non-fiction book chronicling the history of the childrens television program, Sesame Street. Street Gang is journalist and writer Michael Daviss first book, published by Viking Press in 2008, on bookshelves in time for the shows 40th anniversary in 2009, the book developed out of a TV Guide article Davis wrote to commemorate the shows 35th anniversary in 2004. Davis spent five years researching and writing the book, and conducted hundreds of interviews with the creators, cast. Street Gang begins with a description of Muppet creator Jim Hensons 1990 funeral, Davis includes the biographies of many of the key people involved with the creation and production of Sesame Street. Subsequent chapters chronicle the rest of the history, up to its 40th anniversary in 2009. Reviews of Street Gang were mostly positive, most reviewers were impressed by Davis research and attention to detail, but some felt that it was too episodic and was more of an oral history than a dispassionate history of the shows history. One reviewer predicted that the book would become the source of Sesame Street. Street Gang was made into a book, narrated by Caroll Spinney. A second edition was published later that year, Michael Davis, a senior editor for TV Guide from 1998 to 2007, wrote an article in the magazine to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the childrens television show Sesame Street in 2004. Street Gang developed out of the article, Davis spent five years researching and writing the book and worked with the cooperation of co-creator Joan Ganz Cooney. In 2009, Sesame Street celebrated its 40th anniversary and it was the fifteenth-highest rated childrens television show in the United States and had won 8 Grammy Awards and over 100 Emmy Awards—more than any other childrens show. By 2006, there were independently produced versions, or co-productions, in 2001 there were over 120 million viewers of these international versions, and by 2009, it was broadcast in more than 140 countries. A1996 survey found that 95% of all American preschoolers had watched the show by the time they were three years old, in 2008, it was estimated that 77 million Americans had watched the series as children. Prologue, A description of the funeral of Muppet creator Jim Henson in New York City in 1990, from the viewpoint of Joan Ganz Cooney, chapters 1—12, The origins and development of the show and the creation of the Childrens Television Workshop. There is also a discussion of the history of childrens television, specifically, Captain Kangaroo. Davis emphasizes the coincidence that many involved with the show had first names started with the letter J, Joan Cooney, Jon Stone, Jim Henson, Jerry Nelson. Chapter 13, A description of the first episode of Sesame Street, as Davis states, To see that first episode today—and the four succeeding ones in Sesames first week—is to be transported back to 1969. The first show was sponsored by the letters W, S, chapter 14, The influence of Sesame Street during its first season, and a description of its success and critics
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IMDb
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In 1998 it became a subsidiary of Amazon Inc, who were then able to use it as an advertising resource for selling DVDs and videotapes. As of January 2017, IMDb has approximately 4.1 million titles and 7.7 million personalities in its database, the site enables registered users to submit new material and edits to existing entries. Although all data is checked before going live, the system has open to abuse. The site also featured message boards which stimulate regular debates and dialogue among authenticated users, IMDb shutdown the message boards permanently on February 20,2017. Anyone with a connection can read the movie and talent pages of IMDb. A registration process is however, to contribute info to the site. A registered user chooses a name for themselves, and is given a profile page. These badges range from total contributions made, to independent categories such as photos, trivia, bios, if a registered user or visitor happens to be in the entertainment industry, and has an IMDb page, that user/visitor can add photos to that page by enrolling in IMDbPRO. Actors, crew, and industry executives can post their own resume and this fee enrolls them in a membership called IMDbPro. PRO can be accessed by anyone willing to pay the fee, which is $19.99 USD per month, or if paid annually, $149.99, which comes to approximately $12.50 per month USD. Membership enables a user to access the rank order of each industry personality, as well as agent contact information for any actor, producer, director etc. that has an IMDb page. Enrolling in PRO for industry personnel, enables those members the ability to upload a head shot to open their page, as well as the ability to upload hundreds of photos to accompany their page. Anyone can register as a user, and contribute to the site as well as enjoy its content, however those users enrolled in PRO have greater access and privileges. IMDb originated with a Usenet posting by British film fan and computer programmer Col Needham entitled Those Eyes, others with similar interests soon responded with additions or different lists of their own. Needham subsequently started an Actors List, while Dave Knight began a Directors List, and Andy Krieg took over THE LIST from Hank Driskill, which would later be renamed the Actress List. Both lists had been restricted to people who were alive and working, the goal of the participants now was to make the lists as inclusive as possible. By late 1990, the lists included almost 10,000 movies and television series correlated with actors and actresses appearing therein. On October 17,1990, Needham developed and posted a collection of Unix shell scripts which could be used to search the four lists, at the time, it was known as the rec. arts. movies movie database
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The Muppets Studio
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In the late-1980s, Jim Henson had been in talks with Disney CEO Michael Eisner to sell Jim Henson Productions to the Walt Disney Company. In August 1989, the two announced a deal for Disney to purchase Jim Henson Productions for $150 million. The deal fell through several months after Jim Hensons death in 1990, despite the collapse of the merger deal, by 1992, Disney and Jim Henson Productions had already struck a number of deals, Exclusive domestic rights to Henson theme park attractions in the western U. S. The Henson family subsequently sold the entirety of the Jim Henson Company to German conglomerate EM. TV in 2000, in 2003, the Henson family repurchased The Jim Henson Company from EM. TV. The acquired Muppet assets were placed into The Muppets Holding Company with Chris Curtin as general manager within Disney Consumer Products. A new website was launched in November 2004 and the Muppets made an appearance on the 2004 Christmas episode of Saturday Night Live, the first Muppet production under complete Disney control, The Muppets Wizard of Oz, went into production immediately and aired on ABC in May 2005. On July 30,2005, Animal and Pepe the King Prawn made appearance on The X Games 11 Preview show of All Access on ESPN2, while Bear first appeared under Disneys control in the reality show, Breakfast With Bear in 2005. A fiftieth birthday tour for Kermit, Kermits World Tour was planned with a leadership changes made just days before the tour began. The tour made its initial three stops before being canceled, Kermit, Texas, Johnson Space Center tour and cake with The Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, NYC. Following Eisners exit from the Disney company, new CEO Bob Iger removed the head of the Muppets Holding Company, since that time, the company has been attempting to define the role of The Muppets within the Disney corporate structure. Muppet Holdings new general manager instead licensed the Muppets out to TF1 and that same year, Disney contracted with Puppet Heap to rebuild, maintain, and create puppet characters for the Muppets Studio. In April 2007, the Muppets Holding Company changed its name to The Muppets Studio under new leadership by Special Events Group SVP Lylle Breier, in 2008, The Muppets Studio began a licensing agreement with F. A. O. Schwarz, to create a Muppet-themed boutique where customers can design their own Muppet, the company was transferred in 2014 to Disneys new media unit, Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media Labs. On April 3,2015, a series of shorts named Muppets Moments premiered on Disney Junior, the series features conversations between the Muppets and young children
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Miss Piggy
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Miss Piggy is a Muppet character known for her breakout role in Jim Hensons The Muppet Show. Since her debut in 1976, Miss Piggy is notable for her volatile personality, tendency to use French phrases in her speech. She was also known for her romantic relationship with Kermit the Frog. Frank Oz performed the character from 1976 to 2000 and was succeeded by Eric Jacobson in 2001, in 1996, TV Guide ranked her number 23 on its 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time list. She had to enter beauty contests to survive, as single women do. She has a lot of vulnerability which she has to hide, during development of The Muppet Show, Oz assigned a hook for each Muppet he performed, Miss Piggys hook was a truck driver wanting to be a woman. Oz has also stated that while Fozzie Bear is a two-dimensional character, Piggy is convinced she is destined for stardom, and nothing will stand in her way. She has a nature, at times determined to convey an image of feminine charm. Kermit the Frog has learned this all too well, when she isnt smothering him in kisses, shes sending him flying through the air with a karate chop. Since the debut of The Muppet Show, the relationship between Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog has been subject to substantial coverage and commentary by the media, throughout The Muppet Shows run, Miss Piggys romantic pursuit for Kermit was consistently expressed. Kermit, however, constantly rebuffed Piggys feelings, eventually, in the films, Kermit began returning her affections and even marries her in The Muppets Take Manhattan. However, subsequent events suggest that the marriage was simply fictional and it is mentioned by Miss Piggy, however, in The Muppets, A Celebration of 30 years that Kermit was a happily-married frog. This marriage isnt referenced in Muppets Most Wanted and the two get married again in this film, Miss Piggy and Kermit formally ended their romantic relationship on May 10,1990. The decision was made by Jim Henson Productions and a publicity campaign titled The Pig of the Nineties was scheduled to follow, an autobiography of Piggy was expected to be published as part of the effort. However, shortly after the announcement on May 16, Jim Henson died, the two eventually resumed their relationship. In 2015, Miss Piggy and Kermit ended their relationship for a second time. Some commentators said the relationship should end permanently since she regularly abused him, in the end, its better for everyone that Kermit and Piggy have gone their separate ways. For the frog, it means the end of a long, abusive relationship, on at least three separate incidents, she attempts to coerce Kermit into a relationship, beating him when he refuses
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Fozzie Bear
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Fozzie Bear is a Muppet character known for his lack of innate and effective comedy skills. Fozzie is a bear who often wears a brown pork pie hat. The character debuted on The Muppet Show, as the shows stand-up comic, shortly after telling the joke, he was usually the target of ridicule, particularly from balcony hecklers Statler and Waldorf. Fozzies characterization was developed by Frank Oz, who performed Fozzie until 2000, Eric Jacobson has since become the characters principal performer. Though it is thought that Fozzies name is a pun of Frank Oz, the character was actually named after Al Fuzzie. Hensons wife, Jane, was a member of the sorority, Fozzie Bear was originally Ozs main character. The popularity of Miss Piggy overtook Fozzies, but he remained popular, one of his largest roles ever was in A Muppet Family Christmas, where he took all of his friends to his mothers farm for Christmas. In 1988, a video titled Hey, Youre as Funny as Fozzie Bear. was released, during the 1990s, his roles became much smaller, due to the fact that Oz had turned his focus to directing non-Muppet films and reduced his time with the Muppets. Fozzie was only a character in the Muppet films of that decade. However, he returned to prominence when Eric Jacobson took over beginning with Its a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, the original puppet is kept in the teddy bear museum in Stratford-upon-Avon, founded by Gyles Brandreth. Frank Oz first performed Fozzie in 1976 on The Muppet Show and he remained Fozzies main performer until he retired from the role in 2000. In 2001, Eric Jacobson became Fozzies new main performer and has continued to perform the bear since then, kevin Clash puppeteered Fozzie for much of the production of Muppet Treasure Island. Victor Yerrid performed Fozzie for a 2006 Disney Cruise Line stage show, voice actor Greg Berg provided Fozzies voice for the Saturday morning cartoon Muppet Babies, as well as its short-lived spin-off, Little Muppet Monsters. The character regards Kermit the Frog as his best friend, Fozzie and Kermit have also frequently been paired together in many movies, books, and specials. In The Muppet Movie, Fozzie is the first Muppet that Kermit meets on his journey, after Fozzies unsuccessful comedy performance at the El Sleezo Cafe, Kermit invited Fozzie to come to Hollywood with him. The two friends sing the duet Movin Right Along in the film, several episodes show Fozzie as dedicated to Kermit, usually responding to his instructions with a chipper Yes sir. On those rare occasions when Kermit must be away from the theater, he invariably leaves Fozzie in charge of the show, in The Great Muppet Caper, Fozzie and Kermit are portrayed as twin brothers. Fozzies mother, Emily Bear, appeared in A Muppet Family Christmas special, to Fozzies surprise, she was friends with Statler and Waldorf, despite the heckling they inflict on him
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Gonzo (Muppet)
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Gonzo, also known as The Great Gonzo and Gonzo the Great, is a Muppet character known for his eccentric passion for stunt performance. Aside for his enthusiasm for performance art, another defining trait of Gonzos is the ambiguity of his species. Developed and performed by Dave Goelz, Gonzo made his first appearance in the 1970 special The Great Santa Claus Switch, originally a minor figure in The Muppet Show, he soon evolved into one of the franchises primary characters. Gonzo has appeared in every Muppet film, including The Muppet Christmas Carol, in Muppets Most Wanted, Gonzo was referred to as Zongo by Constantine, a dead ringer for Kermit the Frog in appearances, who has escaped from a maximum security prison in Siberia, Russia. In the first season of The Muppet Show, the character had sad, the producers noticed that he worked better in a more energetic form and modified the eyes to have movable eyelids which helped make him a more active character than ever. As such, he one of the principal characters in the series. Gonzo is known for his wild-eyed, optimistic attitude, yet he is something of an intellectual. In his revised incarnation, Gonzo, rather than feeling misunderstood by the audience, was dedicated to performing for its own sake, regardless of audience reaction. In one episode, after Kermit decides to cancel a jousting sketch, Gonzo, in armor for the sketch, forces Kermit, at lance-point, to reverse the decision. Floyd Pepper, also in armor for the sketch, observes the exchange with amusement, then asks Gonzo, regarding the sketch, several of Gonzos stunts have often gone wrong or do actually work in wrong ways. Statler and Waldorf have actually been victim to several of Gonzos stunts including a stunt in which Gonzo intends to drive a motorcycle off a ramp into the box of the hecklers. Although the stunt works, Gonzo loses control of his bike and crashes it into the box and it is plausibly arguable that Gonzos penchant for death-defying acts came from a Muppet Character Shop idea for a spoof of Evel Knievel. His most well-known running gag is playing the final note of the opening The Muppet Show theme with unexpected. In the first season, Gonzo did not use a trumpet, in episode number 47 of the series—with John Cleese as the special guest—Gonzo successfully hits the note with his trumpet and then looks at the trumpet in surprise. Gonzo has several memorable performances such as his song from The Muppet Movie, Im Going to Go Back There Someday, or his rendition of My Way. Other acts include, tap-dancing Top Hat in a vat of oatmeal, hypnotizing chickens, catching cannonballs, according to Walter in The Muppets, he recited Hamlet while jumping his motorbike through a flaming hoop. He also played the part of Charles Dickens in The Muppet Christmas Carol, after the Muppets attempt to recruit him, he literally blows up his business and joins them. In the 2015 television series The Muppets, Gonzo is a major character, unlike most of the central Muppets characters, Gonzo is not a puppet version of a human or a recognizable animal
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Rowlf the Dog
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Rowlf the Dog is a Muppet character, a scruffy brown dog of indeterminate breed, though part Corgi, with a rounded black nose and long floppy ears. He was created and originally performed by Jim Henson, Rowlf is the Muppet Theatres resident pianist, as well as one of the shows main cast members. Calm and wisecracking, his humor is characterized as deadpan and as such, is one of few Muppets who is rarely flustered by the shows prevalent mayhem and he is very easy going and a fan of classical music and musicals. Rowlf was introduced in 1962 for Purina Dog Chow TV commercials aired in Canada, Jim Henson designed Rowlf, and Don Sahlin built him, it was Sahlins first Muppet construction. Rowlf rose to popularity as Jimmy Deans sidekick on The Jimmy Dean Show, performed by Henson and he was the first Muppet with a regular spot on network television appearing in numerous episodes from 1963 to 1966. Jimmy Dean stated that the segments with Rowlf were one of the most popular parts of the show, in 1968, Rowlf appeared with Kermit the Frog on the pitch reel for Sesame Street. In 1976, Rowlf joined the recurring cast of The Muppet Show as the shows pianist, Rowlf also played Dr. Bob, the wisecracking doctor in the recurring medical drama parody skit Veterinarians Hospital, alongside nurses Janice and Piggy. Though considered one of the characters, he rarely interacted with any of the backstage plots involving the shows weekly guest stars. Rowlf achieved movie stardom with his appearance in The Muppet Movie, the film depicts Rowlfs origin as a musician at a piano bar, who is discovered by Kermit while on his way to Hollywood. In the scene, Rowlf and Kermit sing the duet I Hope That Somethin Better Comes Along, a song about their troubles with women. Afterwards Rowlf leaves the bar and joins Kermit and the other Muppets on their trip to Hollywood in search of fame and he later plays the harmonica during Gonzos song Im Going to Go Back There Someday. In 1984, Baby Rowlf debuted playing a toy piano during a number in The Muppets Take Manhattan. This fantasy sequence with the Muppets as babies was so popular that it resulted in the animated cartoon spinoff. He was voiced on that program by Katie Leigh, Jim Hensons last public performance as Rowlf before his death was as guest on The Arsenio Hall Show in 1990. Since 1996, Rowlf has been portrayed by puppeteer Bill Barretta, Barretta has gradually transitioned into the role. Rowlf uttered his first word since Hensons death in the episode of Muppets Tonight. Rowlf had several lines of dialogue in The Muppet Show Live in 2001, in 2005, however, Rowlf had a 190-word monologue in the second episode of Statler and Waldorf, From the Balcony. Rowlf appeared in the Keep Fishin music video for rock band Weezer, although hes only briefly seen, Rowlf had a more prominent role in the behind the scenes making-of special that accompanied it, Weezer and the Muppets Go Fishin
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Scooter (Muppet)
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Scooter is a Muppet character known for being the backstage stage manager, utility stage crew member, and general all-around gofer on The Muppet Show. He was originally performed by Richard Hunt until his death in 1992, Scooter is orange with a darker orange sprout of hair. In keeping with the jokes about bespectacled Muppets such as Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, behind the glasses frames, theres nothing but his orange skin. Hunt based Scooters personality on his own self from when he was younger, a few things have been revealed about Scooters family. As cited in Of Muppets and Men, when pressed about his family, he explained that his mother was a parrot, however, this is not necessarily canonical. Scooters uncle J. P. Grosse is clearly a humanoid Muppet, Scooters appearance is similar to a gopher, which may be a pun on his job as a gofer. In the Muppet Babies animated series, he was redesigned as a brainy, computer-knowledgeable child and given a twin sister named Skeeter. However, she appears as an adult in the Muppet Show comic series story arc Family Reunion. Originally, Scooter got his job as a gofer because his rich uncle J. P, Grosse owned the theatre, and he maintained it through a combination of efficiency and nepotism. Originally, Scooter would often use his connection to his advantage. His antagonistic role was gradually discarded, and he became an assistant to Kermit. Eventually, his job was often closer to that of a manager, or even that of a subordinate producer. In the second through fourth seasons, Scooter featured in the cold openings, in the dressing room, a gag or short comical sketch would occur before the opening theme song. For the fifth season, a new style of cold opening featuring Pops replaced this format, Scooter sometimes helped Miss Piggy to get Kermit to be romantically interested in her. He was also on good terms with Fozzie Bear, being annoyed with his jokes than most people. His relationship with Floyd Pepper, who frequently appeared backstage, may be comparable to Hunts relationship with Jerry Nelson, the two puppeteers frequently collaborated, with the elder Nelson helping the younger Hunt to develop his performing abilities from the start. Hunt and Nelson were also known for being talented. Scooter and Floyds rendition of Mr. Bass Man symbolizes Hunt, Scooter has appeared in most Muppet films and television specials
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Pepe the King Prawn
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Pepé the King Prawn is a Muppet character created for Muppets Tonight and performed by Bill Barretta, originally as part of a vaudeville double act with Seymour the Elephant. Pepé is Spanish and speaks with an accent, punctuating his sentences with Okay. His character plays on many Latino stereotypes, he has a fiery temper and his conscience usually wins out and makes him do whats right in the end. He, Big Mean Carl, and Bobo the Bear are the only Muppet characters exclusively created for Muppets Tonight that are prominent in The Muppets franchise. Pepé appeared in fourteen episodes of Muppets Tonight, proved a hit with audiences and has returned many times since. He has major roles in Muppets from Space, Its a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, The Muppets Wizard of Oz, and A Muppets Christmas, Letters to Santa. He also appears in 2011s The Muppets, though in keeping with that films focus on the original Muppet Show cast and he appears in the 2014 film Muppets Most Wanted. Though he has more time than in The Muppets, his dialogue is limited. His most prominent scene in the film features him gambling on the train with hip-hop mogul Sean Combs. He is a regular on The Muppets as a writer for the show-within-a-show. In 2002, he was the spokesprawn for restaurant chain Long John Silvers and he has also made many television appearances on shows including Americas Funniest Home Videos, The Jay Leno Show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and Dancing with the Stars. The parody self-help book Its Hard Out Here for a Shrimp is attributed to Pepé, Bill Barretta has remained Pepés performer since his 1996 debut on Muppets Tonight. However, Drew Massey performed Pepé in a test pilot for the web series Statler and Waldorf, pepe the King Prawn on Muppet Wiki, an external wiki
