Hey, it's not covered in soap. And it takes a shit-ton of it to work with that salty stuff.

Yes. I agree that the "muted color palette means dark which means serious which means good" thing can get a bit out of hand these days. But I think the Burton Batman, and then definitively and more decisively the X-Men films, established that some step away from "faithfulness" to comic art should be made to achieve…

Or the still other kind, with the ability to perform broad musical comedy in a distinctive, brassy mezzo-soprano?

That's actually not a bad idea, seriously. And since Chewbacca has about as much of a chance as winning the election as he does, he might as well do it! (The video itself was never particularly likely to hurt him.) Get his name out there for future endeavors.

If it makes you feel any better, he is absolutely not going to be a Congressman. Certainly not from this election.

AltaVista does not work that way. You'll have to Ask Jeeves.

Not clear from your comment whether you are a Georgetown nerd or a Villanova frat boy, but either way you are indeed correct that theater—including sketches—is, by its very definition, not "cosplay."

Easy to forget that Disney was not a major studio in the 80s; and that its becoming one actually made it look even more certain that they were getting ready to transition out of animation entirely, which until 1989 looked likely to die as a feature medium.

Ah, I did not know that such Stalinesque measures were necessary for any part of the fractured empire. I guess it wasn't worth it to them to hold onto the rights for such cases. For CTW, of course, the matter was hardly an obscure corner case.

Ah! You know I'm ashamed, but it's never occurred to me all these years that those puppets were likenesses, despite how well done they are. I guess it's because I first noticed them as such a little kid, before I even knew the faces of the creators, that they were forever etched into my mind as "70s bluegrass dudes…

I doubt it. Genius that Henson otherwise was, if he'd only had the foresight to make a Muppet of himself he would still be alive and healthy today, with the aging Muppet hidden away somewhere in a locked room in the Henson Company warehouse.

Actually, the Sesame Street divorce was accomplished four years before the sale to Disney, back during the interim period after the entire company had been sold to the Germans and before the Henson family bought it (and, briefly, the Muppets with it) back. CTW orders the muppets from Henson, who thereafter has no…

The Miss Piggy I know would have nothing but a scowl and a karate chop for such cultural species-erasure!

Too cynical is one thing, but "too adult" was never a good analysis. And indeed, the only people I ever heard offering it were those who related to the Muppets mostly as a vague memory from their childhood, and who seemed to simply want to have an opinion on this subject. I don't think any real Muppets fans thought…

Those appearances are just about the only places I can stand Elmo. He really shines in them, good on his feet and even a bit edgy, in a way he isn't on the show. I don't know about now, post-Kevin Clash.

That is an idea so excellent I am rather shocked it hasn't happened. That is just the kind of thing that would continue to get entertainment news headlines every single time a new one came out.

Wow, I hadn't thought of that. Yeah, six years in (i.e. 21 years ago) everyone would have totally gotten the joke already. One thing I wonder is why they made the movie a 70s "classic" that kids that age wouldn't have seen. I think it would have worked better being portrayed as one of their contemporary efforts that,…

Not a very good distinction to have in the business. You can lose a book deal over that shit. …No, wait, that was "noted moppet enthusiast."

I had resolved to take a bit of a break from the particular procrastination sink that is The A.V. Club. Then, a little past midnight, I decided for no particular reason at all to Google-news search the Muppets. No reason whatsoever to think they'd be in the news; just randomly decided to do it. Damn you,…

As this piece does a good job of explaining, it was a very difficult format and premise to write those characters for. Even in terms of direction, the optical aspect of the whole thing. The Muppets' golden age program was set in a Radio City-sized concert hall; the mockumentary format is one of the "closest," most…