Matt Vogel's been Caroll Spinney's understudy and frequent sub for close to 20 years now (since 1997). His voice isn't quite the same as Caroll's, but I think he does a good job capturing the basic character.

Thanks! I'll check it out.

Seems likely.

I really should get around to seeing that.

Can I ask why you prefer the 1980 Pride & Prejudice to the 1995 one? I like the 1980 miniseries fine, but to me it feels a lot like a BBC soap opera from the period. The 1995 one is so warm and cozy, and I think the cast is uniformly better (especially Mr. and Mrs. Bennet).

You and I might have discussed this before, but I really loathed In the Heights when I listened to it in 2009 or so. I thought the rap/showtune-hybrid style was awkward and the characters were all unlikeable. For years, I actively disliked Miranda (or, as I generally thought of him, "the habitat guy from that one…

"Dear Theodosia" makes me tear up every time, especially if my 1-year-old daughter is in the room. But I think my very favorite is "Satisfied," which is just astonishingly well-constructed and has been in my heard constantly for a month.

Oh.

That's not even the same Beast!

I'm a middle school librarian right now, and our 4 Calvin & Hobbes books all get checked out constantly.

I would love it any of those guys could be involved, but especially James Bobin (who directed both movies and co-wrote Most Wanted. In interviews, he always seemed the most excited about making sure the movies had that classic Muppet spark.

You didn't miss much, because it cut away to Kermit and Yolanda talking almost as soon as Piggy and Kristen started singing. There wasn't really a song number.

That sounds like a JMD - a Joseph Manfredi Don't.

I'm in the middle of Matt Zoller Seitz's The Wes Anderson Collection, which has got to be the most unusual "extended interview with a director" book I've ever read. So often, Seitz will put forward some paragraphs-long theory and Anderson will just say "Hmm." Happens over and over.

Two creators, but only one is on the show regularly?

His first step? Clearly you didn't see The Dictator.

Agreed. The 2011 movie is about how excited Jason Segel is that the Muppets exist (which is fine. I like that movie well enough), but Muppets Most Wanted is actually about the Muppets themselves.

I realized last night that it's basically a *less* cartoony version of 30 Rock, and that's inexcusable. Except for the couple of lines about Fozzie being a bear, nothing in this episode would need to be changed if the stars were all human. That's a real shame - the writers need to realize what a special gift they have…

Agreed! The old one was so much better.

In other news, Christopher Eccleston will be haunted by Doctor Who for the rest of his natural life, whether he likes it or not.