Most sensational, inspirational, celebrational, muppetational...

This week I rented the first season of the Muppet Show and have been watching 2- 3 episodes during my free time. I have always loved the Muppets from as early as I can remember. I believe that I had a Fozzie Bear plush doll when I was younger, and on our trips to Disney World, we would always make it a point to see Muppets 3D, even though, the first time we went to it, I wouldn't go in because I saw a prop box that said "BOMBS" on it (I was afraid of large bangs and fire. That prop box is still there and I laughed when I saw it last year). Even though I knew a lot about the main characters, Jim Henson, "The Muppet Show" and such, I never had really watched much of the stuff that Jim Henson had produced in terms of the original Muppet material. I remember watching a lot of "Muppet Babies" on Nick, but I never watched a full episode of the original "Muppet Show". I had seen clips of "The Muppet Movie"," Muppet Treasure Island", but never the full movies. I realized that even though I knew the Muppets, I didn't really KNOW them. So it got me thinking...I need to catch up on all things Muppets.

I recently heard that the new Muppet Movie was being filmed in September and is being released around Christmas and, from what I had read, the script kind of goes back to the classic Muppet style. I figured that I didn't want to be behind, so here I am now- starting on the Muppet Show and continuing my way through to Muppet Treasure Island.

Now, when it comes to things like this, I'm a little OCD. If I start a series, I have to finish it. If its a saga, I have to see them all, good or bad. The summer is really when I go crazy because I have the time and the resources (the library) to do this. I also am the type of person, and if you know me, you know this all too well, that when I become hooked on something, I REALLY become hooked on it. Like, really hooked. The "hook" tends to change month (or so) to month.
So this is my hook of the month: The Muppets.

Since beginning the Muppet Show, I have become very interested in all things Muppets, trivia, beginnings, interviews, articles etc. I have increasingly become interested in their major impact within the culture of television and movies and their development over the years, from when Jim Henson first created Kermit through their golden years, Sesame Street to the Muppets being sold to Disney and where they are now. Its fascinating how this idea began as essentially puppeteering that appealed to adults and became such a phenomenon and became so influential in terms of teaching children and adults lessons on life, becoming a huge part of our culture. Can you think of your childhood without remotely being influenced by the Muppets in some way? I know that I can't.

I'm going to continue watching the Muppets within the next few weeks, but in addition, I think I'm going to do a little research as well. I'm really interested in reading academic papers and books about what people have said about the impact on popular culture and of the preceding generations because of the Muppets. I think I might want to write something about them, seriously a little later here.

So lets start the discussion shall we? Do you care about the Muppets? Any fond memories? What do they mean to you?