Muppets panel from Comic-Con 2015

The ToughPigs website (a Muppets fanpage) recently posted a video of the Muppets panel that was held at the San Diego Comic Con a few days ago.

Check out the link to the direct video here, or go to the ToughPigs webpage to read the latest post.

The panel features the producers of the show, Muppet performers, and others talking about the new TV show.  The Muppet performers do something rare: they actually perform the characters right there next to them, essentially breaking the illusion, but still entertaining to watch.

It sounds like a pretty fun show.

Stan Freberg (1926-2015)

You might not know his face but you know his voice from countless radio programs, commercials, tv shows and cartoons for over 60 years. He was a  legend of radio and advertising, and a Grammy winning recording artist. One of my favorite of his satires is "Green Christmas" which he recorded some 50 years ago. If you have never heard it, have a listen here.

The Oscars ceremony, 2015

Last week's Oscar ceremony is now one for the history books. The most memorable moment from the night might very well be Lady Gaga's medley of "Sound of Music" songs, paying tribute to the film's 50th Anniversary. Out of all the winners, I'm happiest that "Ida" won for Best Foreign Language film. It is my favorite movie of the year. Overall I liked Neil Patrick Harris as host but I didn't like when he picked on Robert Duvall and Harry Belafonte. And he made some off-color comments about a woman's dress (which I didn't even notice!). I liked the musical performances by the 5 nominated songs (especially the Selma performance), but whenever they do 5 songs, they should cut down on any other songs. The Sound of Music tribute was OK, but I didn't think we needed the "In Memoriam" tribute song by J-Hud. By the way, I liked their "In Memoriam" montage this year, composed of illustrated portraits. After years of mediocre tributes, I think they should stick with this style.

Saturday Night Live's 40th Anniversary Special

I'm a little late with this post, but I wanted to share my thoughts about the SNL40 special that aired last Sunday - PS -- The special repeats TONIGHT on NBC starting at 7/8 (CT/ET).

I remember the 15th Anniversary special back in 1989....Chevy Chase doing his "fall" down a huge flight of stairs wearing a football helmet....that was a good show too but the 40th was really impressive.

What I got a kick out of

- the 1-hour "Red Carpet" special that aired before the show. Seems like such a pompous thing, but it was fun watching the stars talk to NBC people (Matt Lauer, Al Roker, etc). Martin Short and some others had some funny things to talk about -- in fact, what some of these comics said on the red carpet were funnier than what they did on the special! It was funny when Jim Carrey asked Matt Lauer where Brian Williams was hiding.

- Everyone liked the Justin Timberlake/JimmyFallon opening song, but I got a kick out of Steve Martin's opening bit where he says, "What better way to celebrate 40 years of live comedy with these pre-recorded clips?!"

- Dan Aykroyd doing the Bass O Matic sketch, even though it seems really corny and outdated, it is still funny.

- Seeing Betty White make out with Bradley Cooper. That was truly a crazy moment and hilarious.

- Jerry Seinfeld doing a Question and Answer session with some big name celebs

- Weekend Update hosted by Tina and Amy and Jane Curtin, and appearances by the land shark and Matt Foley.

- the Wayne's World sketch where Mike Myers and Dana Carvey count down the Top 10 most awesome things about SNL.  They kept telling Kanye West to settle down and stay in his seat, which was funny.


There were some head-scratching moments (Kanye's odd performance) but overall  I got a kick out of the show and seeing the clips.