#Jesse L Martin

[incorrent-quotes]

A compilation of favorite moments cause friendship goals <3

[marvelsgirl616]

They’re so cute 🥹

[leavingubehind]

@pscentral  event 19: music ⤷ Rent + favorites songs

[haveyouseenthisseries-poll]

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Ten years ago today The Flash aired its pilot episode of what would be 184 episode run in the US. Whichit got me wondering how many people watched the pilot on the day that it aired. Where you one of the millions who watched The Flash on the day it first aired or did you catch it after?

[gaypengwing]

Rent movie, they could never make me hate you 🙌🙏

[x-files-polls]

Josh Exley: says something really special about love and humanity

Betty: It's an evil tattoo voiced by Jodie Foster, what more could you want?

Don't like this propaganda? Reblog it with your own or send some in my askbox

To jog your memory, here are the episodes they're from:

The Unnatural: While working in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947, a young cop, Arthur Dales (the brother of the Arthur Dales who started the X-Files) stumbles across Josh Exley, a black baseball player who is actually an alien with a love of the game hiding among humans.

Never Again: On a solo assignment out of town, Scully meets a man whose tattoo does not want to share him—especially not with Scully.

[feelingtheaster99]

So you guys ever think about how literally two completely different musicals have a song entitled, “Santa Fe?”

Like what jitterbug showtune magic is in Santa Fe???

[lands-of-fantasy]

The Flash

“New” pictures from early seasons

[buffyann23]

The Flash ⚡: S01E22 "Rogue Air"

"What did you bring that orange soda for?

[marvelsgirl616]

The Boys Season 4 Bloopers

[tvscreencaps23]

[popculturebuffet]

Muppet Madness Christmas Double Feature: A Letter to Santa and John Denver X Muppets: A Christmas Together: Tidings of Mediocrity and Boredom (PatreonXComission For Emma Fici)

Hello all you happy people and welcome back to Muppet Madness, my look at all things muppety on this blog. It's been a while, as I took most of 2024 off muppet wise with me and emma, my friend who helps make this possible, mostly doing other stuff.

Still it wouldn't be christmas without the muppets and having ran through the holy trinity of Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Family Christmas and Emmett Otter's Jugband Christmas, i'ts time to branch out a bit. SO when having movie night me and emma watched two slices of christmas cake: the 2008 special A Muppet Christmas: Letters to Santa and 1979's John Denver And the Muppets: A Christmas Together. And while these aren't the best muppet projects , and we'll get to why under the cut, i'm just happy to be back with these guys, something that's not stopping as next year we're hitting up muppetvision 3d, survival street's sequel the radical left and i'm hoping the movies I haven't gotten to yet. I at least want to get around to the Muppet Movie to make up for missing it's anniversary.

So with renewed vigor, holiday cheer and some good dollops of mediocrity, join me under the cut to look at some tv specials to see if they have that muppet magic

A Muppet's Christmas: Letters to Santa: A Rope of Sand

I came into letters to santa excited: Unlike the other muppet christmas specail/movie I haven't gotten to, this one had a good rep and seemed like it'd be fun. The muppets have a fantastic holiday track record as does Paul Williams, who did the soundtrack and co wrote this film. Paul Williams is a muppet legend, a musical maestro who wrote the amazing soundtracks to The Muppet Movie, A Muppet Christmas Carol and the cult classic Phantom of the Paradise which I not only covered this halloween but I consider an honorary muppet film. It dosen't really have any muppets like fellow honorary muppet film LIttle Shop of Horrors but it does have a kickass paul williams soundtrack and some weird shit, so i'm going to count it anyway.

Instead.. this one's a disapointment. It's not horrible. It's not Muppets Wizard of Oz which has lurked at the bottom of the rankings since I started doing these, but it's nothing really special. The 2000's were a time , not unlike now, where the muppets were spinning in the wind, with Disney occasionally breaking them out but having no clear direction.

And this spilled onto Muppet Family Christmas. While it was only a few years before the Muppets briefly revitalized things, it feels an ocean away, having a script cobbled out of so many stock plots it might as well have a water mark on it.

It's Christmas Time and Gonzo is mailing a letter to santa which gets derision from Pepe who dosen't believe. After a musical number featuring Jesse L Martin, who does a wonderful job and is enhusastic and who I love from his current show the Irrantional, Gonzo ends up thrown out of the post office and with three letters, one of which is from a little girl who lives in their building whose mom is 30 Rock's Jane Krakowski, and must go on a quest but oh no almost everyone else gives up and oh no nathan lane's in the way but they get through it with pluck and wonder and

Yeah there is.. nothing to this plot. You can have a thin plot and have it work with the muppets, easily. The Muppet Movie's plot is "Kermit goes on a wacky road trip to become a star and picks up the familiar troupe along the way while a corrupt frog leg salesman wants him to be his shill", The Muppets is your standard getting the band back together to save something under threat from a greedy developer, the great muppet caper is a nonsense heist plot bouyed by great songs, snappy jokes and Charles Grodin. You don't need a super deep or impactful plot: that can work easily, see A Muppet Christmas Carol, the muppets are versitle but as long as you have jokes and heart, the muppets will prevail.

This specail has neither. The jokes just aren't there, and the bulk rely on a buffet of celebrity cameos, which isn't unusual for the muppets but feel more shoehorned in than usual. Jesse L Martin's part as a postman who sings a number about doing the mail stuff is one of the few that feels warranted. We've got actors from the sopranos for a one dimensional mob joke, jane krakowski in a role that just dosen't fit her more acidic and hammy chops, Madison Pettis of Corey in the House Fame as a little girl, Uma Thurman constantly fanning herself because someone has a thing for that on the writing staff and Nathan Lane as your stock "Character who hate santa because santa didn't give him a toy"> I do like that his character does realize he was a bully and kermit turns him around, convicing him he can be better, but there's not much here and all these actors feel wasted. These four all have good comedic timing, but arne't given anything to do .

There are SOME jokes sprinkled in that work: some pidgeons our heroes try to get the fly the letters and everything Bobo does because Bobo is the best. But even Bobo being here feels like a repeat of Muppets From Space where he was the bumbling sidekick to the villian. There's nothing here that feels like it needed to happen. The music should be great, but while Williams tries a little, it's pretty forgertable. At the very least this means we get Williams himself as an elf and he is fantastic, entertaining and a shot of energy into the film, but it's disapointing to have a paul williams soundtrack I don't remotely remember after watching. That.. shoudln't be possible but here we are.

There's also an annoying subplot where Piggy is pissy about the vacation, wants to get to it immediately and is mad at Kermit for .. trying to help a child's letter get to santa. It's the kind of piggy I hate where she's just mad at anything Kermit does and takes it as a sign of his lack of commitment.. which is a serious problem with them as things go on, but in this case he wasn't waffling or not intrested, he simply was trying to do the right thing.

This film just exists. I didn't think I"d be this disappointed in it but the more I write about it the less I have to say. And it's not because it's funny it's because it's just bland. It's like someone put muppets into an ai generator. The muppets performers try, paul williams try, but the framework is so bland and cobbled together it just dose'nt work. Speaking of not working

John Denver X Muppets: A Christmas With You: Generations

Part of why I probably wasn't as hard on Letters From Santa before writing is that what came after was so much worse. John Denver X Muppets, and yes I do know it's and muppets but it's my blog and my joke, is boring. It's is the biggest blank void of a specail i've ever watched. It's a moment or two of what the fuck like john denver being a toy solider or dressing up weird, a really fucking nice hat that John Denver wears in the opening, and just.. nothing.

I HATED this thing when we watched all 60 boring minutes , even more when a section I missed thanks to a guest was rewatched later. The original intro to this was a lot angrier until I figured out why it's like this.

You see the same year John Denver guest starred on the muppet show. And while John Denver is not an artist I know that well only knowing him from a fictional character's rivalry with him when they were neighbors in Denver

It hasn't stopped me from enjoying a muppet show episode before: I didn't know Alice Cooper well, his episode is one of my faviorites. Same with Harry Belafonte and his episode IS my faviorite. The Muppet Show does a good job showing a star off and letting them run wild. And this episode was pretty good. I forgo tto finish it but no episode with a bunch of historic soldiers singing why can't we be friends (And sadly some native american sterotypes), before getting gunned down by statlder and woldorf can be calssifiedas bad

The problem is a christmas with you.. isn't a muppet production. It has them in it, in their vintage design glory and a subplot about miss piggy wanting a big roll.. but it's not their special. It's John Denvers. And thus instead of having chaotic muppet energy it has john denver energy. And John Denver is bland. He's the dry toast of Country Singers. He has made some good songs, but none are my style adn the christmas songs he sings here feel like several eternities. The bulk of the special is just john denver sings a boring ballad while I try not to

See even typing about it is a struggle. He only uses the muppets in a few segments and even those, while not as sleep enducing, still aren't rousing. Paul Wiliams didn't do his best for letters to santa but he's still paul williams. John Denver has a good song and probably more for people who like this but for me it's the worst parts of 70's music, those long dreary tuneless ballads, distlled into one bland special.

Ranking: As you can imagine neither of these really scored that high but since it's been a year since I got to break out the ranking list, i'm still happy to have it back. I may rework this into a tier list in the future, we'll see. but for now they scrape the bottom

Though just showing how high the quality is only John Denver and the Muppets and Muppets Wizard of Oz are geninely BAD. The rest have SOME merit tucked in there and even the John Denver special still isn't close. We really hit rock bottom early and hopefully we'll never dig deeper.

Next Time: A look at a soon to be lost disney attraction! We're back babY!

[hitchell-mope]

The whole being dead thing by Hades, Persephone, Persey, Hadie, Pain and Panic.

Hades: Hey, folks! Begging your pardon

Hadie (forcing his way past the dead to stand next to his father): 'Scuse me, sorry to barge in

Persephone: Now let's skip the tears and start on the whole

Persey: Y'know, "being dead" thing

Hades: You're doomed, enjoy the singing

Persey: The sword of Damocles is swinging

Persephone: And if I hear your cell-phone ringing

I'll kill you again

Hadie: The whole "being dead" thing

Hades: Death can get a person stressed

Persey: You should have carpe'd way more diems

Hadie: Now you’re never gonna see 'em

Hades: I can show you what comes next

Hadie: So don't be freaked

Persey: Stay in your seats

Persephone: I do this bullshit, like, eight times a week

Hades: So just relax, you'll be fine

Persey: Drink your fifty-dollar wine

Hadie: And take a breath

Pain and Panic: Welcome to a show about death

(Hadie is dressed like Bert in the chalk painting and strumming a ukulele)

Hades: You're

You're gonna be fine

On the other side

Persey (dressed like a punk rocker and headbanging): Die! You're all gonna die!

You're all gonna die!

Hadie (still strumming the ukulele): I'll, I'll be your guide

To the other side

Pain and Panic:Though in full disclosure

It's a show about death

(Hades pulls a lever and the gondola falls down a level)

Hadie: Everybody gets on fine here

Persephone: Like Rodgers, Hart, and Hammerstein here

Hades: The women's bathroom has no line here just

Persey: Pee where you want,

Hades: the whole "being dead" thing

Persephone: You're just gonna love the folks here

Hadie: Yeah, I know you're “woke”, but you can take a joke here

Persephone: And every show I do, like, a ton of coke here

The whole,

(She snorts a mile long line of cocaine)

the whole "being" dead thing!

Hades: Nobody is bullet-proof

Persey: You worked out,

Hadie: You ate clean!

Persephone (pinching the bridge of her nose): Jesus, pass the Dramamine

Hades: Time to face the brutal truth

Pain and Panic: Dies Irae

Hades: 'Cause you were on our hit list

Persephone: You didn’t live 'till Christmas

Persey: Or choked to death on Triscuits

Hadie: Hey, that just statistics

Hades: So take a little break here

Persephone: Kinda like a wake here

Persey: The scenery is fake here

Hadie: But there's some giant snakes here!

(Pain and Panic turn into hydras to scare the dead)

The Pantheon’s: Welcome to a show about death!

(Hades is on a stage and dressed like a sleazy lounge singer)

Hades: You're, you're gonna be fine

(Everybody applauds him)

Hades: Thank you!

On the other side

How you doin'?

(Helga Sinclair bursts into tears of terror)

Hades: Oh, not good!

(He scats a little)

Hades: I'll,

Hey!

I’ll be your guide

To the other side

Persephone: Seriously, though, this is a show about

(She pulls a leaver and the gondola falls down yet another level)

Pain and Panic (flying overhead and irritating the dead): Death is taboo, but it's hardly something new

There's nothing medical professionals can do

'Cept maybe just bill you

Hades: If you die while listening to this demo

It's still gonna keep playing

Pain and Panic: There's no destiny or fate

Just a terrifying wait

Filled with people that you hate

And on a certain date, the universe kills you!

Hades: That's the thing with life

No one makes it out alive

Persephone: Toss that body in the pit

Persey: Gosh, it's awful,

Hadie: ain't it tragic?

Hades: Blah, blah, "Bible Jesus" magic

Persephone: When you're dead, who gives a shit?

Persey: No pilates, no more yoga

Hadie: Namaste, you freakin' posers

Hades: From the cradle to cremation

Pain and Panic: Dies Irae

Persey: Death just needs a little conversation

Persephone: I have mastered the art

Pain and Panic: Dies Irae

Persey: Of tearing convention apart

Pain and Panic: Dies Irae

Hadie: So, how about we all make a start

Pain and Panic: Dies Irae

Persephone (writing to the north corner): On the whole

Hades (twirling to the south corner): being

Persey (twirling to the west corner): dead

Hadie (twirling to the east corner): thing

The Pantheon’s: God, I hope you're ready for a show about death!

(They flush the gondola and its occupants down into the depths of Tartarus)

[arrow-v-flash-polls]

Team Flash started out small and grew over time. But which line up of the team did you like best?