#nigel the muppet show

[orbot5]

arr dump because I'm not at school

[adobe-outdesign]

a Muppet Style Guide dropped the other day and if that wasn't crazy enough, it inexplicably has an entire page dedicated to Nigel of all Muppets

love that for him

[inbarfink]

Random Tumblr Survey Time!

[astronoglow]

[ariel-seagull-wings]

@softlytowardthesun @thealmightyemprex @themousefromfantasyland @princesssarisa

In the 1970s, The Muppet Show had a melancholic character named Droop, who was recicled from one of the frackles of 1970's The Real Santa Claus and first introduced in 1974's The Muppets Valentine Special as a boyfriend of Miss Mousey.

Meanwhile they had the muppet called Nigel, who was introduced in 1975's Sex and Violence as a possible host of The Muppet Show before receiving the role of Orchestra Conductor.

Then in Muppets Tonight, we were introduced to another character named Nigel, this time a director character who was a more ansious, lightened fur version of Droop.

[frogosaurus]

obsessed with how this number features a bunch of main character muppets, mahna mahna, who is pretty well known, and then... nigel? why is nigel here? it took me almost a full minute to even dig his name out from the vault of my muppet memory.

also. if nigel is up there dancing who is conducting the orchestra????????

The Muppet Show (1976-1981)

Source: adam807

[filosofablogger]

♫ Crocodile Rock ♫ (Redux)

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr … grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr … I am growling loudly and from deep within tonight and I need a song that will take me away from it all for just a few minutes.  As I sat back in my chair, leaned my head back and closed my eyes, willing a song to come to me … this one did!  It literally just popped into my head!  Luckily, I haven’t played it since 2022, so it’s fair game for another…

[roseunspindle]

Tim Curry: What I've Seen Him in

Rocky Horror Picture Show - Dr. Frank N. Furter

Annie - Rooster Hannigan

Legend - Darkness

Clue - Wadsworth

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York - Mr. Hector

The Three Musketeers - Cardinal Richelieu

Muppet Treasure Island - Long John Silver

Addams Family Reunion - Gomez Addams

Charlie's Angels - Roger Corwin

Criminal Minds - Billy Flynn

Ferngully - Hexxus

Beauty and the Beast Enchanted Christmas - Forte

Scooby Doo and the Witches Ghost - Ben Ravencroft

Bartok the Magnificent - The Skull

The Cat Returns - The Cat King

The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible - The Serpent, Judas Iscariot

Gargoyles - Dr. Anton Sevarius

The Wild Thornberrys - Nigel Thornberry

Over the Garden Wall - Auntie Whispers

[islandtarochips]

Fun to Rhyme with the WTF! (ft. with Lilian Price)

Agnes, showing the words on the board: Truck! Duck! Pluck! Fu- ✨FUN TO RHYME!✨

Nigel, also showing the words on the board: Quick! Stick! Lick! Di- ✨DINNER TIME!✨

Tiala, got her turn: Spit. Split. Slit. Shi- ✨SHUT YOUR EYES✨

Kanoa, smiling while pointing at the board: Witch! Stitch! Pitch! Bi- ✨BIG SURPRISE!✨

Lily: *was just giggling as she clapped her hands together* 😄👏 Price: ........I am THIS close of smacking these muppets with my SHOE. Aly: Calm down, amor. They're not SAYING it. 😅

Arthur's Note: The WTF came over to London for a visit and started to spend time with little Lily. With a...very interesting song. (Agnes and Nigel got it from TikTok and decided to try it to see Price's reactions-)

Characters:

Alyssa Martinez (Later Alyssa Price)/Lilian Price -> @alypink

Kanoa Toa -> Me

Tiala "Shark" Toa -> Me

Agnes "Blast" Falagi -> Me

Nigel "Squirrel" Harrison -> Me

Inspo Vid:

[pearwaldorf]

I am starting a rewatch for the first time since S2 aired. It is absolutely incredible how much character growth they packed into 5ish hours, holy shit.

I have no idea what Jenkins's experience with Kiwi (and I would say specifically Maori Kiwi) media was before OFMD, but tonally it is a perfect match. The concept of a pirate themed workplace comedy fits right in with Wellington Paranormal and Flight of the Conchords (both Jemaine Clement joints as you know).

I honestly don't think this show would have worked without Rhys Darby. I know of no one else who could nail that combination and balance of absolute dumbass, utter insanity, and earnest sweetness. In the Muppet version of the show, Stede is played by Grover.

Random observations:

I find it rare that jokes land just as hard on subsequent rewatches, but this show delivers consistently. Stede's first pirating, Lucius doing the Pinocchio voice? Remains 👌🏼

Still love Lucius putting the pieces together regarding Stede being bullied by Nigel, and the heavy mental sigh he makes knowing he has to watch out for this dweeby baby gay because the freaks look after the other freaks

I keep forgetting how sad and awkward and lonely Stede is at the start of all this. I still find it genuinely distressing to think about how long he's spent hoping for somebody to understand him, even a tiny bit. He's come so far!!

[extraterrestrialechos]

I have watched Episode 8 possibly more than any other episode and it's so vital what Jack's saying and what he thinks he's doing, which is completely centered around pointing out Stede's from outside their world and pointing out Ed he's wallowing in unsustainable excess.

Jack: Just for the two of you, huh? Hornigold'd shit himself.

Jack: That's a real pirate! Not like one of these store-bought types.

We're soon provided the information Jack genuinely believes he's been acting with Ed's full support and consent since back at the dramatics on deck.

Jack fully believes he shook Ed out of whatever weird, seemingly uncharacteristic funk Ed has gotten into.

Jack: Best thing that could've happened to you, if you ask me. Like when I heard that you'd shacked up with him, I said... Ed: Where'd you hear that? You didn't just happen upon us, did you, Jack? Jack: Took you long enough. The old Blackbeard woulda seen me comin' a mile away.

Jack: I figured you were on to me when I lured you to Blind Man's Cove, seeing as its distinguishing feature is that... Ed: It's impossible to make an escape.

Ed, otoh, had a good reason to want to show Jack, who he cared about, they could both be a part of Stede’s love in — he wanted to believe that there was room for Jack in muppet land, and a different future for both of them than they’d ever imagined.

That was so far from Jack’s reality he never conceived it was happening and believed they were co-conspirators in a completely different series of events from the one Ed was living.

Chauncey makes a similar point to Jack's in the next episode:

Chauncey: I'm afraid the offer doesn't extend to you, Bonnet. After all, the King was only referring to real pirates. He's from my world, not yours.

That Stede isn't part of the fabric of that world is pivotal to the thrust of the thing, because it's not just about Ed and Stede. The crew, who Oluwande assured in the first episode would come to kill Stede next if he didn't say he killed Nigel on purpose, and who'd all just reassured Jack would probably still mutiny on Stede in the future, decide at this moment that Stede, admittedly a work in progress, is worth standing up for.

And shortly after, Ed chooses to give up everything he's worked so hard his whole life for, a career and huge prestige and "more riches than you can shake a fucking stick at," to go into an unknown, barefaced future with Stede.

Despite Jack not believing Ed would throw away what he built from nothing, what they were stabbed and ground down to nothing and treated like dogs for a chance to aspire to, despite that Episode 8 exists to let Ed see the risk he's taking.

Throughout, Izzy builds up reminders of the bonds he forged with crewmen who believe in the him he chose to show them that he has to choose to separate from:

Ed: No, Izzy, we're not doing this. Izzy: No, you're not doin' this, so I must.

Izzy: Remember though, you said when you made me first mate, "Above all else is loyalty to your Captain." You're my captain, and I was never gonna stand by and let you destroy yourself for that... twat.

Izzy fully believes throughout he is doing what Ed (who at the start of this had repeatedly, disturbingly expressed suicidal ideation in Episode 4 leaving us with two long shots of Izzy standing stunned and shaken after he walks out) pledged him to do. To hold the outfit together and keep Ed's reputation secure.

There's nothing nefarious about the sad henchman sitting in prolonged denial.

Izzy: The plan is very much alive. He promised me.

But Fang and Ivan have now seen through the thing, too, and so they remind Ed of the sacrifices they've made to be a part of this outfit the three together. And still Izzy is careful not to speak in front of them when he offers to help secure their normal,

Izzy: I'll happily end it.

We can assume here, and when Ed couldn't do it and Izzy steps in, that what Izzy knows after all these years is Ed doesn't kill people face to face. How many other people has he dispatched to shore up the occasional slack for the continued honor of sailing with the most brilliant sailor he's ever met?

It is my strong opinion that diminishing these character’s belief in the Ed they’ve known for years and the loyalty they display diminishes the enormity of the choices we see Ed make and risks he taking putting his life and heart in Stede’s hands.

These are men he chose to forge bonds with through his own actions, and the resistance to change they put up comes out of having traveled well worn paths with the Ed who made himself king of the ocean who is suddenly exhibiting erratic and, to them, totally unprecedented behavior.

Ed returns to an Izzy whose faith is at last broken, and swiftly and expertly resecures his place of power. Even devastated himself that his start at a different life a part of him privately yearned for left him so completely bereft.

[orbot5]

does anyone else when they find a character they really like they nonstop think about them like nonstop and it'll be some random ass muppet from 1975 that showed up once that's only spoken 3 times separately and was gone for a decade

[adobe-outdesign]

Nigel: The Muppets' Most Interesting Uninteresting Character

(This was supposed to be a fun little post about an obscure Muppet character but now I fell down a hole doing too much research and sunk cost fallacy won't let me live it down unless I include all of the useless information I've learned so enjoy knowing more about this character than you ever have or ever will want to know)

Nigel was created to be the host of the Muppet Show's Sex and Violence pilot instead of Kermit (who only appears in the pilot for like 30 seconds)

He was originally puppeteered by Jim Henson himself, giving him a vaguely Kermit-esq voice initially

Nigel Voice Count: 1

Nigel is a yellow... something. You’d assume he’s just a stylized human Muppet but in S4E18 Sam refers to him as a “thing”

He actually looks near-identical to a Fraggle minus the tail. I don’t know what to do with this information

Nigel was diagnosed with terminal Boring Personality disease due to the following attributes:

He’s very meek. Unlike Kermit, who will freak out and tell people they suck to their faces, Nigel raises his voice one (1) time and mostly relies on Sam the Eagle and Crazy Harry to deal with the assorted chaos

His face is flexible like Kermit’s, but he has permanently partially-lidded eyes that leave him looking exhausted in every scene he’s in

He’s generally unenthusiastic and seems like he wants to go home constantly

Jim Henson: The Works describes him as "lacking in spunk and charisma," which is hilariously cruel yet 100% accurate

What’s surprising at this point is that instead of scrapping him, he instead took on the role of orchestra conductor on the show proper, where he proceeds to do almost nothing for five seasons

The Muppets Character Encyclopedia actually provides a canon reason for this: Nigel lost the job of host due to his “shy manner”, and Kermit, feeling bad for replacing him, gave him his new job

He can technically be seen in basically every episode during the theme song, but aside from that, he often pops up in the chorus during songs

Which is funny when you consider he should be in the pit Doing His Job during those sequences

A quick list of his more important (if you can even call them that) appearances:

S1E2: He has Zoot play a song called “Sax and Violence” b/c pilot references

It’s actually implied the Mayhem falls under his jurisdiction as he threatens to fire Zoot, but this never comes up again

S1E24: Playing the part of a library patron noisily chewing gum (despite not having teeth. idk you figure it out). This one’s only notable because he’s wearing the same outfit from the pilot

S3E16: Nigel’s eyelids are not connected to the rest of his body and he’s facing backwards through the entire backstage segment so you’re uncomfortably aware of this

S1E23 has Floyd complaining that the theme song is cringe(TM), at which point it’s casually revealed that Nigel wrote it?? how is this character so important and unimportant at the exact same time

If you’ve seen this episode and aren’t deaf you might have noticed he has a completely different voice here. This is because John Lovelady has taken over as his puppeteer, presumably because Jim was busy Running The Entire Show

Nigel Voice Count: 2

Nigel has a talent for whistling, which is shown off in S2E18 during a performance with Floyd (this is the only time he comes on stage to perform that isn’t with a crowd)

He shows this off again in S4E18 to participate in the age-old sport of Annoying Sam the Eagle backstage

As of the 2011 movie Walter takes over as the show’s resident whistler because Nigel isn’t allowed to have character traits

He briefly shows up during the credits of The Muppet Movie (now puppeteered by Dave Goelz). Because of this, in the UK version of the end credits, he has another completely different voice

Nigel Voice Count: 3

After a brief background appearance in The Jim Henson Hour (S1E12), Nigel proceeded to completely disappear for 20 years

I’m guessing the reason was that his puppet was becoming unusable. The foam used for the muppets disintegrates over time, and his puppet was ~15 years old at this point

Things were particularly bleak for him in the 90s because Muppets Tonight came out with a new unrelated TV director character named... Nigel. Because Jim had passed away at this point and I think everyone working on the show literally Forgot they already had a character named that

Not that it would be that big of a problem, seeing as the chances of yellow Nigel returning were bleak. who was gonna spend time and money rebuilding an incredibly minor background character like him

TRICK QUESTION because he was rebuilt for The Muppets (2011), which is pretty amazing when you consider that he does Nothing during this movie

The new puppet looks pretty similar to the old one. I think the face is a bit rounder/more structured but I could also be losing my mind

(Side note: shoutout to whoever decided to give him a scarf in this scene. that’s such an unnecessary detail)

What’s great is that now that the puppet’s been rebuilt he’s shown up in a lot of stuff because they have no reason not to include him. Some of the more notable examples include:

The music video for OK Go’s cover of the theme song (which I certainly hope he would show up in I mean. it’s his song)

In the live shows (The Muppets Take the Bowl and The Muppets Take the O2) there’s a parade of overlooked characters, which includes Nigel. I just find it funny that:

A) The writers fully acknowledge that he’s King of the Background Characters

B) The in-universe implication that Kermit was like “no one knows who you are, wanna be in a parade celebrating that fact” and Nigel was like “okay”

His most recent appearance was in Muppets Haunted Mansion, where he’s dead (don’t worry about it). More importantly, he gets an entire shot to himself conducting some skulls, which I think is the first time the camera’s been focused solely on him in literally 40 years. Good job, buddy!

Here’s some other misc appearances that I couldn’t fit elsewhere:

He appears alongside Jim and a few other Muppets in a 1977 commercial for American Express (once again wearing his pilot outfit), which is particularly strange considering he’s the only character there that used to be puppeteered by Jim

In 2010 he got a somewhat important role in the first issue of Muppet Sherlock Holmes, playing the part of a butler suspected of poisoning the head of the house

He gets one whole page in The Muppets Character Encyclopedia from 2014 (right next to other Nigel). In addition to the aforementioned info bridging the gap between the pilot and the show proper, it also states that he’s susceptible to hypnosis and he trained at the Tommy Newsom Academy for Music and Charisma

In terms of future projects: there is both a Jim Henson biopic and documentary coming in the future (side note: why???), so it’s possible he might be discussed briefly in one of those

I have no thesis statement or reason for writing this, but I guess I’ll close out by saying that I find it fascinating that a failed main character from a pilot episode is still appearing in recent Muppet productions but solely as a background character. I hope that in 2073 I can put on some Muppet media and Nigel will still be there still doing absolutely nothing

thanks for coming to my TED talk

[radarsteddybear]

And, of course, no Jim Henson exhibit is complete without Muppets from The Muppet Show! This year, I got to see three different Kermit the Frogs, including the original; Rowlf; Statler and Waldorf; a family of Koozbanians; the Swedish Chef; the original Java puppets; Bunsen and Beaker; the Country Trio; Miss Piggy (in her wedding dress from The Muppets Take Manhattan); Zoot; and Scooter. Aside from all the Kermits, I think the Country Trio were my favorites. If they look familiar, you're not mistaken--they're made in the likenesses of Jim Henson, Frank Oz, and Jerry Nelson.

Bonus puppets under the cut include the Beautiful Day monster; a Snowth; You Are My Sunshine; Nigel (The Muppet Show's orchestra conductor); and Wilkins and Wontkins from the Henson-produced series of Wilkins Coffee commercials.

[dragon-giggles]

Muppet Headcanons

I have so many random, silly Muppet headcanons I need to get out of my system, sooo here we go, bare with me

~Kermit still keeps in touch with the Sesame Street gang ever since he left them. He usually calls Elmo, Grover, or Ernie the most to check up on them and say hi!

~Apart from fish being his favorite animal, Lew Zealand is a big animal lover in general! He has an especially soft spot for all aquatic wildlife, including animals such as turtles and seabirds.

~I don't care what y'all say, Bobo and Uncle Deadly had something with each other in The Muppets (2011).

~Miss Piggy really does have a soft heart, her temper just makes it hard to show. Actually, this better be canon.

~Robin and Rowlf's nephew (from the Jimmy Dean Show) are good friends and love having play dates.

~Big Mean Carl is really emotional, he's just really good at hiding it.

~Fozzie has accidentally set things on fire more than once. Most times have been in the kitchen, he's not exactly the best cook. But it's happened so much somehow, it pretty much seems like he's prone to it.

~Sweetums gets along well with a lot of the tinier Muppets ironically. He's surprisingly really gentle when he needs to be, and is always careful with his smaller friends. Him and Yolanda are besties!

~Walter has more than once weirded out the others by just how much he knows about each of them. (Well that's what happens when your a super fan guys)

~Gonzo has a whole wardrobe that's just dresses.

~This is pretty much canon, but it's agreed Zoot has magical abilities. The guy has probably traveled to other dimensions and not even realized it.

~Also pretty much canon, but Rowlf has a much sassier side to him than he usually let's on. Most people just haven't seen it that often... except for Jimmy Dean. Jimmy Dean saw it plenty of times lol.

~Fozzie is like the resident tickle monster lol. Usually if someone doesn't laugh at his joke, he'll just be a little twerp and tickle them to make them laugh. He'll also just do it to be silly (Kermit has been a victim to his silliness the most lol).

~Kermit knows every first and middle name of all of his siblings. (which keep in mind he canonically has like over a thousand siblings)

~Beauregard knows a lot of cool random facts actually that he'll just randomly throw out there sometimes.

~Another one about Beau, him and Beaker are good friends. (They canonically usually set up stage props together on The Muppet Show)

~Scooter has so many father figures. Kermit, Dr. Teeth, Fozzie, and Rowlf are all his dads lol... and Janice is his one mom figure.

~Pepe and Rizzo have been together at some point.

~Nigel, more well-known as the band conductor from The Muppet Show, and Kermit are actually good old friends. (He was actually meant to be the host for The Muppet Show before the role was switched to Kermit)

~Lips and Dolores (trumpet girl) are really good friends despite him taking up her role as trumpet player. She'll still sometimes pick up her old trumpet and the two will play together for fun.

~I don't know why this isn't canon but. Walter. Autism. Real.

~Skeeter likes to visit the Muppet theatre every so often to visit Scooter. In the few times she's been there, she's developed pretty good relationships with all the others as well.

~Bunsen and Beaker have pretty much been together since they were literally babies (go watch Muppet Babies for proof)

~This isn't really a headcanon but something I've noticed about Miss Piggy. She seems to have a softer spot for a few of the others, and I don't just mean Kermit.

I've noticed that she genuinely baby talks Rowlf a lot, and calls him Rowlfy. She's never actually tried to karate chop him like she has others either. There's been like once she tried to swing at him, from The Muppet Show, and ended up hitting the piano instead. Personally to me, it seemed like she didn't really try with her hit like she has all other times; it was more like she was annoyingly swatting at him because he was aggravating her (which he was btw, he was teasing her). I just think her and Rowlf are good old pals, and I just think that she knows that he's genuinely sweet and doesn't wanna be mean to someone like that.

Same with Beauregard, she's been really nice to him too. She's even given him a motivational speech before from The Muppet Show (in that same episode, he hugged her and said she was his only friend and I sobbed so mentally hard over that). I think Miss Piggy just knows who generally good folks are and in turn shows her soft side to them.

Okay I've poured out all I can, for now! Here's some silly doodles of some of the headcanons!

[amuseoffyre]

Despite the number of times I’ve watched the show now, something just hit me from episode one. When Stede’s getting the crew kitted up to fool the English, he casts Pete as “Lord Peter Gravelstone, minor royalty from Essex” and describes the white crew members as a bunch of “upper crust lads”.

Not Mister. Not even just ‘Sir’. He tried to pretend they were actual nobility.

I’ve blathered on before about Stede’s place in the class hierarchy in relation to the Badmintons and the British Naval officers (ie. he’s new-money gentry, but they’re mostly aristocracy, which means he’s barely above trade for them) and hooboy, the fact that he basically ranks up his companions in order to outclass the Badmintons is either a ballsy or a desperate move.

Stede is an easy target for anyone who is legit aristocracy for many reasons, but especially as a jolly jump-up from the colonies. By seating a Lord at his table as one of his passengers/travelling companions, maybe he thought it would provide a buffer, but every single one of the Naval crew takes one look at those unconvincing muppets and they know these aren’t aristocrats. And even if they were, any aristocrat would probably laugh along with Nigel and Company at this bumpkin and his bumpkin friends.