This week, I’m joined by the longtime Muppet staff writer Craig Shemin, to talk about what it was like writing Miss Piggy scripts for Frank Oz. Craig explains Frank’s rules for how to treat Piggy, and we go behind the scenes of some of the Pig’s most outrageous appearances with Matt Lauer, Martha Stewart, Jay Leno, and Regis and Kathie Lee. Plus: CD-Rom games, Project Runway, how Piggy became a diva, and why Kermit and Miss Piggy are still broken up! Don’t miss this one! Find us at “Muppet Fan Podcasts with ToughPigs.com” on your favorite podcast catchers, including Apple Podcasts,&nbs ..read more

Who among us hasn’t been in a situation where we are stressed, scared, or angry, and all we want is to forget the negative feelings that won’t leave us alone? So, in order to cope, we fixate on something else; dive into delicious escapism. It can be something large and important in our day-to-day, or it can be a small, obscure thing that leaves our friends wondering what’s going on. And, if we’re not careful, that fixation can consume us and make us forget ourselves. Turns out, Fraggles go through this too, y’all! In the episode “When Mokey Met Lanford”, we see that the wind gusts are still ..read more

The season of strikes is on the verge of hitting Sesame Street. Writers for Sesame Workshop voted unanimously to strike should a new deal be not be reached before the current one expires on April 19th. In a statement, the Writers Guild of America East, which includes the 35 affected writers, said: “The writers that Sesame Workshop hires are deeply committed to the work that we do. Like the Workshop itself, we are mission-driven and child-focused, and we work hard at telling stories that contribute to the Workshop’s curricula inspired by heart, curiosity, community, kindness, diversity, equit ..read more

We’re talking about Minutes 19-20 of Muppet Treasure Island, in which Jim and the boys leave the burning inn and head off to meet Squire Trelawney. With EXTREMELY special guest Stephanie D’Abruzzo! PLUS: A Muppet true crime podcast! The origins of yelling “Geronimo!” The dearth of female Muppets! Where are Rizzo’s arm rods? The joys of Louise Gold! When do Star Wars characters shower? And the Feast of Saint… LULU! Hosted by Anthony Strand & Ryan Roe Guest Stephanie D’Abruzzo Produced & Edited by Ryan Roe Logo by Morgan Davy Movin’ Right Along: A Muppet Movie Podc ..read more

Every year, the folks at Hallmark release a new Muppet ornament, and they’re all pretty spectacular. From talking Fozzies to singing Chefs, they’re slowly making their way through all of the top characters. This year, First Mate Piggy takes the spotlight with the incredible Pigs in Space-inspired ornament seen above! First Mate Piggy will be available on July 13, and as you can see, she comes with a tiny Swinetrek, conveniently floating behind her in the distance (or, less conveniently shrunken down by some sort of sci-fi mishap). The ornament, now available for pre-order on the Hallmark web ..read more

Synopsis: The Fraggles find a radio and believe the advertisements are messages from god. Original air date: April 9, 1984 This is the episode of Fraggle Rock where the Fraggles start a cult. This might be the strangest, yet most true-to-life episode of Fraggle Rock. And not strange in a “Secret Society of Poobahs” sort of way, which leans heavily into the “how weird can we get?” category. (More on that when we get to that review in 2025.) But strange in a “Fraggles listen to the radio and then immediately move to uproot their lives for no reason” sort of way. Plus, this episode has that kil ..read more

This week, Danny is joined by Jim Henson biographer Brian Jay Jones, to talk about Miss Piggy’s development, Frank Oz’s acting skills, and how hard it was to get Piggy underwater! Find us at “Muppet Fan Podcasts with ToughPigs.com” on your favorite podcast catchers, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify! Credits: Written, Hosted, and Edited by Danny Horn Guest: Brian Jay Jones Artwork by Dave Hulteen, Jr. Executive Producer: Joe Hennes Special Thanks to Peter Savieri, David Solove and the Editors of Muppet Wiki Theme Music: “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love ..read more

We’re all getting excited about the new Jim Henson documentary, Jim Henson Idea Man, directed by Ron Howard and coming to Disney+ on May 31st. With the title and first images starting to roll out, we now have our first look at the official poster for the film. And there you have it. The man, the frog, the title, and all the information you need to get primed for the film. And in the spirit of the tagline – Never Stop Creating – we will continue to create newsbits for this doc as more information is released. So stay tuned for more, Muppet fans! Click here to stare into those ping-pong ball e ..read more

Spring is here and once more, that means the annual Sesame Street Classic Character will peak its head out from the Dead Muppets cabinet at the Henson Workshop and find itself on the shelves in plush form at Sesame Place, ready to be taken to their new forever home. In past years, we’ve seen the re-emergence of such characters as Herry Monster, Barkley, and Alice Snuffleupagus. This year’s plush is a special somebody, a certain yellow feathered individual who has been on the show since the very first season. That’s right, it’s…Granny Bird! April Fools! I’m totally punk’d you! No, this year’s ..read more

As many fans have noticed, Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock has a habit of making the moral of most episodes extremely obvious. The original series was a bit more subtle and more apt to let us draw our own conclusions — but on the other hand, even after 96 episodes of the original series, we silly creatures are still making the same dumb mistakes and having the same ridiculous conflicts. So maybe it’s necessary to drive home the morals the way Back to the Rock does. The moral of “The Twisty-Turny-Thon,” as sung by Wembley, is “You have to be open to what’s new.” In other words: You’ll be happi ..read more