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Bear in the Big Blue Podcast - Time For Some Quiet Time · Muppet Fan Podcasts with ToughPigs.com

0:03
Oh, hi, it's you. I'm so glad to see you.
0:10
And you're just in time. Come on in.
0:13
Hey, wait a minute. What's that smell?
0:24
Smells like anxiety about the state of the world and its
0:29
politics. Have you been feeling anxious
0:35
about the world and all of its politics, or do you just smell
0:39
this bad all the time? Well, Oh my God.
0:48
Well, well, I'm so glad that you could come here and join us for
0:55
another episode of the Tough Pigs podcast.
0:58
Bear in the Big Blue Podcast. This is the podcast where a
1:02
lifelong Bear in the Big Blue House fan Me Becca Petunia is
1:07
joined by. Me, Johannes, who has never
1:10
watched Bear before in my life. And we talk about the vibes of
1:15
the show and some of the things that we like and dislike as we
1:20
get ready for our long winter's nap and the feast of the
1:24
Winterberry. And you know, Joe, we, we've
1:29
been talking a lot about, well, unfortunately, we've been
1:33
talking a lot about a lot of bad stuff going on.
1:36
And I'm not going to get into specifics here on the podcast.
1:40
You know what they are. You all know.
1:42
Listen, whatever. That's the bad thing, yeah.
1:48
That was it. Now you found it.
1:49
Whatever, whatever you at home are, are, are anxious about
1:53
right now, that's what Joe and I are anxious about right now.
1:56
I promise it's the exact same. So if like you're anxious about
2:01
a math test coming up, that's what Joe is anxious about.
2:05
I still have those. What about math tests that I'm?
2:09
Unprepared for same as a teacher.
2:11
The thing is, like, it's never gonna go away because every day
2:15
I'm going to high school, so it just never goes away.
2:21
And actually, wait a minute. Hang on.
2:24
Joe. I I just had a great idea.
2:27
Yeah. Why don't I?
2:29
Why don't I look for look for a special friend?
2:32
Oh, all right. I mean, I guess, I guess I'm not
2:35
enough. All right, that's fine.
2:37
Oh, where, oh where oh where is Eli?
2:44
Where, oh where, oh where is Eli?
2:49
Where, oh where oh where is Eli? Where can Eli be?
2:58
Oh, you found me, you big old podcaster.
3:02
By Eli That's right. Joining us on the podcast today
3:06
is my lovely spouse, Eli Lee. And we're so happy to have you
3:12
here today, Eli. Oh, thank you so much,
3:15
podcaster. I love your Irish accent.
3:20
Nice brogue, it's. Yeah, you.
3:22
Are Irish? What are you doing?
3:23
I'm really I'm, I'm really made-up for the ancestors on
3:27
this one. So.
3:29
I'm really shaming my my ancestors.
3:32
So, you know, while you're here, why don't you tell us a story?
3:36
How did you how did you get into Bear in the Big Blue House?
3:40
Yeah. So hello again, everybody.
3:43
My name is Eli Lee. My pronouns are they them?
3:45
And I got into Bear in the Big Blue House through you, Becca.
3:51
We had. We were living together at this
3:53
point. Yeah.
3:54
By the way, I'm just, I'm so happy that my plans came to
3:57
fruition when I asked you out almost seven years ago.
4:00
I was playing the long game to finally get involved with the
4:03
Tough Pigs Empire. And finally, my plan, my plan is
4:07
being put into motion. It's true.
4:09
And you know, hey, we're, we're gonna, we're gonna have a video,
4:12
a video series coming soon. That's true.
4:14
My plans are measured in centuries.
4:16
You keep saying that that means you're gonna do it.
4:18
I know we're gonna keep saying it, because here's the thing.
4:20
I really I want to do it, I just need to wait for them to be
4:23
ready. So if I keep saying it.
4:26
Don't worry, we're going to, we're going to have some heaters
4:28
coming down the the pipe for you soon.
4:30
But anyway, we were living together at this point.
4:34
And how much detail am I allowed to go into for this story?
4:37
I mean, I can bleep anything. OK, Yeah, well, I'm.
4:40
An open book. Yeah, you were dying.
4:43
We were getting ready for you to go to the hospital for, I think,
4:46
your actual surgery. Yeah, one of my many actual.
4:50
Yeah. So you had decided while you
4:53
were posted up on the couch basically during the whole like,
4:58
prep period and like the the whole like months leading up to
5:01
this, you wanted something very comforting to watch.
5:04
And you said, I think you will enjoy watching Bear in the Big
5:08
Blue House. And I said, all right, because I
5:11
love you. I will watch Bear in the Big
5:13
Blue House. And wouldn't you know it, I did
5:15
actually wind up loving it. I think it is a very charming
5:19
show. I am kind of bummed that I
5:20
didn't grow up with it. I do genuinely feel like I may
5:23
have missed out on something, not having like, childhood
5:27
memories of Bear. But I love Bear.
5:30
I love the the puppetry that goes into Bear.
5:32
I love how ponderous he is when he moves around.
5:34
Like, Noel McNeil is the the puppeteer as well, right?
5:37
Yeah. Noel McNeil has like such a
5:39
fantastic grasp of like movement and scale that like Bear is just
5:44
like lumbering around in a very believable way that I, I really
5:47
love. And of course I I feel a special
5:51
connection to Bear because like Bear, my house is usually also
5:54
populated with unemployed, mentally ill homosexuals.
5:57
So. We're allowed to make that joke.
6:04
I'm a mentally ill homosexual I can joke about.
6:07
This. If anyone could make that joke,
6:09
it's us. I love it.
6:11
It's so true though. But but how true, because you
6:14
know, we, we, we love having, we love having friends over just
6:17
like Bear does. And just like Bear, sometimes
6:20
they show up randomly demanding to play cards and just like like
6:24
in one of the episodes we watched.
6:25
And just like Bear, sometimes we have to talk them off of several
6:28
ledges while they're over. Also, like when you're talking
6:32
about bears and otters, you know?
6:35
Oh true, Look at that, I don't even think of bears.
6:37
Otters. Lemurs as lemurs.
6:41
It should be maybe? Let's make it a thing.
6:43
Is like gay guys with really long arms.
6:48
I think we can make it. Work Lemurs is actually
6:51
nocturnal nocturnal gay guys who love jumping.
6:55
Yeah, the entire, and let me tell you, most of the cast of
7:00
Cirque du Soleil. Yeah, I could see that anyway,
7:04
Anyway, so you really you really also found the show charming and
7:09
and I'm glad you brought up, you know, this this story when I
7:13
was, you know, getting prepped for an important surgery and
7:16
very stressed and and very sick at the time too.
7:20
Because I think, you know, what I wanted to talk about today, as
7:25
we mentioned, is Bear sort of as a comfort show and as a kind of
7:31
very relaxing and very cozy show.
7:34
And, and we touched a little bit on this, on this last week
7:38
because it's hard not to touch on this.
7:41
But this week we watched 3 episodes that I I mentioned I
7:47
felt like really dealt with coziness in a in a strong way.
7:54
So. The first episode we watched
7:56
from season 1 was Need a Little Help Today, which is Joe doesn't
8:02
know this, although you might have been able to tell it's a
8:04
clip show that episode. But I was like, hey, if we're
8:09
only watching a few episodes, then a clip show is actually a
8:12
good episode to watch. And then of course, like for me,
8:16
watching it this early on in my my bear viewing experience, it's
8:21
like watching the second episode of the Clerks cartoon.
8:26
Good reference. If if you know, you know, I mean
8:28
like that's it's definitely like, Hey, you remember that
8:30
time and I'm like, I do not. Well, the funniest, the funniest
8:34
thing about that clip show or let me, I'll get to that in a
8:37
second. But the other two episodes we
8:40
watched were two episodes about sleeping, namely The Big Sleep,
8:44
which is different than the movie The Big Sleep.
8:46
If you're gonna watch at home, if you're gonna pause, don't
8:49
watch the movie The Big Sleep right now.
8:52
Was I not supposed to? Did you not feel calm and
8:55
relaxed? No, I, oh gosh.
8:59
Well, I, I, can we pause so I can go watch the bear episode
9:01
real, real quick. Real quick.
9:04
Real quick and we also watched the season 3 episode Go to
9:07
Sleep, which also was Joe's first impression of recurring
9:13
bear characters Doc Hogg and Jeremiah.
9:18
But anyway, what I was saying about that clip show that's so
9:20
funny is the clip of Ojo thinking that she can fly and
9:26
jumping off the bed and and getting hurt.
9:29
You actually can't see anywhere because for some reason that
9:33
episode is not on Disney Plus. So it is a clerk's kind of
9:38
moment. Wow, did not know that.
9:42
Well, no, of course I didn't tell you to watch that.
9:46
So. One of the things that, you
9:48
know, we, how, how are we going to, I'm trying to figure out
9:53
the, the right, the right route in here.
9:55
Because like, I guess one of the things about that clip show that
10:01
I really appreciated was the reminder of all of the different
10:06
ways that that bear helps his friends and also his friends
10:10
wanting to help him, although admittedly they're less good at
10:13
it than he is because they're annoying children.
10:17
But one thing that I really wanted to talk about you with
10:20
was was how how important I think the the quiet time song is
10:27
that that bear sings with Tutter when Tutter is trying to push
10:30
the cheese into his into his house and he doesn't have the
10:35
energy. So he bears like Tutter.
10:39
It's it's time to stop and it's time to rest and you're going to
10:43
do this later, but right now you need, you need to go to bed and.
10:50
This is also that sequence is very funny because when we were
10:53
watching it for the first time, I being unfamiliar with Baron,
10:56
Big Blue House and Tutter when he showed up I was like oh it's
11:00
that funny mouse from all of the Tumblr gift sets where people
11:03
are constantly posting pictures of him with the caption me.
11:08
That's the chap. And Tutter, Tutter is Tutter is
11:11
me. And I don't mean like me like
11:13
like a petunia. I mean like Tutter is hashtag
11:18
me. There's so many Tutter moments
11:20
that you can do that with. Tutter is the boy.
11:22
Tutter. Tutter is a vibe.
11:25
Yeah, yeah, for sure. So I have a few thoughts about
11:29
this episode in this moment in particular, but the first thing
11:33
being that again, like early on with me watching Bear stuff
11:37
didn't occur to me until this episode how much of A of a
11:40
doormat he is. And like, I know that there's a
11:44
whole thing about there's a pun in there somewhere about a bear
11:46
skin rug. But like really it's just like
11:49
everyone's like bear. I have this problem.
11:50
He's like, well, I guess I'll put my stuff to the side and
11:53
help you with your problem. But of course he doesn't do it
11:56
with that sassy voice that I just gave him.
11:58
He's like perfectly happy to do it, but like they don't even pay
12:00
him rent. Like they're just showing up at
12:02
his house and he's saying, bear, make me a sandwich.
12:05
And he's like, I guess I'm making you a sandwich.
12:07
It's so unclear because like, ostensibly it feels like Bear is
12:14
like you would think that this show basically walks up to the
12:18
plate of saying that the Big Blue House is a daycare and Bear
12:23
is a daycare owner. But I will tell you they never
12:28
explicitly say that. And as we see in Go to Sleep,
12:34
the other characters don't live in the Big Blue House.
12:38
The only one, which was also a surprise to me.
12:41
Yeah. The only one who does is Tutter.
12:43
They all have homes and families and things like that.
12:47
Tutter has a family, but Tutter just moved out and moved in with
12:50
Bear. Yeah.
12:51
Put some respect on Grandma Flutter's name.
12:53
Believe me, I always respect grandma.
12:57
So are you suggesting that, like, Ojo's parents were just
13:00
like dropping her off on Bear's front door every morning?
13:05
Be like she's your problem now That's.
13:07
My assumption and like, but it's so it's it's never explicitly
13:12
stated. And I wonder so much.
13:14
It's the kind of thing that, like, you know, if we ever do
13:18
get to talk to to Noel or, or, or Mitchell Kriegman, the show's
13:22
creator, I'd love to ask about, like, why they didn't just say
13:28
that because it feels like it would have been so easy to just
13:32
say that. Like, sure.
13:34
Yeah. Ojo's parents.
13:36
Ojo's parents have jobs and. And this is where she stays
13:39
during the day like. Yeah, and I know we can't
13:43
discuss this this episode, but in the pilot Bear actually says
13:47
like Pip and Pop's mom drop or it's not Pip and Pop, it's a.
13:51
Hummel and Pop. Papal and Pop pummel and Pop's
13:54
mom dropped them off here today. Like on her way?
13:57
To work. Interesting.
13:58
I will let you know we've been trying to talk about the pilot
14:00
for two straight episodes now and one, Joe Hennis keeps
14:05
forgetting to watch the pilot. This is an incredible running
14:08
gag you've built for yourselves here.
14:11
So Joe is surprised. Joe made a surprised face when
14:14
Eli said Pummel and Pop, because Joe doesn't know that Pip and
14:19
Pop were named Pummel and Pop originally, and apparently
14:24
Disney was worried that it would be too violent to have a
14:28
character named Pummel, so they changed them to Pip and Pop.
14:32
Great. Well, I, I promise we will talk
14:35
about them next week. The the pilot next week, because
14:38
I know that's the following week.
14:39
We have more important things than the pilot to talk about.
14:42
So I, I'm making this vow to you, the listeners, we're going
14:46
to get there. So the other thing I wanted to
14:48
say about this, this scene where where the bear and Tutter sing
14:50
this, this song. So OK, Tutter is pushing a bunch
14:55
of cheese into his hole and he's like, I am exhausted.
14:58
I can't do this. I'm getting frustrated and bear
15:01
rather than do the easiest thing in the world which is to take
15:05
his index finger and just push it in the hole for him.
15:08
Would take him 2 seconds no effort at all.
15:11
He's like no Tutter this one's on you.
15:14
Calm the F down, Tutter, take a nap.
15:18
He's got to teach Tutter a valuable lesson.
15:21
But is that his job? I don't know what his job is
15:25
technically. In later episodes we learned
15:28
that his job is very picking. He tells us that that is his
15:32
profession. Here you go, 6 year old child
15:35
with unregulated emotional anxiety.
15:38
I need to teach you how to just lay down for a little bit.
15:41
Let me tell you that that's a that's totally a great lesson to
15:46
teach these kids. But the thing that I'm getting
15:48
as an adult viewer watching this, between all these
15:52
questions and the logistics of things like just help him out,
15:56
there's a for a, for a quick second, let him move on with his
15:58
day. It's giving me so much more
16:00
stress that an episode like this is, is demanding.
16:04
Like, I should be calming down. Yeah.
16:07
Joe ramping up. Joe it's it's the that old
16:09
adage. Push a mouse's cheese and he can
16:12
get into his house for one day. Teach a mouse to push his own
16:15
cheese and he can get into his house for the rest of his life.
16:18
I have to say, hearing on the Tough Pigs, 70 Years, 70 Muppets
16:25
podcast, the week that we're recording, this is the week that
16:30
Jared's episode with Peter Lynn's about Walter came out.
16:35
And Peter Linz is of course also Tutter.
16:37
Hearing that Peter Linz, apparently his father was a
16:41
psychologist and he has a, a, a bachelor's in psychology,
16:48
explains so much to me about Tutter and, and all of Tutter's
16:54
big feelings. But I mean, jokes aside about
16:57
how Bear bear easily could have helped.
17:00
I really love the quiet time song and I think about it all
17:06
the time. And it's something that like I,
17:08
I, I won't. When I knew that that Eli was
17:11
coming on for this one, I was like, we have to do this.
17:13
We have to do this episode somehow because I want to talk
17:16
about quiet time. Yeah.
17:18
And, and like, we'll say it all the time.
17:24
Like I just like. I need quiet time I.
17:26
Just be like I, I need some quiet time and just go into
17:30
another room and stuff and, and that's been something.
17:33
Best thing that bear in the Big Blue House invented the term
17:36
quiet time. Do we think that, Baron?
17:40
No, absolutely not. I.
17:42
Do they they invented it in the context that we use.
17:46
It in well, yeah, that's what I mean we are definitely referring
17:50
to bear in the Big Blue house when we use it.
17:52
Yeah, but it's it's just good. And and I liked I like, you
17:57
know, again, I love how sweet everything is.
18:01
And, you know, the kids are really trying to help Bear, even
18:04
if they're kind of terrible at it.
18:08
Treelo loves hugs. I don't know if you noticed
18:10
that, Joe. Great.
18:13
Just like Olaf. Classic Olaf.
18:16
OK, when you put it that way, now I hate Treelo.
18:21
I just, I'm waiting for that moment when Treelo will will
18:23
grow on me. But I've watched so few episodes
18:26
that Treelo has not been the spotlight of any of them.
18:28
So, so far. It's just like Treelo is just
18:30
that noisy thing in the corner. Becca and I earlier today were
18:34
joking about Baron, the Big Blue House getting really high
18:36
concept and doing a Rashaman episode and.
18:39
In Oh my God, yes. And in the Treelo segment,
18:41
Treelo is the only one who talks normally and he's like there, I
18:47
think that you need to take a step back.
18:49
You are not approaching the situation with your normal poise
18:52
and like measured, measured approach to things.
18:55
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go jump on the baby couch
18:57
about this. And then Bear goes.
19:02
Because because Treelo in this, in this scenario still only
19:07
wants to jump on the bed. He's still.
19:09
Of course. Yeah.
19:11
Yeah, right. But like an intellectual Treelo.
19:14
You know, so was there anything else notable about this episode?
19:17
I know we're kind of going a little bit more episode by
19:20
episode than the first one, but I still don't want to go scene
19:22
by scene in these episodes because that feels like a waste
19:25
of time. Yeah, for sure.
19:27
This is sorry. This is the one where bears
19:28
stick, right? And they're.
19:29
Yeah, this is the one where bears stick.
19:31
And all of the children are like, I'll get you a box of
19:34
tissues. Let's tuck you in like.
19:37
Right do. They get him soup.
19:39
Yeah, well, children shouldn't use the stove for that.
19:41
Kind of thing. Tutter does use the stove a lot
19:44
later on, but yeah, well. Tutter's a homeowner.
19:47
It's true. Tutter has this little orphan
19:50
baby apartment he lives in. He had to grow up.
19:53
Quick, no, I don't, I don't have any more glare endpoints.
19:56
I mean, my, the big one that I really wanted to talk about was
19:59
what I said before about how bear especially like now that
20:02
I'm looking at this through the lens of bear being like a
20:05
daycare owner or, or. Manager or whatever, And then
20:10
like being like, I'm sick, I'm ill and like, let me sleep.
20:14
But also who's going to watch the kids?
20:17
And so they're all just going to dance around on his head.
20:21
Not not. This is so stressful to me.
20:25
I'm like, I just need to get healthy.
20:27
I wanted you. I wanted you to be less stressed
20:30
watching these. That was.
20:31
Fine getting an ulcer or watching bear in the.
20:34
Big Blue house and his blood pressure just starts rising.
20:39
I just I'm covered in sweat by the end of each of these
20:41
episodes. Can't catch my breath.
20:43
Let's do the. Episode Ed you're like, I have
20:44
to take a break. I need to go for a walk around
20:46
the block and clear my. Head I need to quiet a time.
20:49
Exactly. You get it.
20:53
And Speaking of quiet time, lot of episodes, the other two
20:57
episodes were both about sleeping.
20:59
And again, let me tell you, I, I mean, I, I've said this a bunch
21:03
already on this show, even in the just 1 1/2 episodes we've
21:07
had. But I'm a big softie and I love
21:09
cute things a lot. You can see the Sylveon plush in
21:14
the background. Yeah, you can see all of my
21:17
plushies, Yeah. I got Poochie back there.
21:19
Love it. There is a poochie, Poochie from
21:22
Yoshi, not poochie from the same sentence.
21:26
I'm always asking, where's Poochie?
21:27
Yeah, you know, and I'm. Always like he's right there.
21:31
He's. Right there, he's right behind
21:32
me. And he's in and he's in the
21:34
level Gucci ain't stupid from Yoshi's Island for the Game Boy
21:40
Advance. But anyway, the the The thing is
21:45
like I'm a sucker for the fact that the the big sleep episode,
21:50
which is the one where the kids come over for a sleepover and
21:53
you want to talk about Bear getting walked all over the kids
21:56
are like, we planned a sleepover and Bear's like you did.
22:01
Yeah, I I was clowning on Joe for getting stressed watching
22:04
Bear in the Big Blue House. But this episode in the other
22:07
episode was Bear living my personal nightmare, which is
22:10
it's the end of the day and you want to sit down and relax and
22:13
do something and suddenly a plan that you forgot that you made
22:17
rears its ugly head at you. This is like like watching
22:22
Muppet Family Christmas from the perspective of Emily Bear.
22:25
Yeah. Yeah, Bear is Bear is living my
22:27
personal hell, but. I I just love the characters all
22:34
snug in their little their little sleeping bags and all of
22:37
their themed sleeping bags that they all have.
22:41
I love how Treelo is just in a sleeping bag with chameleons on
22:45
it on a end table, like just on top of the end table.
22:52
That stuff always gets me. And I I love the songs in this
22:55
one a lot. This is another one that I love
22:58
to the songs in the the song that Bear sings to Ojo, the the
23:03
lullaby that he sings about. Like why she shouldn't be afraid
23:06
of nightmares and stuff. I'm a sucker for this kind of
23:09
thing and that may be colored why I chose this episode, but
23:15
this is one that I always think of when I when I think about
23:19
just kind of getting getting warm and cozy after after a
23:22
stressful day, even if it's really not relaxing for bear,
23:28
for bear, it's everything. It's everything Treelo needs.
23:35
But why did? What do you mean you didn't make
23:36
snacks? Bear is like constantly
23:38
entertaining guests who are pissed that he doesn't have food
23:41
waiting for. Yeah, again to.
23:42
The other episode too. Two in a row that or two in a
23:45
row that we watched. Obviously they're from different
23:47
seasons because I I like to mix up what we watch.
23:51
Yeah, Bear does not get a break from working.
23:55
And I think that's that that is really the biggest nightmare to
23:57
me because I I, I don't actually take breaks from work because I
24:02
just go from one thing to another.
24:04
But like, at least things end. And for Bear, it's like, OK, you
24:07
all went home, like question mark home or to your parents or
24:11
you're going to go like live in the trees.
24:13
I don't know where they go. Yeah, who knows, Could be
24:16
anything. And it's like, OK, great.
24:18
I'm going to read my book and then I'm going to go say
24:20
goodnight to Luna. And then I'm going to have a
24:22
little cat nap. And it's like, no, doesn't end.
24:25
You're still working, buddy. This is why care work burnout is
24:28
so real. I can't believe that I wanted
24:32
this to be an episode about calm things and you 2, you 2
24:37
chuckleheads are just here being like you're being like.
24:40
If I were bare, if I were bare, I would use some of my I would
24:45
use some of my income to hire a second care worker.
24:50
I would. I would.
24:51
I would see if I could get, I would see if I could get Doc Hog
24:55
to run some shifts when he isn't at the pediatrician's office, I
24:58
would. See if Doc Hog could get his old
25:00
ass out of my house so I could read my book.
25:03
Well, get what's in Bear, just like Bear could just like go up
25:07
to the attic and like, wait for them to stop knocking on his
25:10
door. Go away.
25:11
Turn off the lights. There's.
25:12
Nothing stopping him. Yeah, right.
25:15
Just hide under the window. So they can't see you and
25:17
eventually they'll go away. I can't.
25:19
Believe that you 2 are out here making Ojo the villain, yeah?
25:28
This was my plan at all. Bear just bear probably has a
25:32
life, you know, outside of of of these creatures that want to
25:37
like, like live in his sink. Yeah, let's get into.
25:40
So let's, I guess these two episodes are pretty similar, so
25:43
it makes sense to kind of talk about them at once, especially
25:45
if we're not going play by play. But let's talk a little bit
25:47
about how in Go to Sleep, we see a little bit of Bear's life that
25:52
somehow he also didn't plan for. Because this is the first
25:56
episode where we meet some of Bear's.
25:58
The first episode we watched, those characters appeared
26:01
earlier in the show, but it's the first episode that we
26:03
watched where we meet some of Bear's adult friends.
26:08
And here's my question, Are Bear's adult friends Doc Hogg
26:12
and Jeremiah Tortoise more annoying than Bear's child
26:17
friends? Yes, and I'll tell you why,
26:21
because they should know better. Yeah, they're adults.
26:25
They know they wandered into his house without knocking to the
26:28
back door. Yeah, No, they.
26:30
And they're like, here we are. And.
26:31
Then they're like, where are snacks?
26:33
And it's like, where's? Where'd the snacks?
26:34
Where'd the where you tell me where the snacks are?
26:37
I'm hosting and you didn't even bring over some like doughnut
26:40
holes or something? Well, you must be all these.
26:43
Things are going to have to bleep out.
26:45
I know it's OK. Well, in defense, in our Bear in
26:49
the Big Blue House podcast, So in defense, Doc Hogg and
26:56
Jeremiah do say that this was scheduled.
27:00
Yes. And Bear's like, oh, I forgot,
27:02
which also is like very common in a weird way that they didn't
27:05
lean into whether they could have.
27:06
I'm just like, what a predicament.
27:07
I've got all these guys in that room and these guys in this
27:09
room, and I got to run back and forth, but Bear's just like, OK.
27:13
They kind of do a little bit of that with Tutter and how Tutter
27:16
would rather be playing Go Fish with these 3 old men than than.
27:21
Which I related to so hard because my parents were big on
27:25
like, like, oh, after the kids go to sleep, we're going to like
27:28
stay up and play cards. And I was like, all I want to do
27:31
is sit there and play cards with you.
27:32
I don't even know how to play this game, but it's all I
27:34
wanted. It was so Civic wouldn't.
27:36
Was truly precocious child representation for this?
27:40
Absolutely. What do you think of Doc Hog
27:43
though? Because we're going to be seeing
27:44
a lot more Doc Hog. In particular, the Christmas
27:47
episode is pretty Doc Hog heavy to get you ready for Oh.
27:51
God, I mean, obviously I didn't get too much of him yet, but the
27:54
thing that I actually really like about both him and Jeremiah
27:57
is just the the diversity of types of voices because it's
28:02
like we we talked about this last week, but like Ojo is the
28:04
kid and Treelo is this like, you know, crazy voice.
28:09
And then we've got Pip and pop who are like all this manic
28:12
energy and Tutter, who's amazing.
28:14
And I hope that I wish the show was just about Tutter.
28:16
That would be great. But like it's we have all these
28:20
like young and often high energy voices that are just surrounding
28:24
bear all the time, which is fine.
28:26
There's there's not a judgement, but like to then suddenly give
28:29
us more characters who are a little bit slower or a little
28:33
bit smarter, or they seem smarter but they're actually not
28:35
that smart or like whatever it is, it's adds such a dynamic to
28:39
the Big Blue. House that I actually really
28:41
appreciate. Yeah, no, it's it's interesting.
28:43
I think it's funny that Doc Hog is basically Foghorn Leghorn
28:49
without the racism. Yeah, without the racism.
28:51
Yeah, Joe, you're going to love Lois.
28:54
I can't believe we have. Who the heck is Lois?
28:56
I can't. Believe we haven't seen Lois
28:58
yet. I keep trying to find a good
29:00
Lois next week. Next week, folks at home.
29:03
Next week, I promise we'll see, Lois.
29:05
She's an employed queen. She's taking home a paycheck.
29:07
She's doing it for herself. I love her.
29:10
Lois. Lois is probably my favorite
29:12
character. Wow OK I literally have never
29:14
heard of this character. I feel like you're making this
29:16
up. Like wait till you meet Charlie
29:19
and it's like Charlie, there's another, there's another
29:22
character coming in Charlie. Bear Bear has adult friends, but
29:25
again, the adult friends are basically just as needy as his
29:28
children friends, right? Well, imagine if they weren't,
29:31
you know, cuz that's the thing like look at like we were
29:33
talking about last week about shadow and how shadow doesn't
29:36
really add anything to the dynamic of the Big Blue House.
29:39
And it's like, right, because Shadow doesn't need anything
29:41
from Bear doesn't add any story. You know, Shadow tells stories.
29:45
It's not the same thing. I wouldn't even call them
29:47
stories. Let's yeah, that's paying this
29:50
one watching these and she's like embarrassed, like thank you
29:53
for the story. And the story is hush, little
29:55
baby. I'm like, that's not a story.
30:00
And like likewise, other than the other characters, Luna, who
30:02
is like an adult voice, but is is literally set up far apart
30:06
from everybody else because she's in the Ding sky.
30:09
But there's no story happening there.
30:11
It's just a recap. It's a it's, it's more calling
30:14
Orson. Come in, Orson.
30:16
But it's, you know, I, I would never complain about Luna
30:19
because I think that the Luna stuff is so sweet and, and good.
30:23
But you're right, like she, there's never a plot about Luna.
30:28
Sometimes the other characters will see Luna.
30:30
We haven't seen any of those episodes yet but like the kids
30:33
will talk to Luna sometimes but only just to recap things Like
30:38
it's never going to be like Luna lost her favorite toy because
30:42
that just doesn't make sense. Like Luna.
30:45
Luna is literally the moon. But my point also is just the
30:49
fact that like so if Doc hog was like hanging out and it was just
30:52
like, I don't really need anything from you bear.
30:54
I was just here because like I'm I I have something about my job
30:58
and told me that I had to be here for something.
31:00
It's like there's no story in that.
31:02
So, like, you have to create some sort of very minor conflict
31:06
between Doc Hog and Bear, or Doc Hog and the other characters in
31:09
the Big Blue House to justify his existence on a children's
31:13
television show. And it's usually just that Doc
31:15
Hog is not listening. I'm sorry, what was that?
31:17
That he's not listening. Sorry am I Goodyear please?
31:22
That he can't. You know, Bear.
31:25
I was thinking Bear. You know, I think I yeah, I
31:28
just, you know, Bear. I was wondering because Bear,
31:31
I'm thinking that if you know that I'm speaking Bear, then you
31:34
could hear me if I was speaking Bear.
31:38
Wow, John Travolta is right here in the room.
31:41
I love that your doc hog just seems to be tuttered down like 3
31:45
octaves. Yeah, it's weird, isn't it?
31:49
Vinnie Barbarino here, you know, does the vet.
31:52
So if I was on If I were Rich Little and Rich Little were on
31:57
an episode of Bear in the Big Mouse.
32:00
What would that sound like? I think it would sound like I.
32:04
Think it would sound like this, Joe?
32:05
It would. It would sound like this, Joe.
32:08
Ear with the rubber of the ear. No, whoops.
32:10
I screwed that up and you know it was with the rubber hose.
32:12
Hey. You're stressing me out.
32:14
So this episode is such a stress.
32:18
One thing I really didn't want to talk about in Go to Sleep was
32:23
Shadow's song, which I believe is the only Shadow thing that I
32:28
like, and let me say that I love it.
32:32
I'm talking about Shadow's lullaby in this, and I think
32:36
it's just a beautiful song that really highlights Shadow's
32:41
beautiful voice. And I should have gotten the
32:44
name of the Puppeteer of Shadow. It's Peter Lindz is the
32:48
puppeteer. I don't know who does the
32:49
singing. Let me see who does the singing
32:50
voice. That Peter Lindz, he does every
32:53
character. Did you know that?
32:54
It's true. I mean, listen, he does a lot of
32:57
characters. It's true.
33:01
Tara Mooney. Tara Mooney is her name.
33:04
I'm sorry that I didn't have that written down, but I love
33:07
Tara Mooney's voice and you know, usually you only hear her
33:12
singing songs that I don't like, like Hush little baby being
33:16
interrupted by terrible voiced puppets going.
33:22
So it's nice that. That's my that's the number one
33:25
song on Spotify right now. I think that baby is voiced by
33:31
whoever voices Pip and or Pop. They have various.
33:35
I believe also Peter Linz. Yes.
33:38
So yeah, you weren't joking. He really does just play
33:40
everybody. Yes.
33:43
But I think, you know, I think that song is beautiful.
33:47
I think it's it's it's lovely. It sounds great and I love the
33:52
puppetry in that scene because they do some really cool things
33:55
where shadow interacts with physical objects.
33:59
I don't know if you noticed. If you didn't, you should go
34:02
back and rewatch and folks at home.
34:03
You should rewatch too. I'll I'll, I'll post the link.
34:07
But Shadow hits a rocking chair and the rocking chair starts
34:12
rocking. She jumps from picture frame to
34:15
picture frame and they shake on the wall when she jumps off of
34:19
them. And I just think it's so
34:20
beautiful. I think it sounds lovely.
34:22
It's the kind of song that aside from the, you know, maybe like
34:26
go to sleep my Otter, go to sleep, my Lemur and my mouse
34:30
parts sounds like the kind of thing that I would just listen
34:33
to. And I mean, I would just listen
34:35
to it anyway because I also listen to like I was annoying
34:39
you the other day by listening to Pat, Pat, Patty, Pat from.
34:43
You weren't annoying me by listening to it, you were
34:45
annoying me by singing it over and over again.
34:49
It was stuck in my head, but is the kind of thing that isn't a
34:54
Muppet song that I would listen to.
34:57
And it's like, this is like, this song alone makes me really
35:00
love Shadow despite all the bad things I said about her last
35:04
week. And I I wanted to end on that
35:06
note with Shadow. I'm curious what you thought
35:08
about Shadow's Lullaby, if you thought anything at all.
35:12
I truly did not think much of it at all because I was, I think, I
35:17
think in my mind, I was so prepared for another like
35:21
Hickory Dickory Dock. Here it is that I was like, oh,
35:24
this is the time of the the sleep episode where I take a
35:28
little bit. Yeah, I I will say I think
35:31
Shadow song is beautiful. I'll give her her deserve dub on
35:35
this one. But also I don't like how Shadow
35:38
greets Bear every time She's like, oh, hello you big old
35:43
bear. And I'm like, you want to say
35:45
something meaner than that. No bear is a stand in for
35:50
something else. And I don't know what it is, but
35:51
shadow, consider yourself unnoticed, no?
35:54
Do you do you think that shadow is like when she jumps into
35:57
frame? She's laughing at Bear like oh
36:02
you idiot. Yeah, hey, moron.
36:05
Well, he can't find her. I guess it's true.
36:10
One succeeded in finding her. Yeah, he his song doesn't work.
36:14
He has to just go like Shadow. And again, like, I'm not really
36:17
sure if Shadow is supposed to be like his imaginary friend.
36:22
We didn't see it yet, but she will interact with other
36:24
characters. Oh, OK, got it.
36:27
Well, then this observation means nothing.
36:30
There's there's an episode where the lights go out where she
36:33
talks to to to Tutter and Ojo. I'm looking at Muppet Wiki and
36:38
there's at least one scene where she talks to Doc Hogg.
36:41
So. Wow.
36:42
Best friends. Yeah.
36:43
Doc Hogg and Shadow I I like the one where where Shadow fights
36:48
Sonic the Hedgehog. That's my favorite.
36:50
It's true in theater soon. In theater soon.
36:53
Yeah, it's really weird how she had a gun in this episode.
36:58
She got it from Cod Orpen, yeah. I see what you did there.
37:02
Yeah, I'd say Google it, but you just deactivated your Twitter,
37:07
so you certainly did. So no one can Google it.
37:10
Maybe, maybe I'll migrate my my magnum opus, give Cotterpin
37:14
Doozer a gun over to a blue sky. One of my favorite things that
37:18
you've ever written. I love it.
37:22
And then and then Cotterpin did have a gun when you unboxed the
37:25
toy. Oh my God, I was shocked.
37:28
This is. You're going to have to edit all
37:29
this out. This is so on no.
37:30
You're not. You're not great.
37:32
That was such a shock when I unboxed that that cotterpin dos
37:36
her toy and she came with a gun like we predicted it.
37:40
They listened to. Me.
37:41
Finally, someone's listening. You couldn't ask for something
37:46
more interesting? No, I don't know.
37:49
I mean, listen, I would normally caution against the the higher
37:52
upset Disney and bike, not Disney, because that's Henson.
37:57
I would caution the higher ups at Henson against listening to
38:01
literally anything the online Muppet fan community has to say.
38:05
But if they were gonna listen to anyone, I think that they made
38:07
the correct choice. Well, next time see if you can
38:10
get us Muppet Vision. Excuse me?
38:12
You can get us Muppets at Walt Disney World on Disney Plus.
38:16
Yeah, I'd, I'd like that. I was going to say, I'll see if
38:18
they can bring it back Muppet Vision 3D, but it's going to be
38:21
a monkey's paw situation where like in order to watch it, you
38:24
are going to have to track down one of those 3D televisions that
38:27
they were trying to make a thing like 10 to 15 years ago.
38:31
Griffin Newman from Blank Check will be the only person in the
38:34
world capable of watching Muppet Vision 3D.
38:36
Wow. Anyway, so.
38:39
I did it. How do we get to this?
38:42
I don't remember. I'm talking about shadow.
38:44
But the point is, the point is I, I don't know, I find this
38:48
episode, this episode nice. I like, I like, I like the
38:53
feeling of being, of being snug. And again, I find this stuff
38:57
very relaxing, and it seems like neither of you find it very
39:03
relaxing at all. And I think that's maybe because
39:06
maybe because I don't know why. Well, here, here's the truth.
39:11
It's like I, I, we're having fun here, which is like we're doing,
39:15
we're doing a, we're doing a bit, a little thing.
39:18
But like, truth be told, I do love the idea of like, you know,
39:22
like any of these puppet shows, you know, there's, there's
39:24
because they're real, because they're not animated.
39:27
That does feel like they're in the real world.
39:29
You know, we've said the same thing about Muppets and Sesame
39:31
Street and Fragile Rock and all that.
39:33
And it is true for Bear, too. And so this idea that not only
39:35
do you get to like hang out in the Big Blue House with him
39:38
every day, but like, if you really need to, you can go there
39:41
at night and you can spend the night, you know, like camping
39:44
out in his living room. And I think there's something
39:46
really, really comforting about that, even if, you know, you're
39:49
not actually going to be doing that.
39:50
But to know that you could if you needed to, that's nice.
39:53
I, I, I imagine that it has to have been very comforting for
39:56
like certain young viewers of the show to know that even if
40:01
things are like rough or like bad at home, there's always like
40:05
a, a space that they are welcomed at and that they can go
40:08
to and. I think that's really important
40:11
and you know, not to not to get into too serious stuff after we
40:14
talked about Cotter pin Doozer's gun.
40:17
But I I think, you know, in this in this stressful time, one of
40:24
the things that has been giving me the most comfort.
40:27
And Eli was joking about it earlier about how we we always
40:32
open our house to mentally unwell, unmedicated homosexuals.
40:38
And community has been the key thing that I think has made me
40:44
able to handle all of the stresses of the world, like
40:49
having my friends around and providing a a space for them to
40:53
come and be safe. And I like that that's kind of
40:58
what's going on here too. You know, the, the episode that
41:02
we watched last week with Grandma Flutter was about family
41:06
in in some ways. And I think that these episodes
41:09
are also really about family and, and whether excuse me, and
41:13
whether that family is, you know, Mojo or Doctor Hogg or the
41:18
moon or a shadow who is only entertaining in one episode out
41:26
of Four Seasons, it's still a family.
41:30
And I think that that's really important.
41:32
And, and I, I know that this stuff did make me feel very good
41:36
when I was a little kid who was afraid, afraid of the dark and
41:40
stuff like this. And I think that that's why, you
41:43
know, these, these songs speak to me because again, unlike you
41:47
2, who started watching this show when you were 35 or older,
41:55
I'm older. I watched this show when I was
41:59
5. To balance off what you were
42:02
just saying about this, like found family thing, we've we've
42:06
said that about all the other Muppet brands too.
42:08
You know, the Muppet Show is a found fan, the family, their
42:11
found family and the Sesame Street characters, you know,
42:14
before they got into the part where they're introducing
42:17
everyone's parents and grandparents and etcetera,
42:19
etcetera. Like they were a found family
42:21
and the Fraggles, like it seems like none of them are related at
42:25
all. So they're they have to be found
42:27
family. And this is just this recurring
42:30
thing that kind of goes through. I don't know if it's every
42:33
single Muppet Henson property or if it just seems like that, but
42:37
like it that it kind of connects Bear to the larger Henson worlds
42:41
in that way that I would follow that if you hadn't said it.
42:45
I don't think it applies to Mother Goose stories.
42:49
Oh, because. Because Mother Goose is the
42:51
mother to the the goslings, actually.
42:55
I don't know if they're actually her kids, though.
42:57
I'd have to rewatch Mother Goose stories and I will never
43:01
rewatch. I will.
43:03
You will. I don't know what you'd have to
43:05
do. I know you're you're my editor
43:07
and producer. I don't know what you'd have to
43:10
do to get me to. To I know exactly what we're
43:13
going to do, Becca. I know exactly what we're going
43:15
to do. At some point, I'm going to do
43:16
another season of The Worst of The Muppets and you are going to
43:20
be my guest on Mother Goose Stories.
43:22
OK, I'll do it. I'll do it for you.
43:24
I guess you sold done. Anyway, I, I thought that these
43:29
episodes were sweet and these are things that that I want to
43:32
think about as I, as I feel anxious in, in today's in
43:37
today's world. So.
43:39
Joe, next week we're going to be watching some sillier episodes.
43:44
We're going to, we're going to spend some time, we're going to
43:46
spend some time with Lois. We're going to learn a little
43:51
bit, learn a little bit about computers.
43:55
And you know, I think it's time. I think it's time.
44:00
I think Joe, you are you are big enough and and mature enough and
44:06
I think it's time we paid a little visit to the Toileteers
44:10
I. Really thought this was going to
44:14
turn into a birds and the bees talk.
44:16
There is no bear episode about that though, before you even
44:20
make a joke. I was not.
44:22
I wouldn't even touch that there.
44:24
There are certain things that even I won't go after.
44:28
I never know with you. We've been together for seven
44:31
years. I never know with you.
44:34
But Joe and and Eli, it's been really fun and, and I, I hope, I
44:41
hope you liked it too. It seems like we've just begun,
44:44
but but suddenly we're through. And and Eli, where can people
44:48
find you online if they they want to find you?
44:50
Yeah, so questions, comments and slander can be directed towards
44:55
me at my Blue Sky account. You can find me at.
45:01
We need to check on blue sky. Yeah, I know it's not.
45:04
It's so new, has to be green to have memorized it.
45:07
Lobe the way Twitter does. You deactivated.
45:10
Twitter Yeah, I did. So I'm I'm hoping that I can I
45:14
can detox myself from Twitter appropriately.
45:17
Questions, comments and slander can be directed towards me at my
45:20
blue sky account at Hey it's ham hox dot B sky dot social.
45:26
And that's all one word. Hey, it's ham hox.
45:29
Yep. He's rolls right off the tongue,
45:31
so easy to remember. I'm surprised that you didn't
45:33
say that questions, comments and slander could be directed at
45:37
Tall Girl Petunia at Blue dot Blue sky dot Social because
45:43
that's where you can find me on social media or Tall girl
45:46
Petunia on Instagram. Joe, do you want to share
45:49
anything? Yeah, I am on letterbox at Tough
45:53
Pigs Joe and then I also post those same letterbox reviews on
45:58
my sub stack which is called Joe Consumes Media.
46:02
If you want to read some stuff that has nothing to do with
46:04
Muppets. But if you do like Muppets, then
46:06
I suggest you follow all all the Tough Pigs social media
46:09
accounts, including, but we just figured out recently how to get
46:14
at toughpigs.com on Blue Sky, so that's pretty exciting.
46:17
Yeah, that's true. I'm saying that my my username
46:20
is Tall Girl Petunia at Blue Sky dot Social, but if all goes as
46:23
planned, my username is going to be Tall Girl Petunia at Tough
46:26
Pigs. Yeah, we'll, we'll try to make
46:29
that happen. We're we're going to see.
46:30
If we can figure that out. But I think there's a way.
46:33
Probably technology we have to learn about.
46:37
Computers. We're going to learn about
46:38
compute. Next week we're going to learn
46:39
about computers, We're going to learn about making mistakes.
46:43
We're going to learn about the toilet.
46:46
Wow, and I'm going to watch the pilot.
46:50
Maybe. Maybe we'll see.
46:52
No promises except I promise already.
46:55
Anyway, thank you all for listening.
46:59
It's always great spending time with you guys at home.
47:02
And of course, I just want to say real quick, that Bear in the
47:06
Big Blue podcast is brought to you by toughpigs.com, hosted by
47:10
Becca Petunia and Joe Hennis. Edited by Becca Petunia, the
47:16
Tough Pigs fan podcast executive producer is Joe Hennis.
47:21
You can check out Tough Pigs on all social media, including the
47:25
Tough Pigs Discord server where we're talking about all sorts of
47:30
things that hopefully includes Bear in the Big Blue House.
47:35
If you want to support Tough Pigs, you can check us out on
47:38
Patreon or buy AT Shirt on T Public, including AT shirt
47:44
featuring Tutter the Tutter St. Trumpet, The Tutter St.
47:49
Trumpet Company shirt from Muppets Mayhem designed by yours
47:53
truly. Other than that, you can expect
47:58
to find us. What's up?
48:00
And thanks to Will Carroll for creating our icon art for this
48:05
podcast. Thank you so much.
48:07
You know, I remembered that last week and I forgot that this
48:09
week. That's why there's two of us.
48:12
That's. Exactly it.
48:13
Look, we're. Helping.
48:14
We're helping each other, just like Bear's friends help him,
48:17
except Doc Hogg, who never really does anything.
48:21
And thank you all for being here again.
48:24
Next week, you can find us right here again as we meet Lois.
48:31
I'll see you later, Joe. Did you bring any snacks?
48:36
Is water a snack? No.
48:40
It's very important to Tutter. Hold on, let me, let me drink
48:42
this water. Just like Tutter.
48:51
Great. Thank you, Bear.