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Bear in the Big Blue Podcast - Welcome to the Blue House · Muppet Fan Podcasts with ToughPigs.com

0:04
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?
0:22
It's you have you just been listening to a podcast because
0:27
you smell just like podcasts? Or maybe you just smell this
0:33
good all the time? Well, I bring this up because
0:37
you are listening to Bear in the Big Blue podcast brought to you
0:41
by toughpigs.com. It's the podcast where me,
0:46
Becca, Petunia and. Me.
0:48
Joe Hennis. Watch Bear in the Big Blue House
0:51
episodes as we prepare for our long winter's nap and to
0:56
celebrate the Feast of the Winterberry Joe.
1:00
You know, I wanted to do this podcast for a bunch of reasons.
1:04
Specifically, I wanted to do this podcast because I am a huge
1:09
fan of Bear and the Big Blue House and I'll admit that it's
1:11
an age bias. I I was born in 1991 so I was 6
1:17
when Bear and the Big Blue House premiered and I loved this show
1:23
as a like kindergartener first grader.
1:27
I was actually cleaning my parents house the other day and
1:29
I found art I did of the show from first grade.
1:32
I'll try to I'll try to get a picture of Bear and his friends
1:36
vacuuming the earth to stop pollution.
1:41
I had an idea there but I don't think it worked but.
1:45
I mean, there's a lot of dirt in the earth, so obviously you had
1:48
to get that dirt up. Yeah, I got to get that dirt.
1:50
But you know, it was a show that I loved and I absolutely, it was
1:57
always like a a real source of comfort for me, which I know
2:01
we're going to be talking about later on.
2:04
And the kind of thing that just really stuck with me for
2:08
whatever reason, and I've said this before, Bear in the Big
2:12
Blue House is actually how I found tough pigs in the 1st
2:16
place back in the day because I was looking for Bear in the Big
2:21
Blue House information on the Internet as a teenager Because I
2:26
was like, boy, there's like nothing about this show anywhere
2:29
that I remember loving as a child.
2:32
And I must have found one of Danny's my week.
2:35
With he did a few big features about Bear.
2:37
He did like a thing about breakfast with Bear back in the
2:39
day. And I remember there was some
2:41
reviews of like DVD's that came out and Christmas stuff.
2:45
And yeah, so there, there was a good amount of bear content in
2:47
the early days of Tough Pigs. Yeah.
2:49
And, and I remember, I remember reading all of that and being
2:52
very excited by all of that. And you know, recently when Bear
2:57
got added to Disney Plus, I was like, it's time that we here at
3:01
Tough Pigs start taking Bear, you know, a little more
3:06
seriously again, because it's been, you know, listen, it's
3:09
been like 20 years since Danny Horn was writing so much about
3:14
Bear. And that's when I heard a really
3:18
shocking fact to me. And that shocking fact was that
3:24
co-owner of Tough Pigs and Muppet Fan Podcast executive
3:30
producer. Is that your title?
3:32
That is, yes, that is the title I have given myself, correct?
3:35
And Muppet fan podcast executive Johannes an episode of Bear in
3:41
the Big Blue House. I, I am, I am ashamed to say
3:45
this is true. I, I, I will back up and say
3:47
this when I talked to most people who are like the level of
3:51
fan is, is us not, not to say that we are more fans, more,
3:55
more like a larger fan than most Muppet fanatics.
3:59
But what I'm referring to are the people who like, we actually
4:01
make things like we, we run a website or, or a podcast or
4:04
whatever it is. And I find that most of the
4:07
people who fit into that category have a blind spot when
4:10
it comes to Muppet stuff. Without naming names, I know
4:13
people who have not finished watching The Muppet Show,
4:16
despite the fact that it's all available on Disney Plus.
4:19
I know people who've never sat down and watched all Fraggle
4:22
Rock, which I would argue is almost as important as The
4:25
Muppet Show. And that's OK because there's
4:28
this thing of like, well, there will always be more for us to
4:30
find and for us to watch and sit down and enjoy for the first
4:33
time because you can only get that first time once.
4:36
And I think for me for the most part is Baron of the Big Blue
4:38
House. I, I like I was almost 16 years
4:42
old, I think when the show premiered.
4:44
I was way too old to be watching it.
4:48
I think my, my recollection is that like, I saw the puppets and
4:51
I was like, those are some cool looking puppets.
4:52
And then, you know, went to high school.
4:55
Like I don't, I like, I didn't sit down and watch any of it.
5:00
And then years later when you know, I became, you know, a
5:03
tough pigs person, you know, I obviously I've seen lots of
5:07
clips, I've seen stuff about Bear, but I have never bothered
5:12
to sit down and watch an episode of Bear in the Big Blue House
5:16
from start to finish. And you know, again, it is I've,
5:19
I've definitely said this on Hubble Wah.
5:21
I forget in what context Hubble Wah my previous podcast, but
5:26
it's like 16 is the exact wrong age to engage with this.
5:31
Absolutely true. I think little kids, like when I
5:34
was six, I was like, yeah, this is for me and this is supposed
5:38
to be for me. Yep.
5:41
I, I feel like, and we'll see what you think about it.
5:43
And I do. Let me just say because I
5:45
haven't heard Joe's thoughts at all yet.
5:47
We're coming in. We're coming in blind.
5:49
And Joe, I want us let you know you and I are still friends.
5:54
Even if you tell me that you thought this was boring, I will.
5:58
I will still be your friend. I am.
6:00
I am not going to start lying to the public about my opinions of
6:03
Muppet stuff now. Yeah, we, but I'm just saying
6:06
we, we still, you still have to come over and watch Fast 10.
6:10
I haven't forgotten because you know what as as as Dom Toretto
6:17
would say, you are part of my family.
6:21
But yeah, but I, I'd like to think that that this is, again,
6:27
teenager is the wrong age. I think as you get older,
6:31
there's a part of you as you start to feel almost a little
6:34
more like a, a caretaker to younger people.
6:38
You can sort of, I know that that's something that I really
6:41
relate to now about Bear as a teacher and an organizer and
6:45
things like that. But a teenager, no, I cannot
6:49
imagine liking this show if it premiered when I was 16.
6:52
I I do not think that was the window for me.
6:55
Right. Well, it's, it's the dip that I
6:57
think a lot of us have experienced where like, you
6:59
know, we all well use Sesame Street as an example where like
7:01
we all love Sesame Street when we were Sesame Street age, we
7:03
continue to love it past when we were the main demographic.
7:07
And then there's this dip where you feel like I'm too old to be
7:12
watching Sesame Street. It's embarrassing.
7:14
People might make fun of me. And then you have to back away
7:17
from the fandom for a while. And then when you become an
7:19
adult, you go, you know what? Actually, I don't care what
7:22
people think of me. And I actually really like this
7:24
thing because it's good. So you get back into it.
7:26
And for me for For Bear, because I like the show premiered when I
7:30
was in that age where it was the dip.
7:32
I could not have watched it and enjoyed it as an adult because I
7:35
was not an adult like I. I should have picked it up a few
7:38
years later and for some reason I just never did.
7:41
Well, that's okay, because I've never seen Tales of the Bunny
7:44
Picnic, so I understand it's. Not the same, but.
7:49
So. So the point is though.
7:51
The point is though, we are not doing this just to, just to
7:56
interrupt your, your very excellent point, but we are not
7:59
doing this like a lot of the other tough pigs podcasts.
8:02
You know, I, I, I thought about watching through Bear in the Big
8:06
Blue House 2 minutes at a time, every episode, 2 minutes at a
8:10
time. But unfortunately I have a job
8:15
and. Yeah, and these podcasts don't
8:20
pay enough by which I. No, no, hey, they paid nothing.
8:23
Listen, listen, patreon.com/tough pigs or go to
8:28
our T public store. We got a bunch of new shirts,
8:30
including not a new shirt, but we've got a Tutter shirt.
8:33
I'll plug that later. But anyway, the the point is I
8:36
wasn't gonna do that. We we talked about maybe doing
8:39
it more like episode by episode, kind of like Fraggle talk or
8:43
Fraggle talk classic or, you know, Muppets Mayhem, although
8:48
that had the benefit of having the puppeteers on.
8:52
We just decided that an episode by episode thing wouldn't really
8:55
be the ideal way to do this because that's not really what
8:59
the show this podcast is about. It's more about Joe experiencing
9:04
bear in the Big Blue house and and learning, you know why it is
9:08
at least that I care about it, even if and Joe, no spoilers
9:12
yet. Even if you hated it and thought
9:13
it was boring, it's it's not about that.
9:18
So what we're going to be doing is every week Joe and I are
9:21
going to be having a discussion. I should say every week for the
9:25
next 4 weeks. This is a mini series.
9:28
If you guys like it, we can bring it back, but it's a mini
9:30
series. Joe and I will be discussing
9:34
using 3, two or three bear episodes as a springboard for
9:39
discussion. So for this week we watched 3
9:43
episodes, specifically episode one O 1 Home is Where the bear
9:48
is, episode 116, The Big Little Visitor, and episode 117 A
9:57
Winter's Nap. And we're going to be using that
10:01
as a springboard for discussion. And, you know, today that
10:05
discussion is going to be very broad.
10:07
It's going to be and, and Joe, no spoilers yet, but it's going
10:11
to be basically, well, what were your thoughts overall coming
10:16
into the very beginning of the show?
10:19
And you know, one thing that I, I think I kind of wanted to talk
10:24
about was to start was like, let's put this in the timeline,
10:31
not to steal commitments bit, but in the timeline of The
10:35
Muppets, because this is 1997. So Muppets Tonight has recently
10:43
premiered. We're shortly after Muppets
10:47
Tonight premiered. We're shortly after Muppet
10:50
Treasure Island Sesame was. If it hadn't already exited the
10:56
Around the Corner era, it was certainly in the process of
10:59
exiting the Around the Corner era.
11:02
Farscape wasn't on yet, so this was.
11:06
There was one other thing I want to add to your timeline real
11:08
quick, which is this is into the first year, into the second year
11:13
of Muppet Zine being published. Good call for for those of us
11:19
like me who are of a certain age and we were aware of the
11:22
existence of zines, which again, for young people who don't know,
11:26
this was a thing where you could send money to Tough Picks
11:29
founder Danny Horn and he would send you a Prince magazine that
11:33
he printed himself in the US mail.
11:37
And I subscribed early on. I was a subscriber.
11:40
And so this was number one. This was how we learned what
11:43
Bear was and #2 my only real exposure to what Bear was doing,
11:49
including, you know, any news or merchandise or like, you know,
11:54
character moments that maybe Chris Migliano would draw into a
11:58
comic. That was it for me.
12:00
That's all I knew about Bear was coming from Muppet Scene.
12:02
Because, you know, Bear aired on the Disney Channel, right?
12:05
Originally sure did. I don't.
12:07
I didn't have the Disney Channel back then, so I wouldn't have
12:09
like come across the show either.
12:12
But yeah, so from from a fandom perspective, we had Muppet scene
12:15
and that was it. And I am just confirming with
12:18
Muppet Wiki right now. Hold on.
12:19
I'm getting a I'm getting a call from Muppet Wiki.
12:22
I'm getting I'm getting a call from Shane.
12:26
Tell him I said hi. Tell him.
12:27
Tell him he owes me for 5 bucks. Shane 5 Bucks 1997 was the final
12:36
or 1998. The sesame season that started
12:39
November 97 was the final around the corner season, and it's also
12:43
the slimy to the moon season. So there's a lot of good Muppet
12:48
stuff happening in this era. We, we often talk about how the
12:50
90s are kind of a dark era for The Muppets, but like, really
12:54
not true. Or you're looking at this year
12:56
in in particular? Yeah, and a great, a great year
13:00
for Lynn Figpin. I love Lynn Thinkpit, that is a
13:04
hard name to say. Lynn Figpin.
13:07
She was on She was on Sesame Street recurrent as a recurring
13:10
character this year or 1998. She was But anyway, the the the
13:17
the point is one thing that I was thinking when I started this
13:21
was how bear, you know, again, you're right.
13:24
There was a lot of quality stuff because again, Muppets tonight
13:29
maybe is a mixed bag. But like we certainly all loved
13:34
it at the time and we're so excited to be getting it at the
13:37
time. I think some of it hasn't held
13:39
up so well. That's obviously a discussion
13:41
we've had a million times. A discussion for another podcast
13:45
that we'll get. We'll, we'll get around.
13:46
To oh, I'm sure we'll get around to that one because it feels
13:49
ripe for, for, for doing and and Sesame Street, you know, the
13:54
around the corner era was maybe a little weird, but I'd say
13:57
season 29 with the slimy stuff is one that's remembered very
14:01
fondly. But one thing that I think is
14:06
Bear really, and I was thinking this and I'm, I'm curious
14:09
actually, before I get into what I think, let's hear about what
14:12
you think. How does Bear kind of compare to
14:14
those those other eras of Muppet things?
14:18
So I feel like there's several different ways that we could be
14:20
looking at this. There's, you know, the, the key
14:23
demographic of like, what does this show mean to kids of this
14:27
era that I, I try very hard to look at, you know, just just for
14:31
the context of like this show is, it's not made for me, but I
14:34
can still appreciate it on another level.
14:37
There's the looking at it through the lens of like what?
14:41
Like, is this something that I do like, you know, being the
14:44
type of person that I am today, you know, as an adult, as a, as
14:48
an adult Muppet fan. And then the third is the one
14:51
that I really think I chose to look through the most is the
14:55
lens of the technical and background of of of all the
15:02
puppetry in the design work, in the writing and things like
15:05
that. And I think technically
15:08
speaking, and we'll talk more about this, I'm sure it's
15:11
phenomenal. Like the, the mix of like
15:15
interesting intricate puppetry work and very, very simple, like
15:20
it's just a rag on someone's hand puppetry.
15:23
And the set design I, I just mentioned I really think is
15:28
spectacular. The music is great.
15:31
Like all the pieces are put into place to make this a quality
15:34
show. And I very much appreciate it
15:36
for that reason. But going back to those first
15:40
two lenses of looking at it through the lens of a child and
15:42
through the lens of an adult watching it.
15:43
Now, the thing that I feel like I'm comparing it to most, which
15:47
I think is unfair, but it's sorry, this is what my brain is
15:51
telling me is I'm comparing it to Fraggle Rock, which which is
15:55
a show that is made for kids. But if you're an adult watching
16:00
it, it hits a hits you in a different way.
16:03
Not in the same way that Sesame Street is where it's like we're
16:05
teaching about the the #7 but also we have a little joke about
16:09
Colombo. You know, it's like that's two
16:12
separate levels that are separated that makes Sesame
16:15
Street classic. Sesame Street's really lovable.
16:18
But Fraggle Rock, it's this Gray area that everyone can find
16:22
something to love about it and bear it hits those notes of that
16:26
great, that same kind of Gray area where everyone can like
16:29
this and then it'll do something that's like, hey, just reminding
16:34
you, this is not for you. This is for children.
16:36
And that's, those are the moments that took me out of it.
16:39
I'm like, all right, I'll wait until you're done talking about
16:40
like The Four Seasons, because I know what those are already.
16:44
You don't need to tell me. And because I'm waiting for like
16:47
Tutter to come back and say something funny.
16:49
Yeah. No.
16:50
So like, let me, let me just start because I feel like the
16:53
thing that you're specifically talking about that was going to
16:56
save this for later, but you're, you're absolutely 99% talking
17:00
about shadow, aren't you? So no, actually we, we have to
17:05
get into the whole shadow thing. I, I, I know, I know what you
17:09
think of shadow and I know what Danny Horn thinks of shadow.
17:12
And I was trying so hard to come into it with like, you know,
17:17
not, no pun intended, a blank slate.
17:19
Yeah, just like Shadow Girl ain't got no face, as Danny Horn
17:23
once said. Or was that kind of it was one
17:26
of them? But shall we talk about Shadow?
17:32
Do you? Want to say no, We'll, we'll
17:33
that's a teaser. That's a teaser.
17:35
OK, But yeah, I think that that's I think that that's a
17:37
really a really great point because I do think look, Fraggle
17:41
Rock is by far I said that I love bear, but Fraggle Rock is
17:44
by far my my favorite Muppet thing.
17:48
And for those of you who can't see me, which is everybody
17:51
except Joe, I'm literally wearing radish earrings right
17:54
now to this recording. I didn't receive these as a gift
17:58
from my wonderful sister because she knew that I loved root
18:01
vegetables. But I, I definitely think that
18:08
bear is 100% more, more Kitty than than Fraggle Rock, right?
18:14
And certainly more Kitty than The Muppets proper.
18:16
Like that is unquestionable. I think it is an interesting
18:20
comparison with with Sesame and I think much like Sesame, you
18:26
know, again and and you you think about how with Sesame
18:31
Street, especially Sesame Street of this era, we can think of all
18:35
of the good things. But also, you know, you would
18:37
get like, you know, maybe I mean, like we're not too far off
18:40
from Elmo's World at this point too, where it kind of feels
18:44
like, yeah, we're waiting for, you know, telly to say something
18:48
funny, but there's got to be a lot of information about The
18:51
Four Seasons first. So I think it's similar in that
18:54
regard to Sesame Street of the era.
18:56
But one thing that I really like, like you said, you know,
18:59
not only about that, the technical level, which I think
19:02
is incredible and some of the the most like compelling, like
19:06
puppetry on sets that we've really seen from The Muppets.
19:10
I think honestly, outside of Fraggle Rock, it's probably, you
19:15
know, and I guess outside of stuff like Dark Crystal where
19:17
it's, you know, a completely different animal, but like, I, I
19:21
think it's really compelling puppetry.
19:24
And I really like how much quieter it is than a lot of the
19:29
other 90s Muppet things. And that was one thing I was
19:32
thinking about. It is very cozy.
19:35
That's the word I kept thinking. It's cozy.
19:38
Right. I mean, this is a completely
19:40
self-contained show and we're going to get into like get into
19:44
characters in a second because I think talking about what we what
19:48
you liked and disliked about these characters is going to be
19:51
is going to be crucial. But like this is a show that has
19:57
basically you can count on one hand the amount of characters
20:03
plus then two. If you're going to add on shadow
20:06
and Luna, it's it's not a lot of characters you know, and and you
20:10
watched the one that adds Grandma Flutter, who again will
20:14
appear like twice a season moving after that.
20:18
Not, not a ton. And it's just, it takes place
20:22
again for at least the first three seasons.
20:24
And the fourth season, which I don't really truck with, takes
20:28
place entirely in this house and in the backyard of this house,
20:33
which we saw a little in in a winter's nap and that's it.
20:37
And I think compared to, you know, the Muppet like Fraggle
20:42
Rock being like, we can explore anywhere and like Muppets
20:46
tonight being like, and guess what, there's Codependence Day
20:50
and we built a Muppet that looks just like the Xenomorph and just
20:57
is carrying a lot of weight there.
20:58
But you know what I mean? And but this is like, this is
21:02
like there are these guys and there's 5:00 or so 6 cute
21:09
puppets who live in an adorable house and that is it.
21:13
And it's so interesting in comparison again, to like what I
21:20
feel like we say a lot was the problem with like Sesame Street
21:23
of the era where it was like, OK, do we really need Joey and
21:30
Davy Monkey and Chicago the Lion and, and, you know, Wanda
21:35
Cousteau and. But there are so many fans out
21:39
there who would argue yes. Like the great thing about
21:42
Sesame Street is that there are 2000 characters and anyone can
21:45
show up. I mean, that's part of what I
21:47
love about it, but yeah, it is kind.
21:50
Of a lot of this coziness that we're talking about I think has
21:52
to do with the fact that there's only a few characters there's
21:55
only one setting. I mean, let's I I do I want to
21:58
talk about these characters. I don't want to straight too
22:00
much and and we can start with the Big Blue house because the
22:03
big Big Blue house is a character on the show.
22:06
Let's be. Honest it's it's the Manhattan
22:08
if if Bear and the Big Blue House is Sex and the City the
22:11
Big Blue House. Is wow, which Which of the four
22:18
Sex and the City ladies you think Bear is such a Charlotte,
22:22
am I right? I don't know.
22:23
I think Bear has to be Samantha's the main character,
22:26
right? Yeah, but doesn't mean he is a
22:29
Samantha. You know, I think they're all
22:32
Charlotte's. I think these are a show full of
22:34
Charlotte's. Anyway, so.
22:36
Yeah, so, yeah, so, so the Big Blue house.
22:38
So, so yes, you asked about the the idea of it being a single
22:42
setting and we don't stray from that single setting.
22:45
And, and as a as someone who works in children's media, I
22:51
actually think it's a fantastic idea because you really are
22:54
limiting and the same as Sesame Street.
22:55
Sesame Street for for so long, with the exception of the like
23:00
the inserts was just on this one city block and that's it.
23:04
And by keeping it contained, it feels like like a child who has
23:10
a toy house and it's playing with the with the action
23:14
figures. I mean, it's the first thing you
23:15
see in the show. We're like during the opening
23:17
credits when the door opens and you see the rooms of the house.
23:21
I think that's such an inspired choice, the way that they do
23:24
that and the way that they they absolutely are kind of leaning
23:27
into this idea of it being almost like a dollhouse where
23:31
like, yes, again, we see in the first episode basically it's
23:35
like each character has a room, right?
23:38
It's like, I mean, and that's what the first episode is kind
23:40
of about. And it's like, OK, if you want
23:42
to play with Pip and Pop, you're going to go to the bathroom.
23:45
If you want to play with Ojo, you're going to go to the living
23:47
room, you know, and, and. You know, when I went to the
23:50
bathroom to play with Pip and Pop, my parents told me not to
23:52
do, not to do. That not in.
23:59
Well, here's the thing. Yes, leave that in.
24:00
Yeah, No, I will. I will.
24:02
If you listen, you're the producer.
24:04
Yeah, I don't care. But yeah, So like, yes.
24:08
And also, and this is something that I always love seeing in any
24:12
kind of media, TV or film or whatever, is when there's a
24:15
respect for the geography. And it's like, yes, I went from
24:18
this room to that room because they are linked and you all see.
24:22
Bear like go out of the like they.
24:26
Yes, it's the same as like when I watch a movie that takes place
24:28
in New York City and I'm like, well, they got on the bus at,
24:31
you know, 23rd St. and they got off at 12th St. because, yeah,
24:33
that's what the route that the bus takes.
24:35
And then that's where he got on. That's where he got off.
24:37
And like, and I love that. And it's so subtle that like,
24:39
nobody should be paying attention, that kind of stuff.
24:41
But it makes a world feel so much more real and lived in.
24:44
Yeah, I mean, and it's it's, it's absolutely like the way the
24:48
house is decorated is again, so cozy, but also like so specific,
24:53
you know what I mean? Like again, it it could really
24:56
only be the Big Blue house like. And.
25:00
And it's funny because, you know, we talked about watching
25:03
and, and maybe we'll watch it for, for, for a future week.
25:07
We talked about watching the pilot and I actually watched the
25:11
pilot. I know Joe, you didn't get a
25:14
chance to and I'm sorry to call you out like this, but.
25:17
Finds a lot. So if I don't watch, apparently
25:18
it's whole point of this podcast.
25:20
Yeah, but the unreleased. The unreleased pilot was only
25:24
you know, it was and and some of her friends are going to hate me
25:27
for saying this. It was lost media for for years
25:31
and was found fairly recently. But it was different in a couple
25:36
of ways. But one was that the Big Blue
25:39
house looked completely different and it honestly had no
25:42
character to it. It really just looked like the
25:47
set of a house like it. There was nothing about it that
25:51
felt like unique or specific or lived in.
25:55
And I really think that that was honestly the biggest problem
25:58
with the pilot was this, this, this sense of place was so much,
26:02
so much worse. I mean, I look forward to
26:04
talking to you about that in more detail because I do.
26:06
I do want to cover that on this podcast.
26:08
Yeah. I'm sorry that I don't know
26:09
enough, but I want to move on and talk about more of these
26:13
characters. Sure, please.
26:14
Should we start? Should we start with Bear or
26:16
should we end with Bear? Let's.
26:17
Start with Bear because so personally, again, I'm biased
26:22
because I grew up with this show, but I think Bear is such a
26:25
just like calming and friendly presence and such a wonder of
26:30
puppetry that like you fully believe in Bear when you're
26:34
watching the show and. There there are times where I'm
26:37
trying to imagine where Noel Mcneil's body is and what he's
26:41
doing to bring Bear to life. And like there's like a second
26:44
where I can be like, OK, his legs are here, his arms are
26:45
there, whatever. And then a second later, it's
26:47
gone because Bear is alive and already watching the 1st
26:52
episode. It's so clear that he's been
26:56
playing with this puppet for a long time and he's already
27:00
trying to like toy around to see like, OK, well I'm going to move
27:03
his head this way and I move the arm that way.
27:05
Then I can move the arms back and forth and I'm going to do
27:07
this cool dance move. And he's already playing with it
27:10
and it's so much fun because like, there's so much that that
27:12
puppet can do. It's incredible to watch.
27:15
And one thing I read on Muppet wiki and this is super
27:17
interesting. You can kind of see it in the
27:19
first episode, though in the early season.
27:22
They in the early episodes, they still weren't fully committed to
27:25
it. But Noel McNeil didn't like
27:28
getting down on his knees in the bear suit, not because it was
27:33
difficult, but because he said that's not how.
27:36
And I was reading this on Muppet Wiki.
27:38
Noel said that's not how a bear would get low.
27:42
A bear would get low by getting on all fours.
27:46
And there's at least one moment in the pilot where where in the
27:50
the premiere episode where he's talking to Tutter and he gets
27:53
down on all fours. And then every other time he
27:56
squats and like, pip and pop come around the sides.
28:00
But Noel really wanted it to be like, no, that's not what a bear
28:06
would do. A bear would get down on all
28:09
fours. Well, and you know bears how to
28:14
say this where bears knees are, they're much lower than a humans
28:18
knees. And so if you know a word to
28:20
kneel on his actual knees, it would be like bears stomach
28:24
going down to the ground. You see that occasionally it
28:27
looks a little weird and again, especially when hip and pop like
28:30
come out between his legs. I'm like I don't and this looks
28:33
uncomfortable. I I noticed that too, when Pip
28:36
and Pop were were were around his legs.
28:37
That seemed odd, but yeah, so. Anyway, they don't do that as
28:41
much after that episode, I will say, right, yeah, they probably
28:44
figured it out. They realized like, Oh yeah,
28:46
this isn't great, right? But yeah, so the bear puppet's
28:49
incredible. There's no no question about
28:51
that. Bear's the character.
28:53
What I didn't expect, again, watching this for the first
28:56
time, is that Bear's the grown up in the house.
28:59
Like I didn't think that Bear would be the the voice of of
29:04
like parental guidance. I thought Bear would be one of
29:07
the kids that like, oh, we all live in this house together, you
29:09
know? But it's like, no, no, he's
29:10
taking care of everybody. Yeah.
29:12
I mean, again, that's again, something that really resonates
29:15
with me now that I'm, you know, again, you know, neither of us
29:18
are parents, but like, I am a teacher and I do have to take
29:22
care of my, you know, 130 screaming kids.
29:27
And like, I've had kids, you know, it's always and we're
29:30
going to talk more about this next week, but it's always about
29:33
the kids coming to bear with problems and bear needing to be
29:37
like very calmly, like, OK, here's how we're going to deal
29:41
with this problem. And like, that's going to be our
29:43
theme in the next episode is like that structure and that
29:48
that pattern and how that works. But you know, and another thing
29:51
too, not just to say facts that I read on Muppet Wiki, but Noel
29:56
was specifically told not to do a voice as Bear and it's just
30:00
Noel Mcneil's voice because they were like Bear needs to just
30:04
sound like a friendly grown up. He doesn't sound or act like a
30:09
cartoon character. He doesn't sound or act, You
30:12
know, again, Big Bird is like, you know, got got his high
30:16
pitched, high pitched voice. He doesn't exactly sound like
30:19
Carole Spinney, but Bear, they were like bears, just a nice
30:24
adult. Well, and Big Bird was, is,
30:28
well, not the original Big Bird because because Big Bird was
30:31
originally supposed to be like a like a goofy character.
30:34
But once Big Bird was established as like, one of the
30:37
kids, it makes sense that Big Bird has a different kind of
30:39
voice because he's one of the kids, just like any of the other
30:41
characters in the Big Blue House.
30:42
But if Big Bird was supposed to be the adults on Sesame Street,
30:45
then that would have been that would have been odd to have it
30:49
be a silly voice or a gruff voice or, you know, anything
30:53
else. Because that's not.
30:54
You're right. It's not as comforting.
30:57
Yeah, it's. There's it again, very cozy.
30:59
And Noel has such a cozy. Voice.
31:01
Oh yeah, no. We don't talk all day.
31:03
Noel's the best. And yeah, you know, again, so
31:06
just building off of that, I feel like going into other
31:09
characters again because, you know, again, I we could talk for
31:12
hours just about Bear and that's why we have other episodes
31:14
coming up. Yeah, I'm sure we'll get back
31:16
around to him. His name's in the title.
31:18
His name's in the title. It's true.
31:19
He's big. You're big, Bear, you're big.
31:23
But I think if Bear is like the realistic grown up, I feel like
31:28
Ojo is the realistic kid, and I think that makes Ojo sometimes
31:35
as adults watching maybe the least interesting character.
31:39
Yes, this was this was my notes about Ojo is so I have a pet
31:43
peeve and I feel like you and I have talked about this before,
31:45
but my pet peeve is on kids TV shows, especially the ones that
31:48
have a lot of very interesting colorful characters like this or
31:52
Sesame Street or Freckle Rock or whatever it is.
31:55
One of my biggest pet peeves is when a child character can be
31:59
described as they're a kid because that's not a character
32:03
trait. That's that, that's a, that's a
32:06
demographic, that's an age, you know.
32:09
And so Ojo, at least for these three episodes that I've seen,
32:12
maybe Ojo will will evolve. I'm excited to find out.
32:16
But for now, it's just like, OK, you're a kid.
32:19
And like, there's nothing there for me as an adult viewer to be
32:22
like, oh, I can't wait for you to do that funny thing, or I
32:24
can't wait to see you. You know, when you get paired up
32:27
with that other character and then there's going to be a, a
32:29
plot point that will get me invested.
32:32
I was just like, no, OK, you're just, you're making another.
32:35
You're making a Fort with pillows, like, like a kid would
32:37
do. OK, let me know when you're
32:39
done. What they're going to do is Ojo
32:41
is Ojo is imaginative, and we're already seeing that.
32:44
And Ojo is also very particular, but in a different way than
32:48
Tutter is. Honestly, Ojo is best when she's
32:52
paired with Tutter and we didn't really see that duo because
32:56
they're similar in so many ways but different in others.
32:59
But IA 100% agree that Ojo is unfortunately the most boring
33:03
character because again, it's like, yeah, that's what a kid
33:06
would do. Like, yeah, you're right.
33:08
A kid would, you know, would build a Fort and be like, bear,
33:14
let me tell you about the Fort. It's got a doorbell and like.
33:18
Great. It does.
33:19
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. No, Yeah, you're, you're
33:21
absolutely right. I I can't disagree with you, I
33:24
guess. You know, one thing that I do
33:25
want to say that you know, I was talking to my spouse who again,
33:29
I recently I got into bear about a year ago and it, it really
33:33
resonates with with them for whatever reason.
33:37
But we were talking about how Bear and Ojo and also Pip and
33:40
Pop are what we call like Emmett Otter style puppets.
33:45
And by that I mean they've got those like black little eyes
33:48
that make them look more like a real animal and more like a
33:53
teddy bear or something like that.
33:55
As opposed to like Tutter and Treelo, who have these very much
34:00
classic Muppet Show Muppet eyes. And it's interesting that this
34:04
show kind of has a mix of both, but it feels like on a lot of
34:08
ways, there is not to say that's as good as Emmett Otter because
34:12
I don't think anything is as good as Emmett Otter.
34:14
But like, it feels like there definitely is some Emmett Otter
34:17
roots here that that they're stemming from with like it's
34:21
just characters living a cozy life and, you know, and being
34:25
kind, but. Yeah, that's a good point.
34:28
I wonder, I wonder if at any point there was a conversation
34:30
about taking the Emmett Otter characters or some variant of
34:34
them and like turning them into a series in that at that time
34:38
for Jim, and if so, if it would have been something like this.
34:42
I wonder if it would have been tough because of the ownership
34:44
stuff with the book but. Well, that's what I mean by
34:46
like, like taking the the vibe of them and and saying like, oh,
34:50
we really like doing this production.
34:51
Let's change their names and make our own thing so we don't
34:54
get sued by Russell and Lillian Hoban.
34:57
Wow, great poll there on the on the authors.
34:59
Thank you, but. How many books I know names?
35:04
Real quick, some of the other characters like So Pip and Pop I
35:08
love because I I enjoy it when Pip and Pop are on stage again.
35:13
They feel very much to me like Sesame Street characters in that
35:18
regard, that they do occasionally teach you things,
35:21
but they mostly exist to be silly.
35:25
I appreciate characters that can bring in like, a little bit of
35:29
fun and chaos just by their existence.
35:32
They come in and the energy goes up and they could do anything,
35:36
and it's like you're making a mess.
35:37
Great. Or you're participating with the
35:40
game. That's awesome.
35:41
And I love the fact that they literally pop up anywhere.
35:44
Yeah, that's super fun puppet work.
35:47
And again, being someone who likes puppetry, I'm watching
35:50
them trying to figure out, like, the logistics of, so what's
35:53
happening here? Like, where are the people?
35:55
And sometimes you could tell it's like Peter Linds has one of
35:59
them and Tyler Bunch has the other.
36:00
Sometimes you could tell it's one person with two with one on
36:04
each hand, like, like the snouts.
36:06
And I think that just kind of adds so much versatility to what
36:10
is essentially a sock puppet. Yeah.
36:12
Oh, no. I mean, like they're, they're
36:14
the simplest puppets and they are, they are, they are the same
36:17
as they are literally the same as Joe the legal weasel, except
36:21
purple. And it's it's the exact same
36:26
like, or basically 99% the same pattern as those Prairie dogs
36:30
from The Muppet Show. Yeah.
36:32
And yeah, I just, I always enjoy them.
36:35
They're not characters that have a strong dramatic sense per SE.
36:40
But this is not that kind of. Show that I was about to say
36:43
yeah. And and that kind of takes me
36:45
into Treelo, who is another character who I feel like the
36:50
dramatic stakes never really exist with Treelo and Treelo.
36:54
I'm curious how you feel about Treelo, because here's the thing
36:57
about Treelo is Treelo is honestly, and I vividly remember
37:00
this, the reason why I started watching this show at age 6,
37:04
because I was like a zoo books kid.
37:06
I loved animals and knowing things about animals.
37:10
And I remember my dad, who is obviously a big muppet fan.
37:13
You can hear him on the pops episode of 7070 years 70 Muppets
37:19
telling me. And like he must have read it
37:21
like in the, you know, in in TV Guide or something being like
37:25
there's a new show by the Henson Company coming out and one of
37:29
the characters is a lemur. And me being like, I gotta watch
37:34
this if there's a lemur in this show.
37:39
Big lemur stand over here. Oh, I mean, I've got a plush
37:41
lemur right there, and with all of my other my other plush, he's
37:44
lady, you can't really see him so well.
37:46
And that's it, Joe. I believe.
37:47
I believe you. I believe you.
37:48
That's a lemur. Yeah.
37:50
So here's the thing about Treelo is the Treelo introduction in
37:53
the in this first episode comes immediately after Pip and Pop.
37:56
And Pip and Pop are, as I said, the thing that I liked about
37:59
them in that moment was like, oh, it's chaos.
38:01
They could do anything. They could jump out of the out
38:03
of the window and whatever. And then we meet Treelo, who's
38:05
literally doing the same thing that they just put into Pip and
38:07
Pop for literally jumping in through a window.
38:10
And I was like, OK, well, I'm not really sure why we need
38:12
Treelo, because we have Pip and Pop and then Treelo speaks.
38:18
And this is the kind of thing where I can totally see why they
38:21
made this decision. I love this as a child.
38:25
I will say this. Right, I can totally see my kids
38:26
would love it. And I thought, oh, I'm going to
38:28
get real sick of this real quick, real quick because
38:33
because it's also the idea of like, I don't like the voice.
38:36
I'm going to be honest with you, I really don't like the voice.
38:38
So it's already nails on a chalkboard, but it's on top of
38:41
that every time Treelo speaks, she right it's she's.
38:46
No, Treelo is a boy. It's a boy, OK, Just still
38:49
getting used to. It's generous for each of these
38:51
characters. Treelo has a high pitched voice
38:53
and like has no characteristics. I I definitely thought Treelo
38:57
was a girl for a while as a small child.
39:00
Like watching the show for the first time.
39:02
So, yeah, so every time Treelo speaks, he has to be like his
39:07
words has to be translated by Bear.
39:09
So it's that thing of like, blah, blah, blah, you wanna go
39:12
outside, blah, blah, blah, you wanna go on the slide, blah,
39:15
blah, blah. I'm repeating it again and it's
39:17
just like just adding so much time.
39:19
Can you just go already? I think Treelo is very cute.
39:23
I really like the puppet. I do like how it's performed.
39:27
One thing, and I was talking to my spouse about this, I love is
39:31
that like I don't know exactly how it's built, but Treelo's
39:34
ears are always vibrating. I don't know if they're like
39:37
attached with a spring and it makes.
39:40
I noticed that too. I wondered if it was like some
39:43
kind of sort of fabric that just vibrates every time there's a
39:46
little bit of movement with the puppet, as opposed to like an
39:49
actual mech that like or a. String.
39:50
I don't think it's a manual, you know what I mean?
39:52
Like. By mech I meant like like
39:54
anything. Like, like even a string would
39:56
be a mecha, but like something that you have to do manually.
39:59
But yeah, just like they're, yeah, they're constantly
40:00
vibrating. And that also adds a lot of
40:02
energy to this character, which I'm kind of manic.
40:05
Which I like, but you're right that I can totally see that if I
40:09
was coming into this now and I didn't love cute things as much
40:15
as I do because I am a sucker for things that are cute.
40:18
Even even still, as a as a grown up, I can see that if I were
40:24
even a hair more cynical, I could be like, what are we doing
40:31
here with Treelo? Like, yeah.
40:33
This, this is like if I met a kid who was like Treelo, I'd be
40:36
able to spend like 5 minutes with him.
40:37
Be like, OK, so where's your mom buddy?
40:39
Why don't you go find? Her I will notice, and you
40:42
probably noticed Treelo's used pretty sparingly comparatively
40:46
in these three episodes. He's barely in the one with
40:49
Grandma Flutter at all. He's only in some of the songs
40:54
and I think they realized that Treelo, he's got a couple of
40:57
moments where he kind of carries the plot in episodes we're
41:02
probably not going to watch on this podcast, so don't worry.
41:04
But but as a whole, I think they kind of realize.
41:09
But it is strange because I do think Pip and Pop do his job
41:12
better. Tutter the Mouse, who is, I
41:17
would say certainly the most popular bear in the Big Blue
41:21
House character at this point. Character find of 1997, right?
41:27
Right. Tutter is great.
41:28
So here's the thing already. Like when you see Tutter and
41:33
Bear in a scene together and Bear is this huge beautiful
41:38
puppet, like larger than a human that can do anything.
41:42
Like the eyes move in the the body can move in both arms and
41:46
the the head can go up and down with the that weird joints
41:49
that's kind of on his back. And, and Tutter is just this
41:53
teeny tiny little hand puppet and not just the size, just like
41:58
just generally speaking how different those two puppets are
42:01
and getting them on a screen together is beautiful.
42:05
And they don't really use tricks.
42:07
I mean, like, obviously they use tricks because it's puppetry.
42:09
But I mean, like, you know, we were talking actually on the
42:12
Tough Pigs discord the other day about like and actually it was
42:15
on moving right along as well. But like when Gonzo and Rizzo
42:18
are on the screen together and you just have to be like, Rizzo
42:22
would be smaller than he appears, but like they need them
42:25
in frame together. Tutter is always on something
42:30
when he's on the same, you know, like on the same screen as Bear.
42:36
He's on top of the fridge in the grandma flutter one, or he's in
42:39
the drawer or on the table. He was, you know.
42:42
They they don't use that Muppet trick of the brick wall where
42:46
there's a wall and then the characters behind it and you're
42:48
not thinking about what they're actually standing on.
42:50
Every other Muppet project does that.
42:51
So you like, are always so aware of how much smaller Tutter is
42:56
than Bear. And I think Peter Linds does
42:59
such a genius thing. And obviously I'm sure the
43:01
writing as well, but like where Tutter is so loud and abrasive
43:07
to contrast with the fact that Bear has such a gentle, soothing
43:12
voice and is so big and Tutter is just screaming at 100%
43:18
always. OK, so I want to talk about
43:20
this. I love it.
43:21
I completely agree with everything you just said.
43:23
And it's this is the beauty of having a brilliant puppeteer in
43:29
this case, as you said, it's Peter Linz.
43:31
Even though at the time we didn't really know who Peter
43:34
Linz was capable what he was capable of years later as he
43:38
would like take other other characters in the Muppet world,
43:41
in the Sesame world and like really prove himself as like one
43:44
of the best actual puppeteers that they have in their. 100%.
43:51
In the group. So giving a character to Peter
43:55
Linz who is a blank slate, who doesn't have the baggage of,
44:00
well, you kind of need to fit into this, either this character
44:03
that already exists or this world that's already
44:05
established. He can do anything and he can't
44:07
be wrong. Because Tutter is a brand new
44:09
character on a brand new show and the like.
44:12
There's so much stuff that you could tell, like he's taking the
44:14
script and elevating it. For example, in the Little Big
44:17
Visitor episode, there's a line where he's talking about like
44:21
all his grandmother is coming to visit and you know, she really
44:23
likes things to be clean. So we're going to clean.
44:25
And he's like, if it's not spic and span, spic and span, I say,
44:31
you could tell that was not in the script.
44:32
You could tell it's just having fun and it adds so much more and
44:37
it's so funny. Every line that Tutter has I
44:41
think is hysterical. And again, like talking about
44:44
Treelo and Treelo's voice that I don't really care for.
44:46
If under anyone else's hands, that high pitched screechy
44:51
Tutter voice would be intolerable.
44:53
But Peter makes it so funny that like I would, I would watch that
44:57
show. It was just him and.
44:58
Bear all the time. So it's it, it really is.
45:03
And like, I feel like as the show goes on, they absolutely
45:06
realize, I think that Tutter is like, the golden one and try to
45:11
get him involved in more, more stuff.
45:15
But yeah, I mean, again, there is a reason that he's the one
45:19
that I feel like everyone remembers and that you'll
45:21
occasionally see on like, Instagram memes and stuff like
45:25
because he is just so funny and like, manages to be very, very
45:33
childlike. But also in the same way that,
45:36
like, Sesame Street characters are childlike, We're also,
45:38
you're like, yeah, but he's kind of just a little adult too at
45:42
the same time. As opposed to like Ojo who?
45:45
You know, right, He, he's, he gets to have that little bit of
45:49
precociousness of like, you know, I don't know.
45:52
Yeah. It's like he can do it through a
45:55
silly, not obnoxious manner or silly, not immature manner.
46:00
But yeah, I, I love it. And also I, I have to point out
46:03
like the not just because of the species, but it's like it
46:08
really, I'm getting big mew vibes.
46:11
Yeah. Christmas toy out of out of this
46:13
little guy. And like, a lot of that is the
46:15
size. A lot of that is like, in fact,
46:16
they're mice, I guess. But, you know, it's just still
46:19
that, like, it's at high pitched and a little bit neurotic and
46:23
like, you kind of have to be cooled down by the character
46:25
who's at least seems to know what they're doing.
46:30
Yeah. And I love MU so.
46:33
Bear knows what he's doing a lot more than Rigby does.
46:36
Yeah, rugby, yeah, that's what it was.
46:39
Rigby. Yeah, that's what I was
46:40
insinuating is that rugby does not know what's best, but Bear
46:43
does acts like he does, right? But.
46:48
I like, you know, and Bill Barretta has talked about this
46:50
with Pepe where it's like, because he's small, he has a
46:53
chip on his shoulder. And I think that's absolutely
46:56
what they're going for with Tutter as well.
46:58
Like, Tutter feels like he needs to be loud and needs to be
47:03
abrasive and repeat himself and all of these different things
47:07
because he's so worried about being overlooked at all times.
47:12
Yeah. Let's, let's wrap this up.
47:14
We'll quickly do Luna. Luna's great.
47:16
I love Luna. I like Luna too, is a legend.
47:20
And again, like Peter Lynn's doing the puppetry, like Luna
47:23
really comes to life with such, which is essentially a very
47:26
simple puppet. Like it's just a mouth and eyes.
47:29
And really we, I hate to say we skipped a character.
47:33
We did not talk about shadow. Oh.
47:34
No, no, no, no, no. I'm saving shadow for last.
47:36
Oh, you are OK? Sorry I.
47:37
Wanted to do, I want to do Luna real quick.
47:39
Also, Grandma Flutter you didn't see much of, but I love Grandma
47:43
Flutter because she's a great tradition of a different
47:47
puppeteer doing an impression of another puppeteer's character.
47:51
And specifically, in that episode, she's played by Alice
47:55
Deneen, Peter Linz's future wife.
47:59
Oh my gosh, Tutter married his own grandma?
48:02
Yeah. Later, Ojo's performer Vicki
48:08
Kendris Ebner would or Eibner I've I've never heard it said
48:12
would would take over for Grandma Flutter.
48:15
But in 1997, Grandma Flutter was Alice Deneen again, who would
48:19
later marry Peter Linz. But I love her energy.
48:23
She's like if Tutter were a little more self assured, if
48:25
Tutter, if Tutter knew that he was great.
48:30
And let's talk about Shadow before we start wrapping things
48:34
up and talking about what, what, what, what?
48:37
Our ending thoughts are here. And so I got a lot of like
48:40
scattered notes about Shadow The I I didn't like, I didn't hate
48:46
the character. I didn't hate the segment as
48:48
much as I think some people in our community do.
48:51
But it definitely feels like we're taking a break from the
48:54
show. Bear in the Big Blue house and
48:56
we're going to go do something else for two minutes and then
48:58
we'll go back to Bear. You know, I, I get like still
49:03
technically they're puppets. They're even though they're
49:05
shadow puppets. So it does fit in the world a
49:08
little bit, but not enough. And, and I'm, I'm sure the big
49:12
reason is because not because of the, the visual format as much
49:16
as the fact that like bear is the only one who interacts with
49:18
shadow, at least in these episodes.
49:20
And in the, I think it was the third episode that we watched
49:23
the winner's nap, everyone's outside.
49:27
No, I'm sorry, it was, it was in the second episode, little big
49:29
visitor, everyone's outside. They're they're plucking weeds
49:32
and. Stuff like that.
49:32
Wedding the bed, Yeah. Yeah, and Bear's like, oh, now
49:35
that everyone's busy, let's go see if we can find my friend
49:37
Shadow. Which made me think, is this
49:39
Bear's imaginary friend or is Bear the only one who can see?
49:43
Shadow she will show up to other characters later on, but she
49:48
never there's very rare there's only like 1 episode where she
49:52
like does something that affects the plot in any way and isn't
49:57
just like I've got a fairy tale for you and we didn't watch that
50:01
episode. We actually might watch that.
50:03
One all right, well, in any case, yes, it's it really is
50:07
like the let's let's take everything let's take away from
50:09
the action so we can go hang out with someone else that is not as
50:12
interesting. I like Shadow.
50:15
A lot she's she looks great, even if again, as was the old
50:21
tough pigs joke girl ain't got no face.
50:25
She looks great. She I love the way like that
50:29
they that they superimpose her on the wall always like looks
50:33
really believable. I like that she's kind of like
50:38
she's Irish and I feel like she's kind of supposed to be
50:41
like a like a fae. You know what I mean?
50:43
Like a. Oh, that's interesting.
50:45
Yeah, I like the. Forest or nature spirit.
50:48
And we see more of that as it goes on where she's like, I was
50:51
dancing in the sunbeams and like, right.
50:54
Yeah. And, and I like that in the
50:57
sense that I'm very into like media about that.
51:02
I think what it comes down to is I just wish that A, it didn't
51:06
feel like it slowed things down every time.
51:10
B It's like, I mean, you want to talk about we need to talk about
51:13
The Four Seasons. We need to talk about there was
51:16
an old lady who lived in a shoe like.
51:20
Tell like with the like they're trying to add a little bit of
51:23
humor and a little bit of characters into that the shadows
51:27
segments because they're, it's not just like a fairy tale or
51:31
they're not even fairy tales. There's not just like a little
51:34
poem or whatever. You know, it is like there's a
51:37
little bit of, of humor in there, but there's only so much
51:40
room where you can fit that stuff in without adding to the
51:44
time. And you know, they tried and
51:47
that's fine. I don't think it's unwatchable.
51:50
But I do want to, I want to talk about the the fact that she's
51:52
Irish because I didn't pick up on that until the 3rd episode
51:56
and I wondered if she had an Irish accent the whole time or
52:00
not. Maybe she didn't.
52:02
I didn't notice. He's certainly accompanied by
52:03
Irish music the whole time. Her little theme is Irish.
52:09
I noticed that, which I mistakenly thought was bluegrass
52:12
at first, which I was like, that's fun.
52:14
And it's like it's similar. It's like an Irish jig, Yeah.
52:17
Again, it really feels like they're vaguely trying to do
52:22
like, like she's like a fairy or like, you know, a nature spirit.
52:27
Yeah, as all Irish people are, as we.
52:29
Know. No, you know what I'm saying?
52:31
Yes, I do. Of course I do, Yes.
52:32
Listen, listen, listen. My spouse is a truly magical
52:38
person, so. As is mine.
52:41
Are they both? Are they both Irish?
52:43
Correct background, yes. That's why I brought this up.
52:49
But yeah, I, I just, I wish that she did more And I definitely
52:55
think that we're going to watch, we're going to watch one of her
52:59
one of the more shadow focused episodes next time, which was my
53:02
plan, not just because we need to settle the shadow debate, but
53:07
was my plan for other reasons. I, I think that that'll be good.
53:12
It's just, it's frustrating sometimes.
53:15
I, I, I, I do feel like rewatching these episodes for
53:19
the millionth time. I Fast forward through it when
53:23
Shadow was on screen. Yeah, legit.
53:25
Yeah, that makes sense. Because you can.
53:27
You're not going to lose anything.
53:29
But that was honestly, I think most actually was that all my
53:34
questions? I think so.
53:36
Did you have anything you wanted to ask about this episodes
53:40
specifically? Because we I know we don't
53:42
really have time to get into all three.
53:43
But I mean, and we didn't, we didn't really like, I didn't
53:46
really plan on that. I know we're hitting about the
53:48
hour mark right now. So that worked out great.
53:52
But yeah, so overall, I mean, again, I I enjoyed rewatching
53:57
these. I think the show does still have
54:00
a lot of room to grow, even if it's not really going to.
54:04
Again, I mean, it expands past the house in Season 4, but I
54:07
don't like season 4. It wow, you don't you don't like
54:12
the expansion. They added a they added an attic
54:15
and you're like, Nah, too many too many.
54:17
This big house is getting too big.
54:19
They go to the town in in season 4, they spend a lot of time in
54:23
town and I don't know, there's something about it that I feel
54:27
like when it loses the coziness it it loses what makes it bear.
54:31
But, but either way, like it still has a lot of room to grow.
54:36
And we're going to see some of that as we as we keep going.
54:40
And, you know, next week we're going to talk a little bit more
54:44
about some episodes with a focus on sort of that coziness and,
54:49
and that that theme of coziness and and togetherness as we sort
54:56
of deal with, you know, a very stressful time in our lives
55:00
right now. So I'm looking forward to seeing
55:04
your take on that and your take on some later episodes of the
55:07
show when they sort of have figured out what works and what
55:11
doesn't about these characters, even if I don't think your
55:15
problems with Treelo will ever be solved.
55:19
But this is for me and Treelo to to Duke it out later on.
55:22
This is not, we don't need to get into it on the podcast, but
55:25
we're going to have words, you know, those are unintelligible
55:28
words. Yeah, I was just say half of
55:30
them are. God.
55:36
But as a whole, are you, are you glad you watched these three?
55:41
Oh, absolutely. I mean, this is like I said at
55:43
the top of this podcast, like part of the the the
55:47
unintentional joy of there being things that we haven't like
55:52
gotten around to yet as Muppet fans is that like there, there
55:56
will be a time in which you get to enjoy this for the first
55:59
time. And so I'm really glad that I, I
56:02
got to do this and also with purpose, you know, for me, it's
56:06
like, it would have been just, it would have been enjoyable if
56:09
I had just like sat down and watched these episodes And I'm
56:11
like, well, that was a nice way to experience some new Muppet
56:13
stuff. But more so that like, I got to
56:16
watch some episodes and I got to sit down with my friend Becca
56:18
and talk about them a lot. Yeah, it was, it was really a
56:20
pleasure, a pleasure to, to, to talk about them with you.
56:23
And you know, thanks to you guys, you guys too for this
56:28
because it's always really special when you guys come to
56:32
visit. And with on that note, before we
56:37
sing our goodbye song, I just want to say that Bear in the Big
56:42
Blue Podcast brought to you by toughpigs.com is a production of
56:45
toughpigs.com hosted by Becca Petunia and Joe Hennes, edited
56:50
by Becca Petunia, executive produced by the Tough Pigs
56:54
Muppet Fan podcast, executive producer Joe Hennes, logo
56:59
artwork by Will Carroll. And if you're interested in
57:04
supporting Tough Pigs and the work we do like Bear in the Big
57:08
Blue podcast, check us out on Patreon or on our T public
57:13
store. We do have a shirt with Tutter
57:16
on it. Technically The Muppets Mayhem
57:19
Tutter St. Trumpet company shirt, but check
57:23
it out. It's it's a very popular shirt
57:25
that we have. And who designed that Becca?
57:28
Who designed that? Gee, I don't know.
57:30
Was it Becca Petunia of toughpigs.com?
57:33
Whoa. If you want to find tough pigs
57:38
on the Internet, you can check out toughpigs.com or tough pigs
57:43
on all social media, whatever social media is out there.
57:48
Blue sky, Blue House, that's what I always say.
57:52
And Joe, where can people find you if you want to be found?
57:56
I am now on letterboxed at Tough Pigs Joe so if you want to read
58:02
some movie reviews by me you can do that or the same movie
58:07
reviews are being published on my sub stack which is called Joe
58:11
Consumes Media. And it's a very good sub stack.
58:15
Thank you. I've been following for a while.
58:17
You can find me honestly all over the the Internet.
58:21
Best place is Discord, specifically the Tough Pigs
58:24
discord, which I am one of the moderators of, or I'm at Tall
58:31
Girl Petunia on Blue Sky and Instagram.
58:35
That's probably the two best places to find me.
58:39
And yeah, hey Joe, it's been really fun and I'm, I hope you
58:43
liked it too. I sure did, and I can't wait
58:47
until our next visit to the Big Blue House.
58:50
See you everybody. Bye.