Tag: Muppets

On this #SomethingElseSunday, we’re still celebrating 70 years of the Muppets! You likely recognize this saxophone player but don’t always remember his name. From the Palisades Toys Muppets line, it’s Zoot!

Zoot (and the rest of The Electric Mayhem band) made his debut on The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, which aired FIFTY YEARS AGO this past week. When The Muppet Show started in full the following year, he continued to perform with The Electric Mayhem as well as The Muppet Orchestra.

The character is notable for playing the final note of “The Muppet Show Theme” in the closing credits on all but two episodes of The Muppet Show. The only exceptions were episode 123 when the band was on strike and episode 514 when Beaker clones replaced the band. Despite his skin tone changing from gray to blue to green, and his nose going from green to yellow, Zoot has remained a cool character in dozens of Muppet projects over the past 50 years.

For the Palisades toy line, Zoot was released in wave three in a blue hat, rust-red shirt, and a gold saxophone, which depicted his Muppet Short season two look. He also had a chase version with a brown hat, tan shirt, and silver sax which is more akin to his look from season three (though he did wear the blue hat during the end credits for seasons 3-5).

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Recommended video: Zoot End Credit Montage

For this #SomethingElseSunday, we’re still celebrating 70 years of the Muppets! Today, we’re getting spooky with the Palisades Toys Muppets line, it’s a Muppet Ghost!

Ghosts popped up a few times on The Muppet Show starting with a trio of ghosts in season one that haunted both Fozzie Bear and Gonzo. Slight variations have shown up with male and female ghosts appearing as recently as the Muppets Haunted Mansion special in 2021. The character is typically filmed against a black or blue background. Then, they are composited into the final show to make them appear floating and semi-transparent.

For the Palisades toy line, a white Muppet Ghost was included on a clear stand as an accessory with the Uncle Deadly figure. It was then repainted as a glow-in-the-dark version and released in clear plastic. I have yet to pick up those two variants, so I also repainted mine to GITD.

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Recommended video: Muppet Ghosts- I’m Looking Through You

So, this #SomethingElseSunday, we’re still celebrating 70 years of the Muppets! I know that you’ll recognize this guy from the Palisades Toys Muppets line, it’s The Swedish Chef!

The Swedish Chef debuted on The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence special in early 1975 which served as the second pilot for The Muppet Show. From this December 1974 taping all the way until The Muppets at Walt Disney World in 1990, Chef was performed by Jim Henson himself.

The character appeared in over 30 episodes during the initial run of The Muppet Show with sketches from his kitchen and has made dozens of other appearances since whenever anything culinary related comes into play for a Muppet project.

For the Palisades toy line, Chef in his blue striped shirt was included in the pictured Swedish Kitchen Playset and nearly 40 other accessories to fill out the set piece. The figure was repainted twice for single releases with new accessories based on additional Muppet Show episodes.

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Recommended video: Swedish Chef Montage

Recommended video: Muppet Show: Planet Koozebane

On this #SomethingElseSunday, we’re celebrating 70 years of the Muppets! From Palisades Toys Muppets line, it’s Koozebanian Mama!

The long-nosed Female Koozebanian creature made her debut preforming the “Galley-oh-hoop-hoop” mating ritual in 1974 on The Muppets Valentine Show which served as the first pilot for The Muppet Show series. During the show’s seventh episode in 1976, a re-recorded version of the sketch aired to a much larger audience who tuned in for that night’s guest, Florence Henderson.

Though the character showed up in the opening “The Muppet Show Theme” for seasons 2-5, and had brief cameos in a handful of Muppet Show episodes and films, she never a big role, so her inclusion with the Kermit action figure in his reporter outfit dubbed “Koozebane Kermit” is still an interesting choice.

Besides Kermit in his trench coat and a microphone like the one seen in the episode (but not on Sesame Street), the set also includes a male and child Koozebanian creature, some Koozebane landscape, and pair of creatures known as Merdlidops.

#TheMuppets70