Ted Lasso‘s Brett Goldstein got to interview The Muppets, and it’s delightful
Goldstein interviewed Kermit, Gonzo, Piggy, and Robin about the 30th anniversary of "the greatest film of all time," The Muppet Christmas Carol
Film Features Brett Goldstein
An early Christmas present for fans of The Muppets, Brett Goldstein, or just general, all-purpose adorability: A new interview from Entertainment Weekly this week, in which the Ted Lasso star interviews several of the Muppets about “the greatest film of all time,” 1992's The Muppet Christmas Carol.
Specifically, Goldstein—who is an on-the-record and obsessive Muppets fan, including a famous bit in which he performed as much of Christmas Carol as he could in a 6-minute medley, complete with costume changes—talked with Kermit, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, and Robin about the filming of the movie, in which Michael Caine starred as Scrooge opposite a whole boatload of felt.
(And here’s where we will be mild Scrooges ourselves, and note that it’s a tad weird to hear Kermit, Piggy, and Robin reminisce about the film’s 30th anniversary, given that Matt Vogel, Eric Jacobson, and Peter Linz—the respective voices/puppeteers for each character in the modern era—weren’t actually there to film the thing. But such is the power of Muppet movie magic! And at least Dave Goelz is still on-hand for an appropriate level of Gonzo weirdness)
Our curmudgeonly caveats aside, though, it’s a delightful watch: Goldstein is clearly pleased out of his mind to be there, and we do get the always wonderful moment in which Gonzo discusses his sexual attraction to barnyard fowl. (Miss Piggy is not happy to be roped in to this part of the conversation.) It also eventually evolves into Goldstein and Piggy workshopping a collaboration for Pride And Prejudice And Piggy, which Goldstein as Mr. Darcy and Piggy as Elizabeth, and, yes, now that you mention it, we would watch the hell out of that. (They also pitch Muppet Sunset Boulevard. Get Brett Goldstein into a Muppet movie now, please.)
You can watch the whole thing over at EW.
14 Comments
Sounds good, but also Muppets + Benoit Blanc having to solve the murder of Thog backstage while the Muppets prep for a reunion Muppet show special.
See this is the kind of weird shit thinking The Muppets thrived on.
This does make me wish there was a sincere modern equivalent of The Muppet Show (or at least something on the level of Muppets Tonight) – someone like Daniel Craig (or Brett Goldstein, certainly) would absolutely thrive as a guest host on that sort of thing, and they could work wonders with that format again if given the chance.
I’ve lived long enough to see Muppets Fanfic.
Dear God, please make this happen.
I had a thought a few years back for a revival of the show to be called “The Muppet Games” where each week they hunt and kill the celebrity guest.
Hear me out: this, but Brett Goldstein is also the killer
Wtf happened to Kermit’s voice? That’s the best replacement they could find? I personally know people who do a better Kermit impression (and I imagine I’m not the only one).
This would have been a fun watch if I wasn’t consistently distracted by the fact that Kermit sounds like any given white, middle-aged office worker rather than, y’know, a puppet.
It was distracting.
Yeah, he sounds awful. And poor Dave Goelz, the only OG Muppet performer, seems totally checked out as Gonzo.
I am shocked that’s the best they could find. I personally know people who do a better impression.
It appears to have been produced by a public access cable channel for $14.
Kermit’s voice is really off these days. Weren’t the original Henson stand-ins better than this?