Top 50 Muppets! (LoC #80)

[Johnny Unusual]

Friendly monster dude. No gimmick. I think he was a forerunner to Telly.

Not a lot of people remember that Telly Savalas taught kids how to count on that show.

"So what comes after 4?"
"8?"
"Have it your way, baby!"

[anais.butterfly]

Hey guys, Had a super busy day, so I won't have any entrées today. I'll do double tomorrow.

[ScottotD]

Hey guys, Had a super busy day, so I won't have any entrées today. I'll do double tomorrow.

 

[anais.butterfly]

Number 47 (tie)
 

The Amazing Mumford
  8 Points, 1 of 13 lists, #18 Mattwnelson
First Appearance: Sesame Street
Performer: Jerry Nelson
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/dmj_5xrxu0o" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/dmj_5xrxu0o</a>
Bio

The Amazing Mumford is a talented magician, but his magic tricks sometimes go awry. His characteristic magic words are "A la peanut butter sandwiches!" After saying this and waving his wand, there is a puff of smoke usually accompanied by either a "poof" noise or magical tinkling sounds, and then after clearing, it reveals how the trick has gone wrong.
Grover often appears as Mumford's over-eager assistant.
Mumford's voice is based on that of the famous comedian W. C. Fields.
On Sesamstrasse, the German co-production, Mumford is named "Mumpitz", which means nonsense or balderdash.
According to The Sesame Street Bedtime Storybook, Mumford lives in a castle, next door to the castle owned by Count von Count.

[anais.butterfly]

Number 47 (tie)
 

Travelling Matt
  8 Points, 1 of 13 lists, #18 CJones
First Appearance: Fraggle Rock
Notable Appearances: The Muppets Take Manhattan, A Muppet Family Christmas
Performer: Dave Goelz
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/72DAmpVRe-Q" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/72DAmpVRe-Q</a>
Bio

Uncle Traveling Matt is a brave Fraggle explorer and Gobo's uncle on Fraggle Rock. In "Beginnings," he ventured out of the Rock to explore the human world of Outer Space.
To document his exploits, Matt sends Gobo a series of postcards recounting his experiences with the Silly Creatures and their culture from the Fraggle point of view. Uncle Matt prides himself on his bravery and resourcefulness, but also tends towards clumsiness, frequently falling backwards or tripping during his travels.
Traveling Matt is the only Fraggle, and one of the few Fraggle Rock characters in general, to make solo cameo appearances in other Muppet productions, without other Fraggles.

[anais.butterfly]

Number 47 (tie)
 

Mew
  8 Points, 1 of 13 lists, #18 Sugar Ray Dodge
First Appearance: The Christmas Toy
Notable Appearances: The Secret Life of Toys
Performer: Steve Whitmire (1986); Nigel Plaskitt (1994)
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhTVdQsNpxI" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhTVdQsNpxI</a> Start at 1:30
Bio

Mew is a cat toy who lives in the playroom with Rugby Tiger. Since he is a cat toy, he has difficulties being accepted in the world of "people toys". One problem is that he smells like catnip, although as he explains, "Cat toys are supposed to smell like catnip!".
He first appeared in the 1986 special The Christmas Toy, and he starred in the 1994 spin-off series The Secret Life of Toys, where he has arms and legs instead of wheels. In The Christmas Toy, it is revealed that he has a crush on Meteora.

[anais.butterfly]

Number 47 (tie)
 

Bip Bippadotta
  8 Points, 1 of 13 lists, #18 Kete
First Appearance: The Muppet Show
Notable Appearances: Sesame Street
Performer: Jim Henson
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/fNJy8S9C178" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/fNJy8S9C178</a>
Bio

Bip Bippadotta is a character on Sesame Street who is the counterpart of Mahna Mahna from The Muppet Show. Although both characters are best known for performing the nonsense song "Mahna Mahna" and have the same performer and voice, they have always been portrayed by different puppets and were usually considered separate entities.
Unlike Mahna Mahna, who was almost exclusively associated with the song after which he is named (or perhaps the name after which he is songed), Bip Bippadotta has performed a variety of songs on Sesame Street, which were "Fat Cat," "Everybody's Song," "Air," "Scratch My Back," "None Some All," and "Opposite Stuff."
Bip later made a cameo appearance in a 2009 episode, where he is seen as a Lavender Anything Muppet again in the laundromat watching the race and says "Mahna Mahna".

[anais.butterfly]

Number 46 (tie)
 

Apple
  46 Points, 1 of 13 lists, #15 Sugar Ray Dodge
First Appearance:The Christmas Toy
 Performer: Kathryn Mullen
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/XhTVdQsNpxI" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/XhTVdQsNpxI</a> (Start at 1:57)
Bio

Apple is a doll in The Christmas Toy. She was Jamie's Christmas Toy two years before the events of the special, and is sometimes jealous that Rugby Tiger replaced her as the Christmas Toy last year. Still, she's mature enough to help save Rugby when he ventures out of the playroom and is almost discovered by the children.
On the subsequent spin-off series, The Secret Life of Toys, Apple was replaced by Raisin.

[anais.butterfly]

Number 46 (tie)
 

Wayne and Wanda
  46 Points, 1 of 13 lists, #15 Scott
First Appearance: The Muppet Show
Performer: Richard Hunt (Wayne); Eren Ozker and Kathryn Mullen (Wanda)
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/L1QoyH1lb_8" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/L1QoyH1lb_8</a>
Bio

Wayne and Wanda are a singing duo who performed regularly during the first season of The Muppet Show, often introduced by Sam the Eagle, who approved of their "wholesome, uplifting, and decent" act but was constantly frustrated by their inability to get past the first verse of any song. While their sketches began as mellow and classy, they always ended in disaster, seemingly foretold by the title of their chosen song.
Wayne and Wanda, as a pair, were properly introduced in a rare backstage appearance in episode 102, in which they complained that their act had been cut. They badmouthed guest star Connie Stevens until they realized that she was eavesdropping on their conversation. Their first onstage act was "Stormy Weather" in episode 103.
The pair, who had been featured in a majority of the first season episodes, were cut entirely from the second season, due in part to the departure of Wanda's performer, Eren Ozker, and in part to the promotion of Jerry Juhl to head writer, who shifted the show's focus from running gags to character-based comedy.
In episode 406, Wanda (now played by Kathryn Mullen) returned to the show and rejoined Wayne. The pair gave Kermit such a guilt trip for having fired them that he rehired them on the spot. Once they started singing, however, Kermit remembered why he'd fired them in the first place and once again dispensed with their services.
 

[anais.butterfly]

 

Number 45 (tie)
 

Lew Zealand
 13 Points, 3 of 13 lists, #19 Mattwnelson and Johnny Unusual
First Appearance:The Muppet Show
Notable Appearances: all of the Muppet movies except Kermit's Swamp Years
Performer: Jerry Nelson  (1978 - 2003); Matt Vogel  (2008 - present)
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/BSyxUAlbDRw" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/BSyxUAlbDRw</a>
Bio

Lew Zealand’s act involves boomerang fish. "I throw them away, and they come back to me!" He has appeared in all of the Muppet movies except Kermit's Swamp Years.
Lew's first appearance was in episode 310 of The Muppet Show, where his timely boomerang fish throwing saved Kermit from being tricked into a real marriage during Miss Piggy's "wedding sketch."
Lew Zealand was meant to only appear in that one episode, and he was made from a Whatnot designed by Dave Goelz. However, after that, a more permanent puppet was built and Lew Zealand became a regular character. [1]
Aside from his boomerang fish act, Lew supplied the Muppets with paper towels in The Great Muppet Caper, played one of the merry men in the Muppets production of Robin Hood, and told Leslie Uggams how to be a great boomerang fish thrower: "Well, you gotta have sole. And if you can't get sole, use halibut."

[anais.butterfly]

Number 45 (tie)
 

Sprocket
  45 Points, 1 of 13 lists, CJones
First Appearance:Fraggle Rock
Notable Appearances: A Muppet Family Christmas
Performer: Steve Whitmire
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/T6M_DgVdhtQ" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/T6M_DgVdhtQ</a>
Bio

Sprocket is an intelligent sheepdog owned by Doc on Fraggle Rock. He spends much of his time in Doc's Workshop, where his bed and food dish are, observing Doc at work. As a result, he often catches Gobo in the act of retrieving a discarded postcard from Uncle Traveling Matt.
Sprocket proves the adage that dog is man's best friend. Though he is occasionally perplexed by his owner's eccentric behavior and odd inventions, the two are inseparable. Sprocket accompanied Doc when he rented Ma Bear's farmhouse in A Muppet Family Christmas.
Outside of Fraggle Rock, Sprocket was prominently featured in A Muppet Family Christmas and appeared as a member of the Organization of Muppet Dogs in episode 110 of The Jim Henson Hour. He was also part of the chorus of dogs singing "I'm Doggin' It" with Rowlf in The Muppets at Walt Disney World. Sprocket made a cameo appearance in the very beginning and the final crowd scenes of The Muppet Christmas Carol, dressed in a suit.

[anais.butterfly]

Number 44
 

Ludo
  14 Points, 1 of 13 lists, #12 Mattwnelson
First Appearance:Labrinth
Performer: Ron Mueck (lead puppeteer & voice); Rob Mills (puppeteer)
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/LSJgFzlSSz4" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/LSJgFzlSSz4</a>
Bio

Ludo is a gigantic beast in Labyrinth, whom Sarah found being tortured by goblins. After she rescued him, he became one of her traveling companions. Ludo looks monstrous, but has a gentle and playful nature, and is one of the few residents of the labyrinth who is not under Jareth's control. He speaks rudimentary broken English and refers to himself in the third person. He also has the ability to summon rocks, from small stones to boulders capable of defeating an entire goblin army. This ability proved quite useful several times during the group's journey. His name is likely derived from the board game, as a copy of it is stored on a bookshelf in Sarah's room.

[ColeStratton]

You, uh, got my list, right Anais?

[Sugar Ray Dodge]

I honestly thought I'd get MAYBE 2 of my Christmas Toy picks in this. Now it looks like they're all gonna make the cut

[Johnny Unusual]

Holy crap!  I completely forgot Mumford existed until I read this.  Even looking at him it didn't click until "a la peanut butter sandwiches"!