Well, several months later and my life is stil in a state of personal hell right now so the blog is still on indefinate hiatus, but i noticed something interesting. When i had to put things on hold, i was at 600-something hits. During the hiatus, my hit count doubled?!!

So for some strange reason people are checking this out while it's inactive. I imagine it's a mix of people discovering it for the first time, and older readers taking peeks here and there to see if things are back to normal yet. (They aren't)

But since i broke that 1,000-hit barrier, i suppose i may as well, you know, actually post something! So basically this is just a quick post to say that for better or for worse i'm still alive, still seeking stable work, still dwelling in the land of Unfortunate Statistics.

Trust me, if i can get back to a place where i can devote more attention to reviving this project, i will - a LOT has happened in the Muppet/Henson fan community and there's so much catching up to do in terms of topics! The Muppets have the full support of Disney behind them and barring any disasters or tragedies, 2010 will be the year of The Muppet Renaissance! People Magazine just cited The Muppets as Comeback of the Year for 2009, but what we've seen so far is just the beginning!

Are you one of the rare folks who've not yet seen The Muppets' take on Bohemian Rhapsody? Go to Youtube right now and check it out - this debuted Tuesday of last week and has had over A MILLION hits a day! It is just simply made of all kinds of win! The same day that went online, Muppets Studio also debuted their Twitter page. Now normally i don't endorse Twitter (or Facebook/Myspace etc) but Muppet Studios' Twitter page is a great straight-from-the-horse's mouth tracking of all the various projects, appearances, etc coming out so i do encourage people to check it out. However, since i'm talking about Twitter and Muppet fandom, one of the saddest trends i've seen are people who run Muppet fansites getting so hooked on Twitter that they're using their Twitter pages as replacements of (instead of supplements to) their sites. Webmasters are getting so focused on the Twittering that the sites they run are being shamefully neglected. I won't single out anyone by name but one site which had served as the #1 resource for Muppet/Henson news for the last couple years has now essentially become a vacant shadow of its former self loaded with cobwebs and cricket chirps. TO ALL WEBMASTERS - TWITTER IS A TOOL TO ENHANCE YOUR WEBSITE PROPER; NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR IT. DON'T BE A "TWIT" WHEN IT COMES TO MAINTAINING YOUR HOMEBASE!

Boom! Studios' Muppet and Farscape comics continue to impress. (By the way special thanks to the folks at Boom! for their words of support. I got a nice note from them when i had to put the blog on hiatus and to this day they remain the only people connected with Muppets/Henson/Disney/SW/etc that i've heard from and provided any kind of feedback.) Should the time come when this blog is back in full, i will finish up all those in-depth reviews i promised. Several Muppet/Henson fansites have been giving the Muppet lines fantastic reviews and exposure but no one else is covering the Farscape titles and this is simply a crying shame. They deserve so much better than that and i really wish i could be carrying that torch right now. I'll simply say check out the books - there are now three four-issue arc compilations published and anyone who wants to know where the Farscape saga goes after The Peacekeeper Wars miniseries ended, GET THESE BOOKS. They're canon, written by series creator Rockne S. O'Bannon himself!

On the flip side, if you're a new fan to Farscape due to the comics, A&E has recently released the entire series on DVD (they had been out of print and hard to find the last couple years). The Complete Series can be bought in one big box set or individual season box sets can be bought as well. (I HATE HATE *HATE* the idea of plugging Wal-Mart but they do have season four available for less than $20.) So between The Complete Series of Seasons 1-4 and the still in-print (and not included in the box set) miniseries sequel Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars, you can get caught up on the whole story! (I should point out to previous fans who bought the original ADV and Starburst Edition DVD sets that there are no brand new extra features on A&E's box sets so don't waste your money if you've got the old ones unless you're one of those completist collectors or something like that.)

In non-Muppet/Henson fandom news, a wish i made earlier on this blog has come true: SHAKESPEAR'S SISTER HAS A NEW ALBUM OUT! It's called "Songs From the Red Room" (ooh - is that a TWIN PEAKS reference, Siobhan?) and includes several of the stand-alone singles Siobhan Fahey came out with under her own moniker since the last SS compilation albums were released including "Bitter Pill", "Bad Blood" and "Pulsatron"! Welcome back, Siobhan - you've been sorely missed!!!

Back to the Muppets - Sesame Street celebrated its 40th anniversary last month which is a little bittersweet since that only means my own 40th birthday isn't too far away...the grey hairs have already started coming in (though i think that's been more a result of the stress of what's been the worst year of my life) Lots of great celebratory dvds, books, promotions, and merchandise has come out for all those who can actually pay for them and don't have to squander the small amount of money they have for things like food and rent and such. There's been some nifty little treats in the latest batch of episodes for the now-grown-up fans watching, but all things considered, Season 40's not one of its stronger years despite all the anniversary hooplah. If i can get this blog fully going again, one of my first new articles will be "Why Murray Monster Isn't Working as a Host/Major Character".

Pending a miracle, i don't foresee another post here til 2010 so maybe i'll see everyone again then. If you believe in and have a supreme being in your life that's somewhat decent and actually listens to your prayers, please send good wishes my way and perhaps i can be back in time for my 2,000th hit!

Things continue to be very messed up in my personal life and technically this blog is still on hiatus though i remain hopeful that i can get it back up and running with regular updates featuring indepth commentaries on Muppet/Henson (and other) fandom in the next month or two so keep checking back from time to time.

In the meantime, i contributed a special guest post to a new Muppet blog which i reccomend checking out - the Muppet Mindset (http://themuppetmindset.blogspot.com). This was created to give Muppet fans that were having a hard time getting articles and reviews published on Muppet Central in a timely fashion a chance to have their works read.

Being the resident "Daytime Emmys expert", i contributed a review/analysis of this year's ceremony (where Sesame Street won a Lifetime Achievement award). While less extensive than it would have been if i was writing it specifically for this site, it was still a very indepth look at how changes in the daytime landscape was affecting the Daytime Emmys televised broadcast - and in turn how that affects the Muppets/Henson's representation on it.

The complete article was more indepth than what that particular webmaster wanted and he chose to keep it limited to a wrap-up of Sesame Street's appearance on the show (even at the expense of Henson's other contender, Sid the Science Kid). Which is okay - considering the direction he wanted to see it take i agree with the changes he made. However, i felt that fans who wanted a more complete picture of what's going on with the Emmys should have access to the full article so i'm putting it here. Consider this kind of like the "bonus material" you would find on a dvd!

I encourage everyone to check out the Mindset. It has a lot in common with this blog though obviously some important differences - as you can see from the variations in the following article, it's a bit like the differences one would expect from a book review that appears in Entertainment Weekly and one that is published in The Nation. Both have merits and each one is geared towards its vision and readership.

Incidentally in the below article, i mention how those interested in learning even further more detailed information on the convoluted mess that is the rules governing the nomination/judging on the Daytime Emmys can seek out information elsewhere on the web. After i wrote that, i found a wonderful article that looks at the situation that summerizes the whole fiasco extremely well. Jeremy in Chicago writes a weekly review and analysis of One Life to Live for Soaptown USA. I have his site bookmarked and look forward to reading it each week as i enjoy how deeply he delves and i generally tend to agree with his views about 90% of the time (and the rest of the time he at least defends his positions well). In a way it's kind of like what this blog might be like if i made it a One Life to Live blog instead of a Muppet one! At any rate, his current article hits the nail right on the mark as he looks at all the Daytime Emmys' problems and how they could best be fixed so if you want to learn even more about this controversial element of the Daytime Emmys, by all means check it out here!

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I love the Daytime Emmys! Since i've never been into sports, i always joke that the Daytime Emmys are my personal version of the Super Bowl - the time of year i anticipate months beforehand, analysing the strengths and weaknesses of the competitors, keeping up with critics' picks and then parking myself in front of the television set during the broadcast with my freshly ordered pizza and cheering on my favorite "teams", screaming at the screen all the while!

The reason i get so into them is because the event combines two of my biggest areas of fandom - Muppets/Henson Company and One Life to Live - as they're both (hopefully!) honored for their recent achievements. While most Muppet fans tune in to see Sesame Street (and any other non-primetime television venture Henson is involved with - currently Sid the Science Kid) represented, my excitement is doubled as i'm also cheering on my fictional friends from Llanview.

On my regular blog, Muppet Freak (temporarily on hiatus due to personal challenges in my offline life), i write indepth comentaries about fandom. Although about 15% of it is non-Henson content, i rarely write about soaps (the main exception being when it comes to the Daytime Emmys) since - let's face it - a non-soap watcher listening to a soap fan prattle on is much like Ernie sitting through Bert's missives about his paper clip collection. With this in mind, while this review is being written with the Muppet fan in mind, i'll still be touching on issues that deal with daytime dramas only because changes taking place in the industry have a direct effect on the state of the Daytime Emmys - and subsequently how the Muppets/Henson are represented at the annual awards. Hopefully readers will find this interesting, but in the event they don't, i'll spread some random Muppet/Henson Trivia Facts throughout to keep everyone engaged!

You see, this year's ceremony almost wasn't aired on television. The major networks all passed on it. It was a last-minute rescue from a group of producers with connections with the CW Network that enabled the show to go on our screens (though delayed two months from its usual June date).

Usually the networks jump through flaming hoops like Gonzo on waterskiis to televise awards shows so why didn't anyone want to touch the Daytime Emmys? The first reason is ratings. Much like the daytime programming they honor, ratings for the Daytime Emmys have steadily declined over the years. As the overall media landscape changes, daytime television - largely made up of news, talk shows, daytime dramas, game shows and children's programming - has struggled to hold onto viewers and remain relevant. That fight for relevancy in turn transfers to the primetime broadcast of this segment of television programming. In these tough economic times, daytime programming chiefs have figured out what their primetime and cable cousins have - that it's cheaper to produce unscripted reality shows. This development is bad news for soap operas which production-wise incorporates all the areas reality programming seeks to elminate - large casts of actors, writers, elaborate sets, studio space, etc. Although daytime dramas are just one genre that makes up daytime programming, they've traditionally been the main focus of and audience draw to the Daytime Emmys. As the number of soaps left on the air have started to decline (and are expected to be completely gone within the next five to ten years), the Daytime Emmy broadcast must adapt to this changing landscape or risk facing the same extinction as the drama series that have long predominated it.

However, there's also another reason why the Daytime Emmys have struggled with relevancy and why the networks have started to shy away from them. The validity of the awards themselves have been in question for the last several years. Controversy has surrounded the judging process in terms of the final decisions, the nominations, and even the PRE-nominations! The myriad of issues surrounding this mess could fill a book and is way too complex and histrionic to delve into here, but the end result has been year after year of nominations and awards that have left the fans and critics that closely follow the soaps (though these issues affect all the daytime genres) scratching their heads in bewilderment. Of course if the target audience collectively feels that the awards are not going to the people who most deserve them, they'll stop watching and throw another big monkey wrench in the ceremony's ratings. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (who administer the Emmys) have responded to the hooplah by attempting to tweak the process, adding new or adjusted rules each year, but it seems the more they try to fix the problems, the more they actually make them worse. Again, other than one change that was made this year that i'll discuss later, i won't go into detail on the history of these rules, but anyone truly interested in reading more information of the Daytime Emmys and its judging controversies can track down numerous places online that discuss these issues. [Am i losing you yet? Is this not Muppety enough for you? Then here's your first Muppet Trivia Fact: Muppeteer (and current Sesame Street head writer) Joey Mazzarino is married to Broadway actress Kerry Butler who played Nash Brennan's ex-girlfriend, Claudia Reston on One Life to Live in 2006 where she displayed both her acting and singing skills. Sesame fans will remember her as Ms. Camp the letter carrier in episode 4008.]

So it's amidst this background that the CW Network - who hasn't been that involved previously with daytime programming itself
- took on the challenges of airing the 36th Annual Daytime Emmys. The first of its kind to not be carried by a major network faced the unenviable task of proving to the viewers and the industry that the awards event was worth primetime broadcast. Sesame fans were particularly interested since being the year of their 40th anniversary, a tribute of some sort was anticipated. Would the CW Network de-emphasize the children's genre or would they instead give them a greater focus knowing that they would need to show more diversity in showcasing the various elements of daytime programming? Thankfully, signs pointed more toward the latter when CW announced that not only would Sesame Street be honored for their 40 years, but also that recognition would come in the form of a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Before the awards themselves, the traditional Pre-Awards Show aired where red-carpet interviews were conducted amidst the typical media spectacle of the arriving nominees and presenters' fashion parade. This was largely done on a split-screen format with interviews occuring on the right-hand side and shots of arriving celebrities viewed on the left. After about 15 minutes, the Muppet performers were shown walking down the red carpet in their evening finery with their Muppet characters on their hands waving and shaking hands with the crowd. Shortly after, Big Bird and Elmo were interviewed together (Big Bird was wearing a "Joan Ganz Cooney" while Elmo was sporting a "Barney - not the dinosaur")

On a non-Muppet note, i appreciated how various members of the soap press were asked to provide their picks for the major awards. These are people familiar with the nominees' complete body of work as opposed to the short reels the judges base their decisions on. I actually wanted to kiss Nelson Branco when he dared to state when asked who should win the Outstanding Drama Series award that all the soaps that really should deserve to win weren't nominated. [What's that you say? You could care less? Fine - here's Muppet Trivia #2: In addition to Muppeteering, Fran Brill has side careers as a voice artist and an actress. In the soap industry, she's best known for her critically acclaimed role as Fran Bachman in How to Survive a Marriage for which she won an Afternoon TV Writers & Editors award. She's also appeared on Edge of Night, Guiding Light, and All My Children.]

The award show itself began with a comedy bit involving Oscar checking tickets and keeping Gordon and Elmo from entering, a positive sign that no matter what else might follow during the next two hours, the evening would be very Muppety! This was followed by an opening number with host Vanessa Williams intercut with video footage of her superimposed Forrest Gump-style interacting with various daytime show personalities including appearing in Big Bird's nest. Between the comedic open and the musical number, the show was off to a strong start and seemed as if it was determined to show that much like its primetime counterpart, this would be an entertaining program with something for everyone.

Unfortunately, after the first drama award was handed out, things went quickly downhill. All of a sudden, it seemed as if someone just realized that between all the stuff they had planned, there wouldn't be enough time to get it all done in two hours so everything became extremely rushed. The rest of the drama awards cut out the standard clips of nominees' work as their names were read and winners were cued to wrap up their acceptance speeches before they could even catch their breath from running up to the stage. Nonetheless the producers plowed ahead with totally unneeded and unnecessairy segments such as a fashion display and more musical numbers from Williams to the detriment of announcing winners of the untelevised Creative Arts Awards. Time management wasn't the only area that appeared to suffer from the lack of planning - the voiceovers announcing winners' accomplishments and previous Emmy history made several factual errors throughout the evening. Issues with time plagued the telecast for the rest of the night all the way up to the very end which concluded with a very rushed "The Outstanding Drama Series Emmy goes to the Bold & the Beautiful - congratulations - CREDITS!!"

Thankfully the Sesame Street content wasn't too affected. Besides the Oscar/Gordon/Elmo running gag, the next appearance was the handing out of the Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series award with FOUR of the five nominations coming from Sesame Street (Leslie Carrera-Rudolph as Abby Cadabby, Chris Knowings as Chris Robinson, Martin P. Robinson as Telly Monster and winner Kevin Clash as Elmo). Unlike the drama awards, this category's nominees were granted the courtesy of having clips showing the work they were nominated for shown. Even though it may not have been equally spread among the genres and shows, Sesame Street at least was given much respect throughout the evening.

Now here i have to rant a bit about a judging rules change made this year that i strongly disagree with. Traditionally when someone is nominated for their work, they then submit a reel for the judges consisting of two episodes representing their best work from that year. Now this may work better for a show like Sesame Street that currently only produces 26 shows a season. However this is more problematic for the serials that typically produce five one-hour shows almost every week of the year with almost no reruns. Also consider that the typical soap episode rotates between three to six storylines so an actor is typically seen about a total of ten minutes during a 36 minute episode. This year, instead of submitting two episodes, nominees only got to include one on the reel. As if they weren't already being judged on too small a sample representing a year's worth of work, this practice of being represented by a single episode eliminates the nominees' ability to demonstrate range or diversity and further encourages producers and writers to create "stunt episodes" made solely for submitting to the Emmy committees.

As a One Life to Live fan, i can cite a specific example of how this change affects the judging. Like my fandom for the Muppets, my OLTL love is not made of blind cheerleading. I'll be the first to praise my favorite shows when they do things well and first to point out when they're slacking. I can objectively say that 2008 was a banner year for OLTL's writing team. Under head writer Ron Carlivati's pen, he cares deeply about the show's history and uses it to propel present stories. The present writing regime is among the show's all time best (and it's suffered from some very bad ones since the late 90's!) and was viewed among fans and critics as the strongest among its peers. They were also best prepared and least affected by the notorious 2008 Writers' Strike. Outstanding Writing 2008 was One Life's award to win. However even though they had an embarrassment of riches to choose from, someone made the boneheaded decision to submit the "So You Want to Be Shane Morasco's Father" episode for that category's reel. While this same episode previously won a Director's Guild Award, it was a completely inappropriate choice for showcasing the best of the show's writing and when i heard that's what they submitted, i knew they'd lose. Why they went with that episode over any of their superb June run of episodes featuring Dorian Lord's takeover of Buchanan Enterprises and Nash's accidental death is beyond me. It all comes down to the ever-important reel and choosing the right episode has everything to do with who wins regardless of how well or poorly the show in question did the rest of the year. [Okay, this looks like a good time for more Muppet/Henson trivia! Farscape's Murray Bartlett who played John Crichton's best friend back on Earth, D.K., can presently be seen on Guiding Light.]

Now in the spirit of full disclosure, i'll admit that i don't know if that rule change applies to all the other genres besides the drama awards, but it's unlikely that all the categories weren't affected. So let's look at how being judged on a single episode affects Sesame Street. Even though 80% of this year's nominations for Outstanding Performer came from Sesame, the present system lends itself towards favoring a Kevin Clash win (as was indeed the case). In addition to the regular show that makes up the first 2/3's of a current Sesame Street episode, the concluding segment of Elmo's World gives Clash an extra 20 minute advantage to showcase his work. Without the benefit of a second episode, the other performers - human cast and Muppeteers - are effectively being judged on one "street scene" and if they're lucky maybe one other short bit. Nothing against Clash's work which remains top-notch but the guy already has enough Emmys. As long as the new rule remains active, it's unlikely any of his castmates have a fair chance running against him.

Finally came the Lifetime Achievement Tribute/Award. Sandra Oh gave the introductory speech holding her "cookie fairy" wand from the episode she appeared in. Though this was certainly an unintended element, her giving the spech in front of a big red curtain made it look as if she was in the Muppet Theatre! A montage of clips followed (an updated version of the timeline from The Street We Live On). Humans and Muppets from Sesame (and even Elmo's goldfish Dorothy) appeared on stage singing a medley of Sesame Street favorites with new lyrics honoring and poking fun at the daytime landscape. Once Executive Producer Carol-Lynn Parente came up on stage to give the acceptance speech, the Muppeteers came out of "hiding" holding up their characters allowing human cast members, Muppets, and the performers who bring them to life to bask in the glory of their honor. Of course in typical Muppet fashion, Cookie Monster ate the award before everyone left the stage ("taste even better than Latin Grammy!") Besides being a hilarious final touch, it was also a very brave performance by David Rudman (who looked incredibly dashing!) allowing himself to be fully seen performing Cookie when most people out there think Frank Oz still does the character. Rudman's performance was spot-on perfect though so now half of America probably thinks Frank had an incredible Hollywood makeover!

The tribute was not at all affected by the show's time problems which may have left some viewers who didn't understand or appreciate the importance of the Lifetime Achievement Award going to a groundbreaking children's show that has lasted for four decades and won hundreds of Emmys thinking they were given too much time. But anyone who truly felt this way has an open invite to Oscar's Grouch Celebration After-Party.

There was one other part of the ceremony that was unexpected and given ample time to take place without being rushed that really impressed me. Betty White came out to honor Guiding Light which is about to leave the airwaves (not by the show's choice but rather network cancellation). Given that this was neither an anniversary year nor were they up for Best Show, they really didn't have to do this, but given how the first soap to be televised is the latest casualty of the genre's endangerment, i found it very classy to allow them the chance to come on stage and take a final bow in front of their fans and peers. Very good move on the part of NATAS.

As a whole, the ceremony was very uneven and suffered from underplanning and trying too hard to show it's still relevant that they undermined the show's ability to truly demonstrate this. While the show continued to garner lower ratings than the year prior, it was a personal ratings success for CW and ABC has already expressed interest in picking up the broadcast of next year's ceremony. (CW has first refusal rights though). Many viewers were probably left disappointed but Sesame fans at least had every reason to be fully satisfied. Including the Pre-Show, Sesame related screen time totalled about 18 minutes. Even when they weren't on, their peers in all the other genres often would give them shout outs and mini salutes and i was personally thrilled to see OLTL's Susan Haskell (one of my favorites from the show - the lady is an absolute powerhouse!) cheering on Sesame throughout the evening and concluding her well-deserved Lead Actress acceptance speech proclaiming how she would do her best to get all the Sesame gang's autographs.

Since the Creative Arts Awards were glossed over due to the time problems, here's the final rundown on how well Sesame/Henson did this year:

Sid the Science Kid did not win either of its two nominations for Outstanding Children's Animated Program or Outstanding Achievement in Main Title and Graphic Design.

Sesame Street was nominated for (but did not win):

- Outstanding Pre-School Children's Show
- Outstanding Original Song - Children's and Animation (three nominations for "The Addition Expedition", "Elmo's Ducks", and "I Don't Wanna Be a Prince")
- Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Direction
- Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition
- Outstanding Achievement in Technical Direction/Electronic Camera/Video
- Outstanding Writing in a Children's Series

In addition to the aforementioned Lifetime Achievement Award and Kevin Clash's Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series win (along with Carrera-Rudolph's, Knowings' and Robinson's nominations), Sesame Street also won awards for:
- Outstanding Direction in a Children's Series
- Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design/Styling
- New Approaches - Daytime Children's Entertainment

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Before i close, i'll include here some OLTL comments i would have made if the above article was originally intended to be published on this blog. While no one soap dominated the wins (either televised or total), One Life to Live ended up being the most awarded soap for the second year in a row (they actually tied with All My Children this year with five wins each.) Of the "big" televised awards, they did indeed lose the writing award (Again, WHY, OLTL - *WHY* did you think the "So You Want..." episode was the one to show off the writing when you had such primetime worthy endeavors like "Drunk With Power", "Long Live the Queen", and "My Heart" - and that's just from June alone!) They did win the directing award and Susan Haskell won her second Emmy after about 15 years as Marty Saybrooke in what was one of the evening's most competitive races. Even though Bree Williamson had the reel and was many a critic's pick, she didn't win the Best Supporting Actress award, but she has a very strong chance at it next year (though she'll outdoubtedly be facing stiff competition from her own show alone!)

Finally, open memo to Robin Strasser: i know you often decline having your name considered for Emmy nomination given your already having won one, and for your past involvement with NATAS. I sincerely hope you'll allow yourself the opportunity to be considered next year, especially given the shabby treatment ABC is showing towards its veteran actors. After your 63% paycut in 2003, i find it appalling the way you were treated by the network during your latest contract negotiations especially considering the devastating impact the show would suffer if Dorian Lord was off the campus at this time. Though your work is always top-notch, 2008 was a particularly fine year for you and had you chosen to run and submitted the "Drunk With Power" episode for your reel, you would have undoubtedly walked away with the award as that whole episode was basically a total lesson to all your peers as to "how it's done". Please allow yourself the opportunity to claim the rewards that are rightfully yours.

Don't know when i'll be back again here but check back after a month or so. There's some big Muppet/Henson stuff on the horizon and i hope to return with more indepth commentaries, critiques, analysis, and tributes.

Due to a sudden number of personal tragedies i'm contending with all at once right now (including but not limited to being laid off - the recession claims yet another statistic!), all my attention/energy is elsewhere and i can not currently maintain this blog.

I sincerely love writing detailed thoughts about the Jim Henson Company and the Muppets as well as my other areas of fandom and i hope that current readers enjoyed reading the things i had to say and that those discovering it later find some value in the archives.

At this point everything in my life is very uncertain, including how much time i may have left, so not only can i give any kind of estimate as to when it will be active again, i can't really even say IF it will be active again. If i can revive it later, trust me - i will. But right now all my fandoms are on the very bottom of the priority list.

The archives will still be kept up here in the event that things somehow end up getting better and everything can return to some degree of normalcy. Should that happen, i'll pick up where i left off. But if it doesn't, you'll at least have a few months worth of some stuff i hope is of great value to some of the people who come across it.

If anyone out there is looking for Muppet collectables, be it rare stuff like scripts or just a place to pick up some second hand books or cds - please contact me as i can use any and all help i can get in terms of income.

Thanks for reading - and thanks to all the various Muppet/Henson fans i've corresponded with over the years online, offline or both...it's always exciting to connect with people who share the same loves. Those are some of the best memories i'll hold onto as long as i can.

In the event this is my last ever entry here and/or on other fan forums, i'll close with the following thought. Right now there's a lot of ugliness in the world. Names don't need to be mentioned but we all know there's been a lot of world "leaders" who were so driven by personal greed and contempt for large numbers of society (particularly the lower and middle class) that have really harmed the livlihoods of a vast number of this country's and the world's citizens in the last decade. I implore everyone who's been touched by Jim Henson and all the team he's gathered who have carried on his visions since to keep alive the spirit of the values he tried to impart in those he touched via his works or his life. Be kind to one another, help those less fortunate, take care of the environment. Pass it on. Fraggle Rock may not have achieved the goal that Jim stated in that first boardroom meeting of sowing the seeds of peace and stopping all war in the world, but as long as his fans are alive worldwide, maybe they can do what they can in their own ways to make the world a little better one step and one day at a time.

Okay, i've been promising my review of Boom! Studio's Farscape Comic Books would finally be posted tonight - and i also didn't want to do a non-Muppet post without doing a Henson-focused post in the same week. However i've had a lot of "real life" stuff to contend with as of late so i'm going to compromise and break this look at Farscape Comics into three parts - each focusing on a particular miniseries.

Of course the obligatory introduction to the full line is in order. Even if you hadn't watched Farscape when it was originally on the air, you no doubt heard of it - whether it be through the numerous accolades the show received or even more likely due to the massive fan campaign to save the show.

Fans had every right to be irate when the Sci-Fi Channel announced it wasn't renewing Farscape for a fifth season. For three years, Farscape had been the station's highest rated show and the one that really put its original programming on the map. Because of this, when Sci-Fi renewed the show for a fourth season, it actually renewed it for TWO seasons guaranteeing a fifth season. However towards the end of the fourth season's run, Sci-Fi decided to take advantage of an out clause in the contract and cancelled the show instead of going ahead with Season Five. Not only was this a huge slap in the face to its fans and the production crew, but even worse the Farscape team was given the news as they were putting the final touches on the season finale. The result was that the series ended in a cliffhanger (with the infamous "to be continued" flashing across the screen.) John and Aeryn's being attacked by an unknown species was never supposed to be the series' end - just the end of season four.

There have been numerous fan campaigns to save a cancelled or endangered show in the past - some successful, others not - but the Farscape campaign was legendary. It was a multi-pronged fan strategy that both encouraged the Sci Fi Channel to reverse its decision, contacted other networks to convince them that rescuing Farscape would be a smart move in the event Sci-Fi wouldn't budge, and strove to bring new viewers into the fold. Ads appeared in Variety and USA Today. Brian Henson fully acknowledged that the resulting four part miniseries Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars was a direct result of the fan campaign and would not have happened without it.

The miniseries attempted to squeeze the planned story arcs of what would have been Farscape's fifth season into four hours (three when factoring out the commercials). It ended in such a way that left the door open for other Farscape movies or projects but also was a satisfying closure if it turned out that the miniseries was indeed the last of Farscape.

Which brings us now to the latest continuation of Farscape - Boom! Studio's comic book series. With the exception of some special miniseries that are flashback stories, the comics pick up where the Peacekeeper Wars left off and are co-written by series creator Rockne S. O'Bannon. O'Bannon, Henson, and Boom! acknowledge that the comics are indeed canon and a true continuation of the Farscape story. In fact the comics allow O'Bannon to tell stories that would have been too expensive or difficult to do onscreen. The first arc of the Farscape comics (which has just been compiled in a hardcover book comprising the first four-issue miniseries - as all the Farscape and Muppet miniseries will eventually do) concerns Rygel's return to Hyneria to reclaim his throne - the perfect example of such an arc that would have been a nightmare to film...even when the show had Rygel interacting with another Hynerian in "Fractures" or showed a CGI-generated King Bishan in the miniseries, this was a huge expensive chore. Committing a planet full of Hynerians to either the small, the big, or the computer screen was unlikely to happen.

For its efforts and generosity in returning Farscape to its fans, Boom! has been rewarded with unprecedented success - with record sales and even THIRD printings of its debut. Besides pleasing old fans, it also allows new fans to come into the fold. One of Farscape's faults - and one of the factors that led to its cancellation - was that the show refused to insult its fans' collective intelligence and moved stories forward at a very quick pace. In a day and age where fans tape the shows and every detail is dissected online, Farscape was rich in detail and scope. The downside to this however was that it made it all the more difficult for a new viewer to catch up. Even the miniseries which attempted to be entertaining for new viewers and old probably didn't accomplish this goal as well as the producers would have liked - especially given that what would have been 22 episodes was condensed into four hours, PK Wars was like Farscape-on-speed! Continuing the story in comic form allows a new fan discovering this world for the first time to have the luxury of reading (and re-reading) at their own pace, so the comic page is a welcome fit as media format.

I'll be looking at that first arc in my next thread, but the rest of this post will actually focus on the "D'Argo's Lament" miniseries...since being a "flashback" story, taking place between the season three episodes "Revenging Angel" and "Fractures", is the first story released so far when one considers chronological order. (The next flashback miniseries will be "D'Argo's Trial" set in time before the television series.)

[A quick disclaimer that for both the rest of this post as well as the remaining threads will contain spoilers. While i will be discussing major events, characters, and revelations, i shall still be mindful of the enjoyment of those who haven't read these yet.]

I mentioned O'Bannon is co-writing these comics. The other author responsible for crafting these stories is Keith R.A. DeCandido, who has previously written the Farscape novel House of Cards as well as short stories for Farscape Magazine and the Farscape Role Playing Game. DeCandido has been accepted by both fans and production staff as the best Farscape writer who never actually worked on the series. (The reason for this being that aside from the creators, Farscape wanted to strictly employ Australian talent in terms of its casting, writing, and directing.) It's great to see KRAD not only have a new project, but to actually finally have his chance to officially contribute to the Farscape canon! D'Argo's Lament, unlike the other miniseries, is DeCandido's tale (though still with input and approval by O'Bannon).

Before reviewing the comics for this blog, i wanted to reread his previous works - and i'm glad i did since it turns out that the setting KRAD uses in this tale is one he previously used in his short story for Farscape Magazine's premiere issue, "Many a Mile to Freedom". You don't have to have read this story to understand or enjoy D'Argo's Lament - and i'll bet most of Farscape's biggest fans may even miss the relationship between the two. KRAD makes the briefest passing reference to the Moya's Crew previous adventure on this planet, but otherwise this is a whole new story with no real significant tie to the short story.

What's really nice about having a flashback miniseries being released alongside other miniseries that continue the storyline forward, is that we get a chance to enjoy seeing the much-loved character of D'Argo back in action...who was killed during the PK Wars teleseries. D'Argo's Lament is actually a D'Argo/Jool story - Jool being another character that was killed off in PK Wars. I'm actually even more delighted to see her in this story than i am D'Argo since Jool was one of my favorite characters who i felt wasn't used enough on the show. (The way she was introduced always reminds me of the scene from The Christmas Toy when Meteora springs to life out of her box!)

In fact, i'm actually going to digress for a moment here. I really thought that killing off Jool in PK Wars was a huge mistake mainly because it cut off the chances of revealing the history and significance of the Interion species to Humans and Sebaceans. The mystery of how Humans and Sebaceans were related was revealed in PK Wars, but we also know from the "What Was Lost" episodes as well as Jool's introduction, that Interions also somehow played a part...and this piece of the jigsaw puzzle has been left hidden and lost under a piece of furniture. True, this could always be revisited without Jool either through the introduction of other Interion characters or some other method, but without Jool part of the fabric, such a reveal would seem kind of anti-climatic.

It's also because i'm a Jool fan that my main complaint with the first two (of four) issues is that Jool's too much in the background (she spends much of the second issue "offscreen" as a kidnap victim). I know that this is essentially a "D'Argo story" but i still would like to see her play a larger role being that she's the only previously known character involved and i remain hopeful that she'll get her chance to shine in the next two issues.

Actually my second biggest complaint concerns Jool as well. One of the things that made her character unique was that her hair would change from orange to bright red when she was nervous, angry, or otherwise experiencing a high level of emotion. This was a concept that the show toyed with doing with Zhaan during its preproduction phase - they initially thought of having her change from blue to other colors either based on mood, climate, or health - but this idea was shelved when they realized the expense and continuity/production nightmares involved. They were later able to revisit this idea with Jool's hair, but even then it got so hard for them to keep up after a while that they just kept Jool's hair red throughout the whole "Into the Lion's Den" episode arc. Since the comics allow the artists to do things the show couldn't easily accomplish, one would think that the colorist would take full advantage of the ability to change around Jool's hair color - but while there has been some different shadings used so far, they seem to be more related to the lighting of their environment than anything biological.

But while the comic so far hasn't taken advantage of that opportunity, it has given us the first look at D'Argo completely shirtless - actually near naked save for either a towel or an undergarment (it's hard to tell from the art exactly which)...something that the show never got around to doing - again due to expense/logistics. Notice how in shows like the Look at the Princess trilogy, D'Argo was always conveniently covered up as to not show us anything beyond where the initial prosthetics were!

The individual titles are a nice treat as well, all of them being classic D'Argo quotes from the show (most of them being some kind of twisting of John's earth expressions). See if you can match the titles to the show/scenes they appeared in:
- If You Can Be An Idiot, I Can Be An Idiot
- I Spit On Your Grave
- I Would Rather Go Down On a Swing
- I'm Your Daddy

If you do recognize the original quotes, chances are a smile formed on your lips just remembering the original contexts (the last one having been used twice - once comedically, the other as D'Argo's dying words)

You may have noticed i haven't really commented on the actual story yet. Quite honestly, this is mainly due to the fact that there's not been much to comment on - the first two issues seems to be more an introduction to the various players and set-up to everything that happens in issues 3 and 4. So far they've been fun little romps and a nice chance to see some beloved characters again, but not much more than that. This is in direct contrast with the continuity miniseries which are action packed and cram a lot of story development, twists and turns in each individual issue. Part of that is the inherent problem with flashback tales - both writer and reader know that an element of suspence is sacrificed since the characters have to return to a certain point once it reaches its conclusion. So while Boom! is giving Farscape fans a nice buffet of Scapey goodness, an arc like D'Argo's Lament is more of the soup and salad while the post-PK Wars stories are the meat and potatoes.

Our look at Boom's Farscape line continues with an exploration of its proper debut, the "Beginning of The End of the Beginnng" miniseries where we get our first look at Hyneria, a new job for Scorpius, and our first indication that a Human/Sebacean offspring might have some unique qualities...

Continuing my list of my Top Ten Favorite Music Artists, we now look at my Top Five. I'm actually going to do this from #1 to #5 instead of the more traditional route of counting down since anyone who knows me or even reads this blog regularly should have a good clue who the ultimate favorites are so there's not much suspense there. Also even though all of my Top Five are less known/successful in the States as they are worldwide, there's some more obscure ones towards the bottom so i'd like to end with those.

#1: Eurythmics/Annie Lennox/Dave Stewart - Yeah, maybe it might be a cop-out but i would lump together my "favorite artist" as not only Eurythmics but all of the various solo projects from Annie and Dave both pre and post Eurythmics. This would include The Tourists, Annie's solo albums, Dave's solo albums and film scores as well as Platinum Weird and Vegas. These last two bands are other bands Stewart has been a part of and are among some of his finest work, some of it surpassing Eurythmics. Platinum Weird was known for two things: more recently being a band that current American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi was the lead singer for and also for recording two albums - one "regular" album and one made to sound like it was recorded in 1974. Unfortunately the 1974 album "Make Believe" was released and the regular "Platinum Weird" album got shelved (though Best Boy had a special exclusive version of Make Believe that included the newer PW cd as a bonus disc) I'm really kind of surprised that the record company still hasn't released the "real" Platinum Weird album given KD's current visibility via American Idol - seems to me it would be a very profitable no-brainer to get it out to a wide release. One of the songs on the album "Taking Chances" did make a fair impact in the music world...as a cover version by Celene Dion of all people! Vegas was a collaboration between Dave and Terry Hall from 1993 that was unreleased in the States. Their self titled album remains one of my Top Ten Favorite Albums of All Time! Only half of Dave's solo projects have been released in the States which is too bad because a lot of it is brilliant. I feel a lot of his stuff is actually better than Annie's solo material, although Annie releases albums that are high quality throughout whereas a Dave album often has outstanding tracks alongside more disposable ones. But both are really at their best when they work together. There's been a few mini-reunions since their first split in 1990 and sadly Annie has gone back to stating that Eurythmics are over in recent interviews, which is quite a shocker given how it had seemed that Dave and Annie had a much closer friendship/personal and professional relationship since the 1999 reunion and that occasional projects would always pop up between solo projects. I really wish Annie wouldn't close that door again because even though her last two solo albums have been among her best work, her solo material just doesn't have that special spark that occurs when she works with Dave.

#2: Pet Shop Boys - Like Eurythmics, this would be the one band that i will actively track down rare stuff by...or at least i used to. I'm not really into the remixes of their singles (and usually when they release a single, they'll be one that has a whole bunch of non-album tracks and one that has remixes), and most of these just aren't that great. Take the 12 minute mix of Liberation for example that aside from some female singer belting out the song's title has nothing to do with the original song that the pair wrote. But remixes aside, Pet Shop Boys have consistently made the most amazing and intelligent music (much like Eurythmics!). Their latest album, Yes, is yet another strong contribution to their catalog and the pair was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement style Outstanding Contribution to Music Award at the BRITS (British version of the Grammies). Eurythmics won the same award exactly ten years ago. Of course the fact they're out gay artists makes me love them all the more! It's rare to hear them get any airplay in the States for anything beyond 1987 and almost never anything aside from West End Girls, Opportunities, or What Have I Done to Deserve This, but they have remained extraordinarily prolific since - with well over 40 singles, most of which can be found on their double Greatest Hits album PopArt.

#3: Shakespear's Sister/Siobhan Fahey. Most people will recognize Eurythmics and Pet Shop Boys. But now we get to someone who really deserves to have gained more recognition. Now you probably know who Siobhan is - she was one of the original members of Bananarama (and the first one to leave the group after Stock Aitken Waterman managed to ruin them) She then formed her solo project Shakespear's Sister. If you had a really good alternative station in your area (or used to stay up late to watch MTV's 120 Minutes), maybe you heard such great tracks like "Heroine" or "You're History". Shakespear's Sister did finally manage to briefly break through in the States with their hit "Stay" from the second album (with backup singer Marcella Detroit now an official member of the band, making it a duo) So those of you who do recognize the name probably know of it via this song...probably the song least representative of Shakespear's Sister as it was more of a showcase for Marcella. Eventually the relationship between the two girls soured and Siobhan reclaimed Shakespear's Sister as a solo project making perhaps her best album to date...which her record company declined to release due to management changes and their disapproval of Fahey's less commercial direction. For years, Siobhan's fans shared and traded bootleg copies of the album among ourselves until finally after ten years, Siobhan bought the rights to her third album back and released it under her own label under the title "#3". Two compilation albums followed and afterwards a few singles Siobhan released under her name rather than under the Shakespear's Sister title. She apparently has had a new album recorded and set to release since last year but so far it hasn't been made available to the public - here's hoping it is soon - your fans miss you, Siobhan! If you want to track down the "Best of Shakespear's Sister" cd (highly reccomended particularly for her cover of White Rabbit exclusive to this collection), look for the one that includes a dvd of the band's videos - most directed by Sophie Muller who is my favorite video director. Sophie actually worked with Siobhan musically co-writing songs for an unreleased (though 1000 copies were available through Siobhan's website) album called "The MGA Sessions". Hauntingly beautiful! Because of its rarity, anyone interested in hearing it can contact me for a copy.

#4: Depeche Mode - Now here we have perhaps a slight exception since DM have enjoyed massive popularity in the States and during the late 80's-early 90's, it's arguable that they were more popular here than in their native Europe. However i was a huge fan in their earlier days before they really hit it big and still remain one even though their last few albums haven't been the big affairs that the ones from their American heyday once were. I have very fond memories of staying up late night weekends watching music video shows (before our cable company added MTV in summer 1984) and a Depeche Mode video was always a special treat - their early videos were actually kind of silly, but the music was some of the most amazing stuff. Their first album was released when most of the band were still teenagers, but unlike the various "boy bands" throughout the ages, their immense talent and musical genius was apparent on their debut (even though there were some cringeworthy tracks - but put something like "What's Your Name" against almost anything else recorded by 17 year olds and there's no contest which is artistically stronger). Many Depeche fans have their favorite eras but i really love them all - early stuff (Photographic, Leave In Silence), rising stardom (Master and Servant, Shake the Disease, Question of Time), chart dominance (Never Let Me Down Again, World In My Eyes), the probably inevitable collapse after such a high (Walking In My Shoes) and all the various reinventions/"comebacks" (It's No Good, Dream On, Precious, and their brand new album)

#5: The Beloved - this one is probably the most obscure band on this list which is why i wanted to close with them. Even if you are well aware of all the above four, this is the one you may not have heard of (or confused with another band, which later renamed itself The Beloved US so as to avoid confusion with the original band with this name). The band's lineup has tended to change each album but Jon Marsh has always been its driving force. Their late-80's album Happiness has a permanant place on my Top Five Favorite Albums of All Time. They have kind of a trance-influenced, mellow sexy dance sound that's quite extraordinary. Despite some compilation albums, the band's been pretty dormant the last decade as Marsh's focused more on his DJ'ing career, but word is there is a new Beloved album in the can waiting to be released. The videos were just as wondefully trippy as the music, but if you manage to find their so-far-only-on-VHS video collection, be forewarned - just when it seems like it's over, a softcore sex video of Jon and his then-girlfriend pops up set to one of their remix excerpts! But there's one very special reason why Muppet fans may want to seek out this band's music - Jon's singing voice sounds essentially identical to that of Bear (from Bear in the Big Blue House). I kid you not. I simply can NOT keep a straight face when Jon gets to the line in "Your Love Takes Me Higher" when he sings "all this heartache's more than i can bear"! If you want to have some fun, find a fellow Muppet fan (one who doesn't read this blog - probably not that hard to find!), send them a sound file of a Beloved song and tell them its a secret recording of a soundtrack for a new Bear project. I guarantee they'll totally fall for it! In fact i am actually on a secret mission to prove that Jon Marsh and Noel MacNeal are indeed the same person - hey, that would actually explain why new Beloved stuff has been scarce since BITBBH made its debut! Rest assured that any slight rumor or slight coincedence that gets uncovered in my investigation will wind up here!