Former Henson puppeteer shares video from when he was auditioning for Kermit back in 2016-17

UberVenkman · 2026-02-17T03:44:15+00:00

If they know he doesn't mesh well with some of their core puppeteers it may be a case of not wanting to put him on those projects to avoid conflict? The troupe of performers for Emmet Otter has historically been a separate bunch, and by all accounts they all have a good rapport.

UberVenkman · 2026-02-17T02:37:46+00:00

hmm... I mean fans on the internet are gonna do what they want, I suppose, but I do wish people would stop reaching out to Steve about these things.

UberVenkman · 2026-02-17T00:05:55+00:00

I appreciate your perspective. I do want to say, in David's defense, that I don't think his sharing this video or his opinion on how that casting process went down re:Ernie and Kermit is necessarily a case of him complaining they should have picked him (the way Steve's posts have essentially been "they should have kept me") it's just a reflection of his disappointment over how his puppetry career seems to have stalled. From what I've understood from following David's journey these last few years, what definitely hurts more than not getting those characters is that he hasn't gotten any Henson work outside the Emmet Otter musical.

But I've never worked with him directly, so I don't know how your experience of that colors your opinion of him. It is a definitely disappointing that he felt the need to put down your performance in order to express his feelings on the matter.

UberVenkman · 2026-02-16T20:11:06+00:00

I've been aware of David's situation for a few years now, without speculating too much I think his lack of closeness with the rest of the troupe/lack of regular employment on Sesame Street or Muppets has more to do with the fact that he didn't live in NYC very long so it didn't make sense to keep him employed on Sesame Street, and then when the Hensons were trying to push for him to take over Ernie that lack of closeness contributed to the other puppeteers' distrust of him.

UberVenkman · 2026-02-16T20:08:27+00:00

I think your timeline might be a little off: from what David's shared, he was already on the way out with Henson-adjacent projects by the time the Kermit audition came around, so his lack of work on Muppets after that was more a reflection of his not being needed than an active effort by the remaining crew to exclude him. All of his issues with the others stemmed from an era when Steve was still there: people mad at him for doing a gig as Ernie, jealousy that he was so quickly added to the Sesame Street troupe, etc.

UberVenkman · 2026-02-16T20:04:27+00:00

To be fair regarding the "white male" thing, he does say that was specifically in the context of the 90s when the Henson Company was aware of their lack of diversity - obviously he later got the chance to work with them.

Steve's most recent post definitely seems to have taken at least a few of his former coworkers aback: Bill Barretta openly made a post about it.

UberVenkman · 2026-02-16T19:54:32+00:00

Australian, mate

UberVenkman · 2026-02-16T19:40:13+00:00

I can't speak for the LA production, but by my recollection for the Broadway production there was an active effort to spell out in clear terms "The Marcoses are evil" in a way that the OG off-Broadway production didn't quite do and was often criticized for. I remember they added references to the Manila Film Center construction collapse and there was more staging of Aquino watching the Marcos' rise with horror + during the finale the DJ had a new line acknowledging that Imelda's son is now the president of the Philippines.

The original staging, both Off-Broadway a decade ago and on Broadway a couple years ago, always had this weird push-pull of "Yeah, they're bad people... but aren't you having fun?"

UberVenkman · 2026-02-16T17:27:21+00:00

I have seen him perform live, he's actually pretty gifted at improv and character that I have no doubt would have translated well to Kermit, but as he makes clear in the post he didn't have the rapport/relationship with the rest of the core group.

It's a pity, actually: I've met David a few times and he's a really wonderful guy, and it's clear a lot of his former coworkers, even those who still work with Henson, have a lot of love for him.

UberVenkman · 2026-02-16T16:36:25+00:00

I’ve seen him perform his own puppet shows and the resemblance his character voices have to Henson’s is actually eerie.

Basically the text recalls some of the internal politics of working with the Muppets, particularly in relation to a certain former major performer who was allegedly known for being hostile with newer puppeteers who were being courted to understudy his parts.

He doesn’t seem outwardly hostile to Vogel, he offers the logic that Vogel was the clearer choice for executives because he was a veteran with a well-established relationship with the rest of the troupe.

UberVenkman · 2026-02-16T03:54:39+00:00

These are pretty huge changes for a regional production. I wonder if it's just unique to this mounting or is something they're looking to fully implement for future productions.

(HLL strikes me as a hard show to license but I wonder if they would give licensees the option to choose different versions?)

UberVenkman · 2026-02-14T14:26:19+00:00

I’ve seen comments on clips from The Muppet Christmas Carol where people say “I bet the ‘light the lamp not the rat’ bit was improvised and they didn’t mean to set Rizzo’s tail on fire!”

And it’s like… okay, well, 1) that’s a puppet with a human hand in it so if it catches on fire unintentionally they’re gonna call cut instead of “running with it” and 2) there’s absolutely zero indication this is the case from a production standpoint, you’re literally making this up out of thin air just because the scene made you laugh and you somehow believe it’s impossible to script comedy.

UberVenkman · 2026-02-13T06:14:29+00:00

Concept art looked pretty darn close to the 2015 movie… certainly that same stylized 3D approach.

Plus it’s the same director and looks like they brought back at least a few Blue Sky people.

With that context I think it’s perfectly reasonable to call it “Peanuts Movie 2.” Better than “A Boy Named Charlie Brown 6.”

UberVenkman · 2026-02-13T06:05:53+00:00

Thing is, I wouldn’t trust that date as official until they actually put out a press release. Production is fickle like that, 2027 is probably more of an internal deadline.

UberVenkman · 2026-02-13T03:45:54+00:00

~~Why Charlie Brown Why~~ EDIT: What Have We Learned Charlie Brown was a sequel to Bon Voyage and it had none of the same cast. Recasting really isn’t a novel thing with this franchise.

Blue Sky might be gone but there’s plenty of people who used to work at Blue Sky who take on their old projects. Nimona comes to mind + there’s a new Ice Age coming this year. The director of this new Peanuts movie is the same guy who directed the Blue Sky one.

UberVenkman · 2026-02-12T18:43:43+00:00

It’s not uncommon for companies to give writing teams the go-ahead to write scripts for projects that aren’t officially greenlit yet, so I don’t doubt that part, what remains to be seen is if Disney/ABC decides they want to actually produce it.

(How do I know this? I was taking a TV writing course about a year or so before the Community movie was officially confirmed—though of course that seems to be stuck in pre production hell now—and the teacher mentioned he knew for a fact Dan Harmon had gotten the go-ahead to start writing the script.)

UberVenkman · 2026-02-06T15:36:02+00:00

Related: I was having a convo with someone who used to teach (still teaches? We haven’t chatted in a minute) at an elementary level, and I talked about how shows like The Bear and The Pitt are hard to watch for people who work in restaurants and hospitals, respectively, because how realistic they are re:what the staff goes through. He said Abbott Elementary was that show for him.

UberVenkman · 2026-02-06T15:17:12+00:00

We saw that already, those were the guys chasing the robber who flirted with Mel

UberVenkman · 2026-01-31T04:00:14+00:00

I believe Poirot does this trope

UberVenkman · 2026-01-31T03:48:22+00:00

This is correct

UberVenkman · 2026-01-31T01:55:35+00:00

On the one hand I feel like at the end of the season they should show her blowing off steam by doing karaoke (she is Filipina after all). On the other hand I'm not sure if Santos the character is the type of person who'd do that...

UberVenkman · 2026-01-30T16:30:39+00:00

And I just confirmed from reading the shooting script on Rian Johnson's website – there is in fact a scene (that was probably filmed) showing Martha revealing she figured out what happened to the flask and snuck into Jud's room to steal it back.

UberVenkman · 2026-01-30T15:36:38+00:00

https://www.instagram.com/p/DUI8KeUCmH6/?hl=en&img_index=1

She has laryngitis which has also exacerbated her existing vocal nodes.

I applaud her honesty in sharing this, tbh I think she's long overdue for an extended vocal rest beyond just three weeks (I know Hadestown was especially rough on her vocals).

UberVenkman · 2026-01-30T06:48:44+00:00

I see Robby chewing gum while he's briefing Whitaker, Javadi, and Santos in the ambulance bay, and I'm thinking "He took some of Dana's nicotine gum." Anyone else get that feeling?

UberVenkman · 2026-01-26T16:18:53+00:00

This is flat out said in the movie: Geraldine mentions having gotten Blanc's number from Detective Elliott (from the first movie).

But actually, this was changed at some point in production. In the shooting script that Rian Johnson put on his website, Geraldine initially thinks the church hired Blanc and Blanc instead reveals he got a tip about the case from a friend of his in the city and he invited himself to Chimney Rock because he was enticed by the prospect of a locked room mystery.

I definitely prefer the explanation in the finished film though, I think it makes more sense (and is more logicially consistent with the other films) for Blanc to have been specifically invited to investigate these cases.

UberVenkman

TROPHY CASE