As a fan, I always get a little thrill when I hear the Muppets referenced in mainstream pop culture. As a pedantic weirdo, I’m always prepared to scrutinize the way mainstream pop culture references the Muppets and how accurately they do so.
A few weeks ago, there was an entire category devoted to the Muppets on Pop Culture Jeopardy! on Prime Video. As the title implies, the show (hosted by Colin Jost) is a variation of Jeopardy in which every clue is related to movies, television, celebrities, music, internet culture, and so on. I’ve really been enjoying the show, which is a funnier, lower-stakes version of its parent show.
When the season started, I thought I’d be really good at playing along at home, but I’ve come to realize I know very little about influencers, reality TV, or hugely popular musicians of the past ten years. If I were behind one of those lecterns, I would do… okay.
But when “It’s the Muppet Category!” came up, I swept all five clues!
First of all, I want to take a moment to appreciate that it was called “The MUPPET Category,” singular. None of this awkward Disney-mandated “Muppets” branding here!
The first clue selected by a contestant was the one worth 600 points. (Pop Culture Jeopardy is a tournament, with each team playing for points rather than money. The team that wins the whole thing wins a large wad of cash.) The clue: This comedy icon was selling perfume with Miss Piggy in “The Muppets Take Manhattan.”
A contestant buzzed in and guessed Jennifer Coolidge, which is… an interesting guess. Of course, Jennifer Coolidge is a comedy icon — and she was 23 in 1984 when The Muppets Take Manhattan was released, so it’s not impossible for her to have appeared in the movie. I think she would have been just about as hilarious in that scene as the correct answer, although their comedy styles are pretty different. But it’s all moot, because her earliest IMDb credit isn’t until 1993.
Neither of the other teams buzzed in, so apparently nobody on that stage is familiar with Joan Rivers’s cameo in the film. What a shame! I hope they all watched it as soon as they got back to their hotel rooms.
Next, a contestant chose the 400-point clue, which was: Gobo, Red, and Traveling Matt are these types of creatures who started rocking in 1983.
A contestant buzzed in on this one and guessed The Electric Mayhem. It’s true that the Electric Mayhem have been rocking for a long time, and it’s nice that somebody thought of them, but they started before 1983. And is “Electric Mayhem” really a type of creature?
Once again, neither of the other teams buzzed in. Wow. Nine pop culture fans, and not one of them recognized the names of three Fraggle Rock characters! What is this world coming to?
A contestant then went for the 1000-point clue, which was: Elmo pulled no punches telling Zoë that this “pet” of hers isn’t alive (but then Elmo feuded with that inanimate object!) Wow, they’re running the gamut of Muppet sub-topics here, from “THE” Muppets to Fraggles to Sesame Street. That’s nice to see.
One of the contestants buzzed in and got this one right. I assume they were aware of Rocco not because they keep up with Sesame Street on a regular basis but because videos of Elmo getting mad about him went viral a while back. Also, “Zoë?” Since when has she ever been so fancy as to spell her name with an umlaut?
After that, a contestant requested the 800-point clue, which was: “Man or Muppet” won an Oscar for songwriter Bret McKenzie, best known as half of this duo.
This one doesn’t really require you to know who write that song for that Muppet movie. It really only requires you to know what duo Bret McKenzie was in. It’s sort of a Muppet question, and a contestant quickly got it right. Would they still have gotten it if, instead of Flight of the Conchords, the clue had been asking for the title of the song? Or the Muppet who sang it? I wouldn’t bet money OR points that any of those contestants knew Walter’s name.
Finally, a contestant asked for the 200-point clue: This Muppet was originally backstage crew on “The Muppet Show”; his twin sister Skeeter was one of the Muppet Babies.
A contestant got this one right! It’s nice to see some people still recognize Scooter these days. Good for you, Scooter! And good job, writers, incorporating both The Muppet Show and Muppet Babies into a single clue.
So that was all fun to see. But that wasn’t the end of Muppet representation on a Jeopardy show! Right around the same time as this episode, ABC was doing a primetime version of Celebrity Jeopardy! hosted by Ken Jennings, and “The Muppets” came up as a Final Jeopardy category.
The clue: 3 crates are shipped abroad in 1981’s “The Great Muppet Caper”: “Frog” holds Kermit, “Bear” holds Fozzie & “Whatever” holds this Muppet.
Actor Jackie Tohn, going into Final Jeopardy in 3rd place, correctly guessed Gonzo. Nicely done!
Know-it-all Neil DeGrasse Tyson wrote down… “Snufalufagus.” He didn’t spell it right, but that’s understandable — It’s a difficult word to spell. But Snuffy’s not a “whatever!” He’s a snuffleupagus! It’s both his name and his species! Also, as Jennings alluded to, I’m amused picturing a crate big enough to hold Snuffy on the plane — not to mention Snuffy parachuting during the end credits.
Actor Melissa Peterman, who was in the lead heading into Final Jeopardy, guessed Animal. And you know what? That’s not such a bad guess. I could see Animal in a crate in Great Muppet Caper, and although we usually think of him as some kind of humanoid, it’s not exactly simple to classify him.
Based on everyone’s wagers, Jackie Tohn’s correct answer was enough to let her win the game. And she couldn’t have done it without Gonzo!
So, what does all of this tell us about the Muppets’ place in the American consciousness today? The answer: Some people have facts about the Muppets at the forefront of their brains, and other people don’t. Considering they’re 70 years old and there are a zillion other pop culture properties to distract media consumers, I’d say that’s not too bad!
And that’s my final answer!
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by Ryan Roe – Ryan@ToughPigs.com
