Ryan Roe: Hi, Becca! Can you believe Muppet Wiki is 20 years old?
Becca Petunia: I mean, I can, because I was there, but for the sake of contributing to your argument, no I can’t!
Ryan: Good answer! And in those 20 years, the “Muppet Characters” category on the wiki has grown to contain over 3,600 characters. That’s… a lot!
Becca: If you read ten character pages a day, it’d take you almost a year to get to the Zeeplings.
Ryan: I actually don’t know who the Zeeplings are, and normally I would go look them up right now… but I won’t, because we’re about to use the aforementioned wiki to play a fun little game called Random Muppet Challenge!
Becca: (Actually it looks like there isn’t a page for the Zeeplings, so someone should fix that.)
Ryan: I hope someone fixes it within 30 seconds after we post this article!
So, Random Muppet Challenge is a game we like to play sporadically here on Tough Pigs, and it takes advantage of the “Random Muppet” button on Muppet Wiki. It works like this: We take turns clicking on the Random Muppet button, and then announcing the name of the random Muppet that comes up — and ONLY the name! — to the other player.
Then it’s up to the other player to provide a brief description, the production the character is from, and the performer who, for lack of a better term, performed the character. We’ll do this five times, and then we’ll see who has the most points. Which I fully expect to be you, because I know you’ve scoured the wiki for your role as host and question-writer for the Hubba Wha podcast.
Becca: Oh, absolutely. And let me tell you, it’s weird being ASKED questions from the wiki, instead of asking them to other people!
Ryan: How the tables have turned! The shoe is on the other foot! Fred Flintstone is stealing the Fruity Pebbles from Barney Rubble this time around! Anyway, I used an online randomizer to pick who guesses first, and it picked me. So go ahead and fire up that Random Muppet button!
Becca: Well, Ryan, I got good news for you. First up is a nice, easy one. This wiki page is “Felix (chicken).”
Ryan: A-ha! For a second there, I thought you were exercising your irony skills and it was actually an impossible one.
Felix (chicken) is, well, a chicken. He’s performed by Ryan Dillon on Sesame Street and he shows up occasionally to be funny. He just recently appeared as a sports announcer on the season premiere alongside Bubba Wallace, and thank goodness he did, because Wallace doesn’t have anywhere near the charisma of that clucker.
Becca: All true! Ryan, do you remember which of Felix’s family members we met in that episode? As long as we’re talking about the Season 56 premiere?
Ryan: Oh, dang. It was his mom maybe? I think it was the chicken who was paired with Zoe in the various athletic events. (Note to readers: It’s fine to pair a chicken with a Zoe, but generally more recommended to pair chicken with a red wine.)
Becca: Yes, his mom Tiffany! Ryan, you get one point for identifying Felix, and one “good job Ryan” for identifying his mom. You lose one “good job Ryan” for not remembering her name.
Ryan: Easy come, easy go!
Becca: But seriously, isn’t Felix great? He’s the funniest Sesame character since Gonger for sure.
Ryan: He is great! Sesame performers get so few chances these days to create brand-new characters who are genuinely funny, and Felix is one of the notable exceptions.
Ryan: Okay, your first random Muppet is… Handyman! Good luck!
Becca: Ryan, that’s not a Muppet, it’s just a job. Handyman not name, Handyman job.
Ryan: Hey, there are people named Carpenter and Cooper and Baker. Why not Handyman?
Becca: OK. Let’s say he’s from Sesame Street. He’s performed by David Rudman. And uh, he showed up to help repair the door to the carriage house.
Ryan: That is a very, very, very good guess. I’m sure there’s been a Muppet handyman on Sesame Street at some point. Unfortunately, it’s also a wrong guess.
This Handyman appeared in a “Tubmans of Porksmith” UK sketch in the Garth Brooks episode of Muppets Tonight. He is “summoned to the estate of Howard Tubman, whose immense size has caused him to get stuck in a chair.” (Get it? It’s funny ’cause Howard is overweight.) And he was performed by Allan Trautman.
Becca: I saw that clip preparing for my Howard Tubman episode of 70 Years, 70 Muppets! I did not realize that’s who we were talking about!
Ryan: Yes, you made an excellent podcast episode about a not-excellent character!
Becca: Why, thank you! I also would never in a million years have guessed Allan Trautman. If you’re reading this, I’m sorry Allan.
Ryan: Yeah, I don’t think of him as being a Muppets Tonight performer.
Becca: OK, well, are you ready for your next Muppet?
Ryan: As ready as I’ll ever be!
Becca: Because once again, you’re going to have an easier time with this than I did with “Handyman.” It’s Wheel-Stealer!
It’s so funny that you and I are out here saying “Felix” and “Wheel-Stealer” are easy ones. 99.9999% of humans on the planet have no idea who these two are.
Ryan: I was just about to say that! We’re such nerds. But isn’t it nice that we have so many friends who care about the same weird stuff we care about?
Anyway, the Wheel-Stealer is a monster created for an ad campaign for a line of snacks called Wheels, Flutes, and Crowns. His raison d’etre is stealing Wheels. I’m almost certain he was performed by Jim Henson. I know one of the monsters from that campaign later morphed into Cookie Monster, so I’m going to wheel myself out on a limb and say it was this guy.
Becca: Wow, excellent. All correct!
Ryan: Yay! I’m going to reward myself with a nice big bag of Wheels. As soon as I figure out where to get some. I might need a time machine.
Becca: Ryan, we all know the Wheel-Stealer’s friend the Crown-Grabber later became the Beautiful Day Monster. But which Muppet movie did the Flute-Snatcher appear in?
Ryan: I’ll guess The Muppets Take Manhattan.
Becca: Correct! Other than The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years and a Hallmark card, that’s the only time he appeared with the Muppet Show gang!
Ryan: What a fascinating resume. I assume he’s at the wedding?
Becca: Yep, behind the pigs and next to a Fazoob.
Ryan: It was very sweet of Kermit and Piggy to invite the Flute Snatcher to their wedding.
Becca: I’m giving you one Fazoob as a reward for all this.
Ryan: Thank you! I’ll put it in my trophy case next to my Spooble.
Ryan: And now, look out, because your next Random Muppet is here, and it’s… Diva D’Abruzzo!
Becca: Wow. Maybe one day I’ll get an easy one.
Ryan: Maybe!
Becca: Is…is she performed by Stephanie? D’Abruzzo, that is?
Ryan: Thanks for clarifying, because I thought you meant Stephanie Tanner. But yes, that’s one point for you!
Becca: OK, so then she’s probably from… The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss? And she’s a diva performed by Stephanie D’Abruzzo?
Ryan: Can you be more specific as to what kind of diva she is?
Becca: An opera singer?
Ryan: You just hit a high note! That brings you to two out of three points for this Muppet. Diva D’Abruzzo is an opera singer performed by Stephanie D’Abruzzo, but the World she appeared in wasn’t a Wubbulous one, but rather Elmo’s. She was in the “Singing” episode.
Becca: It’s a 50/50 shot when you’ve got Stephanie. Or Tina Teeth.
Ryan: …Yup.
Becca: OK. Now I’m striking back.
Ryan: Just like Jay and Silent Bob did!
Becca: Your Muppet is Puffy.
Ryan: Huh, okay. Puffy is a cute name, so it might be a cute Muppet. But people also get puffy when they have an allergic reaction to something, so it might be an allergic Muppet. I’m going to say Puffy is a talking cloud who appeared on Mopatop’s Shop, and was performed by Louise Gold. She came to the shop looking to buy a lightning bolt.
Becca: Sadly, you’re wrong about all that. Guess what, Puffy is from Wubbulous World. They are a cat who was stuck in a tree, and have no listed performer or gender. I don’t have any additional trivia questions.
Ryan: Dang, that’s a tricky one. Considering they’re a cat, I bet Puffy is, in fact, cute. And probably causes allergies rather than suffering from them.
Ryan: Okay, I just brought up your next Random Muppet, and this character’s name made me laugh: Slowest-Drawing Ed.
Becca: Is this from a “Cowboy Time” sketch from Sesame Street? Played by, uh, Frank Oz? Something about a quick draw contest, and he’s the loser?
Ryan: Well, that thar answer earns ya one point, pardner. Ed is from Sesame Street, but he was seen in an “Elmo the Musical” segment, where he was performed by Martin Robinson. His special skill is slow drawing, and he’s the counterpart of Fast-Drawing Fred.
Becca: Oh geez, I was off by several decades.
Ryan: Easy to do when talking about a show that’s lasted five and a half decades! You wouldn’t have made that kind of error if we were discussing a character from Cop Rock.
Becca: I’m gonna blame your Forgetful Jones Discord avatar. It misled me. And Sesame Street had a bizarrely high number of cowboys!
Ryan: That’s true! Sesame Street’s history is positively lousy with cowboys.
Becca: Anyway! Your Muppet is Bunny the Grouch.
Ryan: Is it a BUNNY or is it a GROUCH? Or is it BOTH? Well, I’ll be shocked if Bunny the Grouch is not from Sesame Street. And I’ll say she’s a ditzy, upbeat Grouch performed by Camille Bonora.
Becca: Well, she is from Sesame Street. She does not seem any more upbeat than any other grouch. But she is–get this!–Oscar’s sister!
Ryan: Whoa!
Becca: Apparently Oscar’s mom named her Bunny to make her mad. Which, Bunny, look, you don’t have to be trans to change your name legally! But I digress. She is performed by Diva D’Abruzzo herself.
Ryan: Clearly I’m not familiar enough with Oscar’s family tree.
Becca: Well, it’s pretty complicated. And presumably he avoids them most of the time.
Ryan: Yeah, they’re all pretty trashy.
Becca: Well, that joke makes me pretty mad, which DOES make me happy. Okay, so who do we have next?
Ryan: Since you asked, I’ll tell you. Next we have… Rotary Doozer!
Becca: Well, they’re from Fraggle Rock. And presumably the original Fraggle Rock show. Are they one of Turbo’s sidekicks from the episode with flooping? Are they Ron Mueck?
Ryan: You’re correct that this is a character from the original Fraggle Rock. Although wouldn’t it be wild if it was actually from The Ghost of Faffner Hall? But no, Rotary appears in the season four Fraggle episode “A Tune for Two,” in which she expresses her distrust of Fraggles to Cotterpin and Wrench.
I must confess I don’t recognize the name of her performer Sandra Shamas, but it says here on the wiki she also worked on Follow That Bird and The Jim Henson Hour. She’s a Canadian puppeteer, eh?
Becca: And she’s the first candle we light at Hanukkah! Man, I don’t remember that episode well enough. I guess I gotta watch it again. Or I can just wait for Fraggle Talk Classic.
Ryan: Yeah, I couldn’t tell you the plot of that one.
Becca: I can! Sorta! Don’t Hubba-Wha quiz me on it!
Ryan: Oh, drat and phooey! I was about to, but you asked me not to, so now I can’t!
Becca: Well I’m sorry I “no, but” your premise!
Becca: Are you ready for your last Muppet??
Ryan: Yes! I hope it’s the Crown-Grabber!
Becca: Your Muppet is Boo Mortmorkson.
Ryan: I think I know this one! If I remember right, Boo Mortmorkson is from a “Muppet Sports” sketch on The Muppet Show in which he competes in cross-country billiards. And the voice I’m hearing in my head is Steve Whitmire.
Becca: Wow. You’re SO close. Correct about everything except that he’s Frank Oz! Ryan, do you like Muppet Sports?
Ryan: I like Muppet Sports approximately ten million times more than I like Actual Sports. My favorite one is the wig race, which is delightfully absurd.
Becca: I usually find it disappointing. But cross country billiards is good.
Ryan: Disappointing, you say?
Becca: Well, if it wasn’t for disappointments, I wouldn’t have any appointments. I dunno, I always remember it being funny and then don’t enjoy it. But I do like it more than watching regular sports! Frank Oz isn’t there as often during regular sports.
Ryan: Boy, you said it. My relatives kept wanting to watch football over Thanksgiving weekend, and I never once saw Frank Oz on the field.
Ryan: Your final Random Muppet has arrived, and it’s Crew of the Alpha Centauri! For some reason I feel like you’ll know this one…?
Becca: Well, they’re ghost alien spirit creatures from The Muppet Show. We don’t know who’s the performer because they don’t speak. They appear during a long, kind of boring ballad about the Crew of the Alpha Centauri.
Ryan: I KNEW IT. Can you name the guest star they appeared with?
Becca: Uh. It’s a woman. A white woman?
Ryan: Correct! From the episode that starts with Kermit saying “It’s The Muppet Show, with our very special guest, a white woman!”
Becca: Crystal Gayle?
Ryan: Yeah, that’s the one!
Becca: Wowee, I’m shocked I got that! I could picture her in my mind.
Ryan: The song is called “We Must Believe in Magic.” Well done!
Becca: I finally got one!
Ryan: I’m looking at the screenshots of the various ghost spirit alien creatures on the wiki page, and wow, these are some very cool, very weird puppets.
Ryan: Well, that concludes our game. I’ll just tally up the scores and see who — oh no, the Wheel-Stealer ate the scorecard! Oh well. Thanks for playing Random Muppet Challenge with me, Becca! I sure am glad all these pages exist on the greatest wiki in the world.
Becca: It truly, truly is.
Read past Random Muppet Challenges here!
Thanks to everyone who’s ever edited Muppet Wiki for making this game possible! Click here to study Oscar’s family tree on the Tough Pigs Discord!
by Ryan Roe and Becca Petunia
