In the spirit of television, this is a Christmas special. And we’re talking about “Muppet Family Christmas” - one of my favorite pieces of media. My guest, Ryan Mallette, and I talk about how the Muppets embrace kindness and love, practice this through music and musicking, and the art of repetition with Christmas and other sorts of media. What are certain media traditions that you take part in?

We even start with the ephemeral nature of music in media - how music in television shows, films, and video games gets shifted or replaced, making a different experience each time around.

We also talk about, what I call, an unnecessarily dramatic question: if you had to choose between Muppet Family Christmas or Muppet Christmas Carol, which one? It’s curious how this question comes up but just seems to put things against each other.

Also, be careful of the icy patch!

References:

The Fantastic Miss Piggy Podcast - https://toughpigs.com/tag/the-fantastic-miss-piggy-podcast/

Miss Piggy, Camp, and the Death of the Movie Star - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkvAckgH4Yw&t=7s

Jim Henson and Philosophy: Imagination and the Magic of Mayhem - https://bookshop.org/p/books/jim-henson-and-philosophy-imagination-and-the-magic-of-mayhem-timothy-dale/11843764?ean=9781442246645

Buffalo Game Space - buffalogamespace.com

The Muppet Show - Season 2, Episode 17 “Rudolf Nureyev”