The Muppet Hierarchy

[Gonzo]

Jamie's post just made me want to start a new thread, because I'm wondering what y'all think about this: who would you consider to be the main/most important Muppets, and in what order? Include no more than ten, and do it in descending order from Greatest to Least Important. Here's my list:

Kermit
Piggy
Fozzie
Gonzo
Rowlf
Animal
Scooter

If my list were to continue on to secondary characters (some of whom I love a lot more than some listed above....SCOOTER....), it would of course include Janice, Sam, Dr Teeth, Bunsen, Beaker, Statler, Waldorf, Lew Zealand, Beauregard...basically everyone Palisades Toys wants to make. EXCEPT Lips.

I wonder if the above list was influenced by "Muppet Babies"? For instance, Animal. Really, he's a secondary character, and always has been--traditionally Janice has had a larger role, because she's not only a band member, but also on Vet's Hospital... but because the Muppet Babies were the Big Seven (plus Skeeter and occasionally Bunsen/Beaker), that's who I traditionally include. Hmmmmm.

Any other lists/thoughts?

Quinnnnnnnnnnn

[MuppetQuilter]

Gonzo wrote:

I wonder if the above list was influenced by "Muppet Babies"? For instance, Animal. Really, he's a secondary character, and always has been

Interesting... personally, I've always thought that it was Animals popularity that elevated him to a more prominent position. Animal was hugely popular before Muppet Babies. Janice had more regular roles, but I wonder if she was actually on screen in TMS more? Maybe someone with a pension for trivia will do a break down of each episode listing which Muppets are in all the scenes and tally who has the most actual screen time (or maybe someone has already done this?).

I think the main Muppets have changed. During TMS era I would definitely include Scooter. Today, I would put Pepe and Rizzo ahead of Scooter and (much as it pains me) ahead of Rowlf.

In terms of the TMS era, I agree with your list, Quinn, but I would add Statler and Waldorf to the end.

Today, I think I would go with this:

Kermit
Piggy
Gonzo
Rizzo
Pepe
Animal
Fozzie
Beaker
Statler & Waldorf

Some problems with my list-- I think Pepe will move ahead of Rizzo, but currently Rizzo has had more big roles, so I put him ahead of Pepe. I'm not sure about Statler and Waldorf. I suspect Johnny F and his dirty little monkey could make it into the top ten. After the Christmas movie, this could probably be revised and I'm sure once the new series airs there will be obvious changes needed.

[Joggy]

Due to merchandize, I think the Swedish Chef belongs in this as well. So for me, that would make it:

(nowadays)
Kermit
Piggy
Fozzie
Gonzo
Animal
Rizzo
Pepe
Statler & Waldorf
Swedish Chef

(old days)
Kermit
Piggy
Fozzie
Gonzo
Rowlf
Animal
Scooter
Statler & Waldorf
Swedish Chef

[Salmoto]

Actually, I think due to the last 3 movies, Gonzo should be pushed up quite a bit:

Kermit
Piggy
Gonzo
Fozzie
Animal
Rizzo
Pepe
Statler & Waldorf
Swedish Chef

[Fozzie Bear]

Here's my picks:

FOZZIE!!

Just kiddin...*ahem*...

Kermit
Piggy
Fozzie
Gonzo
Animal
Pepe
Rizzo
StatnWaldorf
Beaker
Bunsen
Swedish Chef
Clifford

(Just kiddin about the "Clifford" thing there, heh heh; although I find him to be cool).
FOZ

[Drtooth]

I think it goes
Kermie
Piggy
Gonzo
Pepe
Fozzie
Rizzo
Animal
Statler and Waldorf
Bunsen and Beaker
Clifford
BoBO the Bear
The rest of the electric mayheim
Scooter
Rowlf
Sweedish Chef
uhhhh.... a bunch of really wierd ones
really long list of all Muppets Tonight and Muppet show characters not listed
Link Hogtrob
Dr. Strangepork
Anything Muppets!

[BorkBork]

Here's my most important muppets of the muppetshow:

Kermit (of cource, being the MC and all)
Piggy
Fozzie
Gonzo
Rowlf
Statler & Waldorf (count as one)
Scooter
Animal
Chef
Zoot

These charachters are the main charachters, in my point of viewTherefore the most important ones. Of course, i would like to go on with the list, and also put several muppets on the same spots. But since this was a 10 only limit....

It's hard to put the muppets in an order of wich one is the favourite one. They are all favourites of mine. Kermit is not in number one favourite with me, but i agree that he is THE main charachter, and most important for the muppet show. This doesn't mean that i don't like Kermit, i love kermit, so don't take me wrong :D

[Bean Bunny]

Kermit
Piggy
Fozzie
Gonzo
Beaker & Bensen
Bean Bunny
Scooter and his twin sister ( Just kidding!, I know how everybody love Muppet Babies here.)
Swedish Chef
Animal

[pezbalubah]

I think the main characters should always be:
Kermit
Miss Piggy
Fozzie
Gonzo
Animal
Rowlf
Scooter

then maybe:
Rizzo
Dr. Bunsen Honeydew
Beaker

Many of the attempts at making new characters a part of the main group don't really stick. Skeeter never made it into anything besides Muppet Babies, Bean Bunny although still liked has faded from the main group, Waldo seems to have been erased, Clifford is now a background character with a few lines to say here and there (and attended Muppetfest for a much shorter time than Elmo!). I'd like to see Bill Barretta do Rowlf more and sorry that means less Pepe but I'm willing to sacrifice less of him for Rowlf.

[Gorgon Heap]

Old days:

Kermit
Piggy
Fozzie
Gonzo
Rowlf
Scooter
Statler & Waldorf
Floyd
Animal
Swedish Chef
Bunsen & Beaker
Sam the Eagle
Janice
Dr. Teeth
Beauregard

David "Gorgon Heap" Ebersole (wondering why I didn't stop after Scooter)

[Drtooth]

If this was a favorites Hiarchy, Fozzie would be first on my list! Then the rest, etc. etc. then the ending would be
Various anything Muppets
Various talking vegetables,
Various incidental props
Andy and Randy pig.

[Chilly Down]

I'm not sure if the question is "Who do you want to be the top characters now?" or "Who do you think are the top characters now?" Quite a few people, it seems, put Piggy and Fozzie near the top of their list for "now," which would make sense for the first question but not the second. In terms of how much the writers use them and overall popularity, here's how I see the hierarchy:

The "classic" list:
Kermit
Piggy
Fozzie
Gonzo
Rowlf
Scooter
Floyd
Animal
Statler & Waldorf
Bunsen & (especially) Beaker
Swedish Chef

Sorry, I had to go to 12. Any less would have seemed to be a glaring omission to me.

I think Animal was always popular, even back in the old days before Muppet Babies. Quinn, you make a good point about Janice being featured more, but she was largely the "straight man" to Dr. Bob or just used in musical numbers. Animal was a laugh-getter and often useful in backstage plots, so I don't think it's out of place to rank him high. The litmus test: I can think of lots of classic Animal merchandise, such as a Fisher-Price stick puppet as well as a large hand puppet. I can't think of anything like that for Janice.

The "now" list:
Kermit
Gonzo
Rizzo
Pepe
Clifford
Statler & Waldorf
Bobo
Bunsen & Beaker
Piggy
Animal
Swedish Chef
Fozzie

This second list focuses more heavily on how much they're used by the writers nowadays. As you can see, there's some disconnect between the two lists, which may be why there's such been such a falling away of interest. Of course, since Frank isn't that active anymore, and since Jim and Richard passed away, we can't put all of this on the writer's shoulders. Also, it is good to emphasize newer characters from time to time -- I doubt many would argue with Pepe's or Bobo's rise in popularity. But I don't understand why we don't see more of Jerry's characters, and I don't think I've exaggerated the overusage of Clifford and the underusage of Frank's main characters. I think the return of those characters to the forefront (whether by Frank or someone else) could do a lot to help the Muppets' hurting image right now. That does seem to be the direction that they're going.

I'd like to see Rowlf return to this list, and Scooter to at least come back to supporting-player status. I wouldn't be averse to Sal joining this list soon, but it's too soon to tell if that's the direction they'll take. And of course, with the new movie and series, presumably more new characters will be introduced and current characters will be moved around some more. So this list is always subject to change. But this is how it looks from where I'm sitting right now.

[Janice & Mokey's Man]

Originally posted by Chilly Down
Quinn, you make a good point about Janice being featured more, but she was largely the "straight man" to Dr. Bob or just used in musical numbers. Animal was a laugh-getter and often useful in backstage plots, so I don't think it's out of place to rank him high.

Ahem...

*laughs as everyone thinks, "Whoa boy, get outta the way Chilly! You just p.o.'ed the Janice-meister!" :eek: *

If you watch a lot of the VH's, you'll see that Janice wasn't as "largely the straight man" as Piggy was. Notice how Piggy also gets flustered with Janice's quirkiness and idiosyncracies like she does with Dr. Bob's hijinks.

Keep an eye out for just what a great comedy team Janice & Rowlf made---you can tell they had a blast together, and they both got to be funny---but yes, Rowlf got to be cornier and have more jokes.

So, in short, I guess I can't really say you said anything that was really wrong, I just wanted to clarify for my gal. ;)

[Fozzie Bear]

The ice cream goes in the freeeeezer...

[Chilly Down]

Byron,

Don't worry, I wasn't trying to diss Janice. There's nothing wrong with being the "straight man." Kermit is often the straight man -- er, frog -- to the zanier other characters, and I don't think many would deny that Kermit is a triumph of characterization. If every character were always zany all the time, the show wouldn't be funny, because there'd be no one for them to bounce off of. So when Janice does her job, she does it well. And yes, Janice does have her witty moments too.

But I understand your need to defend your girl. ;) I'll put aside my essay on Why Mokey Isn't a Core Fraggle now. (Just kidding!)

[Janice & Mokey's Man]

Yeah, you better be kiddin'! ;)