Denny's Commercials

[CountCrow4]

I was sitting in the chair at my dentists' office today when I heard the voices of Kermit and Piggy over the faint radio playing in the background. Although the volume on the radio was low, it seemed that Piggy's voice was accurate. Did Frank Oz do the voice, or has somebody else taken over Piggy?

Thanks!
Don

[EmmyMik]

I haven't seen/heard any of these ads yet, so I have no idea what Piggy sounds like.

However, Miss Piggy was recently on Hollywood Squares, and she was performed by Eric Jacobson. He did a wonderful job.

[Phillip Chapman]

Eric does Piggy for the Denny's commercials. Seen several of them so far and they are good.

[Wembley Fraggle]

Hello,

I believe it's only 1 Denny's commercial. Denny's has had alot of commercials in the past, and they are all starring famous TV couples. George Jefferson & Luies Jefferson, The parents of Jerry Seinfeld (from the tv series) and now Kermit & Piggy.

Anyways I have only seen 2 of the commercails with Kermit & Piggy and they were the same thing only extra little lines added in. So I'm pretty sure you may be mistaken it for 2 commercails because of that. But who knows maybe they'll be Denny's new icons, I mean afterall a pig and frog, thats very appealing for a restaurant :)

[Kedrick]

Just saw the Denny's commercial, and that is DEFINITELY not Frank Oz. The person doing her voice was decent...but I'm not liking it. Going to take some getting used to.

Clint

[Ryan]

Am I the only one who has not seen these? I'm the only person in the household who has not seen it...have pity for me...:(

[Wembley Fraggle]

I don't like the new Miss Piggy voice either. I think a fan could immitate her better then that. Same with the new Grover voice.

-Josh

[BoomShaKaLaKa]

I like Eric's voices for both Grover and Piggy. He does a great job of not only capturing the SOUND of the voice, but also the NUANCES of it, as well. Miss Piggy has an attitude that Frank developed in her, and Eric's voice seems to have the same "edge".

Well done, Henson folks!

[Janice & Mokey's Man]

Yeah, I don't get some people sayin' that is "SO" not Frank's voice, and it's not a good Piggy---it's a great nowadays Frank piggy, cause, let's face it---he was losin' it.

Not that talent or anything, but that classic Piggy voice from the good ol' TMS days. You can tell in her recent voicings that Frank's voice for her is aging and changing, since he is human.

I think to most people the Eric voice in the Denny's ad is just fine---coulda fooled me, and I'm a Muppet fan.

[beaker]

>>>I think to most people the Eric voice in the Denny's ad is just fine---coulda fooled me, and I'm a Muppet fan<<

agreed! piggy and kermit, as seen in the new dennys and that week on hollywood squares are as hip and funny as ever (and they never lost the chemistry it seems either).

hats off to eric and steve! and raise your hand if it would just put a big ol grin on your face to see ol brown ears back in some capacity soon? Bill's Rowlf debut at the mfest show was amazing, as I'm hoping more MIA characters get appearences soon.

Does anyone know if anymore Muppets are planned to appear on Denny's commercials, or if Muppet merchandise is coming to Dennys?

///beaker///

[frogboy4]

Not only do I think Eric is doing a great job as Piggy - I believe he does it better than Frank himself these days. I agree that Oz's voice has been deepening to disturbing proportions in the past decade and Eric's Piggy brings her back to her classic slightly higer pitch. And Frank's Piggy has had little or no charisma with Kermit since Steve took over the role. A side effect of the dubbing and that I guess they didn't have the same relationship that he had with Jim.

I don't understand people saying their friends can tell, because many people have informed me of the commercials and haven't noticed a difference.

[radionate]

I can only imagine how hard it would be for Frank to have any kind of chemistry doing Piggy with Steve as Kermit. Steve is great, and I imagine it was very difficult for him to step into those flippers, but Frank lost a very important person in his life, and those emotions are obviously still very raw. I don't think the dubbing situation would help either, but to breath life into this relationship again, I think this is a move in the right direction.

Now, I've only heard the Denny's commercial once, but I could notice, just barely, that there was a difference in the Piggy. But thats a gift of mine. I've always been able to identify voices. I guess growing up glued in front of cartoons and animated movies, plus being around radio for awhile now, have helped out I'm sure, but its still pretty darn close if you ask me.

[frogboy4]

I agree. I think they should have made the change a while ago - pre Tresure Island - simply because of Frank's focus on other projects. He just didn't seem to have the same joy as he had in the 80s. And hey, he's had the same job his entire life. He deserves to move on, but it was at the expense of his characters. I don't think replacing him deminishes his work- - it is more of a tribute to his legacy in my opinion. I just hope they keep the voice consistent now. Frank can always direct the Muppets if he ever wants to. He knows them better than any other director out there! I doubt if he'd want to though.

[radionate]

One of the best quotes I've ever heard about Frank came from Steve Martin on the set of Bowfinger. He was talking about Frank's sense of comic timing. Appearently people were disagreeing about the timing of something, after it worked out and Frank was right, Steve was quoted as saying that it worked because he learned his comic timing as, "he was a Muppet!" I'm paraphrasing and cleaning it up, but you get the jist.

[frogboy4]

LOL! Well they both have great timing. I really think the Brando incident solidified Frank's quazi-retirement. I suspect he's completely retiring without making the announcement. I just hope there isn't one Piggy voice for the new shows and another for any films that are made.

[radionate]

Originally posted by frogboy4
LOL! Well they both have great timing. I really think the Brando incident solidified Frank's quazi-retirement. I suspect he's completely retiring without making the announcement. I just hope there isn't one Piggy voice for the new shows and another for any films that are made.

I doubt JHC, or anyone who buys them, would allow Piggy to have two "voices" for spots that were longer then a few seconds. That would be tacky. But I fear that hes retirement is offical as well, and the new announcement will be made in the coming months. SOB!!!!!

I also think the Brando stink was blown out of proportion. I have a hunch that Frank wasn't as worried about the stigma of being a Muppet, as much as he was getting the senile cantankerous old man to finish his scenes without chocking on a ham sandwich. (I know I know, I'm being mean, but I've lost most of the little respect I've had for Marlin Brando over the years.

[frogboy4]

I agree. I think that an announcement hasn't been made so far because Frank doesn't want to be in the limelight. Much more of a behind the scenes guy.

[Dr. Bombay]

I think the Piggy voice in the commercials is great! Yes, you can somewhat tell it's not Frank but it's still Piggy.

These commercials are great but I find Piggy ordering three Grand Slams which include bacon and sausage really quite disturbing.

[frogboy4]

Well it does support the new Muppet canibalism with Pepe pushing LJS a few months ago. What's next, Big Bird pushing KFC? LOL! Seriously, I've had my doubts about these commercials, but people seem to like them and they're very tastefully done - no pun intended. :)

[Wembley Fraggle]

Hey Guys,

I was watching Whose Line is it Anyway on ABC Family and a NEW Denny's commercail was on, er atleast I think it's new. This one had the two old men who heckle the Muppets all the time. It's embarrising i don't even know their names LOL. Anyways heres the commercail's script:

(Both Statler & Waldorf are sitting in a booth reading menus)

Statler: Did you know for the 25th anniversary of the Denny's Grand Slam breakfast you can get em' 7 days a week for just $2.99?

Waldorf: Thats a problem.

Statler: Why?

Waldorf: It's a deal so good even we cant complain!

(They booth laugh)


-END-

I found out their names too lol. It's very short. And you can obviously tell both David Goelz and Jerry Nelson did their voices.

-Josh

[Dr. Bombay]

Big Bird for KFC! LOL! Now, THAT, I'd love to see!

That's cool that Statler and Waldorf are in the commercials. My mom loves those guys! Come to think of it, I do too!

[frogboy4]

Statler and Waldorf so soon! Wow. I wonder if any more spots are planned. Haven't heard of any. I guess it's a safe bet that Pepe's out, but Gonzo and Fozzie should make an appearance. I'd love to see the Electric Mayhem in a booth!

[Wembley Fraggle]

Hey Jamie,

Actually I wouldn't be surprised if the Electric Mayhem do appear on a Denny's commercial. When you think about it, if Miss Piggy, Kermit, Statler & Waldorf were brought in to do the commercails then they obviously wouldn't stop at that. Also it was a very short commercail done by both Jerry and Dave so I doubt that they would have brought them in to film it for what was no more then a 7 second commercial. So I'm sure we can expect more David Goelz & Jerry Nelson muppets on the commercials. I wanna see Uncle Matt on one. I can see the commercial now:

"Dear Nephew Gobo today I discovered a cave where Silly Creatures come to eat, can you believe that? They even left green paper once they left. Luckily I was able to obtain some of this paper from what the silly creatures call a table. However once I took the green paper I was chased after by Silly Creatures in strange uniforms with badges. It's clear that green paper is a very powerful thing" lol.

-Josh

[frogboy4]

I doubt any Fraggles will appear, Josh. The commercials commemorate the 25th anniversary of The Muppet Show and Fraggle Rock is a seperate license altogether. It would be cool, though.

I have doubts about the EM being in a commercial because they are barely even used in projects these days and Janice hasn't spoken for a decade. I'm still holding out hope. :)

[Wembley Fraggle]

lol-

Yes i know the fraggles wouldnt be in them. I was just joking. Let me dream Jamie ;)

-Josh

PS how is Fraggle Rock a seperate license? I thought any muppet & Muppet show belongs to the Henson company? Come to think of it I think Fraggle Rock is suffering due to the whole 'who owns the rights' stuff because how could it get onto dvd or back onto tv when nobody even knows who owns the rights to put it back out into the public?

[frogboy4]

Henson owns the rights to Fraggle Rock in whole (therefore - EMTV does). Just because a company owns the rights to several casts of characters doesn't mean that they licence them all when deals are made. Actually that would be a very rare thing. It could easily mean less revenue for the company because they would be spreading themselves too thin. It's just how it goes. I do find it interesting that HBO has no rights to Fraggle Rock but that is the deal that was reportedly struck in the 80s. Such a practice would not occur today.

[Warrick]

Hey,
Is anyone catching these commercials on video ?

couldnt someone leave the VCR recording on One Channel for a day to catch em ?

See ya

[frogboy4]

Frogboy's VCR is broke. :(

[Warrick]

D'oh !

Man im so high and excited !

Kermit is in the UK !

See ya

[frogboy4]

Do they have Dennys in the UK? At least for the commercials, the food is another thing. LOL!

[Wembley Fraggle]

I see that once again it is up to the great & glorious Joshua to pull through... in other words I have the commercails on tape and i'll hook up my converter today and post them here. Any suggested format?

-J:)sh

[beaker]

Hey all! Well last night I was playing som eMuppet stuff for my bird(shes a huge Muppet nut) I turned on the tv afterwards to catch some news, went to the kitchen, and there she was pirking up again. I cam eback over and they were running the brand new Staler and Waldorf commercials! Wow, thought they were just gonna have the Kermit and Piggy ones! Any guess or knowlege of who will be next? My guess: Gonzo and Camilla. Sure the conversation will be one sided. I would love to see Johnny and Sal of course, or Pepe and a waitress!

///beaker///

[Drtooth]

Originally posted by frogboy4
Not only do I think Eric is doing a great job as Piggy - I believe he does it better than Frank himself these days.
Yeah, Eric does a swell job on Piggy and Grover. Though I do have a little trouble with Eric's Bert (sounds like he has a wad of flem in his throaght!) But as you said, it kind of reminds me what I read about an odd 1970's cartoon "Will the real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down?" Apparently, Jerry himself thought the mimicks did a better at doing his 1950's voice thean he, mainly because he aged (or maybe he was covering the fact that he wanted more money) so they cast David L. Lander (better known as, HELLO, Squiggy!).

But that's besides the point! I have yet to see a Denny's commercial. It must be a regional thing (I also missed the LJS Pepe commercials for the same reason). There are no locations around here (there was one on the boarder of New Hampshire, but it has long since been closed down, I think it's an IHOP now) so any Merchandise, advertising, and what not are lost on me!

[frogboy4]

I just caught the Statler and Waldorf one and apparently there's a Swedish Chef one too.

[TheDude]

Hey guys the only dennys commmercial ive seen didint have piggyin it at all. it was with statlor an waldorf. anyone else seen this one?

[Phillip Chapman]

Hi Matt,

Yeah, the commercials have been great so far. I believe there are three versions of each (15 seconds, 30 seconds, and 60 seconds).

Haven't seen the Chef one yet though... Bill Barretta should be performing him in it.

[SuprGro78]

There is a dennys in right near the Rockingham Mall in NH. That's only about an hour away from Boston and who doesn't love a mall? I have seen the commercials on my tv in somerville, MA on TNT, and TNN. Statdler and Waldorf and Kermie with MIss Piggy.

[Zoot]

Statler and Waldorf's voices didn't sound as old and grouchy as they did on TMS. Who did the voices for those them in the Denny's comercial?

[beaker]

>>Statler and Waldorf's voices didn't sound as old and grouchy as they did on TMS. Who did the voices for those them in the Denny's comercial?<<<

In person I believe it was Goelz and Nelson if I remember right. But indeed, they sounded much much different in the commericals. There's a Sweidsh Chef one now? hmmm!

///beaker///

*who wonders why Denny's inexplicably has no plans for any merchandise*

[Drtooth]

Originally posted by SuprGro78
There is a dennys in right near the Rockingham Mall in NH. That's only about an hour away from Boston and who doesn't love a mall? I have seen the commercials on my tv in somerville, MA on TNT, and TNN.
That's great news, SuperGro! Maybe I'll go there if I can get up to New Hampshire this year! As for the ads airing on cable, unfortunately I do not have cable, but maybe I can see one over someone's house. But that really honks me off, though! They don't have any Red Lobster locations around, but they air those ads!
But for those creeped out by Miss P. ordering bacon and sausage (or Pepe eating seafood, which if he lays off the shrimp, eh.. prawns, he'd be okay) this isn't really the first time this came up. I mean, look at the Pilsberry dough guy... HE EATS COOKIES!!!! (Actually, they made this a joke in an M&M's commercial, in which Patrick Warburton sees Red and Yellow eating their own candy!)
About the Statler and Waldorf ad, where one says that the deal's so good, they can't complain, it seems like they took the joke out of Muppets go to Disney world (Statler and Waldorf can't find anything to complain about, either, and start shouting that they want the place to be shut down!)

[Tera]

Wow, I'd love to see a Swedish Chef one!
My hubby and I were discussing who did the voices on the commercials, so its great to get an answer here. I didn't hear any difference in Puggy's voice at all. However, I do have a terrible ear and I've only seen the spots at 7am while getting ready for work - I can barely stop myself from walking into walls at that hour.
I can really visualize the Electric Mayhem at a Denny's. They'd have to be coming in from a late-night gig. After all, the only reason for a Denny's to exist is to keep you from starving at 2am (or worse, going to a Waffle House).

[Zack the Dog]

I have read about "there is supost to be a chef Denny's ad", but has anyone seen it?

I haven't read about anyone actualy seeing it.


Zack)Rowlf the, it would be nice if there is one, i think there should be a Fozzie,Gonzo, and animal one as well seeing that they have photos of them at Denny's Dog.

[SuprGro78]

I thought I was never going to hear the radio ads. July 1, I just heard one on the "todays best variety" radio station Mix 98.5 here in Boston. YAY! it ends with Piggy saying I'm glad we didn't do french. and Kermit says. I'm a frog I don't do french. old news perhaps, but I am still excited!

PS. it's been on twice in five minutes.

[Drtooth]

I never listen to Mix, so I hope it pops up on another station (I listen to WZLX, if you want to know). As for the Brando thing, big woop! Brando is one of the greatest actors in show biz, he doen't even care about his looks and balooned up to whatever, and he just doen't care about everyone else. He's like a MadTV character, annoying the Heck out of everyone and not getting punnished for it. He referred to Frank as Piggy just to annoy him (name calling often gets people in a huff!) I think that it would be an unwise decition to just give up because of Brando's capering!

[SuprGro78]

ZLX is my usual choice too. Marlon Brando was such a great actor, but then there was the Island of Dr. Moreau after that I can't take anything he does.

[beaker]

thankfully, those Denny's commercials are still on tv. I saw the Kermit and Piggy, and Statler and Waldorf one. Is there really a Swedish Chef one tho?

Also, is the 25th TMS thing still going strong at Dennys? I was wondering if anybody has been there recently...have they pulled an ljs and abandoned the posters and decorations?
Is there ANY Dennys Muppet merchandise? During their Sonic the Hedgehog promotion they had these little booklets for the kids meal and plushes...do they have those mini booklets for the Muppets?

And gee, why is it there is NO Muppet mention on their official site? Hmmmmmmmmmm...

[Foreignman]

Well, it's well hidden, but there is a mention of the Muppet-Denny's celebration unser their specials section, here's a link:
LINK Hogthrob (http://www.dennys.com/menu/Specials.asp)

[Drtooth]

Maybe there is a kid's meal promotion. The only way to find out is to dress like a little kid and order one. I dunno! We don't see to much of them places here! I felt the same pain during the Pepe Long John Silver things. Oh. And if anyone can grab some posters that they'll throw out, let's make a deal and I'll buy one from ya!

[beaker]

Hey guys! I went to Dennys last night for the first time in awhile. Aside from a Kermit cutout standup, assorted Animal and Fozzie meal posters and Miss Piggy on a poster(love to have that one!) thats about it. The workers didnt even notice my Electric Mayhem shirt, but I did get some great Muppet related writing done in my notebook(my new figure wish list)
And I even checked out the kid's meal booklet, no Muppets there either...hmmm...man, that stinks, two major Muppet/restaurant promotional tie ins this year and NO merchandise! :(

So Pepe a spokesprawn for Taco Bell? Im all for that!
Then again I thought Bad Andy was cool beans.

[EmmyMik]

I finally heard one of these commercials this morning on the radio.

My radio usually goes off at 7:45 to wake me up (however I sleep in 15 minutes). So as I'm sleepin' in, the commercial airs. Although I thought it was a dream. I only realized that it was the commercial when I heard Steve's Kermit (whenever the Muppets appear in one of my dreams, Kermit always sounds like Jim's Kermit).

I can't remember anything about the commercial (except Eric's Piggy rocks!), mainly because I just woke up, and I was giggling at my luck...

[bizarreblair]

I live in Chicago and I thought I recognized the waitress in the Piggy/Kermit Denny's commercial. Turns out...I did! There's a local tv show over here called "Wild Chicago" in which the funny and talented staff showcases quirky area businesses, celebrations, conventions, etc... Well I swore the waitress in the Denny's commercial (red hair, taking Piggy & Kermit's order) was one of the reporters for this show, although my wife disagreed. Well, we have a friend who is an intern on the show & my wife happened to have lunch with her today...Lo and behold I was right. She talked about how the Henson people were "very protective" of the Muppets in the sense that no food/drinks were allowed ANYWHERE near them. She said there is a woman whose job it is to "primp" the Muppets before the appearances, and she also mentioned that there is usually only one of each Muppet in existence (which we knew). Just thought I'd pass this info along. I haven't gotten a chance to talk with her, so I may have more "inside stuff" in the future. Oh yeah, she said the actress only had a 13 week contract, so she doesn't expect to see the commercials anymore!

[frogboy4]

Thank you so much for the info! Very interesting!!!!

[Zack the Dog]

I was told by one of the Denny's workers that the permotion ends september 15.

Zack)Rowlf the, and if they still have the kermit cardboard thing i can have it then, i don't think it will last that long,Dog.

[The Gobeek]

These commercials disturb me slightly. The piggy and kermit one is awesome- except for the fact that piggy is ordering bacon. Statler and Waldorf sound crazy though. I just don't think it sounds like them at all. I really don't know how I feel about the Muppets advertising for Denny's. It would be better if they had toys or something fun!

[frogboy4]

I think the characters sound fine, but their voices seem to have been electronically sped up and they are definitely waaay out of synchronization with the mouth movement. But the pitch and likeness seem to be the same to me.

Was there ever a Chef commercial? I heard one report of one from somebody who didn't really seem to know what she was talking about.

[towels]

I saw the S/W one for the first time last night. I think it's in a really long line like "Did you know you can get.....yadda yadda...blah blah...for only $8.99?" where the voice sounds the oddest. The shorter little lines don't give you as much chance to notice.
IMO of course.

[Zack the Dog]

I think if there was a chef one out now one of us would have seen it, maybe they will make one,they have all next month if the promtion ends in september.

Zack)Rowlf the,Dog.