Muppet Fan Podcasts with ToughPigs.com

Over ToughPigs' 20 years in existence, Ryan Roe has served as co-owner for 15 of them. In that time, Ryan has written over a thousand articles, hosted hundreds of podcasts, interviewed Muppet visionaries, and generally helped keep the lights on. And now we're chatting with him all about his time running the greatest Muppet fan site in the history of Muppet fan sites! You can read all of Ryan's articles here, follow him on Twitter @MeRyanRoe, and on Letterboxd at MoviesAreNeat. Select...

Soon after Danny Horn created ToughPigs.com, he recruited one other person to help contribute to his commentaries. Comedy writer Kynan Barker became the only other person to write for ToughPigs in those early days, taking the reins of several of the "My Week" series, teaming up with Danny for conversation-style pieces, and much, much more. You can view all of Kynan's articles here, and you can catch his latest work by watching Frogger, coming soon to Peacock! Select articles mentioned in...

Ever wonder who provided all that terrific artwork on the front page of Muppet fan site ToughPigs.com? It's all courtesy of our artist-in-residence Chris "Smig" Smigliano! Smig joins us for a chat about his early days providing art for MuppetZine, creating the ToughPigs logo, and his decades of creating brilliant fan artwork of the Muppets! Select articles mentioned in this episode: MuppetZine archive Playing with Dolls Smig's art spotlights

Introducing TOUGHPIGS AT 20, a brand new podcast miniseries celebrating the 20th anniversary of the premiere Muppet fan site ToughPigs.com. In this series, we'll be hosting interviews with all the writers and artists who helped make ToughPigs what it is today. Episode #1 features an extended interview with ToughPigs founder Danny Horn. We're covering the website's humble beginnings as MuppetZine, the origins of the My Week series, Grover's Mom, and when Jim Henson met Big Boy.

For the past 10 weeks you've listened to Jarrod and Joe surprise each other with guests, performing interviews with literally zero preparation. It's been chaotic, insightful, terrifying and extremely fun. This week our hosts are together again to wrap up the first season and give you some of the inside goss. How do we schedule these things? How do we deal with timezones? Which potential guests said no? Which celebritie's publicists said no on their behalf? Listen and find out who had...

This week Joe surprises Jarrod with Bill and Gene Barretta, aka The Barretta Brothers! Bill is of course known as one of the core Muppet performers for the past 25 years with characters like Pepe, Rowlf and the Swedish Chef, and his brother Gene is an illustrator who has worked for Sesame Street, as well as doing the storyboards for Muppets From Space. Last year the brothers began a YouTube series called The Barretta Brothers, where they've interviewed fellow performers, Muppet writers,...

This week Jarrod surprises Joe with the personification of delight herself, Leslie Carrara-Rudolph! Leslie has worked on a myriad of Muppet/Henson projects over the years, like Muppets Tonight, Wubbulous World of Doctor Suess, and Animal Jam, and has played Abby Cadabby on Sesame Street since 2006! Aside from that, Leslie has worked on shows like The Simpsons and Nature Cat, and (when she can) does live shows with her sock puppet Lolly Lardpop, which reguarly garners great acclaim! Listen...

This week Joe surprises Jarrod with some guy named Eric Jacobson. If, like Jarrod, you'd never heard of him, he plays small time characters like Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Sam Eagle, Bert, Grover and recently took over Oscar the Grouch from the late Caroll Spinney. Eric has been one of the core Muppet performers for almost 20 years, and has worked on every Muppet production in that time. He has sung with Celine Dion, done sketches with Seth Rogen, and has read books with Michelle...

On 'To Introduce Our Guest Star' this week we welcome writer and director Nick Stoller! Alongside Jason Segel, Nick wrote the 2011 movie 'The Muppets', as well as it's sequel 'Muppets Most Wanted' with director James Bobin. Nick has had a huge career in comedy, directing 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall', 'Get Him To The Greek' and the 'Neighbors' films, as well as writing more family friendly stuff like 'Storks' and the recent Dora the Explorer film. Listen as we discuss Nick's learning curve...

This week on 'To Introduce Our Guest Star', Joe surprises Jarrod with longtime Muppet performer and star of Broadway's Avenue Q, Jen Barnhart! Jen has had a huge career on shows like It's A Big Big World, The Book of Pooh and, of course, Sesame Street, where she took over the role of Zoe after Fran Brill's retirement, as well as playing new human Charli's mom! Listen as we discuss Snuffy's mom, massage therapy, Avenue Q, criminal admissions and Jen's dual role as a Sesame human performer...

On 'To Introduce Our Guest Star' this week Jarrod surprises Joe with the one and only Dave Goelz! Known for his many decades playing characters like Gonzo and Bunsen Honeydew, Dave has worked on every major Muppet production (even a couple of days on Sesame Street) and continues to this day. Listen as we discuss the perks of anonymity, the best Gonzo costumes, dinner with Peter Sellers, the Goelz family taking over Hollywood, and so much more.

On 'To Introduce Our Guest Star' this week Joe surprises Jarrod with writer and director Kirk Thatcher! For over 30 years Kirk has worked on some of the world's favorite Muppet stuff, like Muppet Treasure Island, Dinosaurs, Bohemian Rhapsody and the live Hollywood Bowl and O2 shows. Listen as we discuss a fan funded Muppet movie, what Walter might do with a cake, Kirk's approach to directing, and a heck of a lot of Christmas chat, because we recorded this in December! ...like, a LOT of...

On this week’s episode of To Introduce Our Guest Star, Jarrod surprises Joe with Grammy and Academy Award winner Paul Williams! Among many things in his career, Paul famously wrote the songs from The Muppet Movie with Kenny Ascher, and returned to write the songs for Muppet Christmas Carol and Letters To Santa. Listen as we discuss the meaning behind Can You Picture That, the definiton of an ‘I Am’ song, Paul’s time writing for Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas, the love for Rainbow...

On this week's episode Joe surprises Jarrod with Muppet performer Stacey Gordon, who has been playing Julia on Sesame Street since Season 47. Julia's debut made headlines around the world as she was the first Muppet with autism, something Stacey is very familiar with. Listen as we discuss Julia's impact on the community, the audition process getting on the show, and a lot more talk of Chip & Dale than you'd expect on a Muppet podcast.

On this week's episode Joe surprises Jarrod with Muppet performer Stacey Gordon, who has been playing Julia on Sesame Street since Season 47. Julia's debut made headlines around the world as she was the first Muppet with autism, something Stacey is very familiar with. Listen as we discuss Julia's impact on the community, the audition process getting on the show, and a lot more talk of Chip & Dale than you'd expect on a Muppet podcast.

We're excited to a launch a brand new podcast, 'To Introduce Our Guest Star' for ToughPigs.com! Over the coming weeks, Jarrod and Joe will take it in turns to surprise each other with guests from the world of The Muppets, Sesame Street and The Jim Henson Company. In our first episode we're joined by Emilio Delgado, famous for his role as Luis on Sesame Street for over 40 years. We discuss the importance of Latina characters on television, the death of Mr Hooper, the work ethic of Jim...

It's our wrap-up episode! We're talking about the presentation pilot that preceded this show, and summarizing our feelings on the series as a whole. With both of your hosts, Joe and Ryan! PLUS: Muppets and sex! Why did they recast Fozzie's girlfriend? Is it funny that Piggy doesn't recognize Gonzo? The agony of cancellation! And long-lost Muppet TV pilots that never got off the ground! Hosted by Joe Hennes and Ryan Roe Guests Nobody Edited by Joe Hennes Theme Music by Staci Rosen Logo...

We're talking about Episode 16, "Because... Love," in which Kermit & Miss Piggy both ponder reuniting. With TWO special guests: Tough Pigs' own Dave Hulteen and Matt Wilkie, who witnessed the taping of this episode! PLUS: Are we Team Kermit or Team Piggy? How the heck does Kermit flip a coin?! What should the Muppets have for lunch? The greatness of Bobby Benson's babies! How the heck does Kermit jump out a window?! And the return of very weird Muppets! Hosted by Ryan Roe Guests Matt...

We're talking about Episode 15, "Generally Inhospitable," in which Miss Piggy breaks her ankle and the Muppets become kidnappers. With special guest Jarrod Fairclough from MuppetMindset.com! PLUS: Is Miss Piggy more polite than Beyonce? The difference between funny & disturbing Muppet injuries! What's up with Deadly's teeth? Are Sweetums & Robin friends? Is Pache a bad character, or a well-acted obnoxious character? And are drunk and drugged Muppets funny? ALSO: Watch Jarrod's Arrested...

We're talking about Episode 14, "Little Green Lie," in which Kermit tells Robin a falsehood and Gonzo tries to balance romance and friendship. With very special guest Brian Jay Jones, author of Jim Henson: The Biography! PLUS: The genius of Big Mean Carl! Is laser tag fun? Bobo gets fitted for a suit! How tacky is the ironic pillow fight? And should the Swedish Chef be subtitled? Hosted by Ryan Roe Guest Brian Jay Jones Edited by Ryan Roe Theme Music by Staci Rosen Logo by Joe Hennes