geekosystem

We don't usually go in for music videos here unless there is something really amazing that we strongly feel you need to see. Ben Folds Five doing what amounts to a very brief, musical episode of Jim Henson's classic Fraggle Rock for their latest video is precisely both of those things. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Oh, and make sure you stay all the way to the end. Just sayin'.

This past weekend marks the twentieth anniversary of the death of Jim Henson, and there really aren't any words to describe the effect that his art has had on the lives of people all across the world. Sesame Street, the longest running children's show in history, is still teaching the ABCs; the Muppets are enjoying a resurgence on YouTube, a medium they were practically born for; and even Fraggle Rock is out on DVD and has its own comic series. Disney, after a six-year indecisive lull, is finally making good on the Muppets as a brand. A new Muppet movie, ambitiously titled The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever, is in the works, and I have high hopes for Jason Segel's writing. There are many ways I could give tribute to Mr. Henson, but I'm pretty sure that the video montages, nostalgic reminiscing, and philosophic treatises are already out there for the Googling.  So I am going to talk about the Muppet movies.  The good ones, and the not so good ones, and what differentiates them.  Here's hoping the next one is among the former!