Top Ten: My Favorite Muppets... And Yours?
Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at 11:00PM 
Camilla's favorite muppet is Gonzo. Duh!I'm going to let Kurt close out our Muppet week tomorrow with a holiday-specific post but before we stop oohing and aahing about our favorite felt friends, I just had to share this weird revelation. Over Thanksgiving break, while drinking with my closest friends I asked everyone "What's your favorite muppet?". Somehow I didn't know the answer to this question at all and I was shocked to discover that everyone's favorite Muppet described something very very real about them, though people weren't really giving explanations. For example, one of my friends, who fears nothing more than publicly humiliating himself and is wildly accident prone said "Tie: Fozzy and Beaker", another who is frustratingly cynical and hard to please said "Statler and Waldorf" instantly, and another who is just about the most efficient organized stage manager type you'll ever met said "Scooter". I didn't know that Scooter was anyone's favorite Muppet let alone one of my closest friends! It went on like that around the table, the answers were always telling.
I highly suggest trying this the next time you're partying with your close friends and report back. I feel safe in guessing that you'll be shocked at how well their favorite reflects them... which makes me appreciate this video about the adult personas of the Muppets much more.
For what it's worth I thought I'd list my ten favorites muppets off the top of my head. I'm sure I've forgotten someone I love but such are off the top of your head lists.
Nathaniel's Favorite Muppets
order varies and sometimes someone else will steal a spot away from them.
10 ROBIN THE FROG
09 SWEETUMS
08 ROWLF
07 JANICE
06 STATLER & WALDORF
and the total favorites. always the favorites.
05 BEAKER
04 KERMIT THE FROG
03 ANIMAL
02 GONZO
01 MISS PIGGY
Beaker and Animal make me laugh harder than any other muppets. Kermit and Gonzo really hit me emotionally on occassion. Though The Muppet Movie (1979) is clearly the best Muppet Movie, my actual favorite is The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984) because it's the one that Miss Piggy just thoroughly owns. I lived for her appearances as a little boy. And what that says about me I can guess but would prefer not to!
YOUR TURN. Please to share yours in the comments. What did you think of the new movie and are you hoping that "Life's a Happy Song" or one of the other numbers from The Muppets (2011) gets nominated at the Oscars?
Muppets, Tues Top Ten, musicals
Reader Comments (23)
One of my favorites has always been Rowlf...I'm not really sure what that says about me.
So since you're favorite is Miss Piggy does that mean you are a diva or have diva tendencies? :)
Seeing the movie Saturday. Can't wait. I like them all, but my top 5 would probably be, in no order, Kermit, Piggy, Swedish Chef, Beaker, Blonde "Chick" In The Band
Top 5, in order, are:
5. Marvin Suggs and the Muppaphones (yes, I'm serious)
4. Dr. Bunsen Honeydew & Beeker
3. Camilla
2. Miss Piggy... How could moi not?
1. Kermit. For ever, for always, Kermit.
I feel Rowlf has always been the most underrated Muppet, in a way. For that and for his dry sense of humor, he is my favorite. Fozzie comes in at second because he shares my love of really bad jokes, and for his hilarious arhythmic butchering of "I Got Rhythm" on an episode of The Muppet Show.
I really enjoyed the new movie. I was surprised at how much it resonated with me, though movies about characters being forgotten/underappreciated/rediscovered always seem to strike a chord. Interesting that Hugo hit a lot of the same notes.
It's the Swedish chef that makes me laugh hysterically every time he opens his gurdy mouth. What does that say about me?
1. Beaker
2. Janice
3. Miss Piggy
4. Kermit
5. Gonzo
I was really hoping for a moment during The Muppets where they had Janice talking about something completely irrelevant. Nothing could beat "Look, Mother. It's my life. OK. So if I want to live on a beach and walk around naked... Oh" from The Great Muppet Caper though! Always makes me laugh hysterically.
Seeking Amy -- i love you for quoting that. One of my friends says that line ALL the time and we just laugh and laugh. Janice is great! I really feel like the new movie didn't do enough with Dr Teeth and the Electric Mayhem Band.
correction - 'the great muppet caper' is clearly the greatest muppet movie.
and janice gets my vote too (although I fail to see how that reflects me)
Kermit way out in front, and then Rowlf.... though I agree with you that Beaker and Animal are hard to rival as laugh-getters.
Did you catch Miss Piggy's little feature in the Out 100 issue? It's not only hilarious and wonderful, but an amazing that the Muppets would even be allowed in the magazine. Just goes to show what a wonderful group they are, right?
Gonzo is my absolute favorite though I think I prefer Muppet Babies Gonzo to Muppet Gonzo. As you say, he can really bring it with the touching moments. Fozzie is second-- he's so sweet. Swedish Chef is third-- his singing in the most recent movie had me in stitches.
I don't know much about her, but Janice is fun-- to me, she's the Muppet version of Phoebe Buffay. Or maybe I should say Phoebe is the human version of Janice.
And "Life's a Happy Song" is not one of my favorites from the most recent movie. It's better than Chris Cooper's rap, for sure, but "Pictures in My Head" was my favorite from the movie. The jury's still out for me on "Man or Muppet."
I can't believe you picked the exact same 10 as i would and the little miss piggy stuff as a kid is just like me,is it a gay thing u think.
I love Fozzy. In the new movie, I was laughing very hard at the fart shoes.
1. Janice (Needless to say I was pissed by her lack of lines in the new film, not to mention the failure of Segel and Co. to have a scene where everyone stops talking but Janice, as she riffs on walking around naked or whatnot.)
2. Beaker
3. Kermit the Frog
4. Miss Piggy
5. Gonzo
6. Scooter
7. Sweetums
8. Fozzie
9. Swedish Chef
10. Statler/Waldorf
Some of my very favorite Muppets are on Sesame Street: I still adore Cookie, Grover, and the Two-Headed Monster. Kermit makes my list. I adore Zoot, love love love Zoot. Swedish Chef of course. That's six. Gonzo, Piggy, Statler & Waldorf make ten.
So glad to see Rowlf listed although I do think he deserves a higher spot.
Animal. It has always been Animal. When I was very young, my grandma had a stuffed Animal puppet that I would take everywhere when I was with my grandparents. Somewhere there is a picture of me sitting down to lunch with Animal next to me, eating the table. I think it's his voice that always drew me to him. And the fact that I could blame anything wild and crazy on Animal, as I would never do such things!
The rest, (mostly) in order: Gonzo, Beaker & Bunsen Honeydew, the rest of Dr. Teeth & the Electric Mayhem (I can't see them as anything but a group), Rizzo the Rat, Statler & Waldorf, Sweetums, Kermit, Rowlf, Miss Piggy, and Fozzie. When I was younger, I loved Swedish Chef, but not so much anymore.
I prefer Muppet Babies to The Muppets -- The Great Muppet Caper is everything -- I love Muppet Babies Bunsen Honeydew and Skeeter who doesn't exist outside of Muppet Babies canon.
Nat, I think anyone who has read your blog for any significant amount of time would have guessed your favorite muppet is Miss Piggy, seeing how you never hide your love of divas. I would never pick her because I often have a problem with her behavior (as with any divas, and trust me, I was in enough High School musicals with divas and they can be a pain to work with). But, that's what it says about me (I do love Miss Piggy, I just don't like her behavior sometimes).
While I enjoy every single one of the Muppets, I have to pick Kermit as my favorite. I love his loyalty. I love that he's always caring for his friends and I love how he recognizes talent in everyone (and I identify with his embarassment every time he can't give someone what they want).
I have always heard that the way people describe their pets is supposed to be how they really feel about themselves. I love that this goes for the Muppts, too!
My favorites are Animal, Fozzie, Kermit, Rowlf and my very favorites are Waldorf and Statler and Miss Piggy, who definitely represent different sides of me- the cynical and the overemotional.
I saw the movie last night. My boyfriend and I have had a rough couple of weeks of bad news with living and job situations and some deaths of loved ones. If ever we needed the muppets, it was now and they did not disappoint. It's hard to say if my reaction to the movie was influenced by nostalgia, metanostalgia, or that it was a good movie. I'll say that the part that I laughed the most at was Camilla's number in the telethon.
The Muppets Take Manhattan is one of those movies that has always been able to cheer me up. Love it.
1.Swedish Chef 2.Piggy 3.Rowlf 4.Sweetums 5.Animal 6.Beeker 7.Camila 8. Fozzie 9.Janice 10.Gonzo.... Least Favorite: Scooter... I simply don't get it: Pepe.
Sam Eagle!