A good counterargument to anybody charging that The Muppets have sold out:
Rowlf, the piano-playing dog and one of my favorites of the group, was originally created for Purina Dog Chow commercials before becoming a recurring star on
The Jimmy Dean Show and then a regular on
The Muppet Show, according to
that New York Times article from a few weeks ago.
There is a embedding-disabled-by-request video of vintage Rowlf
here.
If you happen to be click-phobic, then just watch this lamer but readily-embeddable clip of Rowlf and Victor Borge playing Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2.
I loved Rowlf as a kid. He was front and center on my Muppet Lunch box in the 4th grade. (God I wish I still had that lunch box - so vintage!)
ReplyDeleteYeah, he was always my favorite. Which is probably why it doesn't bother me in the least that he was invented to sell dog food.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this means that Gonzo was initially conceived whatchamacallit food.