Now, elsewhere, I have talked about how I remember watching Battlestar Galactica as a child and how it influenced my mind and sparked my love of Science Fiction. I've also talked, again elsewhere, about how I first caught a glimpse of an episode of Transformers and it made me seek out the classic show. To the point where I now collect them and enjoy the characters. What I've never touched upon is my first TV memory.
It wasn't that, but I still love that sketch. It's that one song I have stuck in my head at the most in opportune moments.
Still not that, but I have to share my neuroses sometimes.
Back to the point, my first TV memory was watching Sesame Street. I'm not too proud to admit it and it played a big part in my mental landscape. You see as well as the above something I haven't talked about is my love of puppets. If you know me away from computers you know that along with videos, books and an ungodly amount of cast plastic I have a lot of cuddly toys. I can't throw my voice or stitch worth a damn, but I have a load of hand puppets.
I worry more than a few of my friends and colleagues when I turn up to meetings with dirty, bedraggled hand puppets that look inquisitively around. Hundreds of these "people" loiter around my house. Rascal, the crafty ol' Fox that's afraid of Bat's and his wife Vicky Vixen, but nothing else. The twin polar bears, Artos and Gwinny, that got lost in a snowstorm (true story!) and hate the cold. The Irish SAS Cat, Patrick O'Pheline (don't ask, seriously, that one confuses even me). Torquil, the old hedgehog that's spikes have curled up and enjoys hibernation so much he does it all year, unless there's a ham sandwich near by.
That's just a few, I haven't scratched the surface. Needless to say they are all individuals and great fun to live with. When they turn up things around here take a turn for the mad. Torquil was the first and they sort of exploded from there, but why?
When I first watched Sesame Street I loved the Muppets, from Groucho the Grouch to Count Von Count. I laughed and loved the show, cheering when ever Big Bird ambled on the scene. They weren't puppets or lumps of felt, they were people on the screen, each with nuances and personalities people to this day remember. Moving on, as I grew up I found The Muppet Show hilarious, jokes that were so obvious and built up through the whole episode had a pay off and the delivery would always be fantastic. No matter how obvious or predictable the joke. Again the Characters jumped out of the screen and became memorable. Fraggle Rock, another example, was just fantastic Children's TV that even I over look sometimes but deserves all the praise it can get.
As part of our cultural heritage Jim Henson's creations were fantastic. Then he went on to make shows like The Storyteller (with no less than the fantastic voice of John Hurt as the narrator) and films of epic genius like Dark Crystal. Even after his death in 1990 Henson's company continued to just be frankly awesome.
All of these are made with puppets, complex, extravagant and beautiful puppets. They aren't for just children, the jokes are clean but great whatever age you are. There are some things you should never grow too old for. I'm glad to say I've rediscovered the awesomeness that this represents and before I go back to watch my Farscape DVD's I want everyone who stumbles across this to remember not how mad I am but how great this guy was.
Now what got me on this rant was simple. Over here in England calling someone a Muppet has become an insult. Like saying your an idiot, quite frankly I think this has to stop. We need to, how do you put it, "Take it back" Muppet isn't an insult. It's a battle cry for originality, creativity and glorious creations.
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