This past weekend I practically overdosed on nostalgia. Two television programs from my formative years made an appearance.
The first had me wondering – why are there so many songs about rainbows?
Guesses anyone?
Yes, for those of us a certain age, that would be the opening lyric to The Rainbow Connection sung by the loveable Muppets.
Friday night, I decided to watch the 2011 movie – The Muppets. In case you haven’t seen it, it’s about about three fans who help the Muppets try and save their old theater from a greedy oil tycoon (played fiendishly by Chris Cooper). As expected, it was a pleasant combination of drama, humor and songs. I loved it and immediately watched it again with my hubby.
Back in the day, I watched The Muppet Show every week and it was really nice to remember how different life was back in the late seventies and early eighties. And while I have never completely watched the original Muppet movie, I still got all teary when Kermit sang The Rainbow Connection.
The other program that ate up most of my Sunday was the mini-series Shogun. Anyone remember it? I sure do. And I’ve watched it in re-runs before, however, Encore actually showed scenes that I know were never aired in the States back in September 1980.
For example, I know that there was no nudity or serious curse words (like the F-word!!). And there are scenes from the book that were filmed but never shown – like the entire love story between Kiku and Omi. So in some ways it was like discovering the series all over again.
But the best moment for me was when younger son flopped onto the couch next to me, watched Richard Chamberlain for a moment then asked, “Is that Chuck Norris?”
Seriously, sometimes you can’t make this stuff up!
Casey Wyatt 
I have Willy Nelson on my Ipod singing Rainbow Connection. Love it!
It’s a great song. I’ve had it stuck in my head all week though!
That’s good to know about the new Muppet movie. I love Amy Adams, and was that Ewan MacGreggor (or however you spell his name?) Anyway, it looks great, and I’m always up for a fun, campy film. Plus the songs are so great. (Though now I’m going to be singing “Rainbow Connection” for the rest of the day. That’s all right. It’s a pleasant song. I’d rather have that in my head than a lot of other songs.)
I love Ewan McGregor, but he wasn’t in the movie. It was Jason Segel. And sorry about getting the song stuck in your head Caryn. I’ve been hearing it in my brain all week!
Ah! I remembered wrong. Still, Jason Segel would be fun, too. And I actually now have a different song in my head from reading someone else’s blog. Apparently my head is very suggestible. 😀
LOL! 🙂
I didn’t even think about it, but guess what we’re listening to right now? Mahna Mahna. At my two-year-old’s request. Now THAT is a Muppet song you can get in your head for days.
Nooooooo! Not Mahna Mahna!!
Doot-do-do-do! Mahna Mahna Doot-do-do-do!!
LOL!
Seriously? I can re-watch Shogun? My very favorite book which the mini-series could not capture but still… it wasn’t half bad. On Encore, huh? I have to check it out.
Yes. It’s on one of Encore’s specialty channels. I think it specializes in mini-series and stuff. I really enjoyed re-watching it all again, even with my younger son commenting on the cheesy ’80s soundtrack.
I had no idea that Encore was airing the mini-series Shogun. I love that program.
Great post – thanks for sharing.
Thanks Janna. Like I said earlier, it was one of Encore’s specialty channels that was showing it.
My kids literally jumped for joy when they saw that The Muppets DVD had arrived from Kidspot! They’ve seen muppet movies before and enjoyed them so were very keen to watch this one too.The movie is really cool, mixing muppets with live actors, just like the old TV show – and they even throw in some extremely catchy song and dance numbers. The first one with Jason Segel and Amy Adams is a real feel-good song – it makes you want to get up and dance. Amy’s song in the restaurant is funny and the Muppet or a Man song was a bit of a shock when Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory turns up in it! I had those songs going round in my head for days afterwards.As well as the new character Walter there’s all the old gang too, including Kermit, Miss Piggy (that pig is so stylish!), Fozzie and a chilled out Animal (but not for long). Kermit is so sweet in this movie, you just want to give him a big hug! I’m a big Amy Adams fan so that was a big plus. I’ve not seen Jason Segel in anything else but I thought he was good. The inclusion of Jack Black as the “guest star” is hilarious.The kids loved the movie and watched the whole thing with great interest. My youngest has since watched it again – a sign that he loves the movie – and I have no doubt it will get regular viewing. Definitely a great movie for the whole family and perfect for a family movie night.Thanks Kidspot!
I used to love watching the muppets when I was younger and Gonzo was a favourite, I had forgotten his girlfriends name was Camilla, had to look that up. The good old days!