67 “Of Muppets and Marxes” featuring Eric Jacobson and Craig Shemin

Well, this one doesn’t need much explanation, does it?
Muppeteer Eric Jacobson and writer/producer/historian Craig Shemin join us for a look at the intersection of the worlds of the Marx Brothers and the Muppets. We discuss their shared roots in the Vaudeville stage, their utilization of music, and their mutual delight in creating mayhem for mayhem’s sake.
Eric and Craig also detail their efforts to evolve and modernize the iconic characters while staying true to their Jim Henson heritage, and Noah once again has to defend his criticism of the Punch and Judy scene from “Monkey Business”.
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[@BusterKeatonWatz]

Still listening to the episode so pardon me if this comes up later- but Jack Burns (of Burns & Schreiber) was a head writer on The Muppet Show. When I interviewed Jack he told me he was a big fan of The Marxes, Wheeler & Woolsey and Smith & Dale. It certainly comes across in that great series. Excellent episode as always!

[@bettylynne7364]

Pure delight, these connections are all new ideas to me. I have much Muppets material to see. ❤ get thee to it, indeed 🏃‍♀️

[@johntefteller]

I got mentioned again in this one. To explain: That radio box set, which came out in the 70s, was not authorized by Groucho and most of the recordings used on it were "stolen" or "borrowed" from my collection. Erin Fleming wanted to sue to stop it, but there were so many other people she wanted to sue for exploiting Groucho, that it just got lost in the shuffle and the company that produced it went out of business anyhow---after being sued by others, including "Light's Out" creator Arch Oboler. In any case, the only reason it is called "the bane of my existence" on this podcast is because much of it is pretty mediocre sound. All that material exists in brilliant high fidelity sound and all of it, and a whole lot more, will be coming out legitimately within the next few years though me. To be fair, I DO understand how much that collection meant to fans at the time and how it opened many eyes and ears to the Marx radio careers, which was mostly considered lost before this issue. You know, 40 years or more has passed since then and there is now a whole new generation of Marx fans so it really is an irrelevant thing now. Hang on, it's all coming soon, in brilliant sound!

[@patterson65]

Was Nostalgia Lane the company that released the box set?

[@samp.8099]

An equivalent of this episode but for Monty Python or Looney Tunes would be nice

[@AnthonyScibelli]

I would also like to see (hear?) an episode like this about the Goon Show

[@ElectraAlan]

In America we got some idea of what you Brits went through when Spike Milligan guested. I had no idea who Spike Milligan was, and I don't think it was because I was just a teenager at the time. I don't think most American adults knew, either. We're not as well versed in "The Goon Show" as you are. But I think this was the only time that happened. When John Cleese guested, we all knew who he was by that time. And Peter Sellers, well, he was a movie star. But Spike Milligan left us baffled.