Puppet Masters of None

This week, your favorite ex-puppeteers tackle the foam-rubber fiasco known as Mac and Me—the 1988 E.T. knockoff so brazen, it makes you wonder if anyone at the studio had actually seen E.T. (or sobriety). We dig into the wobbly alien puppetry, the animatronics that look like they were powered by a car battery on its last legs, and of course, that infamous McDonald’s dance sequence that plays like a fever dream sponsored by fries. Along the way, we’ll explore how this cult catastrophe came to ...

This week, your favorite ex-puppeteers turn up the heat—literally—as they dive into the towering, flame-bound tradition of Zozobra, the giant puppet who goes up in smoke every year at Santa Fe’s legendary Fiestas de Santa Fe. Standing over 50 feet tall and packed with gloom (and a lot of fireworks), Zozobra isn’t your average marionette—he’s a full-blown cultural catharsis. We trace his origins back to 1924, explore how a papier-mâché behemoth became the ultimate community puppet, and share t...

This week, on PMoN your favorite ex-puppeteers leap headfirst into The Frog Prince—the 1971 Muppet television special that proved true love’s kiss is even weirder when the smooch involves felt. We revisit Kermit in his pre-Muppet Show side hustle, meet Robin the Frog in his debut role, and marvel at the gloriously oddball supporting cast (looking at you, witchy Taminella Grinderfall). Along the way, we hop through the special’s fairy-tale roots, behind-the-scenes Henson magic, and the slightl...

Annnnnnnnnd WE'RE BACK! And what a triumphant return it is! In this ogre-sized episode, your favorite former-puppeteers-turned-podcast-hosts dive headlong into the swampy world of Shrek the Musical—because nothing says "puppetry" like a talking gingerbread man and a 25-foot-long fire-breathing dragon. This week, the lads welcome not one but two fairy-tale royalty guests Jack O'Connell the director of Shrek the Musical at the Elkhorn Community Theatre and the show’s puppet designer and builder...

**SMASH** **BREAKS GLASS** Well folks, here we are with another emergency pod, reviewing another one of Heather Henson's Handmade Puppet Dreams films. This time we opted to forgo spinning the wheel to just go ahead and watch a film suggested to us by a friend over on the discord! (shout out to L_Troemel!) For the uninitiated, Handmade Puppet Dreams is a series of short films produced by Heather Henson and her puppet company Ibex Puppetry. Founded in 2004, Handmade puppet dreams has prov...

"The sun is shining it's a lovely day, but you've got lots of bills to pay." Welcome one and all to Puppet Masters of None's second explicit episode! While we try to keep it family friendly on this show, the content we are review today is so adult, so vile, so incredibly depraved, we can't even talk about it without wading around in the muck ourselves, so here we are. This week the boys discuss part 2 of the Tony Award winning musical, Avenue Q! This mature Sesame Street parody has all the cy...

Love is in the air! This week on PMoN, the boys go back to the Muppet roots with the first Muppet Show pilot episode, The Muppets Valentine Show! For those counting this is ANOTHER pilot separate from the Sex and Violence pilot they discussed in episode 43. This silly holiday romp guest stars the incomparable Mia Farrow, and features some great moments from lesser known characters like Mildred Huxtetter, Crazy Harry ne Crazy Donald, and our big blue loveable friend Thog! Does this p...

It's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights, it's time to SPIN THE MUPPET SHOW'S MAGICAL MONTHLY MUPPET SHOW OF THE MONTH! And this time it landed on (drum roll) STEVE MARTIN! Once again, the PMoN boys have quite differing opinions on this one! While the boys both appreciate the comedy genius that is the legendary Steve Martin, they have different ideas as to how effective his brand of comedy happens to be in this particular outing with The Muppets. Who's who? You'll just have ...