When we think of a Muppet getting tepid laughs and lengthy silences in response to their crowd work, it’s usually endlessly failed stand-up comic Fozzie Bear. Troupe impresario Kermit The Frog tends to get a better response, whether he’s making the talk show rounds, or just appearing on one of the various Muppet-based TV shows or films. So it’s kind of wild to watch Kermit out in the wild this week, giving a commencement address (at Jim Henson alma mater the University Of Maryland), and have a number of gags be greeted with what seemed to be little more than respectful silence from the matriculating students.
Maybe it was just the audio on the various feeds, but Kermit—voiced by Matt Vogel, who took over the part after all the unpleasantness with Steve Whitmire went down back in 2017—had some very “Why isn’t this landing?” vibes, trotting out a lot of material about flies, and some hyper-local references that do not seem to have killed the way writers may have been expecting. The actual content of the speech, at least, seemed to go over better: Kermit emphasized the importance of making connections, of not stepping on other people to get ahead, and the need to embrace family, either found or otherwise. (Vogel also worked in a reference to his other regular gig at Sesame Street, where he’s the modern main performer for Big Bird and The Count.) Everybody also seemed at least moderately delighted to sing “Rainbow Connection” for a second at the end, because even the hard-hearted graduates of Maryland aren’t entirely made of stone.
Still, this does feel like a demonstration of the limits of the current Disney-owned incarnation of Kermit, who hasn’t appeared regularly in anything since ABC’s Muppets show ended back in 2016. Is it possible the youths are no longer as fascinated by fly jokes told by frogs? Or does doing some pretty rote comedy bits feel beneath a character who was once a model of self-effacing, warm sincerity? (Is this just a way of us saying we’re sad all over again that Jim Henson is dead? Totally possible.) At least the event managed to produce at least one memorably awkward moment right at the end: There’s nothing quite like watching a university president like U of M’s Darryll Pines having to politely make small talk with a small felt frog.
