 | |
| URL | Muppetcast.com |
| Active | April 11, 2007 - February 13, 2017 |
| Type | unofficial podcast |
| Creator | Steve Swanson |
The MuppetCast is a weekly fan-made podcast focusing on Jim Henson and the Muppets. The podcast is produced by Muppet fan and Ohio native Steve Swanson and began its run on April 11, 2007. The podcast includes music, news reports, fan commentary and exclusive audio interviews and reports.
New episodes were usually posted on a weekly basis, with the show often running on a Sunday-release schedule.
Notable guests of the show included Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz, Kevin Clash, David Rudman, Fran Brill, Jim Lewis, Jocelyn Stevenson, Cheryl Henson, Heather Henson, Martin Baker, Pete Coogan, James Wojtal, Arthur Novell, Jane Hunt, Lylle Breier, Terry Angus, Sonia Manzano, Jason Mewes, Roger Langridge, and Noreen Young.
In 2010, the site partnered with Tough Pigs to create The Muppet Madness Tournament. In 2011, the site partnered with Tough Pigs and The Muppet Mindset to launch MuppetFans.com.
Swanson chose to end The MuppetCast in late 2011 and the final show was put online January 6, 2012. However, Swanson has on occasions used The MuppetCast under a "Special Edition" moniker when something important happens in the Muppet community.
On July 4th 2012, Steve Swanson decided to restart the show again, and episodes were to be released on a regular basis. This comeback was short-lived as personal circumstances in Swanson's life brought the podcast to an end in early 2013. However, the show came back once again on February 22, 2015 to celebrate the 2015 Muppet Madness tournament. In that episode, Swanson promised that episodes would be put out frequently, just not weekly as was common for the MuppetCast previously.
On July 4, 2016, Guy Hutchinson hosted a panel called Sesame Street Q&A with Bob McGrath and Emilio Delgado at Florida Supercon 2016, at which McGrath talked about the reformatting of Sesame Street, and how the human cast now was Nina, Chris, and Alan. Two clips of audio from this event were played in MuppetCast "Show #287: The Muppets on Broadway!" episode, released July 27, 2016. The podcast was then cited by press including Vanity Fair, ET Canada, CBC, and Rolling Stone.