_headshot.jpg)
The Land of Gorch is a series of stories in episodes from the first season of the comedy television showSaturday Night Live. It was special because it includedJim Henson'sMuppets. Before he worked onSesame Street, Henson had made his puppet characters for a more adultaudience, including his showSam and Friends.[3] His characters were regular appearances on the late-night-comedy television shows includingThe Ed Sullivan Show.[4] AfterSesame Street, Henson was afraid that he would only be able to get work in the future on children's television series. His friend and advisor Bernie Brillstein, who also representedGilda Radner,Dan Aykroyd, andJohn Belushi, helped him move over from his prior work toSaturday Night Live.[2][5]
The idea behindThe Land of Gorch was that it had Muppet characters in a far-away place, who were members of aroyal family.[6] They behaved rudely, with many references to drug abuse, sex, and drinking alcohol.[7] Characters included King Ploobis and Queen Peutra and children, and servants Scred and Vazh.[6] These characters often spoke to their wise prophet Mighty Favog for advice.[8]
The staff ofSaturday Night Live disagreed with Henson's ideas.[9] WritersMichael O'Donoghue,Alan Zweibel, andAl Franken often tried to avoid writing the weekly sketches involvingThe Land of Gorch.[9][10][1] Henson felt they were trying to write forsituational comedy and were not keeping true to his own ideas.[11]Frank Oz agreed in the end that the match was not perfect betweenSaturday Night Live andThe Land of Gorch, and was thankful that by the end of the year he and Henson were able to move on toThe Muppet Show.[12]
The Land of Gorch influenced many later creations by Jim Henson.[6] His feature filmThe Dark Crystal used both puppetry techniques and story ideas from the sketches.[13][6]The Jim Henson Company television showDinosaurs later contained similar story ideas previously seen inThe Land of Gorch, including a plot-line aboutenvironmentalism.[14]
Commentators talking aboutThe Land of Gorch agreed that the reception was bad —The A.V. Club wrote that it became an open joke between the staff that no one wanted to continue having the sketches onSaturday Night Live.[10]San Francisco Chronicle called the characters the opposite ofKermit the Frog, and compared them totrolls.[15]DVD Talk called the feature the worst mistake made in the first season of theSaturday Night Live.[16]Vogue described the characters as early versions of Muppets and the world they inhabited as quite dark.[17] Academic Michael J. Bernsten wrote in his essay "The Muppetry of Nightmares" that the idea failed because the characters were not funny and did not have strong values.[8]