Muppet drunks

Drunks, while in real life alcoholism is a serious condition, have been a source of comedy for centuries. The comedic drunk was a stock character and routine, and comedians such as Foster Brooks (on Dean Martin roasts and elsewhere) carved entire careers based on the type. The comedy drunk most often came in two varieties, as far as appearance. One type was unsteady but genteel and well dressed (acknowledging the fact that it usually took money to be able to drink heavily), usually clad in evening wear (such as a tuxedo) and often a top hat. Character actor Jack Norton typified this version in films of the 1930s and 1940s, while it was later represented by Dudley Moore in Arthur (which at times acknowledged the more realistic outcomes of alcoholism).
The other type was often more disheveled or unshaven and, when wearing a hat, it would often be backwards or the brim turned or tilted, tie would be loosened, clothes baggy, and otherwise indicate someone who was either lower class or had let their appearance deteriorate under the influence. Otis Campbell on The Andy Griffith Show, Red Skelton in various routines, Frank Fontaine as Crazy Guggenheim, and many others fit this category. Laurel and Hardy foil Arthur Housman, another drunk specialist, would alternate between the two types. Regardless of attire, they tend to have slurred speech and often hiccup (a specialty used by Mel Blanc for radio and cartoon drunks).
Below are Muppet characters whose personality and existence are defined entirely by being the stock comedy drunk. For instances in which otherwise usually sober characters partook of strong spirits, see Muppets imbibing alcohol.
==Muppet drunks==
Letmein.jpg|A drunk (played by Jim Henson) wearing an awkward battered hat sings "Let Me In"
FlipWilson-Drunks.jpg|A drunk (played by Frank Oz) wearing a tux in a bar sketch on The Flip Wilson Show.
Character.pickled.egg.jpg|The Pickled Egg
==Illustrated==
Drunkfrog-muppetscomic.jpg|A drunken stunt frog (visually indicated by his crossed eyes, disheveled hair, crooked grin with tongue, and the cocktail glass in his hand)from the January 08, 1984 installment of The Muppets comic strip.
==Honorable mentions==
* While the El Sleezo Cafe in The Muppet Movie is filled with hard drinking patrons, one human extra in particular fills the traditional comedy drunk role: seen hanging around the piano with a cheerfully sozzled expression, awkwardly worn hat, and with his shirt collar loose.
* For a quickie in Sesame Street Episode 0447, Maria impersonates W. C. Fields as a drunk to demonstrate the H word "hiccup."
Elsleezodrunk.jpg|Human drunk in The Muppet Movie
0447d.jpg|Maria channeling W. C. Fields on Sesame Street
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Category:Unnamed Characters
Category:Muppet Characters
Category:Muppet Character Types
Category:Adult Themes