The Muppet Show - General Discussion

[BetterButter]

Now on Disney+

 

[KWalkerInc]

My favorite segment as a kid was "Pigs in Space."  My mom hated it.  I haven't seen this show since it aired on Hallmark, I think, around 2000 or so.  Watching some episodes then, I remembered that as a kid, I really didn't like the skits where characters would be dancing in a ballroom.  My older sister confirmed my memory of always groaning, "No!  This is boring!" whenever they showed the establishing shot of the ballroom leading into it.  The jokes were probably going over my head.

In first grade, I got to sing the Muppet Show theme with a class for a performance at the school at night.  It was only because my teacher (who was not the greatest) forgot to get me when I was in another room having reading class with the 2nd graders, so I missed the bus to go to swimming lessons.  I was very upset, so the 2nd grade teacher (who usually wasn't nice either, but way better than my teacher) invited me to sing with them as they rehearsed during that class period and to be with them in the show.  I think it was that night, so I had to just kind of mumble along based on knowing the lyrics from watching the show!

[meatball77]

I love the Swedish Chef.  It's even funnier when you realize that the hands are played by a different puppeteer than the head and they were actively trying to mess with eachother.

[Spartan Girl]

Bless you for finally starting a thread!

I'm so happy to have this on Disney+. I had forgotten how many people came on The Muppet Show; so many of them who are sadly no longer with us. 

The Star Wars/Mark Hamill one is one of the best, but my jaw dropped when they ended the Star Wars/Pigs in Space crossover skit at the end with "When You Wish Upon A Star" complete with a castle and fireworks. And this was BEFORE Disney owned eith the Muppets or Star Wars. Boy, when you know the future, irony is everywhere.

[Spartan Girl]

Watched the Christopher Reeve episode. You can always tell which guest stars were just phoning it in and which ones were genuinely having a ball being around the Muppets, and Christopher Reeve was definitely the latter.

LOL at how Miss Piggy was all over her, calling him Christopher “Perfect Body” Reeve. Of course as right as she was, hearing it brought a pang in my heart because...well, you know.

Favorite part was when Piggy was looking in his closet and he automatically said, “I didn’t bring it” meaning the Superman outfit. 

[TimothyQ]

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Edited March 15, 2021 by TimothyQ

[ruby24]

On 3/14/2021 at 11:27 AM, Spartan Girl said:

Watched the Christopher Reeve episode. You can always tell which guest stars were just phoning it in and which ones were genuinely having a ball being around the Muppets, and Christopher Reeve was definitely the latter.

LOL at how Miss Piggy was all over her, calling him Christopher “Perfect Body” Reeve. Of course as right as she was, hearing it brought a pang in my heart because...well, you know.

Favorite part was when Piggy was looking in his closet and he automatically said, “I didn’t bring it” meaning the Superman outfit. 

I love this episode! Some of my favorite Kermit/Miss Piggy episodes are in Seasons 4 and 5- the show was really firing on all cylinders at that point. It really went out on a high note in terms of guest stars, performances, all around great episodes.

[Egg McMuffin]

The one with Ethel Merman is also memorable, because they do this great medley of broadway songs , and she looks like she’s having a blast. She and Miss Piggy do a duet of “Anything You Can Do” and it’s pretty awesome, especially the ending where Piggy/Frank Oz hits this really tough high note with “Yes I can!” And Ethel looks at her and say, “Yes, you can.”

I also really like the later episodes. It’s a bit of a shame it ended where it did because I thought it was still great. But at least it saved us from seeing a show in decline.

[Spartan Girl]

Love the Lynda Carter episode. She did great singing “Rubberman Band.” 

[Prairie Rose]

On 3/14/2021 at 2:27 PM, Spartan Girl said:

Watched the Christopher Reeve episode. You can always tell which guest stars were just phoning it in and which ones were genuinely having a ball being around the Muppets, and Christopher Reeve was definitely the latter.

LOL at how Miss Piggy was all over her, calling him Christopher “Perfect Body” Reeve. Of course as right as she was, hearing it brought a pang in my heart because...well, you know.

Favorite part was when Piggy was looking in his closet and he automatically said, “I didn’t bring it” meaning the Superman outfit. 

For sure. It's probably the most bittersweet in retrospect episode of the entire run. His accident occurred just two weeks after my grandmother's passing (and Somewhere in Time was one of her all-time favorite movies). May 1995 was not a good month.

I really wish this show had gotten a Complete Series Box Set treatment. Maybe it still will someday - hopefully.

[cmahorror]

Going to recommend the podcast Muppeturgy - they are going through each episode and dissecting it and I have thoroughly enjoyed each episode. They have some interesting background information on each episode, including the guest star and song histories for each episode. They also note which guest stars seem to be enjoying their time on the show and which ones are simply phoning it in.

My favorite episode of all time is the Vincent Price episode - not really too surprising given my screen name, is it😈?

Edited March 21, 2022 by cmahorror

[Columbo]

I haven't finished the series yet, and I'm not sure it's my favourite yet, but the Lynda Carter episode in series 4 would have to be one of the most joyful half hours of television I've seen. Just the pure delight on Lynda's face, so much so she kept on laughing, was wonderful to watch.

[babyhouseman]

I didn't know they were on Disney plus. I found out thanks to Dancing with the Stars. A couple is dancing to the Muppet theme song. I loved this show when I was a kid. I'm hearing impaired, and it wasn't closed captioned back then. Now I can see what they're saying except Swedish chef. lol