dragonfire88's Full Review: Muppet Show - Season 2
I have many happy memories of watching Sesame Street and The Muppet Show when I was little. I also really liked Fraggle Rock even though I was only able to see it occasionally because I didn’t get the station it aired on. After hoping for several years that The Muppet Show would be released on DVD sets, I was thrilled when The Muppet Show - Season One came out in 2005. I’ve been looking forward to getting The Muppet Show - Season 2 on DVD as well and headed out on August 7, 2007 to get a copy.
The Muppet Show aired from 1976 to 1981 and the characters also appeared in The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper during those years. The Muppets Take Manhattan was made after the series ended and was the last Muppet movie that Jim Henson was involved in before he died. More movies and specials were done after his death. Henson had introduced several of his characters earlier, either on other shows or some commercials. Some of the Muppet characters had also been in the first season of Saturday Night Live.
The Muppet Show was a variety show run by Kermit the Frog, a frog puppet. The rest of the main cast of the show were also puppets. Once in a while the audience, who were also puppets, were briefly shown. Every episode had a guest star who would perform in sketches with different Muppet characters. As the show became more popular during the first season, bigger and more popular guest stars started appearing. The second season had some very popular stars for the time and I knew who most of them were. I still really don’t know who three of them were, but I still enjoyed the shows. Children watching this DVD set probably won’t know who several of them are, but I think they can still enjoy the episodes.
During each show, some of the scenes were set in the backstage area. Sometimes those scenes just featured some of the Muppets and other times the guest stars were involved in them as well. A few of the guest stars sang songs during those backstage moments. Bernadette Peters shared a very sweet scene with Kermit’s young nephew Robin in one of those scenes that included Peters singing a song. A few of the guest stars spent some time talking to Kermit on stage as part of the show. That happened more often in the first season. As far as I know, nothing was cut out of the episodes from season two like happened with the first season.
I really did enjoy all the episodes from the second season. There were some that I liked more than others though. I loved Steve Martin’s episode. He showed up ready to perform, and Kermit told him there was a scheduling problem and they had to cancel the show for auditions. Martin still went on, doing his very funny stand up for an audience of Muppets. That episode also allowed Statler and Waldorf to get out of their balcony to perform on stage. I think my favorite episode was probably the one featuring Elton John. He performed four of his popular songs, sometimes with The Electric Mayhem, which I really enjoyed. For Crocodile Rock, John was decked out in a feathered outfit and accompanied by singing crocodile puppets. I loved the duet he sang with Miss Piggy in which he was the one wearing a bright pink sequined jumpsuit. He was more way more flamboyant than she was.
Peter Sellers was in several scenes during his episode, including turning up briefly as his character from The Pink Panther movies. He also sang, something I didn’t know he could do. I really loved the episode that John Cleese was in. He spent the majority of the episode complaining about being on the show and trying to get out of it. He went on about there being a clause in his contract about him not working with pigs or monsters. He played a pirate trying to take over a space ship and ended his appearance by refusing to sing. He also shared a funny scene with Gonzo. I did read online that Cleese was a big fan of the show and wrote much of his episode. I did enjoy the episode with Julie Andrews as well. She sang a few songs, including one of the songs from The Sound of Music. Singer Judy Collins was in several scenes during her episode. I hadn’t known that Cloris Leachman could sing before I saw her episode. Some of the other guests, like Bob Hope and Don Knotts, didn’t do as much. Several of the guest stars from this season went on to make small appearances in The Muppet Movie.
Guest Stars In Order of Appearance Don Knotts ~ Zero Mostel ~ Milton Berle ~ Rich Little ~ Judy Collins ~ Nancy Walker ~ Edgar Bergen ~ Steve Martin ~ Madeline Kahn ~ George Burns ~ Dom DeLuise ~ Bernadette Peters ~ Rudolf Nureyev ~ Elton John ~ Lou Rawls ~ Cleo Laine ~ Julie Andrews ~ Jaye P. Morgan ~ Peter Sellers ~ Petula Clark ~ Bob Hope ~ Teresa Brewer ~ John Cleese ~ Cloris Leachman ~
I thought that every episode in season two was very funny and I was cracking up constantly while watching. Some of the things done for humor were kind of silly, but they worked. There was no way that I couldn’t laugh at Sam the eagle getting a pie to the beak after he’d been having one of his rants on how horrible the show was and how it needed more culture and dignity. Miss Piggy continued to have her fits, karate chopping other Muppets and even a couple of guest stars. Her fits always make me laugh. In one episode, Miss Piggy decided to go on a diet and her exercise attempts were extremely funny. I also really enjoyed it when the pigs decided to take over the show, complete with a green pig calling himself Kermit. Running jokes were used in a few of the episodes. They were a bit silly, but they made me laugh.
Music was very important to The Muppet Show. Several songs were performed in every episode, some more popular and recognizable than others. There weren’t that many songs that I didn’t recognize in the second season. Every episode included a few musical performances. Songs were performed by the guest stars or different Muppet characters. Muppet characters did sing with some of the guest stars. I think I probably enjoyed Miss Piggy’s duet with Elton John the most. As far as I know, he was the only guest star that actually sang his own hit songs on the show. I might be wrong about that since I had never heard of a few of the women singers before or was unfamiliar with what they did sing.
Several reoccurring sketches were used throughout the season. At the Dance had started in the first season and returned, though I don’t think it was shown as often as it had been. Different Muppet characters were shown dancing and telling jokes. The Veterinary Hospital sketch was also back and used frequently. During it, Rowlf as the doctor did tell some very corny jokes. The Swedish Chef did several of his cooking segments, sometimes being attacked by his ingredients. Those segments were incredibly funny and I really enjoyed them. I don’t remember liking his parts this much before.
The Muppet Lab segments were changed slightly by the addition of Beaker as Dr. Bunsen Honeydew’s assistant. Beaker was the test subject for the new inventions and was frequently harmed in some way while Dr. Honeydew seemed oblivious or tried frantically to hide what was happening. Pigs in Space was one of the segments that I had remembered and I was glad to see that it was in the second season. I don’t think Link or Dr. Strangepork had been around at all in the first season. The opening sequence for the show was changed slightly to the one I remembered instead of the different one used during the first season.
Some of the characters also changed a bit from how they looked in the first season. Something changed with Miss Piggy so that she looked more like how I remembered her. I there was still something slightly different, but not as noticeable as it was with how she looked in the first season. She was becoming a more prominent character and involved in some way in most of the episodes. Her obsession with Kermit was well underway, complete with her trying to make him jealous. She had her own jealous fit when he sang a song with Miss Mousey. During the last episode, she was proclaiming loyalty to her frog, but then quickly took off when it might impact her career, something that she did more than once later in The Muppet Movie.
Gonzo was more like the Gonzo I remembered, coming up with his bizarre ideas for acts. He wasn’t as timid and was becoming more important. His look changed a little bit, mostly something with his eyes. His voice still sounded a little different to me earlier in the season, but as the episodes progressed, there was a slight change and the voice didn’t sound different to me anymore. In one episode, he ended up dancing with a chicken in a pink dress after singing a song. The chicken’s name wasn’t shared, so I don’t know if it was Camilla or not. Chicken puppets turned up in more than one episode during the season.
I think a little something was done to Fozzy as well, though I’m not sure exactly what. He only did his stand up acts during the episodes a few times. Most of the time he was shown in scenes backstage with Kermit or some of the other Muppets. He did take part in different sketches, including playing the piano with Rowlf a few times. Janice no longer sounded different to me the few times she actually spoke, usually during the Veterinary Hospital sketches. Scooter was mostly running around doing things backstage, including telling the guest stars that the show was about to start. He did take part in one or two sketches. His uncle J.P., who owned the theater where the show took place, turned up a few times. Statler and Waldorf continued their heckling from the balcony, even going after Milton Berle during his episode.
I think Sam the eagle was around a bit more in the second season. He was oh so very proper and pompous, frequently complaining that there was no culture on the show and that everyone else was a weirdo. I don’t remember really liking him when I was a child, but I really like him now. His rants always cracked him up. Sometimes he was just ranting to Kermit about something and other times he was actually out on stage at a formal looking podium. It was hilarious went he talked about how shocking it was that people were walking around naked under their clothes. He was so impassioned about what he was saying until he talked about animals being naked under their fur and birds being naked under their feathers and realized that he was a bird. It was so funny.
Rowlf played different songs on his piano in almost every episode. Sometimes the guest star or other Muppets were involved and other times he was alone. The Electric Mayhem was mostly just shown when they were performing. Animal was running around backstage at times. In one episode he was looking for a new hobby and tried alligator wrestling and bowling. Robin, Kermit’s nephew, started to show up and even had the chance to perform a couple of songs. Kermit served as the MC for the show as well as performing every so often. He did sing It Ain’t Easy Being Green once. Kermit was also shown doing different things backstage, including panicking when certain things weren’t working right.
Jim Henson and Frank Oz are probably the most well known of the Muppet performers. Each of them performed several characters, many who became the more popular characters for the show. Henson was responsible for Kermit, Rowlf, Dr. Teeth, Waldorf, Swedish Chef, and the Newsman. Oz was responsible for Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Sam the eagle, and Animal. Oz also helped to perform the Swedish Chef. Dave Goelz was responsible for Gonzo, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, and Zoot. Richard Hunt performed as Scooter, Statler, Sweetums, Janice and Beaker. Jerry Nelson performed as Floyd, Crazy Harry, Dr. Julius Strangepork, and Robin the frog. All of them also performed as different various unnamed Muppets in different numbers. I have gotten to where I can usually recognize the voices that Jim Henson and Frank Oz do. All of them were able to convey emotions through their puppets so it was immediately clear when Kermit was annoyed or Miss Piggy was mad.
DVD Information
The Muppet Show - Season 2 DVD set contained all twenty-four episodes on four discs. The case opens up like a book and has two discs, one slightly above and below the other, on each panel. I really hate this type of DVD case. The main menus for each disc featured characters talking and trying to convince the audience to make a selection. A few different little bits would play if a selection wasn’t chosen fast enough. The first and third discs featured Kermit and Fozzie. Animal and Rizzo the Rat were on the other two discs. I did wonder why Rizzo was featured since he wasn’t part of the show. For each disc, there was the option to play all the episodes or pick them individually.
There were three extras included with the set on the fourth disc. The Muppets Valentine Special originally aired in 1974. There were a few characters who made it on to The Muppet Show along with others who didn’t. Certain things done in the special were very much like things that would be done on The Muppet Show, like having a guest star and musical numbers. The show was good, but there was something missing. Kermit was shown riding a bicycle during his one song. Crazy Harry was running around blowing things up, but I think they were calling him something else and he actually talked. I honestly can’t remember Crazy Harry talking. All I remember is him laughing after he set off explosions. The Weezer music video for the song Keep Fishin’ was very entertaining. The video was shot like the band was performing on The Muppet Show and the more popular Muppets were at least briefly shown. The video was very entertaining with how Miss Piggy had kidnapped the drummer.
Something called The Muppets on The Muppets featured some of the Muppet characters answering different questions. The segments were funny and entertaining. The characters were shown with newer looks than they had during the show. Miss Piggy had a different hairstyle and Gonzo had lost the hairs on the top of his head. Some characters that were introduced in the show The Muppets Tonight were also featured for some reason. I loved how Kermit and Miss Piggy were still disagreeing about their relationship. She said they were married while Kermit said they weren’t even dating. It fit so well with their characters.
On the first season DVD set there was something called Muppet Morsels that would show little bits of trivia connected to the episodes across the bottom of the screen. I thought those things were very interesting and I had been looking forward to more of that on this set. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything like that in this set. It would have been nice if there had been some interviews with the Muppet performers that are still living or even older interviews with Jim Henson.
I quickly got myself a copy of The Muppet Show - Season 2 when it came out. I enjoyed the show just as much, if not more, as I did as a child. It would have been nice if there had been more extras on the set, but I still think it is worth buying, especially for fans of The Muppet Show or the work of Jim Henson.
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