The Muppet Show

As a true fan of Muppets in all their incarnations, I have been waiting for this DVD set.

The Muppet Show has to be one of the best programs produced. Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo and the gang will always make me laugh. Considering I was only 6 when the show originally aired, I'm finally able to see all the episodes in their original broadcast order. And just being able to hear all the songs and comedy bits is awesome. I'm especially looking forward to hearing all of the "Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem" songs.

The DVD set isn't loaded with extras, but it's got a "Fact Track" which has a lot of great info, although the graphic overlay sometimes interferes with the action and comedy on the screen (similar to the Back To The Future fact tracks). But the basic fact you get 24 episodes is well worth the money you spend on it (I got it for my birthday, although it retails at Wal-Mart for about 30 bucks), and I can't wait for the other seasons to come out on DVD (along with the season of "Fraggle Rock") If you are a Muppet Fan, or at least a Kermit fan, you owe it to yourself to pick up this set. The variety show is pretty much a dead art form, but the Muppet Show is a classic example of how it should be done.

In this t.v. show Kermit the Frog has to run a variety show, that has many "interesting" acts, like german sauerkraut singers, and many regular performers like Gonzo the Great, the only what-ever-he-is to catch a cannon ball with his hand; Fozzie the Bear, a stand up comic who can't get a laugh; and Miss Piggy, the wanna-be movie star who is, unfortunately, hopelessly in love with the frog. Kermit also has handle things like over-hand bowling and alligator wrestling backstage and food attacking the swedish chef onstage. All the while trying to keep the guest star happy, and putting up with the antics of Statler and Waldorf, two mean old hecklers who have a box seat at the show. The music for this show is also superb, it is played by three groups; the muppet show band, the electric mayhem (Zoot, Floyd Pepper, Janis, Animal, and the man himself, Dr. Teeth), and Rolf who is an excellent pianist, for a dog. I know this all sounds really weird, but it's really hilarious and unique, I mean where else can you see Viking pigs sing "In the Navy", or a pig judo chop superman? I give this show two flippers up.

I cannot fault it in any way. It gets a maximum ten out of ten from me. I am laughing at it just as much now (I'm watching the first series on DVD at the moment and I will buy the other series as and when I can) as I did when I were a child! Fabulous! The special guests were plentiful, varied, and always 'A' list for the time (some still are but a lot of them have now very sadly passed away and they and their talents will always be very greatly and very sorely missed) and always willing to send themselves up in a big way. Sure the singers all sang and the actors all acted etc. in the way the pieces were supposed to be done but, you see, it wasn't what they were singing/saying that sent them up but what was going on around them with the puppets, the scenery their clothes etc. they had put on for their sections. Spike Milligan, John Cleese, Steve Martin, Bob Hope, Harry Bellafonte, Shirly Bassy, Andy Williams, Roger Moore, Mark Hammil, Sylvester Stallone, Gene Kelly, Peter Ustinov, Liberace, Elton John, Alice cooper, Ethel Merman, Glenda Jackson, Liza Minelli, Juliette Prowse, Twiggy, are just a few of the many famous people that appeared on The Muppet Show and they were all more than happy to join in the general mayhem and ludicrousness in the show.

The jokes are wonderful and have not lost their impact or become stale over time. Every line and every sketch is as fresh now as it was all those years ago when the programme first aired and could (no, make that would) easily hold up in today's world with today's families if they were to be repeated in all their glory. And if the children of today haven't heard of some of the stars well that wouldn't make any difference at all because you don't have to have heard of a star to enjoy watching them doing what it is that they do best and have the puppets take the mickey out of it! Muppets Tonight was the last time they all got together for at least one series and I loved it as much as I love this and long for it to happen again! OK so the script may not have been as sharp in Muppets Tonight, But I love anything and everything to do with them (and the fact that they are now owned by Disney is just too fantastic for words as I ADORE most things by Disney and Love the rest!)! I have got some of the programmes on video tape and I am now looking to replace them with dvds which (apart from the complete first series) don't appear to be around at the moment. Not the last time I looked anyway which could have been the wrong place(s) if they have been released at all. I have since found out they are yet to be released so I'll be buying them as and when they are! Or at the very least, as and when I can afford them!

Easily above 10/10!

When I was a little girl, I watched this show every week. I was so excited when Time Life announced that they were releasing a video set with the best episodes, of course I bought them, and they have reminded me of my childhood. I have always been a fan of The Muppets, and still am. One of the best puppet shows ever. I love Miss Piggy, Gonzo and Kermit.

I used to watch the Muppet Show a lot when they re-ran old episodes on Nickelodeon in the 90s, and saw a large variety of episodes, some that they released on DVD in patches a few years ago. It made me very, very happy though when I got my hands on the season 1 DVD set (albeit with some cuts made due to song rights and whatnot, which is a little disappointing but nevertheless a collector's item) and could get into the predictable- which is part of the fun- and great oddities and regulars on the show. Maybe I might be partly biased, as I've always loved the Muppets, particularly the movies and other little diddies they've done. But the show could be either a superb show for the whole family, or a little hit or miss depending on the audiences of today. For kids- as the original 'pitch' on the DVD says- there are a lot of quirky, odd, and assuredly original creations aside from the common muppets (Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, Ms. Piggy, Rowlf, Stanter & Waldorf, etc), but there's also some really, really weird moments on the show, such as dancing slinkies and a character like Crazy Harry who's only function is to make things explode with a Peter Lorre-esquire expression.

For adults and older teens, such bizarre things and the assorted lot of memorable guests ranging from musicians (Elton John, Alice Cooper, Paul Williams, etc etc) comedians (John Cleese, Harvey Korman, Peter Sellers), and many other surprise types like Vincent Price and Harry Belafonte, are appealing, but what about the really goofy gags and infinite lot of bad puns? For me though, everything about the show is terrific in its sort of low-budgeted TV 70s way. It's very nutty, but it's alive in a way that makes shows of today pale in comparison. In the first season it establishes itself as a wild lampooning of variety shows of the period in general, with the guests almost as a given being apart of the jokes, and with running gags, a quasi central 'storyline' going on backstage, and like on any variety show giving full-time for jokes, musical numbers sometimes with upside down chins making faces, and just very unexpected bits with the Muppet creatures and puppets that you will never see again. And the wit that goes through the entire series, from episode to episode, sometimes varies, but is always with a great wink and a nod to how silly it is, but at the same time it's also very smart-being-stupid humor too. An example of this would be when CLeese was on, and having to help Gonzo fix his long-arm problem after catching a cannonball. It's at equal turns overall cartoonish, exciting, whimsical, and it usually attempts to work best for young and old alike.