asterios kokkinos
geoffrey golden
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rob morrison5 muppet show episodes to watch before you die written by geoffrey on 05/07/07
somewhere between your birth, marriage, forced retirement party and death, you need to watch these five episodes of the muppet show. they’ve been hand-picked for maximum enjoyment and scientifically ordered (by dr. bunsen honeydew and his assistant beaker — meep meep) to satisfy your past, current, and future muppet cravings. of course, if you can think of an episode that should have been on this list, please feel free to comment on it. however, you’ll be wrong.
raise the curtain, light the lights… here are five episodes of the muppet show you have to watch before you die:
#5: peter sellers
take a genius comedic actor whose specialty is playing multiple characters and put him on a weird sketch comedy show. done! sellers goes for the throat and showcases his most memorable roles — inspector clouseau and a strangelove-esque masseuse — while throwing some new ones into the mix, like a crazed gypsy violinist and a southern preacher. however, it’s the scene above that puts this episode on the list. sellers reveals to kermit that there is no “real” peter sellers, just a series of characters he plays, which was an actual problem he battled with throughout his life. heavy stuff for the muppets and truly amazing to watch!
# 4: big bird and leslie uggams
frankly, i’m not entirely sure who leslie uggams is, but she’s awesome on the muppet show! she sings, she dances, she’s kinda hot, and she does a memorable duet with big bird (they sing “love will keep us together”). still, big bird absolutely steals the show. it’s the first true sesame street / muppet crossover i can remember, and it introduced the idea that sesame street folk seem mentally slow compared with their muppet show elders. big bird’s scuffle with miss piggy is priceless, but it’s also worth checking out gonzo falling in love with the giant yellow poultry. for a muppet nostalgia rush, look no further.
(#1-3 are after the jump)
#3: steve martin
muppet show episodes always have b-plots that center around backstage antics. this episode has the tightest, funniest b-plot of any episode. this week the show is on hiatus, because kermit is auditioning for new acts. everyone is afraid of losing their jobs, especially fozzie and piggy, who are threatened by the new meat. martin is at his wild-and-crazy-guy high point, and his antic energy mashes well with the muppets’ madness (wow, that last sentence sounded very entertainment weekly-y — weird). steve juggles, plays banjo (see above) and battles a renegade balloon animal. this is the template for a great muppet show episode.
#2: john cleese
this episode went beyond the call of duty in so many respects. cleese didn’t just star in this episode - he also co-wrote it! he also pretends like he hates the show, a great twist on the usual special guest dynamic. the quality of the sketches is top notch, with the pirate on pigs in space sketch, the cleese helping gonzo with his freaky long arms bit, and a musical number in which kermit has gotten miss piggy pregnant (hi-yo!). but the crowning achievement is the grand finale, where cleese is forced to do a closing number against his will. this episode broke all the rules, and that’s why you keep begging for more, sicko!
#1: star wars
if you’re only gonna see one episode of the muppet show (god help you), it better be this one. here’s an early star wars project that george lucas won’t try to buy every copy of and destroy, because it’s funny as hell. there’s something for everyone here (especially nerds!), and so much is going on: luke, r2-d2, c-3p0 and chewbacca are all lost on earth (amazing), luke’s “twin brother” mark hamill is here and kermit doesn’t like him, a guest gets bumped, and it’s angus mcgonagle, the argyle gargoyle who gargles gershwin, and there’s a climactic star wars/pigs in space crossover that’s a lot more entertaining than the first two star wars movies (zing! …though it is true).
bottom line:
if you didn’t watch the star wars episode of the muppet show before you died, you never truly lived.
filed under movies: 80s, muppets, sketch comedy, tv comedies: 80's
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Dolphin May 8
Great list, but I think you’re confusing ‘the first two Star Wars’ movies with Episodes I and II. The first two Star Wars movies were Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, and they were classics. It was after those two that the series slowly started going to hell.
geoffrey May 8
thanks for the comment, dolphin. to be clear, when i said “the first two,” i meant episodes 1 & 2, the first two in the series chronologically (in other words, the prequels).
george lucas has left us all so confused with his prequels and whatnot!
mancko May 8
I bought the entire Muppet Show series from Time Life on VHS… what an idiot I was… just to see the Star Wars episode…
REMEMBER ALDERAAN!!!!!
geoffrey May 9
i will, mancko. i will.
btw - i’m totally jealous. i wish i could watch the jonathan winters episode whenever i wanted, but i’m waiting for the stupid dvds to slowly trickle out.
hj May 9
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erE8WTngaAY !!!
geoffrey May 9
that clip is awesome, hj! i think we’re gonna do a collection of great muppet show music moments next.
Rory May 9
I like how the Star Wars vid was pulled. What fucking dicks.
geoffrey May 9
stupid youtube police. i replaced the clip, but i’m not happy about it.
Hollywood Phony Jun 6
The Muppets suck! Except for Bean.
eric Jun 6
Hollywood sucks! Except for Mr. Bean.
Mayra Cruz Aug 27
Hi I am from Mexico, mi daughter love Mahnahmahnah chapter and I dont know Who is the artist that appear in that, I can´t find it, please help me I need to know the name of the artist in order to buy the correct DVD
dave Sep 6
Good choices, but I really think Milton Berle and George Burns should be up there. That shit floors me.
Śmieszne filmy Sep 8
eh good choices , The Muppets :)))
Project Matt Sep 10
Awesome list of clips. I still remember watching this show every morning before going to school.
Scott Sep 25
Hi,
Love the clips, Im desperately looking for the episode where Miss Piggy gets super angry and storms off into her dressing room and then destroys the place up… I think she sang a song with another celebrity and they both were super pissed and destroyed the dressing room… does anyone else remember this? If so, where can I find a clip of it?????
Scott.
geoffrey Sep 25
Do you remember the celebrity, by any chance? This might help jog your memory:
http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Muppet_Show_Episodes
JD Dec 21
Number one for me was Sandra Bullock singing “phenomenon”!
nightmare Jul 19
The Muppet show episode with Alice Cooper is AWESOME!!! The play on Alice’s bad boy rep trying to buy souls for the big guy, the opening number with the monster band to “Welcome To My Nightmare”, a duet with Miss Piggy “You and Me” and she realizes that she’s been changed after “signing”, all the back stage antics. Who can forget “toothache all over my body” skit? LOL
geoffrey Jul 20
that toothache sketch is so weird! it’s maybe one of the strangest things they’ve ever done on the muppet show, and that’s saying a lot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygBiRbIusuc
(starts at 8:22)
Marc S Nov 8
The episode that sticks out most in my mind was one hosted by a guy named Chris Langham. Chris was a writer for the show, and filled in when a guest dropped out…according to Wikipedia it was Richard Pryor. But we didn’t have Wikipedia in 1976 and we were left wondering who this random guy was, doing impersonations of owls. I still haven’t seen it since it’s original airing.
JAM Feb 25
Does anyone remember an episode that had marionettes performing to Bread’s “If”? I can’t find it but I remember it as being incredibly touching and beautiful.