It's time to put on makeup...

"The Muppet Show Season 1" DVD Review (Disc One)

Where do I start? What can I say that hasn't already been said? There are some shows from my childhood that when I watch them now, I cringe at how they have dated, cringe at how I could have ever liked it, cringe at how bad it really was and will always be. Then there are those that I watch now and think: "Yeah, that's ok. That's alright. It's nothing special. Nothing to raise the roof. But I snickered here. I chuckled there. That bit moved me just a little. And that bit was uproariously bad, but entertaining television."

And then there are those shows that are special. Those shows whose creators were sooo far ahead of their time I can imagine the Muppets still going strong in 100 years or more (assuming we're still around, and even then, if we aren't, maybe the Muppets still will be!). The muppets are a form of puppet first devised by Jim Henson for the tv program "Sam And Friends" in 1955. It was also the first appearance by Kermit the Frog.

I was bowled over that one of the first acts on the first episode of disc 1 was "Mahna Mahna" truly one of the most legendary songs the Muppets made famous ever. It had me doubling over and set the scene for the episodes to come. Even though the song was ten years old at the time this is how I know the song as the Snowth's "do do"'d to the "Mahna Mahna" dude even as he walked off into the distant background of the set. "The question is, what is a Mahna Mahna?" "No, the question is who cares?"


One of the funnier sketches on disc one is "Sherlock Holmes And The Case Of The Missing Clues" as Rowlf tries to solve a murder, but unfortunately the murderer keeps eating the clues. Even other Muppets!

I was surprised at the number of guest stars who I didn't really know who they were or knew very little about: disc one has Juliet Prowse - a dancer/actress of the fifties and sixties, Connie Stevens - an actress who began in the fifties and once dated Elvis Presley, Joel Grey - a stage performer who is most well known for Cabaret, but I remember most fondly as Doc in Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Ruth Buzzi - an actress most fondly remembered from Laugh In, Rita Moreno - an actress whos first major role was in West Side Story and is still working today and Jim Nabors who everyone knows as Gomer Pyle and who takes advantage of that fact (and his singing skills) in his appearance.



The most impressive guest star moment here involves Rita Moreno as she dances "West Side Story" style with a male performer dressed as a Muppet and they cleverly intercut this footage with Moreno dancing with a dummy stand-in which she proceeds to thrash and smash about the set! Violence was another important aspect to the show, which I think even later versions of the show toned down, and in this regard it comes across as possibly influenced by Warner Bros. cartoons. As I went back and quickly reviewed the Trivia Track on the disc I discovered (to no surprise at all) that Moreno received an Emmy for her guest spot!


One of the conceits of The Muppet Show was that it was a night-time variety show. And it lived up to that - especially in it's first year - when it had music and dance peformances with muppets and the guest star that didn't necessarily have to involve humour. One musical number on the disc involving the band playing "Ain't Misbehavin'" was not only musically sound, it featured no humour and camerawork which included a rack focus from the strumming lead singer's guitar to the saxophonist behind him. Music is one of the most aspects of the show and the breadth of the pieces and calibre of the guest talent is considerable. The well done facts track on the DVD often refers to wonderful musical numbers which didn't appear in the US at all!

As is common with many DVD television sets, the episodes are placed in production order, not broadcast order, so episodes 1-6 on this set are actually episodes 22, 20, 5, 4, 3 and 1. Miss Piggy makes no appearances on the first disc, but an unnamed character who is probably the template for her does appear with a different voice. As the DVD fact track points out she was one of the few characters who was not fully developed when the show first started. The Sesame Street muppets Bert and Ernie make an amusing appearance in the Connie Stevens episode of this disc.



The cast is a remarkably rich assortment of characters and there is not a bad bunch in them: Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Scooter, Gonzo, Swedish Chief, Rowlf, Dr Bunsen Honeydew (although Beaker would not appear until Season 2), Sam the Eagle, Dr Teeth, Sgt Floyd Pepper, Zoot, Animal, Statler & Waldorf and many others. Even the minor unnamed supporting characters were always imaginatively designed and original and interesting in their character. It is soo hard to pick a favorite character, as a child I think it was probably Animal (who's highlight on disc one is destroying "Fever" much to Moreno's chagrin) or maybe Fozzie (who I seemed to draw constantly), but over the years I have developed a fondness for Rowlf, possibly the sweetest (and most talented) of all the muppets who could also do the daggy humour of skits such as "Veterinarian's Hospital".

Yet again, I'm slightly disappointed with the lack of extras on the DVD release (I guess there may be more on later discs in this set, and possibly more on later seasons) but once I discovered the Fun Facts track (which is very informative) I'll probably go back and re-watch the other episodes with it on. Most importantly though, the episodes appear to have been remastered and look beautiful.