Pigs, frogs, talking vegetables and dancing chickens. I'm on about my favourite TV show The Muppets again. Disney (unfortunately) have bought out my beloved fuzzy puppets and to make their money's worth they have started to release box sets of the Muppet seasons. My old video box set ;s quality was starting to deteriorate due to overuse so I thought I would treat myself to Season One of the Muppet Show on DVFD when I saw it in the Amazon sale or a fantastic £17.99. The box set contains four DVDs and a whopping ten hours of gags galore.
The first series of the Muppet Show ran for 24 episodes and was first shown in 1976 and 1977. The Muppet Show was a take on the variety shows that used to be on TV such as Sunday Night at the Palladium.. It was made up of different songs and sketches performed by acts such as the Electric Mayhem Band, Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear. These were held together by the capable flippers of Kermit the Frog.
I am not usually one for going into detail about the packaging but there are two things that really disappointed me about it. The first one is vital to me. There are no episode listings anywhere on the boxes so you have to play the DVD to find out which episodes are on what discs. I would have liked a booklet or something on the box to remedy this. The second one is more pedantic and maybe me just being a purist. The pictures on the front of the box and on the discs were of the four most popular Muppets Kermit, Miss Piggy, Goons and Fozzie. Bear. All bar Kermit in the first series were slightly different puppets so it was annoying to see recent photographs on the boxes. I would have far-preferred contemporary ones. Nit picking I know but it did really bug me as I suppose it is a product more for the fans than the casual
user
Like most TV series the first series is particularly interesting, as there is a steep development curve as the show settles down and characters establish themselves. The episodes are in the order they were first produced rather than shown. Thus you can really see a difference in this series between the first ones and the last ones. For example Miss Piggy starts off as a bit part but gradually he acquires her prima donna ways and her famous karate chop. The guest stars are treated slightly differently. To start with they seem to be pretty separate from most of the |Muppets and only really interact with Kermit but again as the series progresses they become more involved. The backstage stories seem to be better as you go further into the series, as the Muppets develop more complex relationships with each other. This series is not such a good series for me as my favourite Muppet is Gonzo and he is one of the last major characters to really develop. Thus the quality of the episodes can be patchy and heavily skewed to the later episodes.
There are some elements missing such as Pigs in Space (which debuted in the second series) and Bunsen minus Beaker who again you had to wait for the second series. Some characters and sketches were dropped after the first series. One example is the talking houses, which I did think, were a bit weak
Another reason why I like this box set is that it has the original first series opening credit. I am not sure if I had seen these before. Instead of the famous arches, Statler and Waldorf and Gonzo blowing his horn they have the Muppets on a stage with Fozzie telling the jokes and Gonzo's horn is replaced by him hitting the O like it is a gong and having silly things happen to him or the drumstick.
I think the songs ate particularly strong. I had the Muppet Show album and thus I enjoyed watching a lot of the songs I remembered listening to as a kid such as Rolf playing Cogglestone Pie, Kermit's nephew Robin singing Halfway down the stairs (songs that I was also familiar with as they were written by A A Milne), Scooter and Floyd doing Mr Bassman and who can forget the classic Muppet song Manamana. I also loved Rita Merino's (Anita in the classic musical West Side Story) rendition of Fever (a song I love) with Animal accompanying her in his own unique style.
The actual Muppets and their humour have not dated at all as most of the material is as old as the hills anyway. There is the odd sketch where people of the time are mentioned that makes it a little bit dated such as in the Bruce Forsyth episode. The one thing that does date it (apart from the 1970ss clothes and hairdoes), and is a major weakness compared with other series of the show are the guest stars. In subsequent series you have such well-known names as Paul Simon, Shirley Bassey, Roger Moore and R2D2 and C3PO. As this was a new show people were hesitant about appearing on it. Most of them seemed to be stars of contemporary television shows and thus when looking at the listing for the first series there is only a handful of names I recognised and knew exactly who they were and what they did. These were Bruce Forsyth, Twiggy Vincent Price and Ethel Merman. (I had heard of Peter Ustinov but was not familiar with his work). Then again I barely noticed the guest star as a child. I just remembered the songs and the puppets. I particularly enjoyed the Avery Schreiber episode whom I had never heard of before watching the series.
The menus are fun. They are a sort of checkerboard and have Statler and Waldorf heckling you if you do not play the disc quick enough. One thing that could be improved on is additional chapters. The DVD is divided into episodes but it would be nice to have sub chapters within each episode so it would be easier to find a particular sketch or song. The original shows have been restored and reproduced and look good bit I am not sure how much difference there is (then again I am not a technical person).
There are subtitles in a number of different European languages. (Does the Swedish resemble what the Swedish Chef is saying?). And there is also a choice of French or English. I quite enjoyed watching the Muppets speak in French dubbed voices. Apparently many the jokes were different to appeal to the French sense of humour. I was quite excited by some of the extras. One of the things that swayed me into purchasing the set was the inclusion of one of the two pilots The Muppet Show "Sex and Violence" made before the main series. This was a real treat, as I really wanted to see this to see the original ideas. This does not have Kermit as the compere and most of the major Muppets are either in the background or not there at all. Miss Piggy made her debut in a sketch in this pilot. Also on the final disc is a gag reel, which seems to be more a trailer for the series and also a short reel which was used to pitch the series to the television companies. The final extras are Muppet morsels. These are little commentaries that pop up as text if you select them. They cover things such as puppets, puppeteers, guest stars, the development of the show and references in the show. I liked the concept of these as I also like commentaries on DVDs. However I found there were too many of them and the level of some of the facts was insultingly low. How many people do not know that Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, that vegetarians do not eat fish or meat or that Queen Elizabeth is the Queen of England (well maybe they were aimed at Americans). I also found that they could get repetitive and I am sure some facts were used twice.
What I like about the Muppet Show is that it is for all the family. My family certainly bonded over it. It is classified with a U so it is totally safe for children, as it is good clean wholesome fun. It odes say that it has mild comic violence but this is limited to Piggy's karate chops and an awful amount of explosions courtesy of Crazy Harry!
This is an essential purchase for big Muppet fans. However I am not sure if I would recommend this particular box set to more casual viewers who used to watch the Muppets, thought it might be fun for their kids and who would not necessarily want more than one series. I think the later series are much stronger as the puppet's characters are fully developed and the guest stars are better known and interact much more with the Muppets. I would wait until other series are released or if they can find it buy the HMV best of box set which has a mix if series and an all star cast.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1981 - Family - Director: Jim Henson - Original Language: English - Classification: Universal - Starring: The Muppets, Peter Ustinov, John Cleese, Robert Morley, Charles Grodin, Diana Rigg, Jack Warden
I really wanted to rate this review Exceptional as it is so thorough, informative, entertaining and well put together. For some mysterious reason, it wouldn't let me. I just found this in my local library system and put in a request to borrow it, so I should have it in a few days. Now that I've read your review, I'm doubly anxious to get it! I used to Love the Muppet Show. Henson and his company have had a Huge effect on my life and now, I want to share this marvelous show with my own kids. I had wanted to take a look at it before I just bought it, but now... I'm guessing I would have been just as happy if I had jumped the gun lol. Thanks so much for your insights!
Wishing You Laughter
Joscyn 10.10.2006 13:04
Brilliant review, full of all the info needed. Never a huge fan of the muppets myself, only watched it now and again. Rachel x
Soho_Black 17.09.2006 09:44
My flatmate has this and it's become standard watching on a Sunday morning when we're all sitting around with hangovers and a friend breakfast!
![The Muppet Show - Season 1 [DVD] [1976]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78501033.jpg "The Muppet Show - Season 1 [DVD] [1976]")
Aug 29th, 2006
exceptional by (2%):
very helpful by (98%):
