Time Life has recently announced a new two-volume DVD set, The Best of Flip Wilson, containing 20 episodes of the famous variety show, plus a whole bunch of neat bonus features for the die-hard Geraldine fans. And wouldn’t ya’ know it? Two of those twenty episodes feature the Muppets – Episode #1 (September 17, 1970) and Episode #35 (November 11, 1971).
In the show’s premiere episode, Big Bird appears to sing “ABC-DEF-GHI,” and later, Oscar and Flip perform a duet of “I Love Trash.” This episode is notable in Muppet history for being the first televised appearance of Oscar as green instead of orange. I imagine many people at home were then trying to fix their 1970 televisions thinking the color was wrong.
The other episode included on the set is full of Muppet pieces – the eternal classic “Java,” Kermit pretending to be under an enchantment to get a kiss from Dinah Caroll, Flip singing “Consider Yourself” with two blank Whatnots, and a scene involving Flip, Dom DeLuise, and a drunk Muppet. You know, all their standards!
You can purchase The Best of Flip Wilson from the Time Life website for a price I dare not say, because it will make my wallet start sobbing.
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By Shane Keating
