Original Air Date: May 20, 1978
One of the great joys of the Muppets is simply watching the performers interact with each other. Especially back here, in the Golden Age of the Muppets, when the cast consisted entirely of legends at the top of their games. Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Dave Goelz, and Louise Gold – all brilliant individually, but even better when they find new ways to interact and play off of each other.
This episode gives them two of their best-ever chances to play. First, they spend most of the show doing imitations of each other’s characters. Right up front, the pigs take over the theater, replacing popular Muppets with their pig doppelgangers. This means we get to see Dave Goelz as Kermit the Pig, Jerry Nelson as Fozzie Pig, Frank Oz as the Swedish Pig, Richard Hunt as Dr. Bob, and Louise Gold as Nurse Janice.
It’s impossible for me to pick a favorite, because this is one of the most delightful things to ever happen on The Muppet Show. They all dig in with gusto, affectionately sending up each other’s quirks and vocal tics. To a one, they nail not just the characters but the body language. They aren’t exact recreations – because where would the fun be in that? – but over-the-top parodies. They’ve clearly been paying attention to each other’s performance styles, and it pays off spectacularly.
The other great discovery of this episode is the backstage plot. Or, to be more precise, the boiler room plot. That’s where the pigs lock Kermit, Fozzie, and Gonzo during the show. This is the first time that those three characters have all shared screen time together, and it’s magical. Each of them has a clear function in this scene, and they feel sharper and more real than ever. Kermit gets to be the voice of reason, while Fozzie tries and fails to think of ways to escape. Gonzo, meanwhile, jumps right in and starts executing his own misbegotten plan.
It’s so effective, in fact, that we often tend to think of them as a trio even though they didn’t really function as one very often. It’s pretty much just this episode, The Great Muppet Caper, and those few scenes in The Muppet Movie before Piggy shows up. But they work so well together that it feels like we see it all the time, and that’s a testament to how natural Jim, Frank, and Dave make it.
So far I haven’t mentioned this week’s guest star, Oscar and Emmy winner Cloris Leachman. I consider Cloris Leachman to be one of the greatest comedic performers of all time, but she doesn’t get much of a showcase here. In fact, she never even appears backstage (or, rather, in the boiler room). She gets a couple of good scenes on stage – one where she’s skeptical of Kermit the Pig, and another at the end where she reveals that she lured all of the pigs away by organizing a hog calling contest (after all, she says, “I’m from Iowa”) – but she gets kind of lost amid the pig takeover story.
Outside of those scenes (and, of course, the opening), she only appears for two songs, and they’re both pretty lackluster. The first is a medley of operetta songs with Link Hogthrob. This is the kind of music that begs to be lampooned, to be presented as over-the-top as possible, and here that doesn’t happen. The whole thing is played surprisingly straight, and it’s pretty dull.
The closing number – “Just in Time” from the musical Bells are Ringing – is a little bit better. It’s fun to see her banter with Sweetums and Doglion, but it’s not a great fit for this episode. The pig takeover storyline is wrapped up with a throwaway line from Scooter, and then the show moves on to this bog-standard number that could be from any episode. It’s too bad that Cloris Leachman didn’t get to actually star in a number where she lured the pigs offstage and saved the day.
Still, the lack of material for Cloris Leachman does have an upside. It means that focus of the show is on the Muppets, which is as it should be for a season finale. The Muppets have now had two full seasons to endear themselves to the audience, and they celebrate by parodying themselves and by giving their stars one of the best stories they have ever had. It’s the perfect way to send the Muppets into summer hiatus, and off to climb to new heights in season 3. See you in the fall, everyone!
Best Joke: Fozzie’s cheerful delivery of “the window!” a second time, as though saying it again will make a window appear and they’ll be able to escape. Makes me laugh every time.
Lamest Joke: Fozzie Pig is “that great big loveable ham who’s really a boar and proud of it!”
MVM (Most Valuable Muppet): Gotta be my man Kermit the Pig, who plays the crowd and Cloris Leachman like a fiddle, convincing everyone he’s the real Kermit with the strength of his “ribbit” and the power of his raw magnetism. Also he sounds like a cheerful Boober Fraggle, which is such a strange thing to sound like.
Most Classic Moment: Gonzo digging his way out of the boiler room with a spoon, all the way to Statler & Waldorf’s box.
Should-Be-Classic Moment: The Swedish Pig, where Jim Henson and Frank Oz swap roles, with Frank playing the chef and Jim playing his hands. It seems like they’re both having a blast, with Jim playing spoons like drums and Frank creating a whole new dialect of Mock Swedish.
Most Dated Joke: Sweetums asks Cloris Leachman if she makes great fondue. Fondue still exists, of course, but in 1978 it was a much bigger deal.
First Appearance Of…: Kermit the Pig, Fozzie Pig, all those guys. They’d just been waiting in the wings for two years, planning their big takeover.
Coolest Puppetry Effect: Gonzo can’t actually dig a hole in the wall with a spoon, because his floppy, soggy arms don’t allow for that much force. So he just taps the wall with his spoon, but Gonzo is so committed to his plan that we buy it anyway. Muppet magic!
Missed Opportunity: It’s really a shame that we don’t get to see the pig version of Gonzo. I would have loved to see, say, Richard Hunt’s take on the character.
Obscure Character Watch: She would get less obscure shortly, but the opening number is a great showcase for Annie Sue Pig, who didn’t have a name yet but is unmistakably Louise Gold doing that same voice.
Musical Highlight: The opening number “That’s Entertainment” gets things started with a bang. This is the only time that song was ever performed on The Muppet Show, which seems impossible. That song is also the first time we see Link dressed as a police officer, foreshadowing next season’s recurring sketch Bear on Patrol.
One More Thing…: One of the songs in the operetta medley is “Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life!” A few years earlier, that same song was in Young Frankenstein, a movie featuring Cloris Leachman. It was sung not by Leachman but by her fellow season 2 guest star Madeline Kahn.
Okay, One More Thing…: I just love Kermit the Pig, you guys! I want a Kermit the Pig t-shirt.
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by Anthony Strand
