Over the past television season, we here at ToughPigs HQ have been hard at work keeping up with our Muppet Show: 40 Years Later project, in which we’re reviewing every episode of The Muppet Show 40 years after it originally aired. It’s been a thrill revisiting all of these classic episodes, and we have so many opinions about them! So many, in fact, that we all got together to talk about some of them.
Enjoy our witty banter and observations, and then get ready for our season 4 reviews to start this fall… if we can figure out how to watch them.
How does season 3 stack up against the previous two seasons?
Matthew Soberman: Last year, I compared Season 2 to a seed on the verge of full bloom. This season, I’m switching metaphors: Season 3 is a finely-tuned, high-performance car zooming along the track. Everything is locked in. The performers know their characters intimately, the guest stars fit well, and they’re starting to take bigger, more creative risks in their sketches.
Louie Pearlman: Agreed, Matt. This season is the Muppet Show format we all know and love, the fat has been trimmed and the beautiful flocked-felt flower is IN BLOOM! See what I did? I brought back your original metaphor!
Joe Hennes: Season 1 was all about the show finding its footing, season 2 was about honing the show to become The Muppet Show we know today, and season 3 was just settling in to its own brand of perfection. It’s the Muppets in their purest element.
Evan G: Despite what Statler and Waldorf would say, Season 3 of The Muppet Show is one of the most polished productions the Muppets ever did. The puppetry looks great, the staging is great, the jokes are legitimately funny. I’ve said it in a past review, but this season is where things start to look easy for the crew (though I’m sure they still worked really, really hard). I’m glad this season made it to DVD, because I think it’s the one to get if you’re only going to buy one.
Matt Wilkie: Season 3 is definitely where The Muppet Show starts to *feel* like The Muppet Show. The cast and crew are firmly established in their roles, and there are so many now-classic moments throughout. While not much has changed, per se, everything feels tighter, funnier, and just more Muppety.
Julia Gaskill: What else is there to say except that this season is damn near perfect? I love the previous two seasons and they have plenty of my favorite moments of the entire series run, but this season is a car in full bloom… or a seed zooming along? Guys, I think I mixed up my metaphors.
Ryan Roe: They just kept getting better and better, didn’t they? How the heck did they do that?
What is your favorite change/update from seasons 2 to 3? (New character, new sketch, etc.?)
Joe Hennes: I feel like this season really started diversifying the types of guest stars. We’ve got more than just singers and comedians – there are country stars, pianists, rock and rollers, supermodels, and Sylvester Stallone, thus proving that anyone can work well with the Muppets as long as they actually show up.
Evan G: Were there that many new characters? I mean, I adore Rowlf’s sarcastic Beethoven bust, and he first appeared in the James Coco episode. I guess he’s so important of a character, Diamond Select made a figure of him instead of Dr. Teeth or Zoot.
Matthew Soberman: I think Beauregard may be the most underrated Muppet. He manages to be extremely funny with less dialogue than more prominent characters, and it’s a great way to show another side of Dave Goelz. I love that wonderful… lump? Let’s go with that. Sketch-wise, I still love “The Wide World of Muppet Sports.” It’s so beautifully goofy.
Ryan Roe: This season, having perfected the art of making a variety show every week, the Muppet Show folks started experimenting a little more with the format. The Liberace episode gives much of its running time over to the guest star performing a concert with birds, and the Roy Rogers & Dale Evans episode is all cowboys, all the time. But they get really adventurous with the Loretta Lynn episode (completely set at a train station!) and the Lynn Redgrave episode (completely devoted to the story of Robin Hood!). And all of these experiments are successful! Although I could have done with a shorter Liberace concert…
Are there any changes you wish they hadn’t made? Or missed opportunities?
Matthew Soberman: Personally, the change I didn’t like is that that they didn’t make many changes. I think you’re starting to see a more streamlined show this season. They know what they’re doing, but at the same time, I think it’s dangerous for any show to have a formula. It’s getting a little harder to find one-off sketches outside of musical numbers.
Louie Pearlman: I’m going to disagree here, I like how standardized the show is getting. This is 70’s variety-show TV at it’s best and for me it’s very comforting. Imagine, we could be reviewing the Brady Bunch Variety Hour instead, with FAKE JAN. Ewww.
Evan G: Yeah, I think the standardization helps the show a lot. Having that kind of established language for the show helps with audience expectations, allowing for quicker and punchier jokes. If we know the language of a Swedish Chef sketch, they can play with it in fun ways: our expectations are built in. I mean, my two cents.
Ryan Roe: I can’t think of any. It would have been fun to see more guest stars whose presence on the show was as startling and unexpected as Alice Cooper’s. But who could that possibly be?
Joe Hennes: Too many Muppets. I hope there are more humans in season 4.
Julia Gaskill: Too many humans. I hope there are more Muppets in season 4.
What is your favorite episode of season 3?
Matthew Soberman: It’s the Harry Belafonte episode. Is this a trick question?
Louie Pearlman: You’ve gotta say the Harry Belafonte episode, because it’s arguably the best of the entire series. But a strong runner-up for me is that lovely Liberace episode. It takes some very arty risks. Liberace and The Muppets were a surprisingly good match for each other.
Evan G: Yeah, I mean, they take away your badge if you don’t say Harry Belafonte, but you also can’t argue with Alice Cooper. School’s out somewhere, right?
Matt Wilkie: I also enjoy Harry Belafonte! But hey, don’t sleep on that Pearl Bailey episode. Her performance even outshone Miss Piggy – Not surprisingly though, since I’ve always put Pearl before swine.
Ryan Roe: Yes, Belafonte is an all-time great that deserves the praise it gets, and Bailey is an all-time great that should be praised more. The other season 3 episode that appears on my all-time list is Roy Clark, which is jam-packed with excellent music and comedy. The theater is on fire!
Joe Hennes: Belafonte is the most classic, but my personal favorite is Danny Kaye. His “Cheek to Cheek” number with Miss Piggy is among the greatest all-time Muppet Show moments.
Julia Gaskill: Gilda Radner has always been one of my favorite guest stars, and I was recently reminded how great the Leslie Uggams episode is. And I mean, also, obviously, duh, Belafonte.
What is your LEAST favorite episode of season 3?
Ryan Roe: When I look back at all the episodes, I realize that I remember almost nothing about what happens in the James Coco episode. Does that mean it’s my least favorite? Or just that I have a bad memory? You decide.
Joe Hennes: LIBERACE. What a snoozefest. Whenever I watch it, I fast forward directly through his concert for the birds, which clocks in at exactly 9 hours.
Matthew Soberman: I honestly didn’t remember a single thing about the Elke Sommer episode until I read Ryan’s review. Not even that it was the debut of Bobby Benson’s Baby Band. Not that it’s bad, it’s just very forgettable.
Louie Pearlman: I didn’t love that Sylvester Stallone episode. I think Sly was trying very hard, but he’s just not the sort of triple threat The Muppet Show needs. The episode is not really written to his strengths, either.
Evan G: They’re all my favorite episode, because they’re all tied for last place! Doh-hoh-hoh-hoh-hoh!
Pick a song, any song, and talk about it!
Ryan Roe: Raquel Welch is primarily known as an actor, not a singer. Miss Piggy is performed by Frank Oz, who is a man. But when they combine their talents to sing the closing number “I’m a Woman,” they’re a force to be reckoned with.
Matthew Soberman: ?WHOA-OH, SO IS LIFE ABATIWAHA, SO IS LIFE!? Isn’t it just the perfect song for the Muppets to do? I think it just emanates what Jim Henson was trying to do. It’s energetic, it’s spiritual, and it fills me with love and joy. Definitely a top-five Muppet Show moment.
Louie Pearlman: Yeah! I talked about this song on my radio show Kick The Jukebox because I love it so much! But there were some other excellent musical moments this season, especially Alice Cooper’s rendition of “School’s Out” from his episode. At the time, the song was banned from many schools for being too subversive. But it wasn’t too subversive to be on The Muppet Show and the result is one of the most Rock ‘N Roll moments the show had!
Evan G: Those are both so good. For some reason or another, I really like Leo Sayer’s “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” with Fletcher Bird. It’s super catchy and I love all full-body puppet dance numbers.
Matt Wilkie: I’m gonna toss a little love towards “Short People” from the James Coco episode. Just because it makes me laugh.
Joe Hennes: I mentioned in my Roy Rogers & Dale Evans review that I love talking about “Blue Skies”, as performed by the prairie dogs. It’s the perfect storm of a great song, simple choreography, close harmonies, and pure joy. I love it more than I love my dog.
Julia Gaskill: Gilda Radner. Giant tuxedo-d Carrot. Broadway showtunes. Wacky antics. Very very fast singing. What’s not to love?
What’s your single favorite sketch, storyline, or backstage scene from season 3?
Evan G: We’ve already talked about the Harry Belafonte episode, and obviously Belafonte’s bits are super strong, but the plot about Fozzie’s script is also tremendously funny. Just the part where he tells Rowlf and Lew Zealand to “do something funny” is stronger than any backstage plot of Season 1.
Ryan Roe: It’s too hard to choose, of course. But when Animal and the Swedish Chef sing “Happy Birthday to You” to Helen Reddy, and she tells them it’s not her birthday so they switch to “Jingle Bells?” That gets me every time.
Matthew Soberman: I have always loved the Camelot finale of the Pearl Bailey episode. I just love the way they get around telling the story of Camelot using songs from other musicals. How ingenious! I’ve also performed in a production of Camelot. The Muppet Show’s jousting scene was better.
Joe Hennes: The Muppet Theater catches on fire in the Roy Clark episode. I know I toss around the phrase “comedy gold” a lot, but I’ll be damned if that isn’t the shiniest Muppet gold ever.
What is one of your least favorite moments from season 3?
Matthew Soberman: Any time Spike Milligan tries to imitate another ethnicity. I love the episode, and I think he can be very funny but… yeesh.
Evan G: Hoo boy. Also, like, Gonzo hitting on Big Bird. Ruins a perfectly good crossover moment.
Matt Wilkie: Yeah, neither of these aged well *at all.*
Julia Gaskill: Gotta agree with Evan on this, Gonzo being attracted to A CHILD is the worst.
Ryan Roe: I was going to point out that Gladys the canteen lady is kind of grating. But yeah, Milligan’s ethnic antics and Gonzo’s lust for Big Bird are worse.
Joe Hennes: I’m pretty sure Spike Milligan gave the Nazi salute during his closing number. It wasn’t cool in the 1940s, it wasn’t cool in 1979, and it still isn’t cool in 2019.
Which guest stars worked the best (or not-so-best) with the Muppets this time around?
Joe Hennes: I don’t think there’s a better example of a natural Muppet/human interaction than Pearl Bailey and Floyd singing “In the Good Old Summertime”. On the flip side, Sylvester Stallone doesn’t quite know how to act opposite a talking pig.
Evan G: You’d expect people like Belafonte and Cooper to “get it,” and they do. But I really enjoyed rewatching the Cheryl Ladd episode for my review, and was genuinely surprised to see her having as much fun as she was, especially with Miss Piggy.
Matt Wilkie: I would watch an entire Muppet movie with Alice Cooper as the villain. He is so perfectly himself, while also interacting so naturally with the gang.
Ryan Roe: Lesley Ann Warren should have worked with the Muppets again. She plays well with them in moments both wacky (reacting to the general absurdity of Marvin Suggs) and somber (her ballet with Doglion).
Matthew Soberman: The best thing about Season 3 is that everyone coming in knows what to expect, so the chemistry is pretty good for everyone. I guess the one I liked the best was Alice Cooper. You can tell he’s having the time of his life, and he attacks everything with gusto and rock-star coolness.
Was there anything that surprised you? Maybe it’s a joke you didn’t see coming, or a sketch you had completely forgotten about…
Matthew Soberman: As fun as the Raquel Welch episode is, it really can be read as a dark, sad episode when you see how desperate Fozzie is to change his behavior, and how quickly he abandons it. It’s played for laughs, but I really felt for him. I kinda like to see these characters grow.
Ryan Roe: As Staci Rosen noted in her review, Kermit’s romantic song with Lynn Redgrave is really sweet. I had no memory of it, but it’s a lovely number, made even more impressive by the fact that it’s an original.
Joe Hennes: “You’re Always Welcome at Our House” from the Marisa Berenson episode is hysterical and terrifying. Not exactly the sort of thing you’d expect from an episode starring a fashion model. Or maybe it is.
Okay, one more thing. Final thoughts on the season?
Matthew Soberman: It’s a great season, and I can’t wait to get started on the next one! Let me just grab my Season 4 DVDs and… uh-oh.
Evan G: Hey, there’s still a chance Disney will release them before we do our 2020 reviews, or put it on Disney+! Wait. Uh… uh-oh.
Anyway it’s a good season. It’s solid and fun all around. Watch it.
Matt Wilkie: Of all the seasons available (ahem!), this one has some of the best moments, guest stars, and classic feel. Good stuff all around!
Ryan Roe: It was partway through the taping of this season that the creators went off to make The Muppet Movie, and then I reckon Jim Henson started to think beyond the series to other projects. But I’m glad there was still so much life left in the show, and although a lot of people tend to focus on the movies when they think about the Muppets, these episodes prove that The Muppet Show is full of brilliant stuff we should all be watching and re-watching and re-watching and re-watching again.
Joe Hennes: This season is near perfect, and I really loved revisiting it. Except for the Liberace episode. 23 out of 24 ain’t bad.
Julia Gaskill: This season is gorgeous, hilarious, and all around wonderful. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go find a totally legal virus-free torrent of season four.
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by Team ToughPigs
