Le Muppet Show

Being born in 1978 and growing up as a small child in the late 70's and early 1980's I was a big watcher of "The Muppet Show" it kind of set my path and influenced me with memories! As seeing those cute and lovable little puppet Muppet characters on screen just was a treat and delight for my little eyes. I was so involved with the Muppet genre that I collected the Muppet toys and had figures even having a plush "Kermit the Frog"! And I love the show for the fact that it had a little green frog named Kermit who was so enjoyable to watch because he was smart and did things so right from singing and dancing to telling funny little one liner jokes and doing parody so well by acting out little skits! Plus the other characters were so cute and memorable for the sight of a child to see and remember and it ranged from Miss Piggy, Fozzie the Bear, The Brown Dog, Gonzo, Animal, and the Rat, and the talking pigs and the laughing old men from the balcony. Each episode was done like a play like theater style, plus an audience was always present that the Muppets filmed in front of because the laughter was always heard. Any many many big name stars and entertainers made guest appearances on the show ranging from people like Rita Moreno, Candice Bergen, Phyllis Diller, Vincent Price, Rich Little, Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Elton John, Bob Hope, Roy Clark, Alice Cooper, Raquel Welch, Liberace, Sly Stallone, Cheryl Ladd and Brooke Shields now talk about a menu of famous folks! Overall great series for kids that was fun and a delight with joy and it was educational it brought lasting memories for me as "The Muppet Show" was the best!

'The Muppet Show', which features a cast of Muppets, is without a doubt one of the most original and creative television programs ever made. A show like this could only have come from the genial mind of the puppeteer Jim Henson. It was produced by Jim Henson and his team of 'Sesame Street'.

What makes it so distinctive is that it is like a theater show (or even a cabaret-like theater house) with a cast of hand-operated puppets (or Muppets). This shows well the concern of making something very imaginative and creative. To make it even more complete, it is quite entertaining. Immense amusement and classic humor are priorities as well.

Together with 'Sesame Street', 'The Muppet Show' is part of childhood's fond and nostalgic memories of many (myself included). Plus, both children and grown-ups can enjoy this juvenile program. I remember I used to watch many episodes of this at primary school, together with kids from other classes in an awesome video room of that school. It was so much fun! We had many laughters in that video room.

The best and funniest characters from 'The Muppet Show' are Kermit the Frog and that crazy Miss Piggy. One word to describe both: hilarious!

I cannot fault it in any way. It gets a maximum ten out of ten from me. I am laughing at it just as much now (I'm watching the first series on DVD at the moment and I will buy the other series as and when I can) as I did when I were a child! Fabulous! The special guests were plentiful, varied, and always 'A' list for the time (some still are but a lot of them have now very sadly passed away and they and their talents will always be very greatly and very sorely missed) and always willing to send themselves up in a big way. Sure the singers all sang and the actors all acted etc. in the way the pieces were supposed to be done but, you see, it wasn't what they were singing/saying that sent them up but what was going on around them with the puppets, the scenery their clothes etc. they had put on for their sections. Spike Milligan, John Cleese, Steve Martin, Bob Hope, Harry Bellafonte, Shirly Bassy, Andy Williams, Roger Moore, Mark Hammil, Sylvester Stallone, Gene Kelly, Peter Ustinov, Liberace, Elton John, Alice cooper, Ethel Merman, Glenda Jackson, Liza Minelli, Juliette Prowse, Twiggy, are just a few of the many famous people that appeared on The Muppet Show and they were all more than happy to join in the general mayhem and ludicrousness in the show.

The jokes are wonderful and have not lost their impact or become stale over time. Every line and every sketch is as fresh now as it was all those years ago when the programme first aired and could (no, make that would) easily hold up in today's world with today's families if they were to be repeated in all their glory. And if the children of today haven't heard of some of the stars well that wouldn't make any difference at all because you don't have to have heard of a star to enjoy watching them doing what it is that they do best and have the puppets take the mickey out of it! Muppets Tonight was the last time they all got together for at least one series and I loved it as much as I love this and long for it to happen again! OK so the script may not have been as sharp in Muppets Tonight, But I love anything and everything to do with them (and the fact that they are now owned by Disney is just too fantastic for words as I ADORE most things by Disney and Love the rest!)! I have got some of the programmes on video tape and I am now looking to replace them with dvds which (apart from the complete first series) don't appear to be around at the moment. Not the last time I looked anyway which could have been the wrong place(s) if they have been released at all. I have since found out they are yet to be released so I'll be buying them as and when they are! Or at the very least, as and when I can afford them!

Easily above 10/10!

I grew up with the Muppets, Garfield, the Care Bears, etc. Boy there were some awesome kid shows on back then! Anyway, I always have a soft spot for the Muppets because my mom loved them too. I still have the Kermit and Piggy dolls she bought me back in 1980! About the show, I still laugh out loud watching Stadler and Waldorf, the hilarious critics! "Pigs in Space" was another great bit, but nothing compares to the Swedish chef! I also loved the 3 Muppet movies that came out between 1979-1984. Sadly, while I still love the Muppets, they haven't been the same since Jim Henson passed on. God bless you, Jim and rest in peace.

I used to watch the Muppet Show a lot when they re-ran old episodes on Nickelodeon in the 90s, and saw a large variety of episodes, some that they released on DVD in patches a few years ago. It made me very, very happy though when I got my hands on the season 1 DVD set (albeit with some cuts made due to song rights and whatnot, which is a little disappointing but nevertheless a collector's item) and could get into the predictable- which is part of the fun- and great oddities and regulars on the show. Maybe I might be partly biased, as I've always loved the Muppets, particularly the movies and other little diddies they've done. But the show could be either a superb show for the whole family, or a little hit or miss depending on the audiences of today. For kids- as the original 'pitch' on the DVD says- there are a lot of quirky, odd, and assuredly original creations aside from the common muppets (Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, Ms. Piggy, Rowlf, Stanter & Waldorf, etc), but there's also some really, really weird moments on the show, such as dancing slinkies and a character like Crazy Harry who's only function is to make things explode with a Peter Lorre-esquire expression.

For adults and older teens, such bizarre things and the assorted lot of memorable guests ranging from musicians (Elton John, Alice Cooper, Paul Williams, etc etc) comedians (John Cleese, Harvey Korman, Peter Sellers), and many other surprise types like Vincent Price and Harry Belafonte, are appealing, but what about the really goofy gags and infinite lot of bad puns? For me though, everything about the show is terrific in its sort of low-budgeted TV 70s way. It's very nutty, but it's alive in a way that makes shows of today pale in comparison. In the first season it establishes itself as a wild lampooning of variety shows of the period in general, with the guests almost as a given being apart of the jokes, and with running gags, a quasi central 'storyline' going on backstage, and like on any variety show giving full-time for jokes, musical numbers sometimes with upside down chins making faces, and just very unexpected bits with the Muppet creatures and puppets that you will never see again. And the wit that goes through the entire series, from episode to episode, sometimes varies, but is always with a great wink and a nod to how silly it is, but at the same time it's also very smart-being-stupid humor too. An example of this would be when CLeese was on, and having to help Gonzo fix his long-arm problem after catching a cannonball. It's at equal turns overall cartoonish, exciting, whimsical, and it usually attempts to work best for young and old alike.