“Why don’t you get things started?!" - "The Muppet Show" Theme
The Muppet Show: Season Three DVD Review
By Jonathan Boudreaux
Time for a Muppet News Flash—The Muppet Show: Season Three is now on DVD. That’s right, Kermit the Frog, the Divine Miss Piggy, wocka-wocka Fozzie Bear, Evel Knievel wannabe Gonzo, canine pianist Rowlf, wild Animal, and hecklers Statler & Waldorf are ready to drop by your living room. [Cue falling animals.]
Season three features a cornucopia of guest stars including (in the order presented), Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge, Leo Sayer, Roy Clark (Hee Haw), Gilda Radner (Saturday Night Live), Pearl Bailey, Jean Stapleton (All in the Family), Alice Cooper, Loretta Lynn, Liberace, Marisa Berenson, Raquel Welch, James Coco, Helen Reddy, Harry Belafonte, Lesley Ann Warren, Danny Kaye, Spike Milligan, Leslie Uggams, Elke Sommers, Sylvester Stallone, Roger Miller, Roy Rogers & Dale Evans, Lynn Redgrave, and Cheryl Ladd (Charlie’s Angels).
This varied group produces several memorable moments. Rita Coolidge sings “We’re All Alone” in a forest filled with creatures. Leo Sayer performs his hit “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” with a group of creepy/cool birds. Gilda Radner duets with a giant carrot on a selection from...ahem...The Carrots of Penzance. Later she gets stuck to the cast and the set when a super glue produced by Muppet Labs runs awry. Pearl Bailey is accosted by a gang of oysters. Bailey, in fine voice, also performs in the episode’s final production number, the joust scene from Camelot. This being The Muppet Show, the songs in the Camelot number are actually from other shows: Hello Dolly, Annie Get Your Gun, Gypsy, and West Side Story. Lesley Anne Warren dances a magical interpretation of Beauty and the Beast which quickly becomes satisfyingly silly. Harry Belafonte performs “Day-o (The Banana Boat Song)” under the supervision of Fozzie, has a drum duel with Animal, and, in one of the series’ all-time great moments, performs “Turn the World Around.” Danny Kaye and Miss Piggy go hand-to-hand while singing “Cheek to Cheek.” Roy Rogers does an excellent yodeling number and his wife Dale Evans sings “Deep in the Heart of Texas” with a chorus of babies. And I didn’t even mention the inspired wackiness that takes place in the episode starring, of all people, Raquel Welch.
Season three is also filled with the wild antics of the series’ regulars. Gonzo balances a grand piano while standing on a hammock and reciting the seven times math table. (Trouble arises when he needs to use his fingers to count.) A suave Muppet singer performs “My Wild Irish Rose” to a carnivorous flower. Marvin Suggs and his Muppaphone performs “The Witchdoctor.” A quartet of Muppets sing “Aquarius” from the musical Hair while their own hair rapidly grows. A construction worker’s lunch—including a sandwich, a celery stalk, and a banana peel—performs a little dance, which leads up to the lunchbox eating the construction worker. These zany bits, along with recurring sketches like "Pigs In Space," "At the Dance," "Muppet News Flash," "Muppet Labs," and the Swedish Chef, provide dozens of laughs in each episode.
The twenty-four episodes that make up season two are divided onto four discs. Each disc is imprinted with a portrait of one of the Muppet gang—Animal on disc one, Fozzie on disc two, Miss Piggy on disc three, and Kermit on disc four. The discs are housed in a foldout case that features photos of the Muppets on the exterior panels and a detail of a brown show curtain on the interior panels. The four discs attach to two panels - each panel holds two discs (one on top of the other) in a figure eight pattern. The back panel lists the guest stars for each of season three’s episodes. The case slides into a cardboard sleeve, the front of which features a flocked close-up of Fozzie's face. The design of the outer sleeve doesn’t have the simple, almost abstract style of Kermit’s chest for season one, nor the piggy-chic of Miss Piggy’s close-up for season two. Instead, Fozzie is just, well, fuzzy, in more ways than one.
The DVD menus feature full-motion clips of Miss Piggy and Kermit and are both simple and easy to navigate. Viewers can play all episodes or choose an individual one. The episodes are divided into chapters, but there are no scene selection menus.
