Fan Service Before 2001

[minor muppetz]

Since the past decade, it's been a lot more common for Muppet productions to throw in references to past productions for the fans to enjoy. The last two movies have all kinds of nods to past productions (and a few similarites to past productions that may or may not be coincidence), but we also got all kinds of that in Kermit's Swamp Years, It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, and to a much lesser extent The Muppets' Wizard of Oz.

But before 2001 (when The Muppet Show was celebrating its 25th anniversary), what kinds of nods to past productions were there in various productions?

I don't know if we should count clips appearing in retrospectives or productions meant to promote some sort of production (like The Muppets Go to the Movies or The Muppets Go Hollywood), and don't know about using obscure characters who were primarily in one production in the background (and especially not if a character was recycled as a different character). Not sure if I'd want to count remaking segments from various television appearances (maybe if the remakes came after they were done on The Muppet Show) or the characters simply singing songs that they've already sung (maybe if the songs were written especially for the Muppets).

So let's see.... The Muppet Show had photos from various segments posted on the walls in the theater (mainly in the dressing rooms and canteen). Before Lena Horne sang "Sing" she mentioned the show Sesame Street (somehow I feel mentioning that show here was different from mentioning it whenever a Sesame Street character made an appearance). There were three references to The Muppet Movie, with the movie's title only being mentioned once, and another referencing the fact that the Muppets did one movie (and when The Rainbow Connection was sung, Kermit simply referred to it as his rainbow song).

On The Jim Henson Hour, Vicki directly referred to The Muppet Show by name in the episode "First Show". Other mentions of existing productions occurred in Jim Henson's introduction for Monster Maker and in The Secrets of the Muppets, but those shouldn't count. And yes, I feel like mentioning past productions should count. Outside of interviews and retrospectives, it actually wasn't that common for past productions to be mentioned. The Muppets was the first movie to mention The Muppet Show by name (I don't think any of the previous movies were mentioned by name in that movie, or any other movie). I'm pretty sure that The Muppet Show was never mentioned on Muppets Tonight. The Muppet Show wasn't even mentioned by title in The Muppets Go to the Movies or It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, and those took place at the theater.

 

[Muppet Master]

Muppets Tonight (1996-'98) had some throwbacks to past muppet productions like in the Cindy Crawford episode where Bobo reads a newspaper with a commercial for MTI or in the Sandra Bullock episode where, again, Bobo puts the mad bomber on hold and rainbow connection is playing. Afterwards MFS (1999) had some nods to past productions like when Beaker said "sadly temporary" from TMM or when Statler and Waldorf recycle their heckle from the Star Wars episode of TMS (somewhat). I think this started after the muppets were fully established, after TMS, TMM, GMC, and MTM, and they built up their franchise until it seemed okay to refer back around the mid/late 90's (they couldn't have 'fan service" in MCC or MTI). So, that's my 2 cents.

 

[minor muppetz]

Afterwards MFS (1999) had some nods to past productions like when Beaker said "sadly temporary" from TMM or when Statler and Waldorf recycle their heckle from the Star Wars episode of TMS (somewhat).

Actually that line came from the Dom DeLuise episode.

 

[Muppet Master]

Actually that line came from the Dom DeLuise episode.

Whoops, mixed up the two sci-fi episodes.

 

[minor muppetz]

There's the fact that Julie Andrew's appearance was mentioned a few times. Outside of the "Guest Star Song" in the Phyllis George episode, it seems she was the only guest star who was mentioned as a previous guest on the show (and twice at that... three times if you count the Guest Star Song).

In the Danny Kaye episode, when he suggests they sing "Inchworm" backstage, Kermit notes that they know that song... Could this have been meant as a reference to the fact that the song had previously been sung on the show? Kermit never specifically says it was sung, but it possibly could be the reason they know the song.

The few times they show the alley outside the theater, there's an ad outside the theater auditioning dancing pigeons, with a line "contact Bert of S.S." I think in some season two episodes (the Julie Andrews one comes to mind) there's a poster advertising an 8-foot-tall bird. It's at the part of wall near the bottom stairway, which the show doesn't have very many camera angles where it can be seen (and when they do they tend to be a bit far to read).

There are those references made on Muppets Tonight that were mentioned, and that show also had TMS-era photos of the characters on walls (including characters who didn't appear on the show, like Scooter). But it seems The Muppet Show was never mentioned on Muppets Tonight (they seemed to prefer making up Muppet shows of the past).