A question about the sequence of Season 1

[Muppetfreak]

I am sorry if this was already discussed but as I go through Season 1 I am getting very confused. I don't remember what order they aired in as I was wee when they were new and they were totally out of order on Nick Jr years later.

Why is the episode where we "meet" Scooter #6? Is this the order its supposed to be in or are they out of order.

Also, Scooter is in the #1 episode which has the famed Miss Piggy Temptations number. Since she is in later episodes and I had always heard this was her first appearence, did they just realize they never introduced Scooter and just added that plot bit in later.

 

[MrsPepper]

On the season set, the episodes are in production order: They are listed in the order they were made.

However, the order they were made in isn't the order they were meant to be shown in (same goes for Fraggle Rock), the first few episodes weren't aired right away because they wanted to start off with slightly stronger materiel, a few episodes into the series, so the first episode that is aired won't be the weakest one. That's why the introduction of Scooter is a bit weird.

 

[David French]

On the season set, the episodes are in production order: They are listed in the order they were made.

No they are not. The production order is DIFFERENT to the order that the episodes are being presented on the DVD.

 

[Censored]

No they are not. The production order is DIFFERENT to the order that the episodes are being presented on the DVD.

Hmmm....I thought the DVD set showed the episodes in the order they were made. I can find out by watching it with the pop-up facts that tell the dates.

I know it shows the Juliet Prowse episode first, which was in fact made first and the Connie Stevens episode second, which was made next. Then it presents the Joel Gray episode third and says that the Juliet Prowse and Connie Stevens episodes came before it. So, I think they do have it in the actual production order, but I can confirm it by checking the dates of all the episodes.

 

[Censored]

What I really get confused about is the actual order that they were shown in. The Muppet facts say that in most area, the Rita Morano episode was shown first and the Jim Nabors one second. However, in my area of New Orleans, I seem to remember the Joel Gray one airing first, followed by Phyllis Diller.

 

[David French]

Hmmm....I thought the DVD set showed the episodes in the order they were made. I can find out by watching it with the pop-up facts that tell the dates.

I know it shows the Juliet Prowse episode first, which was in fact made first and the Connie Stevens episode second, which was made next. Then it presents the Joel Gray episode third and says that the Juliet Prowse and Connie Stevens episodes came before it. So, I think they do have it in the actual production order, but I can confirm it by checking the dates of all the episodes.

There's a thread in this forum that lists the Production Order. I think it's called Recording Order vs. Transmission Order.

ADDENDUM:
Also check the Episode Guide on this web site as it lists the taping dates as well.

 

[anathema]

Also check the Episode Guide on this web site as it lists the taping dates as well.

Right, and the taping dates are in almost exactly the same order as the shows on the discs ;-) Only three shows are 'out of sequence'.

The discs present the shows in Production Code order, which is simply the order that the codes were assigned. As a general rule, the shows would then be taped in that order too, although there were exceptions (the Gene Kelly show was assigned the first Production Code of the fifth season, but was actually the last one to be taped, for example), and of course a number of the first season shows were reworked later - note the appearance of the rebuilt Janice puppet in "Ain't Misbehavin'" in the Connie Stevens show.

The first show aired in the UK was Joel Grey, btw, on September 5th 1976, which makes it the 'official' first episode (if such a thing could be said to exist ;-).

 

[David French]

Right, and the taping dates are in almost exactly the same order as the shows on the discs ;-) Only three shows are 'out of sequence'.

The discs present the shows in Production Code order, which is simply the order that the codes were assigned.

Ahhh! Now that's something I didn't know.

The first show aired in the UK was Joel Grey, btw, on September 5th 1976, which makes it the 'official' first episode (if such a thing could be said to exist ;-).

Now that helps me a bit in my quest to work out when TMS aired in NZ. I think I'll start from the end of 1977 and see how I go there. The series might not even have aired until 1978 for all I know.

 

[David French]

Going back to the original question - Why is Scooter introduced in the Jim Nabors when he's already appeared in the show? I've got a theory, and it's because that was supposed to be his first episode.

We know that the Juliet Prowse episode was re-worked with the Scooter/Muppy storyline recorded as part of the second attempt at this episode, but interestingly Scooter isn't in the original version at all. Scooter appears in the Connie Stevens and Ruth Buzzi episodes but not the Joel Grey, Rita Moreno or Harvey Korman episodes. Korman's episode was recorded before Moreno's, while Nabor's was recorded after Moreno's.

Now comes the problem - no one from here (as far as I know) has seen the original Connie Stevens episode, and until someone does we don't know if Scooter appears in the episode or not; I suspect that he doesn't. Scooter is in the Ruth Buzzi episode BUT is he in the goodnight? If he doesn't then maybe THIS episode was also re-recorded but with the same plot. If Scooter is in the goodnight, however, then that theory goes out the window.