Best TMS closing numbers

[Janice & Mokey's Man]

Originally posted by Tommie
Rita Moreno: fever

Actually, that was the openin' number.

 

[Gorgon Heap]

Byron-

NOT SO!

Nickelodeon, perhaps not knowing exactly what to cut, cut Rita's opening number- "Apache Dance", which features Rita performing a dance and slapstick with a Frenchman (presumably) in a bar/cafe- and replaced it with "Fever". In the Time-Life video, on Odyssey, and in all correct cuttings of the show, Apache Dance is the opening number and Fever is the closing number. It works much better this way.

David "Gorgon Heap" Ebersole

 

[Katzi428]

"It's A Small World"-guest Spike Milligan
Kermit had mentioned at the beginning of the episode that TMS was seen if over 86 different countries & at the end all of the Muppets & Spike were paying tribute to them

 

[That Announcer]

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned "Halfway Down the Stairs!"

Of course, my favorites are the Gene Kelly medley from his ep, Paul Simon's "Loves Me Like A Rock", the aforementioned "Halfway Down the Stairs" and "Some Enchanted Evening", which I like just for the Ernie and Bert cameos.

Can somebody remind me whether or not "Tenderly" was a closing number?

 

[Harvey Towers]

I really want to go and write a full list now, but I'll content myself by hightlighting a few that may be overlooked:

Kenny Rogers - Love Lifted Me
Peter Unstinov - It's Not Easy Being Green
Danny Kaye - Inch-Worm

 

[Duke Remington]

My favorite TMS closing numbers:

-Juliet Prowse: "Temptation"
-Connie Stevens: "Some Enchanted Evening"
-Joel Grey: "Razzle Dazzle"
-Rita Moreno: "Fever"
-Jim Nabors: "Thank God, I'm a Country Boy"
-Paul Williams: "Sad Song"
-Harvey Korman: "Halfway Down the Stairs"
-Lena Horne: "Sing"
-Peter Ustinov: "Bein' Green"
-Bruce Forsyth: "Let There Be Love"
-Sandy Duncan: "Try to Remember"
-Candice Bergen: "You've Got to Have Friends"
-Avery Schrieber: Avery's silly song
-Ben Vereen: "Pure Imagination"
-Phyllis Diller: "The Entertainer"
-Vincent Price: "You've Got a Friend"
-Twiggy: "Nobody's Business But My Own"
-Ethel Merman: "There's No Business Like Show Business"
-Kaye Ballard: "Single Note Samba"
-Don Knotts: "Lullaby of Birdland"
-Milton Berle: "Top Banana"
-Rich Little: Musical Comedy Medley
-Nancy Walker: "They Can't Take That Away From Me"
-Steve Martin: "Dueling Banjos"
-Madeline Kahn: "Wishing Song"
-George Burns: "It All Depends On You/You Made Me Love You"
-Dom DeLuise: "We Got Us"
-Bernadette Peters: "Apple Jack"
-Rudolf Nureyev: "Top Hat"
-Elton John: "Don't Go Breaking My Heart"
-Lou Rawls: "You're the One"
-Cleo Laine: "If"
-Julie Andrews: "I Whistle a Happy Tune"
-Jaye P. Morgan: "That Old Black Magic"
-Peter Sellers: "Cigarettes and Whiskey"
-Petula Clark: "Tomorrow"
-Bob Hope: "Don't Fence Me In"
-Teresa Brewer: "Music, Music, Music"
-John Cleese: "To Dream the Impossible Dream"
-Leo Sayer: "When I Need You"
-Roy Clark: "Sally Was a Good Old Girl"
-Gilda Radner: "Tap Your Troubles Away"
-Pearl Bailey: Jousting Medley
-Jean Stapleton: "I'm Just Wild About Harry"
-Alice Cooper: "School's Out"
-Liberace: "Has Anybody Seen My Bird"
-James Coco: "Short People"
-Helen Reddy: "We'll Sing in the Sunshine"
-Harry Belafonte: "Turn the World Around"
-Lesley Ann Warren: "Last Dance"
-Spike Milligan: "It's a Small World After All"
-Leslie Uggams: "Love Will Keep Us Together"
-Roger Miller: Roger's Medley
-Roy Rogers & Dale Evans: Roy & Dale's Medley
-Cheryl Ladd: "Sunshine On My Shoulders"
-John Denver: "Grandma's Feather Bed"
-Crystal Gayle: "We Must Believe in Magic"
-Linda Lavin: "Beyond the Blue Horizon"
-Arlo Guthrie: "Sailing Down My Golden River"
-Kenny Rogers: "Love Lifted Me"
-Lola Falana: "United We Stand"
-Anne Murray: "Everything Old is New Again"
-Star Wars: "You Are My Lucky Star/When You Wish Upon a Star"
-Alan Arkin: "You're a Pig"
-Andy Williams: Andy and Kermit's Medley
-Diana Ross: "Reach Out and Touch"
-Gene Kelly: Gene's Medley/"Singin' in the Rain"
-Loretta Swit: "Side By Side/What Would We Do Without You?"
-Joan Baez: "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?"
-James Coburn: "Japanese Square Dance"
-Brooke Shields: "We're Off to See the Wizard"
-Debbie Harry: "Call Me"
-Jean-Pierre Rampal: "Ease On Down the Road"
-Paul Simon: "Loves Me Like a Rock"
-Mac Davis: "I Believe in Music"
-Carol Burnett: "I Was Made for Dancing"
-Hal Linden: "When the Saints Go Marching In"
-Marty Feldman: "There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight"
-Wally Boag: "Pecos Bill"
-Johnny Cash: "Orange Blossom Special/I'm Going to Jackson"
-Buddy Rich: "It Don't Mean a Thing"
-Linda Ronstadt: "When I Grow Too Old to Dream"
-Roger Moore: "Talk to the Animals"

 

[Pug Lover]

Harry Belafonte:Turn The World Around
Star Wars:When You Wish Upon A Star
Kenny Rogers:Love Lifted Me
Sheilds & Yarnell:Make 'em Laugh
Melissa Manchester:You're Cheatin' Heart Will Tell On You
Carol Burnett:I Was Made For Dancing
Marty Feldman:All Join In
Judy Collins:Send In The Clowns
Kaye Ballard:One Note Somba
The Mummunshanz
Lena Horne:Sing
Raquel Welch & Miss Piggy:I Am A Woman
Dom Deluise:We've Got Us
Elton John & Miss Piggyon't Go Breaking My Heart
Teresa Brewer:Music Music Music
Jean Stapleton:Crazy About Harry
Leo Sayer:When I Need You
Loretta Swit:Side By Side
Deborah Harry:Call Me
Joan Beaz:The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down
George BurnsDidn't Wanna Do It)
Mac Davis:I Believe In Music
John Denver:Grandma's Straw Bed
Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy
Leslie Uggams & Big Bird:Love Will Keep Us Together
Elke Sommer:Row Row Row

 

[SeanC]

Although the rest of the episode isn't so great, I do really like the 'Has Anybody Seen My Bird?' finale from the Liberace ep. Then again, I am a big fan of Muppet birds

Then there's 'Just in Time', which finishes out the Cloris Leachman episode. Wonderful use of Sweetums & Doglion.

And speaking of monsters, 'School's Out' in the Alice Cooper ep is another great closing number...

...as is 'I Whistle A Happy Tune' in the Julie Andrews ep.

I'm partial to the rendition of 'It's A Small World' that serves as the finale to Spike Milligan's ep - it's just insane ( a bit like Spike himself ).

"You've Got a Friend" with Vincent Price... which I had to watch on Youtube because it's edited from the DVD

And many, many more.

 

[Frozann]

Twiggy — «Ain’t Nobody’s Business But My Own»
Joel Grey — «Razzle Dazzle»
Charles Aznavour — «Inchworm»
Bernadette Peters — «Apple Jack»
Jean Stapleton — «I’m Just Wild About Harry»
Marisa Berenson — «Wedding sketch»

 

[Son of Enik]

My faves, in no particular order are as follows:
"Turn the World Around" (how can you NOT like this one?)
"It's a Small World" (Spike is just so zany, you gotta love him)
"When You Wish Upon a Star" (prophetic...Muppets + Star Wars + Disney = 3rd Florida Theme Park)
"Pig" (Alan Arkin singing, then turning into a monster after being hit by Piggy...this one STILL cracks me up!)
"School's Out" (no explanation needed)
"When I Need You" (I'm a HUGE Leo Sayer fan)