List of Brian Henson intros

[Chilly Down]

Hey, all,

Does anyone have a list of which episodes have the Odyssey intros by Brian Henson on them, and which do not? Obviously, all 45 of the Time-Life episodes have the intro, and the MC episode guide lists all the ones from Season 1. But what are the other ones? If there's a place where this is listed on the net, I haven't found it.

Thanks,

 

[Chilly Down]

Revised statement

OK, correction. I just double-checked the MC episode guide (why don't I ever do that BEFORE I write? ), and it turns out every episode has a Brian Henson intro, even if there is a lot of repetition.

Here's where I'm confused. I got some episodes from Odyssey from a friend of mine WITHOUT Brian Henson intros (they were, I think, Loretta Lynn, Linda Lavin, and Hal Linden). When I asked her about it, she said that only about 60 or so episodes originally aired on Odyssey, and those were the ones with the Brian Henson intros. When TMS moved to the evening slot, all the rest of the episodes were included, even the ones without Brian Henson intros.

BUT if the MC episode guide lists all of the episodes of that season as having the intros, I have to assume all of the other seasons have intros as well. (I can't imagine that of the 60 selected, all 24 of Season 1 would be included, since it's widely accepted that Season 1 is the weakest.) So what happened? How come I have some eps from Odyssey without intros if it seems like they all DO have intros? Someone please help me out.

My head hurts now. Time for bed.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Reply

I don't know. Maybe, Odyssey cut out some of them. I'm just guessing since I don't get the network.

I also wonder why for lot of episodes he describes the particular episode that will air, but for others he just uses generic intros. (Especially for first season eps.) Maybe, Brain didn't like some of the guest stars. Again, just guessing.

 

[Phillip]

Every episode on Oddysey had a Brian Henson intro designated to it. Keep in mind though sometimes Odyssey aired different ones for the same episodes. (I think a Star Wars intro even aired for the Diana Ross show once).

When the Muppet Show was airing twice a day, it is correct that one of the time slots never shown the intros. This is because without it they had an extra minute of commercial/promo time.

 

[Philip Kippel]

The Brian Henson intros that I know of are as follows:

Generic Intros:

1) Minor Characters
2) Miss Piggy
3) Jim's Characters
4) The Swedish Chef's Language
5) Fozzie and his Jokes
6) Growing Up with the Muppets/International Success
7) Lew Grade
8) Comedy
9) Every Shot a Special Effect/The Audience
10) Sex and Violence
11) Gonzo
12) Training to Perform the Muppets
13) On-Screen Action

Episode-specific Intros:

1) Rita Moreno
2) Paul Williams
3) Candice Bergen
4) Edgar Bergen
5) Steve Martin
6) Madeline Kahn
7) George Burns
8) Rudolf Nureyev
9) Elton John
10) Julie Andrews
11) Peter Sellers
12) Bob Hope
13) John Cleese
14) Gilda Radner
15) Alice Cooper
16) Liberace
17) Raquel Welch
18) Harry Belafonte
19) John Denver
20) Kenny Rogers
21) Liza Minelli
22) Star Wars
23) Diana Ross
24) Gene Kelly
25) James Coburn
26) Brooke Shields
27) Senor Wences
28) Debbie Harry
29) Paul Simon
30) Carol Burnett
31) Roger Moore

Please feel free to list any Intros that I don't have on these lists.

 

[Chilly Down]

"When the Muppet Show was airing twice a day, it is correct that one of the time slots never shown the intros."

Ah-ha! I didn't realize that, when it moved to a new time slot, it stayed at the old timeslot as well. That clears up the mystery. Thanks, Phil!

And Phillip K., thanks for the list. I adore lists like that.

 

[Phillip]

I was going through quite a few tapes this weekend working on the Brian Henson intros for seasons 3-5 of our guides. I remembered this discussion and thought I would post some of the relevant findings for those who are interested.

There are 17 "generic" Muppet Show intros that were recycled for various episodes. Descriptions of them are included in our season 1-2 guides. These 17 are:

1. PERFORMING***
2. ACTION UNDERNEATH**
3. SWEDISH CHEF'S LANGUAGE*
4. THE GREAT GONZO*
5. JIM'S CHARACTERS**
6. THE AUDIENCE**
7. COMEDY*
8. MINOR CHARACTERS***
9. MOCK SWEDISH
10. SEX AND VIOLENCE
11. KERMIT
12. MUSIC
13. GROWING UP WITH THE MUPPETS
14. ROWLF
15. FOZZIE'S JOKES
16. LEW GRADE
17. MISS PIGGY

Each * dontes how many times the generic intro was used in the Time-Life DVD series.

To the best of my knowledge, there are 35 episode specific "guest" intros. Thirty of these are included on the Time-Life DVD series. While these 5 are not:

1. S1-Ep. 8: PAUL WILLIAMS
2. S1-Ep. 15: CANDICE BERGEN
3. S2-Ep. 26: ZERO MOSTEL
4. S2-Ep. 36: BERNADETTE PETERS
5. S5-Ep. 116: WALLY BOAG

What is most interesting is that Time-Life could have included 15 of the 17 generic intros on DVD, however, they only aired eight with multiple showings. Nine of the generic intros most people have not seen since few had Odyssey during it's two-year run.

The five "guest" intros currently not on DVD might be a good indicator of a few episodes that could be included if Time-Life does indeed release volumes 16-20 on DVD at some point.

 

[Gorgon Heap]

To the best of my knowledge, there are 35 episode specific "guest" intros. Thirty of these are included on the Time-Life DVD series. While these 5 are not:

1. S1-Ep. 8: PAUL WILLIAMS
2. S1-Ep. 15: CANDICE BERGEN
3. S2-Ep. 26: ZERO MOSTEL
4. S2-Ep. 36: BERNADETTE PETERS
5. S5-Ep. 116: WALLY BOAG

The five "guest" intros currently not on DVD might be a good indicator of a few episodes that could be included if Time-Life does indeed release volumes 16-20 on DVD at some point.

Uh-huh, I knew it. I thought that there would've been a guest-specific intro for the Bernadette Peters episode, given the 'classic episode' status and Emmy nomination.

This intro wasn't up when you first put up the guide, but I see now it is. When did you add it?

Out of curiosity, what does Brian Henson say about the Wally Boag episode?

David "Gorgon Heap" Ebersole

 

[Phillip]

Hi Dave,

The Peters intro is in our guide. It's right here...

http://www.muppetcentral.com/guides/episodes/tms/season2/36_peters.shtml

 

[Chilly Down]

What is most interesting is that Time-Life could have included 15 of the 17 generic intros on DVD, however, they only aired eight with multiple showings. Nine of the generic intros most people have not seen since few had Odyssey during it's two-year run.

Yeah! I noticed that when going through the Season 2 guide. I had seen the same intros over and over so many times, I just assumed I'd seen them all. I was astonished to read about all the ones I'd missed. I wish they could have used more of a variety of intros for the Time-Life collection...but oh, well.

Thanks for listing all those, as well as the "guest-specific" ones that hadn't been listed yet, Phil! Much appreciated.