Nitpicker's Guide to the "Best of the Muppet Show"

TravellingMatt

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VOLUME ONE:

ELTON JOHN--Despite the fact that the Electric Mayhem is in most of Elton's numbers, Zoot is highly conspicious by his absence. The one time he does appear ("Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"), he's reduced to background vocalist.

The pink Whatnot in "Any Old Iron" is missing his left eye. However, it'll be intact when he helps "make over" Sam.

Was Dave Goelz performing Animal during "Don't Go Breaking My Heart"? My guess is yes, since Zoot, once again, is missing, and Miss Piggy is singing with Elton (so we know where Frank was).

Also, who was performing the Swedish Chef during his backstage dialogue with Kermit and his run-ins during "Pigs In Space" and the balcony segments? Another of Jim's characters is always present in those spots.

Fozzie appears in front of the red curtain for the goodnights, yet he only appeared in the UK spot in this episode.

JULIE ANDREWS:

During the ballroom scene, Miss Piggy and Kermit are not dancing with each other, yet Miss Piggy does not get upset about Kermit dancing with Miss Mousie, nor does she throw herself on him.

In the closing number, I can't help but wonder if Richard Hunt was the only Muppeteer *in* one of the giant monsters and the rest were dancers, since Sweetums is the only one that talks.

Gonzo is quite the player in this ep! Not only does he woo Camilla on the dance floor, but he manages to score a date with the cow at the end!

GENE KELLY:

Nothing to really nitpick here...although if you look closely, you'll see Angus MacGonagle in the chorus during Gene's closing medley.

MARK HAMILL:

The Whatnot shepherd in the opening number bears a slight resemblance to Richard Hunt.

Conspicuous by his absence in "Six-String Orchestra" is Dr. Teeth. This led me to the theory that Jim was performing Janice, leaving Richard free to perform Scooter.

Also, who was performing Kermit during the big finale, since Jim was performing Link? Or maybe it was someone else performing Link, Jim was performing Kermit, and then dialogue was dubbed in?

PAUL SIMON:

Watch at the end of "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover", Animal tries to eat Rizzo!

The puppy that runs alongside the baby carriage during "Baby Driver" also pops up in the "Pokey Polka" number in the Carol Burnett episode. I think Steve Whitmire was performing him too.

Zoot doesn't play the sax during "Loves Me Like A Rock", he plays tambourine and sings backup.

RAQUEL WELCH:

The Muppets who want Raquel to retain her sexpot image in the opening:big_grin:r. Teeth, Floyd, Gonzo, Gloat, and Quango (the gorilla).

One of the monks in the "At The Dance/Monologue" segment resembles a clean-shaven Lew Zealand.

Quango appears for the goodnights yet he only appeared in the opening for this episode.

HARRY BELAFONTE:

Was someone else other than Richard Hunt performing Sweetums? I wonder because at the end of "The Banana Boat Song", he appears only to lug out the jumbo bunch of bananas and doesn't say a thing.

This show is one of the few times a Muppet gets killed! The bee that torments Floyd and Zoot during the UK spot ("Honeysuckle Rose") flies into Zoot's sax and apparently into Zoot's mouth, and at song's end, Zoot smacks his lips and spits the bee out.

This episode is the only one in the DVD series to show a different "Zoot blowing the last note" bit during the closing credits. Where the normal ending for the series is Zoot blowing the last note and looking astonished, this one shows an older-looking Zoot puppet with no hat, blowing the last note then looking out at the crowd and nodding his head.

LINDA RONSTADT

As it's been depicted, apparently the plot line for this episode carried over into Linda's appearance on the "Kermit Unpigged" CD.

Rowlf shows off his versatility by playing not just the piano, but the banjo as well!

Rover Joe from "The Muppet Musicians of Bremen" makes an appearance during "The Cat Came Back".

Zeke also shows his versatiliy as well! In addition to his banjo playing skills, he also plays the vibes!

Beaker, Lew Zealand, and Beauregard appear in the closing number despite not appearing in the show until that point.

JOHN DENVER:

Jim Henson performs Zeke in the opening number. He would also do the same for the "Rocky Mountain Holiday" special.

Is Steve Whitmire performing Fozzie when Kermit announces the trip to the swamp? Given what Steve said about that in the MC interview, he might have been!

"Grandma's Feather Bed" would be recycled for the "Rocky Mountain Holiday" special.

In the UK spot, Miss Piggy sings "Trees", a song Wayne and Wanda attempted to sing in the first season. However, she gets a lot farther than Wayne does before a tree heckles her.
 

Beth C

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TravellingMatt said:
JOHN DENVER:


"Grandma's Feather Bed" would be recycled for the "Rocky Mountain Holiday" special.
I liked it much better in RMH when Kermit sang it. :smile:

~Beth C
 

Super Scooter

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TravellingMatt said:
ELTON JOHN:

The pink Whatnot in "Any Old Iron" is missing his left eye. However, it'll be intact when he helps "make over" Sam.
That was something they realized happened, but since it was just the UK spot, figured it would have to do.
TravellingMatt said:
MARK HAMILL:

Conspicuous by his absence in "Six-String Orchestra" is Dr. Teeth. This led me to the theory that Jim was performing Janice, leaving Richard free to perform Scooter.
Probably because there was no part for a piano player in the song.
 

Drtooth

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Yeah... I'm saying both theories are good...
 
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