The Best of the Muppets (ITV)

[David French]

Some of you may recall that I've previously mentioned a special compilation edition of the Muppet Show that aired during Easter 1977 in the UK. All I knew was that this was a compilation and that it featured guests Rita Moreno and Ethel Merman.

I'm delighted to say this is no longer a mystery and there is now an article on Muppet Wiki about this special. In summary, this special showed a variety of different clips from first season episodes of TMS. The production numbers that guests Rita Moreno and Ethel Merman performed in were also included, although their respective Talk Spot segments were excluded. Two rather strange anomalies occurred - the first being that two numbers from the Connie Stevens episode were shown (despite the fact that most of the ITV regions had not transmitted that episode) and there is also a deleted Wayne & Wanda number. Having thought about this, I wonder if it was originally meant to have been used in the Ethel Merman episode before being replaced by the shadow puppetry of Richard Bradshaw.

The Best of the Muppets

The Best of the Muppets is a TV special broadcast by ITV on April 9, 1977. The one hour program consists of clips from the first season of The Muppet Show. New content includes an introduction from Kermit the Frog announcing, "It's The Muppet Show, tonight starring the best of the Muppets!"...

muppet.fandom.com

 

[minor muppetz]

I saw the page recently but it had not yet added a sketch rundown. When I read this thread, before reading the guide, I was mistakenly under the impression that it was just two episodes edited together, with some content missing and some unaired segments (so how is that the "best" of the Muppets?). Looking at the rundown, it looks like at first it was the case with the Rita Moreno episode, before it starts showing stuff from other episodes.