The Muppet Show Season 3: Thoughts

[Muppet Master]

So, here's my follow-up thread to TMS season 2:thoughts. I finished watching season 3 of TMS today making three full seasons watched. Here are my top 5 episodes of the season, but first, here's an honorable mention.

HONORABLE MENTION 6. Harry Belafonte


5. Elke Sommer
4. Marisa Berenson
3. Lynn Redgrave
2. Slyvester Stallone
AND my favorite of season 3 is...1. Alice Cooper

Here are some of my thoughts on the middle season.

• It feels as if Gonzo's finally in character, even if he was quite a daredevil in the second season, this one has some of his best and notable acts including his motorcycle act (Episode 315-Leslie Ann Warren), his "piano" act (Episode 301-Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge), and finally probably his best act in the series (in my opinion) his hypnotizing act (Episode 324-Cheryl Ladd).
• It's depressing how little Annie Sue there is. After watching ep 301 and ep 302, she became one of my favorite characters, and then suddenly she was basically gone besides her brief roles in episodes 306, 308,and 310! They over dosed me Annie Sue right from the start, and then they made me go cold turkey.
• There are tons of underrated episodes of the season including the Marisa Berenson, Lynn Redgrave, Elke Sommer, and Cheryl Ladd (they're mostly episodes with female guest stars for whatever reason )
• Even though most call this the best season, I still like season 2 better though by just barely, and season 3 is still a really good one.
• There are fewer Rowlf on the piano sketches Oh well, Rowlf is still quite prominent.

So those are some of my thoughts on TMS season 3, what do you think about the middle season?

 

[CensoredAlso]

Lynn Redgrave is one of my favorites - I often catch myself humming her song with Kermit.

Alice Cooper - Yeah, they managed to sneak a lot of subtext into that episode, lol.

 

[Drtooth]

Short thoughts. Great season, some guest stars were great, some were just forgettable. And completely going over the head of anyone who isn't obsessed with 70's culture. Best to think about the best episodes of the season, and to forget some of the fifteen minutes of fame guests that were on their 14th minute to begin with. That's been a problem before and a problem ever since, but you really don't know who's going to have a major hold on pop culture until it's much later.

 

[minor muppetz]

While it is one of the three best seasons, it seems like a number of characters were starting to be used a lot less this season (though they would have fairly big parts in The Muppet Movie). There's not as much Crazy Harry, Sweetums, or Dr. Teeth as in the previous seasons.

It's especially surprising about Dr. Teeth. There's only three episodes where he has dialogue, one of which (Lady Be Good) his dialogue is a bit more brief. Two of his three speaking roles this season are UK spots. In fact The Electric Mayhem seems underused in general this season, though the other members are used quite a bit. Janice is seen quite a bit in part because of Vets Hospital, Floyd is seen backstage quite a bit, and Animal and Zoot both seem to perform in numbers with generic whatnot musicians. Most numbers with The Electric Mayhem have them as back-up musicians for guest stars, and barely get much focus then (otherwise the only Electric Mayhem numbers - one of which is a segment that originated in an earlier episode - only feature Dr. Teeth, Floyd, and Zoot).

And it seems like Zoot starts to get silent this season. While the previous season did have him talking less often than in the first season, he still had a fair share of dialogue that season. This season, he only says one word ("Ariba!" in the Jean Stapleton episode), though it seems like he tries to talk in the Gilda Radner episode (only his sax is stuck in his mouth). Interestingly, Zoot would get a fair amount of dialogue again the next season, in the episodes with Dizzy Gillespie, Liza Minelli, and Ann Murray.

 

[Muppet Master]

While it is one of the three best seasons, it seems like a number of characters were starting to be used a lot less this season (though they would have fairly big parts in The Muppet Movie). There's not as much Crazy Harry, Sweetums, or Dr. Teeth as in the previous seasons.

It's especially surprising about Dr. Teeth. There's only three episodes where he has dialogue, one of which (Lady Be Good) his dialogue is a bit more brief. Two of his three speaking roles this season are UK spots. In fact The Electric Mayhem seems underused in general this season, though the other members are used quite a bit. Janice is seen quite a bit in part because of Vets Hospital, Floyd is seen backstage quite a bit, and Animal and Zoot both seem to perform in numbers with generic whatnot musicians. Most numbers with The Electric Mayhem have them as back-up musicians for guest stars, and barely get much focus then (otherwise the only Electric Mayhem numbers - one of which is a segment that originated in an earlier episode - only feature Dr. Teeth, Floyd, and Zoot).

And it seems like Zoot starts to get silent this season. While the previous season did have him talking less often than in the first season, he still had a fair share of dialogue that season. This season, he only says one word ("Ariba!" in the Jean Stapleton episode), though it seems like he tries to talk in the Gilda Radner episode (only his sax is stuck in his mouth). Interestingly, Zoot would get a fair amount of dialogue again the next season, in the episodes with Dizzy Gillespie, Liza Minelli, and Ann Murray.

It seemed to me that the "band" as a whole did get less moments. When you say name episodes in season 1 of TMS where the electric mayhem performed or played a main role (excluding nurse Janice), I say, Kaye Ballard, Harvey Kroman (2X), Phyllis Diller, Jim Nabors. If you say season 2 then MAN the list just keeps going on. Don Knotts, Elton John, Cleo Laine, Lou Ra Madeline Kahn, Jaye P. Morgan... Though when you say season 3, I say...uh....Spike Milligan? The same thing goes for Scooter. Besides the Lynn Redgrave, Cheryl Ladd, and Slyvester Stallone episodes, and obviously the 30 second cold openings (though I don't really count that) I can't remember him doing much in the season. This season more or less made the secondary characters less prominent, but I think enlarged the roles of Miss Piggy and Gonzo.