TMS Season Best-ofs

[dbarrie]

If you were to compile your favourite TMS moments for a collection of season best-ofs, which ones would you include? Last weekend I dreamed up this idea of what would go into these compilations if they were ever released to the public. If I had two VCRs I might've considered making my own season best-ofs.

Here are the ones I drew up for the first two seasons:

The Muppet Show—Best of Season 1
· Opening Theme
· “Mahna Mahna”
· Gonzo eats a rubber tire to “Flight of the Bumblebee”
· Kermit’s talk spot w/ Juliet Prowse
· A “Veterinarian’s Hospital” skit
· “Lady of Spain” – Marvin Suggs & His Muppaphone
· “Fever” – Rita Moreno w/ Animal
· Muppet Labs: Bunsen demonstrates Gorilla Detector
· “Tomorrow” – The Country Trio
· “Rubber Meatballs” – Swedish Chef
· Kermit interviews Animal
· An “At the Dance” skit
· “A World of Pure Imagination” – Ben Vereen
· “Lydia, the Tattooed Lady” – Kermit (w/ cameo from Miss Piggy)
· “I Feel Pretty”
· “Bein’ Green” – Kermit
· “Pittsburgh” – Paul Williams w/ Beautiful Day Monster
· “Trees” - Wayne & Wanda w/ Sam the Eagle
· “Sax and Violence” – Zoot w/ Mahna Mahna
· Muppet NewsFlash: Monster Furniture
· Kermit’s talk spot w/ Vincent Price
· A “Vendaface” skit
· “Clay Faces” - Mummenschanz
· “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” – Candice Bergen feat. Various Muppets
· “Hugga-Wugga / You Are My Sunshine”
· A “Talking Houses” skit
· “Mr. Bass Man” – Scooter & Floyd
· A “Monologue” where Fozzie gets heckled by S&W
· Panel sketch w/ Florence Henderson
· “Simon Smith & His Amazing Dancing Bear” – Scooter w/ Fozzie & Rowlf
· “Good Grief, the Comedian’s a Bear!” – Fozzie & Kermit
· “Cottleston Pie” - Rowlf
· Gonzo’s balloon act / Lena Horne sings “I’m Glad There is You”
· “What Now My Love” – Miss Piggy
· “Halfway Down the Stairs” - Robin
· Kermit visits Planet Koozebain
· “Tenderly” – Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem
· “Silly Song” – Avery Schreiber w/ creatures
· Closing Theme / Closing remarks from S&W

The Muppet Show—Best of Season 2
· Opening Theme
· “Chopin’s Polonaise in A Flat” – Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem
· The “Lady Wrestler” plot feat. Kermit, Miss Piggy, Scooter, Statler & Waldorf
· “Balloon Animals” – Steve Martin
· “The Lonely Goatherd” – Julie Andrews
· Rich Little impersonates Fozzie, Kermit and Miss Piggy
· The “At the Dance” skit where Gonzo meets Camilla
· “I Won’t Dance” – Kermit & Miss Piggy
· “Top Banana” – Milton Berle & Fozzie
· “Happy Feet” – Kermit
· “The Windmills of Your Mind” / “Veterinarian’s Hospital”
· “Feet” – Madeline Kahn
· Sam the Eagle gives a lecture on nudity
· “I Know An Old Lady” – Judy Collins w/ S&W
· A “Pigs in Space” skit
· A “Muppet Newsflash” skit
· “I’m Five” – Robin
· “Just One Person” – Bernadette Peters & TMS Cast
· Miss Piggy attempts to woo J.P. Grosse (backstage)
· “A Gypsy’s Violin” – Peter Sellers
· A “Muppet Labs” skit w/ Bunsen & Beaker
· “Chicken with Ping-Pong Eggs” – Swedish Chef
· ”Wild Thing” – Animal
· “Fears” – Zero Mostel w/ monsters
· “Cuento la Gusta” – Miss Piggy
· “Train Back Home” – George Burns w/ Rowlf
· The “Pigs in Space” skit w/ John Cleese
· Bob Hope w/ Kermit, Scooter and the Flying Zucchini Brothers on stage
· “Swine Lake” – Rudolf Nureyev & Miss Piggy
· “Time in a Bottle”
· “Consider Yourself” – Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy & TMS Cast
· Fozzie’s monologue w/ ventriloquist dummy
· “Down at Papa Joe’s” – The Chickens
· “Crocodile Rock” – Elton John w/ Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem
· “We Got Us” – TMS Cast w/ Dom DeLuise
· Closing Theme / Closing remarks from S&W

It would be interesting to see what other compilations would look like. What do you think of these two? I'd like to post tracklists for the remaining three seasons later.

Don

 

[Smy Guiley]

Not bad, not bad at all! I'd put Muppet Labs "All Purpose Tenderizer" in the season one compilation instead, and in season two, I'm sorry, but the Rich Little spot impersonating the Muppets is embarrassingly bad. Well, that's my opinion.

later
eric

 

[dbarrie]

Hi Smy,

Thanks for your reply. I honestly forgot about that meat tenderizer sketch--good one! As for Rich Little, I thought his Muppet impressions were hilarious! Wouldn't his presence on the compilation be considered "CanCon"? I hope Time-Life will one day devote a Best of TMS DVD to the three Canadians who guested on the show--i.e. Rich Little, Anne Murray and Doug Henning. If they can do collections w/ all-British stars, then why not have an all-Canuck one?

Here are the remaining three season best-of lists I compiled this weekend. Please feel welcome to write back. Don

The Muppet Show—Best of Season 3
· Opening Theme
· “Octopus’ Garden” – Kermit, Miss Piggy & Robin
· “The Medium” – James Coco w/ Fozzie, Beauregard and a Ghost
· A “Bear on Patrol” skit
· “Do-Re-Mi” – Kermit, Annie Sue, Scooter, a Salamander, Robin, Beauregard & Fozzie
· "Muppet Sports: Wig Racing" - Louis Kazagger
· “Eight Little Notes” – Rowlf
· “Pigs in Space: Dummo Rays”
· “You’re Looking at Country” – Loretta Lynn & The Jugband
· “Medley: Do-Whacka-Do/Dang Me/My Uncle Used to Love Me/You Can’t Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd” – Roger Miller w/ chickens
· “Rocky Top” – Roy Clark & The Jugband
· “At the Barn-Dance”
· “Medley: Hazy Mountain/Tumbling Tumbleweeds/Happy Trails” – Roy Rogers & Dale Evans
· “Pop Goes the Weasel” – Rowlf
· “Chickie in the Baskie” – Swedish Chef
· “I’m a Woman” – Raquel Welch & Miss Piggy
· “The Rhyming Song” – Fozzie, Scooter, Annie Sue & Link
· “Muppet Labs: Germ Enlarger”
· “Modern Major General” – Gilda Radner w/ a giant carrot
· Gonzo performs a (failed) motorcycle stunt and crashes into S&W's box
· A “Muppet Newsflash” skit
· Otto the Robot Comedian
· The “Turkey” skit w/ the Swedish Chef & Danny Kaye
· “Inchworm” – Danny Kaye & TMS Cast
· “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” – Sylvester Stallone w/ a lion
· A “Veterinarian’s Hospital” skit
· “Just the Way You Are” – Lesley Ann Warren w/ Rowlf
· “Muppet Labs: Atomic Elevator Shoes”
· “Stayin’ Alive” – Miss Piggy
· “Vendawish”
· “I’m Just Wild About Harry” – Jean Stapleton w/ Crazy Harry
· "Lullaby of Broadway"
· “Broadway Medley” – Pearl Bailey & TMS Cast
· “School’s Out” – Alice Cooper
· “America” – Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem w/ others
· “Turn the World Around” – Harry Belafonte w/ TMS Cast
· Closing Theme / Closing remarks from S&W

The Muppet Show—Best of Season 4
· Opening Theme
· “I Get Around” – Miss Piggy, Link and other pigs on motorcycles
· The “How to Fly” plot w/ Scooter, Fozzie, Lew Zealand
· “The Rubberband Man” – Lynda Carter
· “Wonder Pig” – Miss Piggy, Link, Dr. Strangepork, Annie Sue w/ a real chicken
· “Muppet Labs: Luggage Compressor”
· The “Pigs in Space” skit introducing Dirth Nader (Gonzo)
· “Copacabana” – Liza Minnelli w/ monsters
· “I Go to Rio”
· “Love Hangover” – Diana Ross w/ Fletcherbird and others
· “At the Disco-Dance”
· “Disco Frog” – Kermit
· “Hamlet” / “Brush Up Your Shakespeare” – Christopher Reeve w/ Fozzie, Link, Beauregard & A Head (Yorick)
· A “Muppet Newsflash”
· “Little Bit of Dis” – Dizzy Gillespie w/ Floyd & Zoot
· “Bear on Patrol Captures an Octopus”
· “The More I See You” – Linda Lavin w/ the Electric Mayhem
· “Take Ten Terrific Girls” – Statler & Waldorf w/ girls
· “You’ll Never Walk Alone”
· “Six String Orchestra” – Scooter w/ the Electric Mayhem
· “Pigoletto” – Beverly Sills w/ pigs
· Victor Borge and Bobby Benson’s Baby Band play Tchaikovsky
· A “Veterinarian’s Hospital” skit
· “Love Story” – Andy Williams w/ Miss Piggy chasing Kermit
· “Hound Dog” – Geri & The Atrics
· “Big Spender” – Dyan Cannon w/ dogs
· Dudley Moore and the Electric Mayhem play while buildings fall
· “Pigs in Space: The Takeover (Part 1),” w/ Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), C3PO & R2D2
· “It’s Magic” – Miss Piggy & Kermit
· Doug Henning performs a switcheroo magic trick
· “The Man on the Flying Trapeze” – Miss Piggy & Kermit
· “Coconut” – Kermit, two nurses and a doctor
· “The Gambler” – Kenny Rogers
· “Muppet Sports: Bagpipe Eating”
· “Snowbird” – Anne Murray w/ a bird
· “Roast Piggy/Roast Beef” – Swedish Chef
· “Grandma’s Feather Bed” – John Denver & TMS Cast
· “Pigs in Space: Landing on Koozebain (Part 2),” w/ Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), C3PO, R2D2, Chewbacca, Dirth Nader (Gonzo) & Agnus McGonagle / “You Are My Lucky Star/When You Wish Upon a Star” – w/ Kermit
· Closing Theme / Closing remarks from S&W

The Muppet Show—Best of Season 5
· Opening Theme
· “Another Opening, Another Show” – Fozzie, Scooter, Link, Lew Zealand, Gonzo & Rizzo, w/ Beauregard & Beaker
· “Friendship” – Kermit & Robin w/ pigs and two whales
· “Pigs in Space: The Meaning and Purpose of Life (Part 1)”
· “The Cat Came Back” – Rowlf
· “Baby, Don’t Get Hooked on Me” – Mac Davis & Miss Piggy
· “I’ve Got a Crush on You” – Linda Ronstadt w/ Kermit
· A “Veterinarian’s Hospital” skit
· “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” – Floyd, Janice, Animal, Rizzo & Rowlf
· “Baby Driver” – Paul Simon w/ Bobby Benson’s Baby Band
· “Salute to the Roaring Twenties” – James Coburn w/ Gonzo, Camilla, Animal and others
· “Muppet Labs: Electric Sledgehammer”
· “Rockin’ Robin” – Janice w/ the Electric Mayhem
· “At the Dance”
· “The Rainbow Connection” – Deborah Harry & Kermit w/ Robin’s Frog Scout Troop
· “Frog Scout March”
· “I Feel the Earth Move” – Loretta Swit w/ Thog
· “The Martins & McCoys”
· “Orange Blossom Special” / “Jackson” – Johnny Cash & Miss Piggy w/ Jugband
· “Nobody Here But Us Chickens” – Gonzo w/ chickens
· “Night and Day (Egyptian Number)”
· “Friendship Train” – Gladys Knight w/ TMS Cast
· “Dancing in the Dark”
· “Muppet Newsflash” (from Gene Kelly ep.)
· “I Was Made for Dancing” – Carol Burnett w/ dancing couples
· “Lighter Than Air Souffle” – Swedish Chef
· “Drum Battle” – Buddy Rich vs. Animal
· “Puppet Man” – Pinocchio w/ Pops and others
· Backstage: Kermit, Pinocchio, Fozzie & Gonzo / Ventriloquism by Senor Wences
· “These Are the Yolks, Folks” – Humpty Dumpty w/ others
· “The Mad Tea Party” – Alice (Brooke Shields), Gonzo, A Rabbit, the Dormouse (a chicken)
· Chris Langham does This and That
· “Aladdin & His Magic Lamp” – Marty Feldman w/ Gonzo, Fozzie, Animal & Chickens
· “In the Navy” – Viking Pigs
· “Bear on Patrol: Handcuff Salesman”
· “Muppet Sports: Cross-Country Billiards”
· “Talk to the Animals” – Roger Moore w/ animals and spies
· “Goldfinger” – Shirley Bassey
· “If We Ruled the World” – Hal Linden & Robin
· Gene Kelly teaches Kermit how to dance
· “Pigs in Space: The Meaning and Purpose of Life (Part 2)”
· “There’ll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight” – Marty Feldman w/ TMS Cast & Sesame Street Muppets
· Closing Theme / Closing remarks from S&W (from Gene Kelly ep.)

Not bad, not bad at all! I'd put Muppet Labs "All Purpose Tenderizer" in the season one compilation instead, and in season two, I'm sorry, but the Rich Little spot impersonating the Muppets is embarrassingly bad. Well, that's my opinion.

later
eric

 

[Dil]

What about "Feelings", a solo by Beaker?
Didn't you forget to put that and "Boogie in The Barnyard" in your TMS Season Best-ofs list?

 

[minor muppetz]

Here is my list for the best of season 1:
Nice Girl Like Me
Muppet news: there is no news tonight
The Swedish Chef: spaghetti
Hilda talks badly about Gonzo's teddy bear
Mr. Bassman
Mahna Mahna
Talk Spot: Rita Moreno
Panel Discussion: Psychiatry
Muppet Labs: Gorillia Detector
Scooter brings a robot replica of kermit to the theater
the Houses: my mother is very interested in religion
Happy Together
Gonzo asks kermit for his opinions on Gonzo's teddy bear
Veterinarian's Hospital: George the janitor
All I Need is the Girl
Tenderly
Joel Grey talks to Gonzo about expressions
The Monster of the Moores
Muppet Labs: world record for longest sentence
Kermit and Robot Kermit in the mirror
Wayne and Wanda: On a Clear Day
Cottlesone Pie
Koozebanian Mating Ritual
At the Dance (from the Florence Henderson episode)
Harvey Korman as Maurice the Magnifficent
Scooter talks positively about Gonzo's teddy bear
Talk Spot: Juliet Prowse
Muppet News: Hotline
Kermit interviews Animal
That Face
Miss Piggy meets Robot Kermit
I'm My Own Grampaw
Gonzo plays the violin while a plant grows
Kermit tells Fozzie that everybody was talking badly about Gonzo's teddy bear, not Fozzie
Bein' Green
Dog Eat Dog
Fozzie's Impressions
Talk Spot: Charles Aznavour
Halfway Down the Stairs
Sherlock Holmes and The Case of the Disapearing Things
Ethel Merman medley
Thank God I'm a Country Boy

 

[minor muppetz]

Pist for the best of season 2:

Sea Chantey
Muppet Labs: Steel Carrots
Gonzo plays bagpipe on flagpole
Chickens play chopsticks
The Windmills of Your Mind
Floyd makes Fozzie an honorary hip person
I Whistle a Happy Tune
Somebody Stole My Gal
Pigs in Space: Supply Shortage
Fleet Scribbler comes to the theater
Muppet News: television news reporters are blowing up
Fleet Scribbler interviews George Burns
Pig Calypso
Gonzo tells Kermit that he is auditioning dancing chickens
The Swedish Chef: Lobsters
Floyd gives Fozzie a pair of shades
Kermit interviews the Koozebanian Phoob
Fleet Scribbler interviews Miss Piggy
Crocodile Rock
Up, Up, and Away
Peter Sellers works on Link Hogthrob
Gonzo's first chicken audition
The Boy in the Gallery
At the Hop
Baby Face
Fozzie's ventreloquism act
I'm Five
Talk Spot: Don Knotts
Don't Blame the Dynamite
Groovy People
Veterinarian's Hospital: Three-Legged Creature
Upidee
Sam lectures on nudity
Gonzo's second dancing chicken act
At the Dance (from the Teressa Brewer episode)
Smoke Get's in Your eyes
Ukelelee Lady
Animal shakes Fozzie
Talk Spot: Jaye P Morgan
The Varsity Drag
Kermit let's Gonzo do his dancing chicken act
Gonzo and Lolita
What a Wonderful World
I Know an Old lady Who Swallowed a Fly
The Four Fazoobs
Monster Adoption Agency
J.P. grosse visits and Kermit talks about how terrible it is to have J.P. around
Fears of Zero
Floyd tells Fozzie that the cosing number will need a bass player
Lullaby of Birdland

 

[minor muppetz]

Here is the best of season 3:

Hawian War Chant
Honeysuckle Rose
Gonzo orders something in the canteen
Gonzo balances a piano
two chickens play chimes
Catch a falling Star
The Swedish Chef: Chicken in the basket
You're Always Welcome at Our House
Kermit finds out that Gilda Radner wanted a ten foot tall talking parrot instead of a ten foot tall talking carrot for her next number
Modern Major Mineral
A Muppet Melodrama (from the Jean Stapleton episode)
Short People
Here's Looking at Country
Fozzie tells Kermit that the show needs a script
Rowlf and Lew zeland perform Tea For Two backwards
Eight Little Notes
Muppet Labs: Elevador Shoes
Bear on Patrol: Impersonating an Officer
Gonzo gives his autograph to Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolege
Muppet Sports: Wig Racing
Someone Just Like You
Fozzie get's his tie caught in his typewriter
We Don't Want to set the World on Fire
Somewhere over the Rainbow
There's a New Sound
Fozzie's Memory Act
Pigs in Space: First pigs on koozebane part 1
Rocky Top
Talk Spot: Jean Stapleton
Veterinarian's Hospital: Hawian pig
Animal orders a TV dinner
Mack the Knife
Witch Doctor
Muppet News: refridgerator throwing contest
Pigs in Space: first pigs on koozebane part 2
The Swedish Chef: Turkey
Kermit interviews Marvin Suggs
Octopuses Garden
Beauty and the Beast
Yokohoma
Tuxedo Junction
School's Out For Summer

 

[minor muppetz]

Here is season 4:

Take Ten Terriffic Girls
Miss Piggy buys shoes that are too short for her
You're Feet's Too Big
Grocery Blues
A Horse named Bill
Elegence
Pigs in Space: Force Field
Why Can't We Be Friends?
Six String Orchestra
Muppet Labs: banana sharpener
Muppet News: Killer Lamb
Muppet Sports: Tree Staring
Miss Piggy talks to Carol Channing about her small shoes
Scooter tells kermit that everyone is taking a correspondence course on becomming super heros
Feelings
The Happy Wanderer
Grandma's Feather Bed
Timmy brings Piggy her shoes
Diamonds are a Girls best Friend
Last Time I Saw Him
He's the Greatest Dancer
Carbon Paper
Veterinarian's Hospital: Robin
Rubber Band Man
Lew Zeland studies x-ray vision
It Was a Very Good Year
Musician jokes: Do You Know There's a Little Old Lady Sleeping Up Here?
Pigs in Space: Dirth Nadir
There's No Buisness Like Show Buisness
I Get Around
Muppet Superheros learn to fly
The Swedish Chef: Roast Beef
You're No Good
I've Got Rhythym
Take a Chance on Me
Be a frog/ Be a Pig
Lynda carter's closing number

 

[minor muppetz]

And now, here is my ideal best of season 5:

Another Opening, Another Show
A Salute to The Roarin' Twenties
Friendship Train
Muppet News: Beef Falls Dramatically
Gene Kelly gives Kermit a dance lesson
I Hear the Earth Move
In the Navy
Kermit needs something to look like gold for the closing number
Rockin' Robin
How High the Moon?
Muppet Sports: Cross-Country Billards
Whenever I Call You Friend
Kermit meets a security guard who loans bars of gold to the theater
Muppet Labs: Gold Into Cottage Cheese
Friendship
Veterinarian's Hospital: Viking
The Swedish Chef: Spring Chicken
One Way or Another
Muppet News: gold loaned to theater
Pennies from Heaven
Car Wash Blues
Don't Squeeze Me In
bear on patrol: Car Prisioner
Pigs in Space: Meteor Shower
Boogie in the Barnyard
When The Saints Come Marchin' In
Danny Boy
Goldfinger

 

[Dil]

I'm glad you posted "Happy Wanderer" on your post of the 4th Season Best, Minor Muppetz.

What about "Turn The World Around" on your post of the 3rd Season Best? That number is the most celebrated.

On the other hand, it's "I FEEL the Earth Move", not "I Hear the Earth Move".