When will The Muppet Show Seasons 4-5 and Muppets Tonight arrive on DVD?

[David French]

You're kidding.

I don't think anyone is kidding when they say the twelfth of never. I suspect the problem was that the previous sets never sold as well as Buena Vista thought they might. People remember the Muppet Show being that series where famous guest stars played second fiddle to these bizarre puppets. They also remember the outlandish backstage plots - Glenda Jackson as a pirate, Dance Marathon, Brooke Shields as Alice in Wonderland etc. However, only those who are really familiar with the show knew what to expect with seasons one and two. Joe Public, on the other hand, didn't and was confused as to what they were seeing.

It happens with other archive TV shows on DVD and it comes about as a result of poor marketing from the distributor.

 

[LittleJerry92]

Pretty much what David said.

I always had a hunch the DVDs didn't sell well, and this always seems to be an issue with Disney in general when selling TV shows on DVD.

 

[dwayne1115]

Season one was a number one seller.

 

[Prof Bunsen]

I always had a hunch the DVDs didn't sell well, and this always seems to be an issue with Disney in general when selling TV shows on DVD.

Maybe if all the Muppet enthusiasts petitioned or got out a lot more, perhaps? If we just continue to sit in this forum complaining and ranting how they may never be released, it just seems nihilistic to me. I always have a little bit of optimism about such matters, even if it's been a long while.

Bear in mind that by the time TMS was personally cancelled by Jim Henson in 1981, it was one of the most popular shows in the world. The show exposed the Muppets into the TV mainstream. Fans everywhere were drawn to this cult phenomenon about a bunch of celebrities being with a bunch of wacky and upstaging puppets (in fact, some of them even wanted to fly to London to attend tapings since they THOUGHT it was videotaped in front of a live audience). And more importantly, it broke barriers on how we perceive puppetry today, since Jim tried to pitch the show to CBS and ABC but turned it down because of their perception of puppetry as only a children's art form. True, that was a generation before, and especially back when Jim was still alive, but look at what it has become. We have a Muppet Wiki, a Muppet forum, Muppet merchandise, Muppet media, Muppet this, Muppet that. Although it may be not as big as Marvel or Star Wars, I think we have a pretty good crowd out there that can plea to Disney numerously.

Again, like I said before, they've probably put both sets on hold because of copyright negotiations. Debbie McClellan has stated this, and she has also said that if we are serious we should get out more and encourage Disney to finally release them: send out petitions, e-mail them, phone their representatives, etc. Maybe if the momentum is strong enough, it will give them a sincere reason to release the remaining seasons.

If anyone wants to write a(nother) petition, I'm ALL for it. And even if eventually (emphasis on) that means another viable third-party option like Shout! Factory, then let's ask them about it.

 

[dwayne1115]

I'm going to be as nice and as detailed as I possibly can without hurting anyone's feelings.

First off to the newer younger fans I love your passion and love for the Muppets and The Muppet Show. It really lifts my spirits that there are still some people who want these to be released.
That being said after I myself have tried to start getting others excited or willing to help I know it's not going to happen.

Several years ago I started a group called the Muppet Movement the idea was not your regular online or letter writing petition, but a calling petition. What I mean by that is calling Disney's customer service number and requesting the Muppet Show be released. I had several people say they would call but very few people did, and the movement slowly died. Some time had passed and I tried yet again to get the movement up and running. This time posting on here, and reaching out to other Muppet fan sites like Tough Pigs, and The Muppet Mindset to name a few. This was not received well at all, and in fact some were so rude about it that I almost left the Muppet fan community. The reason it was not received well is because fans have simply given up on the thought that these will be released at all. Fans also realized that online petitions are a dime a dozen, and do not work.

So unless you have some way of truly unifying the Muppet fan community, and come up with something other than another online petition it's not going to happen.

 

[D'Snowth]

You can't just call up a big corporation like Disney and tell them to release a show on DVD because you want it, it doesn't work that way. Plus, a big corporation like Disney isn't going to appreciate a bunch of whiney, demanding fans flooding their phone lines like that - it's just going to annoy them. This is how Sid & Marty Krofft got fired from THE DEAN MARTIN SHOW back in the 60s: Liberace was a fan of theirs, and he had his fanclub write letters to Dean Martin's producers, demanding more of the Krofft puppets on his show - he got angry with the flood of letters he got from people (mostly women) demanding more of the Krofft puppets, and he fired them as a result.

 

[Prof Bunsen]

First off to the newer younger fans I love your passion and love for the Muppets and The Muppet Show. It really lifts my spirits that there are still some people who want these to be released.
That being said after I myself have tried to start getting others excited or willing to help I know it's not going to happen.

Several years ago I started a group called the Muppet Movement the idea was not your regular online or letter writing petition, but a calling petition. What I mean by that is calling Disney's customer service number and requesting the Muppet Show be released. I had several people say they would call but very few people did, and the movement slowly died. Some time had passed and I tried yet again to get the movement up and running. This time posting on here, and reaching out to other Muppet fan sites like Tough Pigs, and The Muppet Mindset to name a few. This was not received well at all, and in fact some were so rude about it that I almost left the Muppet fan community. The reason it was not received well is because fans have simply given up on the thought that these will be released at all. Fans also realized that online petitions are a dime a dozen, and do not work.

It was worth a try. It was better than nothing. I still think McClellan was right though in that we should ask every now and then if the project's still in the works, that is if you're polite about it. You don't want to be a jerk about it. You can't demand someone like Disney to release something. I never said we should demand or strangle Disney for two pieces of home video. But I still think we shouldn't give up either. I still care, and I still think someday down the road they will. I mean maybe they won't respond to your e-mail, but that doesn't mean they're not listening. They will appreciate the feedback either way. There's always hope.

I'm sorry the petition didn't go well, Dwayne. You tried though, and that was important, even if it turned out a disaster. I guess we will still have to remain patient.

 

[dwayne1115]

From Muppet Wiki

At a panel with Steve Whitmire, Kermit the Frog and Debbie McClellan at Dragon Con in 2015, a fan asked why the last two seasons of The Muppet Show haven't been released yet. Kermit replied, "I know. Send your complaints to Disney." McClellan explained that not only do the music rights have to be cleared, but the musicians who are still alive have to be paid too. She also said that they're still working on clearing all the music rights and that they want people to keep asking about the last two seasons of The Muppet Show, because they want to release them.

 

[LittleJerry92]

Wait.... So Disney actually does want to release those two seasons?

 

[BlakeConor14]

The only way I see these two DVDS being released is for the 50th anniversary of the muppet show