Worst TMS guest stars

[DanDanStrawberry]

I have to say that I really did enjoy the Debby Harry episode...well, at least parts of it. I like the duet she does with Kermit. Otherwise, not a big fan of her music. The opening number was cute too.

Jim

I adooore her music but unfortunately have never seen the episode. And I really liked the Mark Hamill and Elton John episodes, but I haven't seen that many

 

[Frogster]

Here's my TMS "worst of" list:

Teresa Brewer: except At the Hop and Wild Thing, and Crazy Harry's signature
Diana Ross: I still love I Go To Rio, but she's a terrible actress
Star Wars: If it wasn't for Six String Orchestra, I'd never watch it again
Elton John: Only part I liked was Sam and Kermit's interaction backstage
Gene Kelly: Where's Fozzie? Too much Beau, not enough show
Brooke Shields: I know she was young, so I will say they gave it their best
Julie Andrews: except for the talk spot with Gonzo, Fozzie, Robin and Scooter
Carol Burnett: How did that show get nominated for having a dance marathon?
Steve Martin: The episode was kinda... dead
I'll list more later

 

[Gorgon Heap]

To answer minor muppetz's query, yes, this thread is about worst guest stars, not necessarily worst episodes. Guests themselves, please. Worst episodes we can start a new thread for.

David "Gorgon Heap" Ebersole

 

[Gorgon Heap]

Here's my TMS "worst of" list:

Teresa Brewer: except At the Hop and Wild Thing, and Crazy Harry's signature
Diana Ross: I still love I Go To Rio, but she's a terrible actress
Star Wars: If it wasn't for Six String Orchestra, I'd never watch it again
Elton John: Only part I liked was Sam and Kermit's interaction backstage
Gene Kelly: Where's Fozzie? Too much Beau, not enough show
Brooke Shields: I know she was young, so I will say they gave it their best
Julie Andrews: except for the talk spot with Gonzo, Fozzie, Robin and Scooter
Carol Burnett: How did that show get nominated for having a dance marathon?
Steve Martin: The episode was kinda... dead
I'll list more later

Man, I can't help but disagree with most of this list. Then again, I can find something to like in practically every episode.

-Teresa Brewer: her episode has become one of my favorites- it's colorful and energetic and zany; IMO it gives creedence to Kermit's opening line "Welcome to The Muppet Show, where anything can happen... unfortunately."

-Diana Ross: I LOVE "I Go to Rio", and I also like Diana's songs ("Love Hangover" I like the best, "Last Time I Saw Him" next, "Reach Out and Touch" was a bit meh). Also the Gills Brothers' number- great!

-Star Wars: I liked the opening number as well as "Six String Orchestra"; the rest I'll gladly give you

-Elton John: I started loving his music the first time I saw this episode, even though I totally get the complaints about the episode

-Gene Kelly: a bit subpar perhaps, even though the 'end of the world' thing is clever; IMO Gene Kelly made a perfect guest for the series finale and it's hard to imagine a better star to end on than one of the all-time superstars

-Brooke Shields: the episode loses the story and is more a disjointed collection of scenes than a story proper, and Brooke isn't very good (but she sure is pretty *sigh*)

-Julie Andrews: now this one I just don't get; Julie loved the Muppets, probably more than any other celeb going, and IMO the episode covers a lot of good bits, it's energetic, colorful, and varied

-Steve Martin: there are some good bits, and IMO it was a worthy experiment, but what really gets me is that instead of great Steve Martin/Muppets interaction, we get Steve Martin doing his regular stand-up while the Muppets watch- could've been a great pairing but sadly wasn't

For my money, there isn't a worse episode than the one with Joan Baez. The plot is flimsy and built on a contradiction, every sketch preaches on some different subject, and the attempt at building 'big emotions'- obviously a residual effort from the previous week's storyline in which Kermit fires Piggy and replaces her with Loretta Swit- was IMO the most forced, insincere effort the series ever put forth. Sadly, this would become business as usual on "Muppets Tonight"...

David "Gorgon Heap" Ebersole

 

[minor muppetz]

Here are my picks for worst guest stars:

Juliet Prowse: Like others have said, she didn't do much. She had a brief backstage interacton with Kermit, one major act, a talk spot, a brief joke with Zoot, and a goodnight. Is her main talent dancing? Her dance number get's boring fast. Perhaps it needed some singing or comedy. Or maybe it needed some regular characters instead of some one-shot characters created for the sake of having a performer wear all black and perform in front of a black background. The Gazzelles were good-looking puppets, but they weren't that great, and it almost seems like Jim Henson wanted to show off some normal-sized puppets dancing in full-body form without having the performers seen. If Juliet was a dancer, maybe her first number would have been better if Sweetums and/ or thog were used instead. It's also hard to tell wheter Juliet really enjoyed being on the show or not (while she didn't really show any negativity like Harvey Korman did, all of her kind comments towards the show could have just been acting).

Elton John: Okay, the real reason he's on this list is because there is too much of the guest. He's in almost every other on-stage act. However, I do not hate him, and his numbers are better than most of the non-guest star scenes. I also feel like his episode could have ued some more characters, like Gonzo, Bunsen, and beaker. And the Electric Mayhem should have sang along with him, or at least had some interaction with Elton John (Janice is the only member who talks in this episode, and she only speaks in Veterinarian's Hospital).

Pearl Bailey: all of her acts were really boring. I know that we are mainly just talking about guest stars and not episodes, but many of the non-guest sceens don't do it for me, either (I haven't seen the Muppet Labs sketch from this episode).

Carol Channing: She isn't really that bad, but I don't think any part of her episode are that special. Her scenes are a bit funny, but not hilariously funny. The most special thing about this episode, to me, is the fact that I learned Timmy Monster's name in this episode. Other highlights include "You're Feets Too Big", having a cross-over between Vet's Hospital and Pigs in Space, and Featherstones only appearance on The Muppet Show (in his original male form and not dressed to look like a woman), but those aren't really stuff that I would put on my top 30 list.

Senor Wences: Although having a puppeteer on the show and having the Muppets devote an entire sho to puppetry is a funny idea, it's not as good as it could have been. There are some funny moments, especially when Kermit and Fozzie struggle to explain to Gonzo what a puppet is, but the guest stars moments aren't really good. This episode isn't really bad outside of the guest stars scenes (even his scene with Lew Zeland isn't that great) and the realistic puppet act by Bruce Swartz. I also liked Fozzie's ventreloquism act (from the Edgar bergen episode) a lot better than his puppet act.

 

[Dil]

Kermit done his arm-waving in every of his introductions in the Diana Ross episode, especially for Diana Ross' numbers.

Imagine what it would be if Guy Smiley was hosting that episode:

GUY: "THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU, AND WELCOME TO A VERY SPECIAL MUPPET SHOWW!! YES! And our guest star is my VERY VERY FAVORITE SINGER OF ALL-TIME, MISS DIANA ROSS OF THE SUPREMES!!! YYESSSS!!!! MAN, this is going to be everyone's favorite show!"

GUY: "(to S & W) Will you guys up there stop it!? (to the audience) BECAUSE... it's time to get things started with our VERY VERY VERY VERY SUPER EXTRA SUPER DUPER ULTRA MIGHTY SUPREMING SPECIAL GUEST STAR, MISS DIANA ROSS!!! YYYYAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

That would most definely hurt Jim Henson's throat.

 

[Lettuce]

Although I've only really seen 8 episodes, out of all 8, I really disliked Mark Hamills episode, bawring, if anything.

 

[superfan]

Seems to be a lot of conflicting opinion one way or another about Mark Hamill...so let me send in a LOVED it vote. Doesn't any one like Derth Nader? heehee! Six String Orchestra was an excellent little number. And yes, he hammed it up, but it looked like he GENUINELY enjoyed being there and I think that counts for something when you compare it to those who looked so completely unnatural and uncomfortable.

As for the one I didn't care for, I would have to say Dudley Moore. I found him to be a bit dull.

 

[The Flying Sheep]

I loved the Mark Hamill episode too, Scooter Fan.


My least favorite episode, though not really the fault of the guest star, is the Joel Grey episode. Grey has been much better elswhere, but he kindof sleep-walks through his numbers, and the show hadn't hit it's stride yet. There are some funny moments, but I think they handled "Wilkomen" poorly.

 

[crazed gonzo fa]

I enjoyed the Mark Hamill episode greatly! I didn't like the Ethal Merman(spelling?) episode, she seemed too full of herself.