Your Thoughts: The Muppet Show Season 3

[nathan]

Anyone else wish seasons 2 and 3 had the Muppet Morsels pop-up trivia on them like the season 1 set had?

yeah, i'd like it if they had that

 

[nathan]

It's out in R4 and the cover is different. The close-up of Fozzie has been replaced with a picture of the Muppet Show cast sitting in the theatre seats.

that's weird, they changed the cover for season 1 and 3, but not season 2...

 

[David French]

that's weird, they changed the cover for season 1 and 3, but not season 2...

Well, technically they did change it slightly; the R1 cover for Season Two has the title of the DVD in yellow but for R4 it was changed to green.

 

[nathan]

Well, technically they did change it slightly; the R1 cover for Season Two has the title of the DVD in yellow but for R4 it was changed to green.

Never noticed that! It's not that much different but oh well.

 

[frogboy4]

It's out in R4 and the cover is different. The close-up of Fozzie has been replaced with a picture of the Muppet Show cast sitting in the theatre seats.

Fine idea, but dreadful Photoshopping on that new cover. It's all so cut-and-paste monkeywork farmed out to a low cost designer. I'd really like to see the Disney artists get their hands on this stuff. Well, if there are any left. Anyway, that picture appears on the inside of the DVD sets for the US version. Interesting that it was changed only in Australia. Thanks for sharing that.

 

[Convincing John]

And how about how much Betty White looks like Dale Evans?

Hey...yeah she does! LOL!

If there were a new Muppet series in the works, can't you just see her doing a sketch? Those "back in St. Olaf" stories she told on the Golden Girls (with the Scandanavian names and various livestock) reminded me a little of the Chef's sketches. Something tells me she could easily speak mock Swedish with the best of them.

Just listen to this story. Isn't that just a perfect scenario for a Muppet sketch or what? (Insert Lew Zealand smiley here).

And I agree, I'm ready for Season 4, too! When the heck is Season 4 coming out? Let's hope that Disney doesn't pull a "Fraggle Box Set" stunt on us.

Convincing John

 

[peyjenk]

Yeah, Rose was practically a Muppet to begin with.

 

[animal0606]

Season 3 was really good My highlights were the episode 7 on disc 2 featuring Alice Cooper & episode 4 featuring Gilda Radner of course there is so much more fun offered but those were my standd outs of course Animal stealing every scene he is in as usual. I love the Boxes the fact they made them look like the characters & the feel of the material they used.I own all 3 seasons & I enjoy them all & I am forever great full to Jim Henson who was way ahead of his time with his unlimited imagiation & of course Frank Oz, always remember you cant have a good show without a great cast of memorable charecters.I hope they bring back this show & I am looking forward to season 4 & hopefully Animal will grace the cover on this one.

 

[minor muppetz]

Well, I'd like to share my thoughts on the set. It's really great. I'll review the epsidoes in orde,r one disc at a time.

Disc 1 epsiodes:

• Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge - five stars.
  This is the perfect season premiere, it's so jam-packed with backstage, canteen, and on-stage antics. Nothing in this episode is bad, but the highlights are the canteen scenes, Gonzo's act, Muppet Labs, and New York State of Mind(evn though that's from an earleir episode). I was surprised to see Steve Whitmire's name in the credits, since he's said that the Alice Cooper episode was his first performance (and he's not credited again until there). I guess it's possible he auditioned in that one and didn't get officially hired until later, and just forgot, but I doubt it. I guess maybe he performed in something that was added to this epsidoe in post production. Also, when I first read the epsidoe page at kermitage, I thought the canteen presense was the plot, but the three canteen scenes don't have anything in common, and there's no reference to it opening in that epsiode (Gladys says the soup du jour is the same as usual). Cool thing: There are many episodes where Kermit goes to the speaker to call characters on-stage, but is this the only epsidoe where his vocie is heard off-screen?
• Leo Sayer - three stars.
  This episode focuses more on the plot, with Leo Sayer's scenes being the majority of sketches with no connection to the plot. All three of his numbers are enjoyable, but the rest is bland in comparrison. Nitpick: Was Jerry Nelson absent from most of this episode? All we hear from him is a brief chuckle from Crazy Harry, and his voice in the chorus. He doesn't even perform any incidential speaking parts (like the rock). Could this be the episode he mentioend in a quote in The Works, where he went to a script read-through with nothing to do?
• Roy Clark - four stars
  The show has it's first country singing guest, and while I don't like country, most of the muppet show's country guests were great on the show. The backstage plot is good, as is Pigs in Space, and Clark's first and last numbers are great. Still, while the opening number has cool graphics (making it more appropriate for The Jim Henson Hour), it's a shame that the jugband members don't make comments regarding Clark's playing. Nitpicks: I won der if Kermit would have really fired Fozzie over the fire. Fozzie learned of the fire just seconds after Kermit threatened to fire him, and it obviously wasn't Fozzie's fault (I think it came from the canteen). Somethign else I noticed: In the openign number, Gramps played the tambourine instead of the fiddle, but when Clark replaces him, Clark plays the fiddle.Cool thing: Three of Jim Henson's characters appear backstage alongside Kermit. I guess they needed live hand characters, but it would have been great if Bunsen, Beaker, and Gladys were there as well.
• Gilda Radner - five stars
  This is a classic episode. With the exception of the carrot number and uk spot, the whole episode is enjoyable. It has many things for the hardcore fans (including Marvin Suggs and Uncle Deadley), the super glue plot is funny, and the closing number is the best. Minor Nitpick: Zoot appears to be the only character to get unstuck in this epsidoe. He gets his saxaphone stuck in his mouth, then he's seen with it out in the backstage scene leading to the closing number, and he gets it out at the end of the closing number.
• Pearl Bailey - three stars.
  I don't care much for this episode, aside from Muppet Labs (though the closing number is growing on me). I don't really care for the plot, the Pigs in Space sketch freaked me out when I first saw it, and I first saw this on Nickelodeon, where Muppet Labs was cut.
• Jean Stapleton - five stars.
  A good epsidoe for fans of Annie Sue, and after watchign this, I was she was made as an action figure. Both of her numbers were great, and I really like the dark green background in the UK spot. Both of Jean's numbers were great, and I like the interraction between Jean and the orchestra (though it seems awkward that Nigel and that clarinet player don't get any lines). I wonder what Crazy Harry was laughing at in the first backstage scene. And I had expected the main backstage plot to be about Miss Piggy's jealousy over Annie Sue being in the melodrama. Nitpick:Miss Piggy was mad at Kermit over what happened in the melodrama, but Kermit never asked her to be in it. Cool thing: Zoot says his only line this season.

I'll review the next disc soon.

 

[minor muppetz]

Here are my thoughts on the episodes on disc 2:

• Alice Cooper - five stars
  The best part of this episode is the closing number, School's Out, which is also one of the few numbers with a group of full-body monsters where Thog is included.
• Loretta Lynn - five stars
  This episode feels more like a Muppet special than a regular episode, since it takes place at the railroad station. The one-time opening and closing numbers are good (I noticed that Louis Kazagger is in the special opening, even though he hadn't appeared yet). Loretta's opening and closing numbers are both perfect. I really like Kermit and Gonzo on the cart rail. But it seems like there must have been an uncredited performer in this episode. Loretta's first number includes all six jugband members and Sweetums, and Zeke is a live-hand puppet in this, with an extra performer obviously operating the hands. I wonder who the extra performer was.
• Liberace - three stars
  This episode is both boring and in teresting. It's one of the few to begin in a backstage area after the opening, one of the few where The Swedish Chef is shown without a hat (even if there is still something on top of his head), and it's the only tiem Fletcherbird talks. But the majority of the Liberace concert, taking up almost the entire second half, is mostly boring, especially when there aren;t any Muppet-style Muppets on-stage. But the closing number is awesome!
• Marissa Berensen - five stars
  The plotline of Miss Piggy staging a wedding sketch and attempting to trick Kermit into marriage is great, though I wonder if Kermit suspected Piggy of planning a trick all along. The onyl dull parts of this episode are the openign number, Marissa's first number, and the UK spot. But the best are "Do Rei Me" and "You're Always Welcome at Our House".
• Raquel Welch - four stars
  Raquel's opening number is one of the best part, thanks in part to her skimpy costume, but the music and lyrics are honestly better than her other two numbers. But the closing number is best as a closing number (even though if they were switched she'd probably wear that costume in the goodnights..). The backstage plot, At the Dance, the Marvin Suggs interview, and The Swedish Chef's classic "chicken in the baskett" sketch are also really terriffic in this episode.
• James Coco - three stars
  While James Coco states that this show has pace, I don't really see it in this epsidoe (maybe that was intentional?). Compared to other epsiodes, this one is a bit slow. We don't get multiple sketches in a row without a backstage scene (or commercial break) in-between, and the guest star's first number is a bit long. The best parts of this episode are the opening number, the UK spot, and the closing number. Nitpick:In the closing number, why is Mahna Mahna wearing what looks like furry antennaes on his head?
• Helen Reddy - four stars
  Beauregard gets a proper introduction, but I wonder, is this the only time he actually did janitorial work on the show? Helen Reddy's first and last nubmers are good, though I rarely pay much attention to her middle number (it seems to me that whenever a guest star has three numbers that the middle number is the least enjoyable, but that's sort of a good thing). Tie Me Kangaroo Down is a great short piece, but I wodner why they chose to use generic whatnot hillbillies as opposed to teh jugband (though I feel like that number would have been more appropriate for the first jugband).

I'll try to give my thoughts on dsic 3's epsidoes later tonight.