Friday, May 23, 2014

The Muppet Show:

This is an old article pending revision.

The Muppet Show is a series that aired on CBS in The United States Of America, and on a few other channels in other countries. It was on from 1976 and ended in 1981.


It is set in The Muppet Theatre, as it is most commonly referred to, which is a fancy Renissance-themed vintage yet falling apart studio which houses an orchestra, a house band, a large balcony, a smaller balcony where two scoffing critics point out the errors of the presentation, a stage, and other things.


They present slapstick, satirical, and absurdist comedy sketches, but the funniest things happen is when bloopers occur. One example is when Miss Piggy presented Foo-Foo but was unable to perform because Foo-Foo was too busy chasing a cat.


Theme Lyrics:


Kermit would open the door and announce the upcoming guest star, the sign and the curtains would lift, and then various Muppets would start singing:

Women: "It's time to play the music

It's time to light the lights,

It's time to meet the Muppets on The Muppet Show tonight."

Men: "It's time to put on make up,

It's time to dress up right

It's time to get things started"

And then some brief segment would occur, usually a commentary by the two critics

Kermit Only: "...It's time to get things started"

Everybody: "...On the most sensational, inspirational, celebrational, Muppetational

This. Is. What. We. Call. The Muppet ShoOOooOoOoOoow!!"

Gonzo attempts to blow a horn.


Popular Segments:


The popular segments of The Muppet Show is At The Dance, Bear On Patrol, Fozzie's Act, Muppet Labs, Muppet News Flash, Pigs In Space, Swedish Chef, Vend-A Face, Veterinarian's Hospital, and Wayne & Wanda.


Characters:
 Kermit (Jim Henson; Steve Whitmire) Kermit is the very green host of the series.
 Robin (Jerry Nelson) Kermit's young nephew
 Miss Piggy (Richard Hunt; Frank Oz) Miss Piggy had somewhat of a troubled childhood and left all of that in pursuit for fame and will push anybody out of the way that she feels is giving her problems, or just whenever she feels like it.
 Foo Foo (Steve Whitmire either muppeteering or performing stop motion animation; as well as a various cast of stunt dogs to perform more complicated movements such as walking and jumping) A dog.
 Sam (Frank Oz) He is the censor and he is also a blue eagle
 Statler and
 Waldorf (Richard Hunt & Jim Henson respectively) Two critics that sit at the smaller balcony box seat that comment and laugh together.
 Fozzie Bear (Frank Oz) Kermit's assistant,
 The Sweedish Chef (Frank Oz & Jim Henson) an experimental chef,
 Camilla (Jerry Nelson) one of the hens,
 Pops (Jerry Nelson) An Usher
 George (Frank Oz) Maintenance Department
 Beauregard (Dave Goelz) another maintence department, and also stage manager
 Mildred Huxtetter (Frank Oz, Richard Hunt)
 Hilda (Eren Ozker)
 Annie Sue (Louise Gold) Miss piggy sees her as a competitor and a threat to Miss Piggy's own destiny.
 Sweetums (Richard Hunt) Giant Brown Monster
 Thog (Jerry Nelson) Giant Blue Monster
 Brewster (Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz)
 Marvin Suggs (Frank Oz)
 Scooter (Richard Hunt) His family owns The Muppet Theatre. One of them joins The Muppets in "Muppet Babies"
 J.P. Grosse (Jerry Nelson) The owner of The Muppet Theatre for many years.
 The Phantom Of The Muppet Show (Jerry Nelson)


Music Department:
 Rowlf: (Jim Henson) A fuzzy dog that plays the piano,
 Dr. Teeth (Jim Henson) Plays keyboard and is the Leader of the house band called "Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem".
 Janice: (Eren Ozker; Richard Hunt) Lead guitarist for the house band.
 Sergeant Floyd Pepper (Jerry Nelson) Bass Guitarist for the house band
 Animal (Frank Oz and Ronnie Verrell) Drummer for the house band.
 Zoot (Dave Goelz) saxophone
 Lips (Steve Whitmire) trumpet
 Trumpet Girl (Eren Ozker, Louise Gold) Trumpet and Trombone
 Lubbock Lou (Dave Goelz) leader of Lubbock Lou and his Jughuggers
 Lou (Louise Gold) Lubbock Lou And His Jughuggers member
 Zeke (Jim Henson) Lubbock Lou And His Jughuggers member
 Bubba (Richard Hunt) Lubbock Lou And His Jughuggers member
 Slim Wilson (Jerry Nelson) Lubbock Lou And His Jughuggers member
 Gramps (Frank Oz) Lubbock Lou And His Jughuggers member
 Nigel (John Lovelady) Muppet Orchestra conductor.

 Wayne & Wanda (Richard Hunt, Kathy Mullen)
 The Gills Brothers
 The Country Trio

News Broadcasting:
 The Muppet Newsman (Jim Henson): News anchor.
 Louis Kazager (Jerry Nelson) Sports anchor.
 Fleet Scribbler (Jerry Nelson)

Pigs In Space Cast Members:
Link Hogthrob (Jim Henson)
Dr. Julius Strangepork (Jerry Nelson)

Scientists:
Dr. Bunsen Huneydew (Dave Goelz) A scientist and expert on many things. He is green with tiny eyes that appear to be almost invisible.
Beaker (Richard Hunt) The mumbling lab assistant
Crazy Harry: (John Lovelady, Jerry Nelson)

Stunt People:
Gonzo (Dave Goelz) An alien creature that performs stunts and blows the trumpet at the end of the beginning of each show.
Rizzo (Steve Whitmire) a rat character.
Lew Zealand (Jerry Nelson)
The Flying Zucchini Brothers (Dave Goelz, Richard Hunt, Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz) circus performers.
Lew Zealand (Jerry Nelwson)

After a while, for whatever reason, The Muppet Show had ended production. This variety show (or at least a filmed attempt to produce one that usually resulted in disaster) sounds like it is 60 minutes or longer, but it was only 30 minutes. Furthermore, it only had 30 minute episodes unlike "SOAP" which had a few episodes that were longer than 30 minutes. Also consider the fact that Sesame Street has been on for decades and is continuing production, while The Electric Company and of course The Muppet Show never reached anything even close to that. There shouldn't have been anything to prevent The Muppet Show (and The Electric Company) to have been on longer. However, The Muppets did appear in canonical specials and movies, as well as more movies where they are portraying other characters. Celebrities that were human often were regular characters as well.

Some of The Muppet Show characters would also find themselves in long running animation. (This actually makes not any sense at all considering that characters such as Miss Piggy's childhood would suggest that they did not know each other until much later. The Muppets all appear to be themselves, and they do not seem to be performing any acting for a Theatre or a Movie.) Anyways, only a few of the obviously large amount of characters were seen as very young children. They had a Nanny, and also in addition to Nanny, Scooter's twin Skeeter would join the group. This is because of none of the other female characters were seen as the Muppet Babies and the only one that was there, was Miss Piggy. Of course Skeeter disappeared shortly afterwards.

The Muppets would also have another show called "Muppets Tonight" which lasted barely a season. Otherwise, everything else that reflects The Muppet Show would have been motion pictures. They also appear in some commercials, including an announcement about The Muppet Show. The ad features Kermit saying "It's The Muppet Show. On DVD!! August 9th!!" (2005) and then "WheeEeeEEeEEEeEEeEEEee" and then Miss Piggy would say "Aw... Kissie Kissie!! There is an exclusive video clip, staring Moi!!" and then laughs... After that she pauses and says "What are you waiting for ?! ROLL THE CLIP ALREADY!!"... This was an advertisement that was published over the web.

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