Statler: "Well that was different."
Waldorf: "Yup, lousy..."
Statler and Waldorf: "But different!"

Muppet fans rejoice! Finally, after a longer than expected wait, the DVD release for the second season of The Muppet Show is finally here. You voted on the cover, sent feedback to Disney, and kept your fingers crossed that this set would be every bit as good as the first. In many ways it is just as good but there are a couple of areas where things are noticeably lacking (see the extra features section).

The best part about this release is decidedly the show itself. The Muppet Show is a classic among classics and is held in high regard amongst many of this planet's population. The misadventures of Kermit and the gang are timeless and every second showcases the genius of the wonderful team that Jim Henson surrounded himself with. Quite honestly this show deserved better treatment than the "Best Of" compilations from 2002 and thankfully someone in the Disney DVD department agreed.

The first season was released two years ago though quite honestly it feels slightly longer. The four disc set included 24 episodes which gave us all a great perspective into the show's humble beginnings. Things started out slowly for The Muppet Show and most of the first year was spent finding a voice. The guest stars played smaller less-personable roles, voices and designs changed over the course of the season, and some skits went the way of the dodo. Still, it was hard to deny the entertainment value that the first season brought to the table. What else can you say about a show that features a number called "Lady of Spain" played by The Amazing Marvin Suggs and his Muppaphone?

For the second year there were many changes afoot. For starters Henson's crew was trimmed slightly and writers were shuffled around. Jerry Juhl became the lead writer and with a more focused team the show began to come into its own. The Muppets received some slight modifications during the off time and you'll notice throughout this set that the quality is better, especially where characters are concerned.

The biggest alteration to the show's format with the second season is the time spent with developing its main characters. The first year shoved a plethora of secondary characters in front of the camera, overused some skits like At the Dance and Wayne and Wanda, and only lightly featured interactions between guests and Muppets. In the sophomore showing guests became part of the show right alongside the Muppets, less favorable skits were phased into obscurity, and character relationships grew. Sure Piggy still hungered for frog legs, Fozzie can't tell a joke to save his life, and Gonzo is just as insane as ever but this season just felt more refined somehow.

One way you can tell that The Muppet Show grew in quality and popularity by its second year is the caliber of guests that appear on the show. By the time this series ran its course it solidified itself as the show to appear on if you wanted to draw attention to yourself. With names like Peter Sellers, John Cleese, Bob Hope, Elton John, Milton Berle, Don Knotts, and George Burns appearing in the second season it's hard to deny that fact. The Muppet Show went from being a variety show with puppets to a forum for the who's who of the late 70's.

This time around guests went from performing mostly by themselves to incorporating Muppets into nearly every skit. Watching Elton perform "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" with Miss Piggy or Milton Berle be heckled by Statler and Waldorf are just a pair of examples of the highlights you can expect to see this season. So many episodes are better because of the guests and when you see John Cleese dressed as a pirate and talking about an Ex-Parrot or watch Zero Mostel's last television appearance with "What Do the Simple Folk Do?" you'll come to appreciate the show even more.

In between the guest appearances the main focus of each episode was on the Muppets; this was The Muppet Show after all. In that regard there are too many highlights to name them all.

One of my favorite episodes is with guest Nancy Walker. On this particular night of The Muppet Show Kermit has fallen ill and left Fozzie in charge. Needless to say the show goes down the tubes fast but as Gonzo says, Fozzie does an excellent job of recovering. Nobody was hurt when Crazy Harry blew up part of the theater, he got most of the audience to return to their seats after leaving, and he ran two skits at the exact same time! But the best moment of this episode in my opinion was Sam the Eagle's speech about the evils of nudity that ends with him realizing that he is in fact wearing no clothes.

The rest of the episode all follow suit with strong skits and themes that run throughout. For instance, in the Petula Clark episode a guest Muppet makes a special appearance. Telling everyone that his name is Mickey Moose the spoof goes on to include a song "M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-O-S-E", the Mickey Moose Club, and a character named Ronald Duck is also thrown into the mix. Cloris Leachman's episode was great as well with pigs taking over the show and locking everyone up, Steve Martin's episode features a group of singing vegetables performing "Yes, We Have No Bananas", and I can't forget about the Swedish Chef and his showdown with a gang of Mexican Lobsters.

It's hard to deny that this second season is where The Muppet Show really hit its stride. The jokes were funnier, the guest roster more impressive, and the skits just somehow felt more refined. As evidence to those claims this season won an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy-Variety or Music Series and received four other nominations.

In terms of the show's quality this second season DVD release certainly brings what fans wanted to the table. With the two year wait out of the way going back to the Muppet Theater was everything I had hoped it would be and if you ever loved the Muppets this is a set worthy of your DVD shelf space based on content alone. The 24 episodes here are a giant step forward in terms of quality and though a few sub-par episodes or skits appear now and then, it's smooth sailing for the most part. Classic television simply do not get better than this.

Like the first season, The Muppet Show's second year's set hits DVD with the original 1.33:1 full frame aspect ratio. Much like the first DVD set this one offers video quality that is superior to other transfers of the show in almost every way. Granted you have to take that comment with a grain of salt because this season was taped thirty years ago. Due to that there is still a noticeable amount of grain, softness, and edge enhancement but the image is slightly cleaner than the "Best of" collection and features little in the way of compression artifacts.

Here is a comparison between the Time Life "Best of" release and Disney's complete season release:

The image on the left is from the "Best of" and the one on the right is from the second season set. The picture on the left is murkier with a dusty appearance and subdued colors. The picture on the right is slightly brighter and features colors that seem a little more defined. This holds true throughout the collection but don't come expecting to see a revolutionary touch up job.

The audio has been remastered into Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo (with optional subtitles) and is mostly all front channel material. Just like the image quality, the sound is very good considering the age of the show. Like the first season there are some minor volume balancing issues that pop up from time to time where one song or skit will be louder than others. These moments are few and far between but when they do happen you'll most likely find yourself fumbling with the volume controls.

Apart from the minor volume pitches the quality here is mostly flaw free. The audio is clean and crisp with no other noticeable defects. Like the first season there are English subtitles for the hearing impaired included as well.

Now, this is the area where the two year wait may disappoint some fans. I know I personally had a sour taste in my mouth due to the absence of the Muppet Morsels feature. This pop-up trivia guide turned the first season into a fountain of Muppet information and interested tidbits but it has been left out of this collection. The absence of this feature makes this second season's bonus menu decidedly lacking right out of the gate.

As far as what's actually included on the second season for supplemental features you'll have to refer to the fourth disc in the set.

The first thing here is "The Muppets Valentine Show" with guest star Mia Farrow. Clocking in at just over 25 minutes this little ditty was actually produced before The Muppet Show even aired. In the day this was considered to be something of a Pilot though it's not as "official" as the "Sex and Violence" found on the first season's bonus feature list. You'll notice many differences while watching this from design changes to name changes (Crazy Donald instead of Crazy Harry). There are many songs throughout this episode and Kermit even admits to never missing an episode of "Kung Fu". "The Valentine Show" was classic stuff to be sure and if you pick up this collection it provides a nice window back to when the Muppets were still relatively new.

The next feature available in the bonus menu is a collection of Muppet interviews. Recorded recently these feature a variety of topics and some of them are quite amusing to watch. There's a bit of banter between Fozzie and Kermit when the interviewer asks the frog if he's married because Piggy said they were. Gonzo admits to self therapy because it's cheaper that way and Kermit says that Henson "seemed to have a hand in everything we did". Overall the interview segment lasts nearly thirteen minutes.

The final bonus feature that you'll find on the second season is a music video with Weezer and a cast of Muppets. With a shot of the backstage area and dressing room this feature resembles a modern age skit from the show. It's a cute inclusion but ultimately is lightweight in terms of what it offers.

So there you have it. After two painfully long years The Muppet Show's second season hits the ball out of the park. The show's quality improved drastically with these 24 episodes, the video quality still upstages the "Best of" collection, and the audio, though pitchy, is the best you'll hear when it comes to this series. The bonus features this time around do disappoint mostly because of failed expectations. The Valentine episode is a nice addition but everything else is relatively light.

Overall this DVD set is highly recommended thanks to the presentation quality and entertainment value of the show. With three years left for The Muppet Show we're finally getting into the good stuff and this second season arguably features some of the best episodes. In the end, this collection was indeed worth the wait.

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