The Movie

(Intro written February 10)

I grew up with Jim Henson's muppets. As a young child I watched Sesame Street every morning, and later graduated to The Muppet Show. At the time, I believed the muppets were real beings, with real feelings and emotions. As I got older, I learned they were just puppets, but were brought to life by real people, with real feelings and emotions. As the years came and went, I became interested in other programs, but unlike most aspects of childhood, I never outgrew the muppets. I found, as an adult I still chuckled when seeing the Swedish Chef mumble unintelligible sentences while frantically chasing down his next meal. I still smiled when Miss Piggy gave a full-hearted karate-chop to one of her companions in 'Pigs In Space.' And I still laughed every time the maniac drummer, Animal, screamed "woman!" and ran after the female guest on that week's show.

If you've never seen The Muppet Show, it is a musical variety show that is run by talking animals, monsters, weirdo's, and anything else you can, or can't think of. The only human to be found here is the "special guest" who appears on every show. You can always expect wonderful songs, fun filled skits, funny action, and wacky scenarios on The Muppet Show. This is a result of the pure magic that all Jim Henson's creations possess. The show appeals to young and old, and is perfectly timeless.

I'm very excited that Columbia/Tri-Star has started releasing the Best of The Muppet Show series. Because now I can relive my childhood while introducing these wonderful shows to my children at the same time.

Best of The Muppet Show - Elton John / Julie Andrews / Gene Kelly

This edition of the Best of The Muppet Show is a great addition to the Best Of series, although it most certainly lacks the comedic punch that the Peter Sellers release had. However, the musical numbers in the Elton John episode are absolutely wonderful, and the acting performance by Gene Kelly in his episode is a Muppet Show classic.

Elton John episode: In the Brian Henson intro, he tells us that Elton John said he was open to doing anything on this show, except he didn't want to wear any extravagant costumes, because apparently he was growing out of that stage. As you can imagine this was not what the muppet writers wanted to hear. So in the end, the muppets get their way, and in this episode we see Elton wearing some of the most outrageous costumes you're ever likely to see this side of Mardi Gras. Needless to say, Elton puts on a memorable show that will get a lot of play in your DVD player.

In the opening number Elton plays his classic hit "Crocodile Rock," with a bunch of singing crocodiles that try to take a bite out of the special guest at the end of the song. His next musical number is "Bennie and the Jets." This number begins with a funny sketch where Scooter comes in trying to play the song, but the result is awful and Kermit comments on how hideous the song is. Naturally Kermit feels bad when Elton tells him he actually wrote the song. Of course, Elton then sings it much better. Next he performs "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," with the muppet band. And his final song comes in the closing number where he sings "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" with Miss Piggy.

The running gag in this episode has the Swedish Chef trying to chase down a naughty chicken who lays ping-pong balls instead of eggs. Other skits include Veterinarians Hospital, and an always-funny Pigs In Space. This was most certainly a classic Muppet Show episode. Elton John's performances are beautiful, and when he sings, you just can't help but listen in awe.

Julie Andrews episode: This is the weakest episode of the three, although there are some funny skits in this show. The opening number has Andrews performing a yodel song to a lonely goat herd, with a backdrop of a nice looking Swiss Alps lodge set. Next, Andrews sings a lovely song to Kermit, "When You Were A Tadpole," that she had written for one of her earlier TV specials. The closing number is one I fondly remember seeing as a child. Here Andrews tries to whistle her fears away while huge, hairy monsters try to attack her, or so she thinks.

The running gag in this episode has a real life cow that somehow mysteriously appears backstage, and no one knows whom it belongs to. While Scooter tries to find the owner throughout the show, the Swedish Chef tries to eat it, Gonzo tries to date it, and the flying Zucchini Brothers try, and succeed, in blowing it out of their cannon. The funniest skit in this episode is probably when Kermit tries to have a quiet conversation with Andrews by the famous "Wall" when all hell breaks loose. Animals, and all kinds of objects get constantly blown past them in speedy fashion.

This was an enjoyable episode, but ultimately the skits in the show overshadowed Andrews' own performances. Her musical numbers were good, but were at times hard to hear clearly, and not outright memorable.

Gene Kelly episode: What stands out most in this episode is the warm and loving presence that Gene displays throughout the show. I liked that Gene had more participation in the actual show rather then being solely subjected to the occasional skits and musical performances like most of the special guests. This was a great episode that had a lot of feeling and freshness to it.

There are actually two running gags in this episode. The first, and most prominent is that Gene doesn't want to be in the show. He apparently arrived thinking he was personally invited by Kermit to view the show form the audience, and he makes it perfectly clear that he has no intentions of going on stage for any reason. So for the entire show, Kermit and the gang try to find ways to get him to perform without him knowing it. For instance, Kermit convinces Gene to give him dancing tips out on the stage. This leads to a memorable dancing lesson that has Kermit showing off his moves in a full-body shot, legs and all. Later Miss Piggy convinces Gene to sing her a song. Gene gladly abides, but the song takes a weird turn when Piggy has to leave for an upcoming sketch, leaving Gonzo in her place.

The second running gag has Beau (the stagehand) thinking that the end of the world is coming due to a card-reading given by Scooter. This fear gets amplified in the Pigs In Space sketch because the Swinetrek and its crew fly to the end of the Universe.

The greatest moment in this episode is the closing number with Gene Kelly. Kermit had planned for Gene to sing his famous movie hit "Singing In The Rain" but copped out when Gene casually mentioned that he hates performing that song. So after the replacement band nearly gets rained out from the elaborate stage setup, Gene gets savvy to Kermit's plans. They move backstage, where Ralf tries to egg Gene on with the melody for the song, but Gene wittingly avoids the appropriate lyrics. In the end though, Gene sings the heart of this classic song with real emotion that really makes an impact. Very moving for a Muppet Show episode.

The DVD

Video: (Video written February 10 - slightly updated) This disc is presented in the original 1.33:1 full screen aspect ratio. The video quality is about as good as I could ever expect from this TV show. The picture is clean and sharp, yet still has that ever so slightly grainy "old show" look to it. The colors are nice and bright, and though edge enhancement is present, it is for the most part a non-issue. Actually, the fact that this show looks so fantastic considering its age and quality of the original taping is amazing. The show looks exactly as I remembered it to be, and quiet frankly, I wouldn't have it any other way.

(Edit) I noticed a little more edge enhancement on this DVD release than the previous ones. I expected all the transfers to look the same, so I wasn't looking for it, but it was very noticeable in certain scenes. But considering the material, this isn't very disappointing.

Audio: (Audio written February 10 - slightly updated) The audio is presented in Dolby Digital stereo. Since this is such an old TV show, it would be silly and unrealistic to expect a 5.1 audio track.

(Edit) The songs for the Elton John episodes sounded wonderful and were very easy to hear, however the dialogue and musical numbers for the other two episodes didn't have that same clarity. I don't think this is the fault of the audio transfer, but it was still noticeable.

Extras: Once Again, the special features on this DVD are very disappointing. Rather than moaning about it, here they are:

Muppet Moments: This is a minute long commercial highlighting Floyd the bandleader and Kermit. Not exactly thrilling stuff.

Movie Mania: This is a minute long spot for "Flipper Dance," a spoof on the dance sensation River Dance.

From the Archives: Here is an original sketch of the Swedish Cheff drawn by Jim Henson.

Final Thoughts

This edition of the Best Of The Muppet Show is a great addition to any muppet lover's collection. There's a lot to love here. Gene Kelly gets more involved in the show than what we're used to seeing, and gives a powerful performance in the final musical number. And Elton John's incredible routines show us why he is one of the most memorable musical guests to ever appear on the Muppet Show. This is a wonderful collection of episodes, so lets keep 'em coming! Highly Recommended