As a young boy, I was fascinated by The Muppet Show. I have very fond memories of sitting down with my family after dinner and waiting to see what celebrity guest would be joining Kermit, Miss Piggy, and the rest of the Muppets on their half hour variety show each week.

Henson Entertainment, through Columbia Tri-Star, has started releasing some of these classic episodes on DVD, with three episodes per disc. This particular release has Saturday Night Live alumni Steve Martin and Gilda Radner, as well as comedienne Carol Burnett.

Steve Martin - SNL's 'wild and crazy guy' joins the crew to host this show from the second season, but instead finds out that the show has been cancelled so that Kermit can host some auditions for new talent. Martin decides to stick around anyway, as he figures he's already there, so why not. As he performs alongside some new acts for the regular Muppet cast which sits in the audience to watch, hilarity ensues, balloon animals are made, and Muppets with bad Italian accents are shot out of cannons.

Carol Burnett - One of the most popular funny ladies of late 70s/early 80s television hosts this episode, which finds her singing and dancing alongside the motley crew of regulars. Along the way she cleans up the studio, dresses up as an asparagus, and dances to some polka in the grant Muppet tradition.

Gilda Radner - The late, great Gilda Radner stars on this one, starting off with a duet featuring an enormous tuxedo clad carrot (she told them parrot, but some Muppets don't hear so well!) that ultimately leads into a freak accident in Bunson and Beaker's laboratory that has everyone covered in crazy glue. The show must go on though, and Gilda, being a good sport about it all, tap dances her troubles away in the shows finale.

Though primarily aimed at a children's audience, even as an adult I can still really enjoy these shows. None of the charm or humor has been lost throughout the years and the characters have become cultural icons, spinning off into movies, cartoons, comic books, toys, clothing, and any other kind of cross promoted merchandise you can possibly think of. Considering that the show has just celebrated it's 25th anniversary, for it to still remain so endearing and entertaining is no small feat and a testament to the skills of the late Jim Henson.

Video:

The episodes are here as they were originally broadcast – fullframe – as they should be. Colors are pretty strong but there are a couple of scenes where the reds seem to be a tiny bit over-saturated. For the most part though, with that minor issue aside, despite the presence of some really tiny compression artifacts, these shows look really nice.