May 27, 2009

The Muppet Show: Season One

Title: The Muppet Show: Season One
Year: 1976-1977
Network: ITV
Creator: Jim Henson
Directors: Peter Harris
Writers: Jack Burns (24 episodes), Jim Henson (24), Jerry Juhl (24), Marc London (22)
Starring: Juliet Prowse, Connie Stevens, Joel Grey, Ruth Buzzi, Rita Moreno, Jim Nabors, Florence Henderson, Paul Williams, Charles Aznavour, Harvey Korman, Lena Horne, Peter Ustinov, Bruce Forsyth, Sandy Duncan, Candice Bergen, Avery Schreiber, Ben Vereen, Phyllis Diller, Vincent Price, Valerie Harper, Twiggy, Ethel Merman, Kaye Ballard, Mummenschanz (1 episode each)
With: The Muppets (Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Dave Goelz, Eren Ozker, John Lovelady, Fran Brill, Peter Friedman, Cynthia Adler)
Music: Sam Pottle (theme)/Jack Parnell
Episodes: 24 at c. 25 minutes
Synopsis: The Muppets put on a weekly variety show
How I saw it: on video several times (have on DVD), most recently over the past few weeks
Subjective Rating: 10/10 (Favorite of my favorites).
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for story and cinematography) c. 3.3/4 3.4/4 (Very good).

Some of the characters aren't developed yet for most of this season, and things in general are a bit more rough than they should be, and the guest stars have a tendency to be not so spectacular. On the other hand, this season probably has the best weird musical sketches in it (such as "Mahna Mahna") since they had built up a repertoire in the preceding decade or so.





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