DVD Review of The Muppet Show: Season 2: The Greatest Television Variety Show

The 1970s was an interesting time for television. It is amazing to watch older television shows and see what people got away with and marvel at the fact that while we have come so far in those years, we really could never get away with that stuff today. Paul Lynde would never make it on television today saying the things he said on the Hollywood Squares in the 70s. Archie Bunker probably wouldn’t last a week on today’s television sets.

It was also a time when, it seems, everyone in the world had a television variety show. Most of them were dreadful. Hell, anyone who has ever watched “The Brady Bunch Variety Hour” knows that it deserves a place of prominence in the “Worst Television Shows of All Time” museum. Sonny and Cher had their show and then there was Tony Orlando and Dawn.

For me, however, there was nothing quite like the Muppets. I grew up on the Muppets. I know it is not hip or cool to say things like that these days, but I grew up watching Sesame Street. Then, as I got older, I started watching “The Muppet Show.” I loved them then and I love them now. I remember sitting at a desk where I was working, listening to the radio, when it was announced that Jim Henson had died and I felt like someone had hit me in the guy with a two-by-four. It was the first celebrity death that I almost felt affected me personally.

So, it was with a mixture of delight and trepidation that I started to view the new DVD set of “The Muppet Show: Season 2.” You know how it is with shows you watched as a kid. For example, I know I loved “Speed Racer” when I was a kid. When I went back and watched episodes as an adult, I was baffled at the low quality of the show and wondered what it was about the thing that I loved so much. I was very much afraid it would happen again when I revisited the Muppets.

I am proud and happy to say, the show is as wonderful as you probably remember.

It is amazing to look at the list of the guest hosts for season two. Don Knotts, Rudolf Nureyev, Madeline Kahn, Elton John, Bob Hope, Dom DeLuise, Lou Rawls, just to name a few of the guest stars you see on this show throughout season 2. There are also some interesting guest stars that I actually did not even remember. I guess there really might have been a time when Nancy Walker, Cleo Laine, Petula Clark and Teresa Brewer were actually on the national radar and of importance to some people.

The DVD collection is also interesting because of the sheer number of people who are on this thing who are not alive anymore. Several of them must have died not long after hosting. Zero Mostel, for example, must have had his fatal heart attack not long after filming this episode. Edgar Bergen is another one, having passed away in 1978, who must have done very little after filming his hosting episode.

All of the classic Muppet characters are here. You can sort of see the show evolve during its second season, find its footing a bit, and settling into a groove. You see how “Veterinarian’s Hospital” became a weekly regular sketch along with “The Swedish Chef” and “Pigs in Space.” In between these sketches you remember and the classic sketches with the guest hosts, there are the very funny, often very surreal, sketches with various Muppets doing very odd performances.

Kermit, Fozzie, Miss Piggy, Scooter, Gonzo, Animal, Dr. Teeth and Electric Chaos, Statler and Waldorf are all here and they are just about as funny as your probably remember from your childhood. They struggle, each week, to try and turn out a great variety show, often with hilarious and silly results each week.

It must have been quite a badge of honor to host the show at the time. It is interesting when they have a musical act, because it is obvious what the performer is going to do. However, when they have Don Knotts or Dom DeLuise, they are left to do comedy sketches that are, to say the least, a bit hit or miss. Still, each episode is remarkably entertaining.

The DVD collection has some bonuses worth noting. For example, this Season 2 DVD has the Muppets Valentine special which aired years before the show did. There is also a mockumentary called “The Muppets on The Muppets” as Muppet characters talk about their time on the show. Not all of these extras work, but it’s interesting to see them.

The show must have been a relief for some classical performers. Rudolf Nureyev, for example, sings “Baby it’s Cold Outside” with Miss Piggy. Yes, the ballet dancer sings…twice! He also sings that song about putting on his top hat, black tie and tails and then does a great tap dance number.

Behind this show is the heart of Jim Henson and the amazing abilities of himself and people like Frank Oz. Oz also did a lot of the directing of each show. These are people who are, obviously, having a pretty damn good time playing around with puppets. The guest hosts also seem to be having a really great time goofing around on the set as well. I think that only translates into having a damn good time to whomever is watching this DVD set.

So, if you’re like me, and you’ve loved the Muppets for most of your life, this DVD is, without a doubt, a must-have. Order it now from Buena Vista Home Entertainment.