In Praise of The Muppet Show

My husband recently got a DVD box of the first season of The Muppet Show, and that’s what we’re watching together right now. And my, isn’t it wonderful! The very first episodes show the show still hitting its stride, but a lot of the elements are already there. I particularly love:

• Miss Piggy. Best pig on TV. Ever.
• The musical parodies. With the puppets engrossed in their instruments, they are just brilliant.
• The dance scenes. They are so beautifully nonsensical.
• The guests. Although there are many I’ve never heard of before, this being a continent and 30 years away, they are usually great fun. I particularly enjoyed Joel Grey (and yes, I’d heard of him before).

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmRsIp3XB1Q&feature=related

• The absolute wonder of seeing puppets with such a wide range of emotional expression. Just proves (again) that Jim Henson and his team were geniuses.

Although The Muppet Show was on regularly when I was a kid, I very rarely watched it, and I never watched many reruns either as an adult. Now what a treasure to discover!

Do you love The Muppets, too? What are your favorite characters? Do you enjoy them more as an adult than as a kid?

– Rike Horstmann[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]