muppets are great

WHo can't resist the muppets? I loved it as a kid, my kids love it now!

   CHERISHED MEMORIES

The negative reviews by some people on this episode are PATHETIC. What do these people expect- it's the MUPPETS. It's innocent, old-fashioned fun children's television. You'd think some of these idiots are writing a review for the Oscars. Please people, spare us with your heavy criticism. I haven't found any movies or videos that enjoy sharing more with my son. Not only do my husband and I get to reminisce, but we adore watching our son get excited about something that isn't overly animated or digitally created. So far, ALL of these DVD's have been fantastic- worth every penny. They are a refreshing break from all they hyped up children's movies of today. I recommend all of them, and I've seen just about all. OF COURSE the acting is a little goofier than what we're used to today, and OF COURSE the sounds and special effects are not going to dazzle us. But the simplicity of the Muppets is what makes them special, and it makes me long for a simpler time. So STOP LISTENING TO THESE MOVIE-CRITIC WANNABES. They are ridiculous- Mark Hammill never claimed to have an award-winning performance on the Muppets. But it's adorable and a lot of fun if you take it for what it is. If you aren't a pretentious jerk who just wants to air your displaced anger on a website, THEN YOU WILL LOVE THIS AND ALL MUPPET EPISODES!

   The good, the bad, and the stuffed...

Yeesh, what a letdown. After spending a few years tryin' to catch the Mark Hamill episode of `The Muppet Show' on `Nick at Nite', I finally got my chance to see it with the release of this DVD. And horror of horrors, it ended up bein' the worst show of the three on this platter! His overdone attempts at acting, and silly song-and-dance `tryout' routine made me cringe with embarrassment. But especially unbearable was his joining up with The Gargling Gargoyle Angus McGonickle as they gargled Gershwin in two-part harmony! Geez Mark, did'ja really hafta throw your dignity away so brazenly? Add C-3PO, R2-D2, and Chewie's sad attempts at dancing along with the big closing number, and I'd just as soon watch the `Star Wars Holiday Special' three times in a row than endure this episode ever again!

Fortunately, the Paul Simon show more than made up for the previous travesty. I rather enjoyed his olde tyme rendition of `Scarborough Fair', complete with a muppet-laden Renaissance Faire backdrop. Miss Piggy's increasingly annoying utterance of "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme" at the end of each verse, however, was becoming very reminiscent of Fran "The Nanny" Drescher. In other words, it got so annoying that I was ready to pierce my eardrums with a rusty knitting needle so I wouldn't have to experience this auditory #ell ever again! Or any other noise for that matter...

Compared to the other two eppies, the Raquel Welch show was in-between: it wasn't all that great, but it wasn't too bad, either. I was surprised by how little of a presence Ms. Welch made here-- at least when compared to the scene-hogging antics of Hamill and (especially) Paul Simon in their guest shots. She had a couple song/dance numbers, and a little backstage serenade for Fozzy... and that was about it. Fortunately, I got my Swedish Chef fix as he explained how to make a "chickie in de baskit", with the help of one of Gonzo's hens and a Nerf basketball net. Ya know, forget about all the other Muppets; howzabout a DVD featuring the Swedish Chef's best sketches? That'd be so freakin' cool. I mean, the guy's got human hands for goodness sakes! That ALONE should be enough for him to get his own `Best of' DVD. Hey, d'ya think he could throw those utensils around like that with the mitts his fellow flannelites possess?! #ELL NO!!!

Finally, there's the bonus pieces, featuring Miss Piggy acting like one of those spoiled actresses who pontificate on and complain about everything, a few notable Muppets doing screen tests for the part of Yoda on "Empire Strikes Back", and some other thing I don't really remember. It's rather obvious these were made some time after Henson's death-not only are Kermit and Miss Piggy's voices different, these pieces just don't have the same feel or sense of fun that the Henson-era Muppets had. It's sorta like all those failed attempts to revive `The Twilight Zone' after the passing of Rod Serling; it just doesn't work out nearly as well without the show's creator as it did with him.

Finally, there's the DVD's picture and sound quality. I found the sound just fine, but the picture clarity wasn't quite in tip-top shape. When I took a look at the background I could perceive a slight wavering, and very faint flickering. This leads me to believe the DVD's manufacturers transferred the episodes off of a high-quality video tape of the show rather than the original source film. More'n likely they'll do a little better in the image quality department when they put the Muppet Show out on full-season DVD box sets. These three-eppie platters were just a test run...

`Late

   Like a time machine to your childhood.

It's amazing. When I put this DVD in my player, I become 6 years old again.

I can see my parents next to me on our old couch, telling me I can stay up to watch the Muppets, and then it'll be time for bed. (Mommy's grown-up Muppets, my mother used to say, as opposed to the ones on Sesame Street.) And I watched, with joy but also a slight sense of dread, as each skit would bring me that much closer to the end of the show, and to bedtime.

I settled into the couch, and then, suddenly -- CRASH! What was that? Luke Skywalker! C-3PO! R2-D2! The Star Wars guys were on the Muppet Show! I could barely handle the sheer coolness of it all.

Watching the same episode on DVD now, of course, different things stand out. How lousy Mark Hamill is as an actor. His 70's argyle-sweater-vest style. The pathetic sight of Chewbacca and R2-D2 being made to dance, once a cause for childish glee, now seems a spectre of the slow decline of the Star Wars franchise.

On another level, it occurred to me that the Muppet Show, taking place in the pre-MTV era, was really the forerunner of the music video. Each episode presents at least 3 or 4 songs with some sort of visual interpretation of the music. If there's a difference, it's that the Muppet Show lacks the hyperactive editing style of today's videos, so you can actually focus on what's going on -- you're not barraged by disjointed stimuli. It's almost quaint. The gentleness of the songs also struck me as a sign of an era that has passed us by. Would there be a place for the Muppets on television today? Who would the guest stars be? Eminem? 50 Cent? Lil' Kim?

But enough of such worries. I'm watching Luke Skywalker and the Muppets, and it's just too amazing for my six-year-old brain to process. I wriggle my toes inside my Cookie Monster pajamas with the feet on them, and as Zoot blows that last, sorrowful note into his saxaphone, the credits roll up the screen, and I know it's time for bed. But I'm not even tired! Goodbye, guys... until next week.

   Good but not the best...

I love the Muppet Show, I watched it when I was younger and got this tape. I was mostly looking forward to the one with Mark Hamill and found it was really stupid. Now I know why he never went beyond Star Wars (and as a fan of that trilogy that's saying something). However, the episode with Paul Simon was wonderful! Their rendition of Scarborough Fair was hilarious! The Raquel Welch episode wasn't bad, but not wonderful.