Best of "The Muppet Show" on DVD -- by naudy

It's nice to know some things really are as good as you remember them. The Muppet Show, wholesome, full of bad puns, and featuring such guest stars as Julie Andrews and Alice Cooper, probably did more to mold and shape my personality than anything else. This weekend I watched 21 episodes of The Muppet Show and the one underlying theme is:

You don't have to be just like everyone else.

Yeah, I know, it's been said before, but the Muppets sort of live the dream. It has a lot to do with Jim Henson deciding that he could make a career by playing with hand puppets made out of his mom's old coats. Sam the Eagle ,with all his "you people are WEIRDOS" cracks, is the (slightly ridiculous) Man who told Jim he couldn't do it. Sam is also the same sort of character who sends me hate mail if I say I'm against the draft. Miss Piggy, a result of that little sexual revolution America had, is delightful because she happens to be more "human" (i.e. imperfect but still cool) than a lot of the other impossible ideals created since. It's fun to watch Animal and James Coburn together explored the concepts of aggression and meditation. I'm always delighted to cach the tail end of one of Janice's stories about her fights with her mom. Scooter is the ultimate techie, all the musicians act exactly like musicians (they're rowdy and when stuff gets bad they get out) and Statler & Waldorf make fun of the Muppets and look around to make sure everyone heard them. Gonzo, (the word itself being Boston slang term for the last man standing after a drinking contest) is the ultimate weirdo. He's unafraid to pursue his own interests, he's in love with chickens (though has has dated a cow), he takes photo essays of people's knees, and he likes being shot out of cannons. He's not even of an identifiable breed/type/race. Conveniantly, the Muppet mindset tied in perfectly with '70's culture, but it really is Jim behind everything. Kermit The Frog, like Mickey Mouse, is truly the inner self of Jim Henson.

So, it's nice to see these shows resurrected on DVD. The DVDs are put out by Time-LIFE-Whoever, and were intented to be subcribed to. So, rather than being purchased in a box set like most telvision shows, you just buy three episodes at a time. The episodes unfortunately aren't in chronological order, which is a shame. I would much prefer to watch the show and characters evolve instead of having a "themed" DVD. (Alice Cooper and Vincent Price are on the same DVD.) However, what's done is done, and it's good to see the gang again.