Muppets fan Cleese co-wrote this 1977 episode which starts with him bound, gagged and forced to take part. In recurring sketch “Pigs in Space”, he plays a galactic pirate with a nagging bird on his shoulder, asking it: “Do you want to be an ex-parrot?” He pulls Gonzo back into shape after a cannonball-catching stunt stretches his arm. The finale sees Cleese refusing to perform various musical numbers – first a show tune, then Wagnerian opera and finally a Mexican maraca solo. As the credits roll, he reappears plugging fictional album, John Cleese: A Man & His Music
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In summer 1977, Martin released his debut stand-up album, Let’s Get Small, and was about to get big. His Muppets slot saw Kermit conducting auditions; acts trying out included can-can rats, Gonzo’s dancing cheese, canine stand-up Baskerville the Hound, and Statler and Waldorf doing “The Varsity Drag”, with Fozzie heckling from the balcony. Martin juggles, makes balloon animals and proceedings climax with him playing “Duelling Banjos”, backed by the assembled auditionees. There was so much hilarity on-set, no laughter track was needed: the laughs audible are those of the Muppet performers
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The Broadway veteran’s appearance was hugely significant in Muppet Show history. In 1976, in one of the very first episodes, she parodied her diva image by staging bust-ups with several Muppets and sang a finger-clicking “Fever”– which Animal ruined with bursts of wild drumming. Moreno ended up smashing his head between two cymbals. “My kind of woman!” he swooned. Moreno won an Emmy for it, meaning stars suddenly wanted to appear on the show. The series two appearance of Rudolf Nureyev sealed its status as a celebrity favourite for the next five years
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In 1979, the Muppets presented a murder mystery starring Minnelli as an actress being terrorised by a killer. When her show’s director gets shot, the police assign Patrol Bear Fozzie to the case, while suspects are murdered one by one. Minnelli hires trench-coated PI Kermit and together they unmask the killers: Statler and Waldorf, whose sentence is to be imprisoned on their balcony for 20 years. “I’d prefer the electric chair to the box,” moans Statler. The oddly moving musical number is a cover of Barry Manilow’s “Copacabana”, with a Mutation and a Troll as lovers fighting over showgirl Minnelli
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This 1978 episode saw Kermit find a live cow backstage. While he and Scooter investigate, Gonzo falls in love with it, Swedish Chef plans to cook it and the Flying Zucchini Brothers fire it from a cannon. Then Andrews complains to Kermy that she’s lost her cow and sings Sound of Music favourite “The Lonely Goatherd”, with Muppets dressed in Swiss costume, Kermit as a prince in an Alpine chateau and yodelling farm animals. Miss Piggy later paid her own tribute to Andrews in the Muppets movie parodies calendar, which featured a poster for “The Sow of Music” (alongside “Plump Fiction” and “The Kerminator”)
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He’s known for beheading dolls and live chickens with guillotines onstage, but Alice Cooper has a cuddly side too. Well, sort of – his 1978 horror-themed episode saw the shock-rocker play an agent of Satan, offering the Muppets “fabulous riches and worldwide fame” in a Faustian swap for their souls. Miss Piggy tries out “an hourly rental”, while Gonzo spends the episode searching for a pen to sign the contract. For the climax, Cooper sports a mortarboard and gown, which he rips off to reveal a devilish red suit while performing a raucous rendition of “School’s Out”. His band of hairy monsters make the roof fall in
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In the pre-PC age, frustrated predatory females were a comedy trope – see the Carry On films, Rising Damp or George & Mildred. Miss Piggy was the Muppets’ equivalent and in series two, found herself in a sauna with ballet star Nureyev. “Holy maracas!” she exclaims, sidling along to chat him up. Nureyev is immune to her charms: “Last week I was dancing with Natalia Makarova. Now I’m in a steam room with a lady pig.” He tries to leave, she begs him to stay and they break into “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”. Miss Piggy pulls off his towel and Nureyev can only escape by breaking through the tiled wall
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In retrospect, a rather unfortunate kids’ TV appearance by the man who 26 years later, was jailed for downloading indecent images of children. When guest star Richard Pryor pulled out, Langham – who was a writer for the show – stepped in. This was referenced in the episode, which sees “Benny Brillstein the Yiddish yodeller” cancel and Kermit ask a messenger boy (Langham) to fill in. He does an owl impression and weird magic tricks. Practising escapology in his dressing room, Langham locks himself in a wardrobe and has to croon his final number, “Hawaiian Cowboy”, from inside
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Reg Dwight sported an all-pink ensemble for his 1978 guest slot: rhinestone-studded catsuit, matching trilby and the obligatory outsize sunglasses. As Eagle Sam notes: “He dresses like a stolen car.” Miss Piggy, who fills the Kiki Dee role on “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”, looks restrained by comparison. The highlight comes when Elt changes into a flamboyant feathered costume to sing “Crocodile Rock” accompanied by a chorus of crocs doing the “la-la-la-la-laaas” from the adjacent lagoon. Standing up to conduct them, Elton slips on a rock and falls into the water. He resurfaces for a last mournful “la-la-la”
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For his 1979 guest spot, the Calypso King sings “The Banana Boat Song” and has a drum duel with Animal, at the end of which they both pass out. However, activist Belafonte also insisted on doing the lesser-known “Turn the World Around” because he wanted to communicate a more meaningful message. The Muppet chorus are made to resemble traditional African tribal masks and the five-minute spiritual anthem about togetherness proves so powerful, even Statler and Waldorf join in. It was the producers’ favourite out of all the show’s musical numbers – so beloved that Belafonte reprised it at Jim Henson’s funeral
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