Even as a teenager, I have never been ashamed to share my love for The Muppet Show. Of the hundreds of different TV shows I have seen in my life, this is the one single show that has had the most lasting impression on me. While I’m not a puppeteer and I don’t perform on stage, Jim Henson and his Muppet collective showed that imagination and passion can bring anything to life – even a puppet with fancy ping pong balls for eyes.
When the third season of The Muppet Show began airing in the fall of 1978, the momentum was in full swing. The Muppets were international superstars and the show’s writers and performers had figured out what worked and what didn’t with the show’s format, as well as deeply understanding the many characters. So rather than rest on what they knew already worked, season three takes the show to a new level adding a handful of new characters and trying out some new spins to play with the format a little bit for a couple of episodes.
Some of my all-time favourite episodes and sketches can be found in the third season of The Muppet Show. One such show is the one in which singer Harry Belafonte guest stars. The episode kicks off with a funny and charming rendition of the working class classic “Day-O” and continues on to mesmerize with the gorgeous African masks in “Turn the World Around.” I grew up without a lot of culture in my home and in my community. I had some exposure to the theatre and that was about it as far as art goes. Even then, it was a lot of community theatre and amateur productions of “classics” like The Wizard of Oz and Cinderella. Part of the magic of The Muppet Show was that it exposed me to other aspects of culture, not just music but dance and sculpture and how it could be integrated with puppetry. The Belafonte episode is a perfect example of this.
The Muppet Show was based on the premise of it being set within the context of old-time vaudeville. Anything and everything is fair game in the Muppet Theatre, it’s just bound to be a little zany and entertaining to all except those critters in the show’s audience. However the familiar format is changed up and played with in a couple of episodes. Early in the season the Muppet Show is taken on the road to a train station where country singer Loretta Lynn is greeted as soon as she steps off the steam engine. Later in the season the Muppets offer their rendition of Robin Hood as only they can.
The third season of The Muppet Show demonstrates the creative genius that went into it. It maintains a very high standard of comedy and imagination but it also shows signs of developing. It keeps the show’s spirit and also shows viewers that there’s more waiting beyond the lights and curtains they’re used to.
The Muppet Show: Season Three DVD Review
All 24 episodes of The Muppet Show‘s third season are included on this four-disc set. Each is shown in its entirety complete with the additional skits that were shown in the UK but not in North America during their initial run.
Episodes are shown in their original full-screen format. Although not perfect at times, they still look very good given their age. Audio is in Dolby Digital mono. English subtitles are also included.
Leading off the bonus features is the hour-long “Muppets on Puppets,” a fascinating look at the art of puppetry made in 1969 that is hosted by Jim Henson. This is an excellent historical featurette for Muppet buffs and fans of puppets in general.
“A Company of Players” is all about the backstage magic created by the puppeteers. There’s ton of archival photographs, behind the scenes footage and retrospective interviews.
Finally there’s a collection of Purina dog food commercials starring Rowlf the Dog that first aired in 1962 and 1963.
