The Muppet Show: Season Two

The Muppet Show won an Emmy Award for its sterling and stellar second season, which features show business royalty, Broadway showstoppers, then-contemporary superstars, consummate entertainers, comic legends (some, like Peter Sellers, who rarely did television) and popular TV Land personalities. What distinguished The Muppet Show was that the mostly A-list talent (Jaye P. Morgan???) were there to entertain, and not pitch current projects. Thus, a new generation was introduced to vaudeville-style clowning (George Burns observes that some of the jokes in his episode are older than he is), the Great American Songbook, and the legends of stage, screen, and the performing arts. And from Andrews (Julie) to Zero (Mostel), they are all clearly having a ball either spoofing their personas (Elton John's signature flashy wardrobes inspire the Muppets to follow suit), or simply performing with the beloved original Muppet characters (Andrews sings a song she wrote for Kermit, "When You Were a Tadpole"). Also appearing this season are Steve Martin, Milton Berle, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Madeline Kahn, Bernadette Peters, Rudolf Nureyev, Petulia Clark, Bob Hope, and, in hilarious high dudgeon, John Cleese. During the 24 episodes of the 1977-78 second season collected here, Miss Piggy emerges as the demanding, frog-loving diva we've come to worship—among her best moments in the spotlight is her rendition of "I Remember It Well" along with impressionist Rich Little (as Maurice Chevalier). DVD extras include the rarely seen 1974 “The Muppets Valentine Special” with Mia Farrow, a handful of Muppet interviews, and a music video. Highly recommended. (D. Liebenson)