Customer Reviews

Best of the Muppet Show: Volume Two - Mark Hamill / Paul Simon / Raquel Welch

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This DVD contains 3 episodes of the Muppet Show TV series from the 70's. It is no exaggeration to say that this was the best TV ever produced, chock-full of humor and inspiration.

Each episode consists of a series of muppet skits, tied together with a weekly celebrity guest-host. In addition to Mark Hamill (mentioned in the title), this DVD contains episodes hosted by Paul Simon and Raquel Welch.

Before the release of this DVD series, the shows were available only from Time/Life, under a monthly-subscription-type arrangement or as boxed sets (at premium prices). The open release of the DVD is something muppet fans have anticipated for a long time. Wakka-wakka-wakka!

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.

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!

Like many in my generation, I grew up with the Muppets. Not only were they on Sesame Street when I was a wee lad, but they also had there own show, THE MUPPET SHOW. This hilarious comedy variety show was set in a theatre that the Muppets performed a "live" show upon each week. It was something so new and unique that it took Jim Henson several years before his idea finally made it to the airwaves. And when it finally did, the Muppets became a huge hit. America hadn't seen anything like it. Each episode featured a guest star or stars who interacted with the Muppets in various songs, sketches, and musical numbers. Intertwined were backstage antics and two old guys in the balcony commenting on the comedy below. It was a show that had something for the entire family and had humor on several different levels. In THE MUPPET SHOW, America rediscovered wit.

Now, for the first time some of the best episodes of THE MUPPET SHOW are available on DVD. This DVD includes episodes with Mark Hamill and the Stars of STAR WARS, Paul Simon, and Raquel Welch. The Mark Hamill episode also has C-3P0, R2-D2, and Chewbacca and ends with a song and dance routine that parodies the Walt Disney Company. All of the music on the Paul Simon episode are songs written by Simon, and the episode with Raquel Welch, Welch begins the show dancing with a giant spider and ends it singing a duet with Miss Piggy.

There really aren't any extras here. Just a few Muppet educational type promos and a fact about the Muppet whom Mark Hamill replaced. This is a great DVD to watch over and over and I can honestly say, you won't grow tired of watching it.

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

Overall, this is a good Muppet DVD. The first two episodes were great.

Watching Mark Hamil guest star with Chewbacca and the droids was fun. Mark spends about half of the episode in character as Luke Skywalker. Amusingly, when he isn't in character, Mark just acts goofy--seemingly at home in the Muppet environmnet. His impressions of Kermit and Fozzie had me laughing more than anything else on this DVD. I liked this episode a lot, though the final musical number dragged a little.

Unlike Hamil, Paul Simon, seemed a little stiff around the muppets, but he still made a great episode. With classic songs, like "50 Ways to Leave your Lover" (which is sung here by Floyd--not Paul), "Like a Rock" and "Scarborough Fair," the musical numbers were my favorite part. Highlights included Vet's Hospital and Gonzo's decision to become a musician, performing just the kind of music you'd expect from the Great Gonzo.

Having liked the first two episodes, I was very disappointed with the Raquel Welch installment. The way that the male muppets objectify Raquel "Sex Symbol" Welch might make some people uncomfortable. There is a subplot where Raquel claims to be trying to change her image, but in her first musical number she is wearing a surprisingly revealing costume, having been encouraged to do so by the male muppets. It's nothing scandelous, but more risque than I'm used to with the muppets. Finally, hearing Kermit say, "sexy," just felt wrong to me. I will be avoiding this episode in the future.

This type of show would never happen these days with everyone trying to get a piece of the royalties but I am glad it happened once. This 3 show pack was great if you remember the Muppets from your childhood. My daughter even got into it. It was just a lot of campy fun.

My 2 year old loves this video. It is such a shame that the Muppets are no longer on TV. This DVD is a great way to introduce your child to the Muppets. The Three Little Fishes song is a favorite around here. We will use this as entertainment on our 10 hour holiday drive. My only complaint is I can't get the Muppets theme song out of my head now- LOL. Great video:)

If there's any complaint to be made about the Best of the Muppet Show DVDs, it's that they really could give you more than three episodes per disc. You feel a little like you're getting gouged. However, the stuff you get is great.

Specific to this disc, you've got three of the best episodes of the Muppet Show. The Mark Hamill episode looks like everybody on that set was having a sheer blast. Hamill plays himself AND Luke Skywalker, and C-3PO, RD-2D and Chewbacca all join him. Paul Simon is as good as always (and he hold the distinction of being the only Muppet guest to ever compose all of the music for his episode) and Raquel Welch's duet with Miss Piggy is a classic.

As for the series as a whole, you get some great extras. Brian Henson provides an introduction to each episode, spilling a little info (hence the Paul Simon tidbit above). You also get production sketches and new Muppet shorts (at least, I've never seen `em before) at about two per disc. Each disc has one "Muppet Screen Test," in which the Muppets do TV and movie parodies, and one "Muppetism," which is the TV equivalent of those posters with a kitten dangling from a clothesline that read "Hang in there!" Silly, upbeat messages presented in a cute manner.

Like I said, the discs are a little pricey for what you get, but it's worth it for the hardcore Muppet fan. Like me.

My only gripe about this is that I actually found the Star Wars Episode hard to put up with. While there was humour,a dn even some good music, there were far fewer laughs than I expected from something I remembered as fondly as the Muppet Show, and also several moments that made me grind my teeth, and wonder if my memory was at fault.

I was so glad to be proven wrong! The other two episodes are the wonderful show I remembered it being. "Inspirational, celebrational" indeed! Paul Simon does some fine music, and the comic moments have the needed punch and flash (Although the joke about being arrested for luting is a little too roundabout). Raquel Welch... well, what can one say? Just as with the much weaker "Muppets Tonight" series from the 1990's, this was an unpromising "sex bomb" guest star whose presence provided some of the best comedy of the tape! (In "Muppets Tonight", one of the funniest episodes I saw featured Claudia Schiffer, a guest who made me groan when i first heard about it).

Alas, there is one other disadvantage to the tape. On the VHS copy, Brian Henson introduces each episode - with what appears to be pretty much a straight explanation of what happens in the episode, and about the guest stars. Um, Brian, really. The box tells us the guest stars for the chosen shows, and we can see the episode to see what happens; the intro should talk about something less obvious regarding the episode. I fast-forwarded these bits.

Still, the shows themselves were worthwhile picks. I just hope they release more, as I've only seen this and one other tape of the actual shows available. More! More!