We'd like to do it again...
January 9, 2019 3:38 PM Subscribe
A little bit of fun by the crew recorded at the end of the first series/season of The Muppet Show in 1976.
Bonus video: A behind the scenes glimpse of the Muppet Show on it's last day of recording at the Elstree Television Studios in 1980
Via Reddit's r/ObscureMedia
Bonus video: A behind the scenes glimpse of the Muppet Show on it's last day of recording at the Elstree Television Studios in 1980
Via Reddit's r/ObscureMedia
That was adorable!
posted by Mister Moofoo at 3:53 PM on January 9, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Mister Moofoo at 3:53 PM on January 9, 2019 [1 favorite]
Watching a human try to do Kermit arms is a very special experience.
posted by nebulawindphone at 4:31 PM on January 9, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by nebulawindphone at 4:31 PM on January 9, 2019 [5 favorites]
What a great video. I'm just trying to come to grips with the reality that the Muppet Show was 43 years ago.
posted by briank at 4:52 PM on January 9, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by briank at 4:52 PM on January 9, 2019 [6 favorites]
I heard Jack likes Peach Melba
His private life is no concern of mine.
(who's Jack and is Peach Melba allowed in the age of meetoo?)
posted by sammyo at 4:58 PM on January 9, 2019 [1 favorite]
His private life is no concern of mine.
(who's Jack and is Peach Melba allowed in the age of meetoo?)
posted by sammyo at 4:58 PM on January 9, 2019 [1 favorite]
who's Jack
Jack Burns, one of the writers. If you are of a certain age, you might also remember him as half of the comedy team of Burns & Schreiber.
posted by briank at 5:04 PM on January 9, 2019 [5 favorites]
Jack Burns, one of the writers. If you are of a certain age, you might also remember him as half of the comedy team of Burns & Schreiber.
posted by briank at 5:04 PM on January 9, 2019 [5 favorites]
bleep: "I had no idea this show was made in England. This video is SO ENGLISH."
I knew that it was made there but I still wasn't prepared for how very English the crew is in this.
posted by octothorpe at 5:12 PM on January 9, 2019 [6 favorites]
I knew that it was made there but I still wasn't prepared for how very English the crew is in this.
posted by octothorpe at 5:12 PM on January 9, 2019 [6 favorites]
This is delightful! I picked up 'toad in the hole for Jim' - a sly reference where they treated the Muppets as characters, not puppets, in the rest of the piece.
A group of people who obviously had a lot of fun working together.
I also really enjoyed the 1980 video, with more muppets actually present and featured.
Great find!
(I've just finished watching The Crown(fanfare) and it's a weird juxtaposition of English-nesses!
posted by freethefeet at 6:57 PM on January 9, 2019
A group of people who obviously had a lot of fun working together.
I also really enjoyed the 1980 video, with more muppets actually present and featured.
Great find!
(I've just finished watching The Crown(fanfare) and it's a weird juxtaposition of English-nesses!
posted by freethefeet at 6:57 PM on January 9, 2019
I don't remember now what night of the week it was on (Wednesdays?) but I vividly remember being 7 or 8 and waiting all week for the Muppet Show. In the days prior to any type of recording devices, if you missed it (god forbid) you missed it, and that was unthinkable.
Also, I can no longer see any kind of clip that has even just a flash of Jim Henson in it and not get a little choked up.
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 6:57 PM on January 9, 2019 [7 favorites]
Also, I can no longer see any kind of clip that has even just a flash of Jim Henson in it and not get a little choked up.
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 6:57 PM on January 9, 2019 [7 favorites]
This is so great :3
Sometimes they're doing muppet hands, like how they would move the mouths of their puppets, and sometimes they're imitating their puppets, right?
posted by batter_my_heart at 9:02 PM on January 9, 2019
Sometimes they're doing muppet hands, like how they would move the mouths of their puppets, and sometimes they're imitating their puppets, right?
posted by batter_my_heart at 9:02 PM on January 9, 2019
Sometimes they're doing muppet hands, like how they would move the mouths of their puppets, and sometimes they're imitating their puppets, right?
I'm not sure it's any of the puppeteers themselves who are in the first one, and it's only like the set crew and the lighting crew and the cameramen and people like that doing this as a goof.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:39 AM on January 10, 2019
I'm not sure it's any of the puppeteers themselves who are in the first one, and it's only like the set crew and the lighting crew and the cameramen and people like that doing this as a goof.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:39 AM on January 10, 2019
I had no idea this show was made in England. This video is SO ENGLISH.
Neither did I, and I kept expecting one of the Pythons to pop up. The newsreader in particular gave off a very Eric Idle vibe.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 4:57 AM on January 10, 2019 [2 favorites]
Neither did I, and I kept expecting one of the Pythons to pop up. The newsreader in particular gave off a very Eric Idle vibe.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 4:57 AM on January 10, 2019 [2 favorites]
You're right, none of these are the Muppet Performers, which makes it even funnier to me.
Anyone who was surprised about it being filmed in England, and entertained.. the Jim Henson biography (the one by Brian Jay Jones) from a few years ago will blow your mind about all the choices the guy made to just keep making things he thought people would enjoy.
posted by DigDoug at 5:27 AM on January 10, 2019 [3 favorites]
Anyone who was surprised about it being filmed in England, and entertained.. the Jim Henson biography (the one by Brian Jay Jones) from a few years ago will blow your mind about all the choices the guy made to just keep making things he thought people would enjoy.
posted by DigDoug at 5:27 AM on January 10, 2019 [3 favorites]
I don't remember now what night of the week it was on (Wednesdays?) but I vividly remember being 7 or 8 and waiting all week for the Muppet Show. In the days prior to any type of recording devices, if you missed it (god forbid) you missed it, and that was unthinkable.
My brain says it was Monday, but the Muppet Wiki seems to indicate it was on Saturday night. Either way, my mother did laundry that night and we didn't have a washer/dryer at the time. I recall the pure drama that unfolded one night that Dad had a thing and Mom was going to make me go to the laundrymat with her and I would miss the Muppets. After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, my Mom grabbed the tiny 13" black and white tv from the kitchen, and threw it, me, and the laundry in the car. At the laundrymat, my mom set up the tv quickly, tuned it to the right channel and told me to be quiet. By the end of the show, there were 5 or 6 kids clustered around the tv with me watching the Muppets with intensity. I feel like she did that more than once, but not enough that it became a regular occurance.
Regardless, I was a little shit if I missed my Muppets.
posted by teleri025 at 7:40 AM on January 10, 2019 [3 favorites]
My brain says it was Monday, but the Muppet Wiki seems to indicate it was on Saturday night. Either way, my mother did laundry that night and we didn't have a washer/dryer at the time. I recall the pure drama that unfolded one night that Dad had a thing and Mom was going to make me go to the laundrymat with her and I would miss the Muppets. After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, my Mom grabbed the tiny 13" black and white tv from the kitchen, and threw it, me, and the laundry in the car. At the laundrymat, my mom set up the tv quickly, tuned it to the right channel and told me to be quiet. By the end of the show, there were 5 or 6 kids clustered around the tv with me watching the Muppets with intensity. I feel like she did that more than once, but not enough that it became a regular occurance.
Regardless, I was a little shit if I missed my Muppets.
posted by teleri025 at 7:40 AM on January 10, 2019 [3 favorites]
The Muppet Show was one of the most successful syndicated TV shows in the US in the late '70s (right after the FCC ordered the 3 networks to 'give back' to their affiliates the 7:30-8PM timeslot and independent distributors/syndicators went crazy). So the night it aired varied widely on local TV stations.
And Jack Burns was the Head Writer for The Muppet Show for its first season, and thus the most important American working on the show who didn't work holding his hand up over his head. His resume also includes co-writing The Muppet Movie, a couple years teamed with George Carlin (when he was still square), being one of the early stars of the Second City Improv Group (in its original Chicago; the group that did SCTV were from Second City's second city), a half-season on The Andy Griffith Show when Don Knotts left and he became the resident wacky Deputy, and, after his time with the Muppets, he was Producer/Writer and Announcer for ABC's attempt to copy Saturday Night Live on another night, "Fridays" (where he physically assaulted Andy Kaufman on-screen). And Burns & Schreiber had a short-lived variety show in 1973. And don't forget Avery Schreiber's ubiquity on '60s and '70s sitcoms, including his regular role on My Mother the Car, and his many Doritos commercials (back when it only came in 3 flavors).
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:15 AM on January 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
And Jack Burns was the Head Writer for The Muppet Show for its first season, and thus the most important American working on the show who didn't work holding his hand up over his head. His resume also includes co-writing The Muppet Movie, a couple years teamed with George Carlin (when he was still square), being one of the early stars of the Second City Improv Group (in its original Chicago; the group that did SCTV were from Second City's second city), a half-season on The Andy Griffith Show when Don Knotts left and he became the resident wacky Deputy, and, after his time with the Muppets, he was Producer/Writer and Announcer for ABC's attempt to copy Saturday Night Live on another night, "Fridays" (where he physically assaulted Andy Kaufman on-screen). And Burns & Schreiber had a short-lived variety show in 1973. And don't forget Avery Schreiber's ubiquity on '60s and '70s sitcoms, including his regular role on My Mother the Car, and his many Doritos commercials (back when it only came in 3 flavors).
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:15 AM on January 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
+1 for oh my god this show is British? and also watching this it's so obvious it's British!
posted by chrominance at 10:51 AM on January 10, 2019
posted by chrominance at 10:51 AM on January 10, 2019
The Muppet Show's pilot episodes were made in the US, but US network executives didn't want it. British network executives said "Hey, we like it! Come on over here!" And so they did. The show was then syndicated back to the US.
posted by eye of newt at 1:20 AM on January 11, 2019
posted by eye of newt at 1:20 AM on January 11, 2019
I'm almost certain that's a very young Dawn French at 5:11.
And, of course, Eric Idle delivering the newscast at 7:04, but he was already famous.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 7:44 AM on January 11, 2019
And, of course, Eric Idle delivering the newscast at 7:04, but he was already famous.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 7:44 AM on January 11, 2019
« Older Discovery of pious Medieval women who quietly... | When the whole world was the cover of an OMNI... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by bleep at 3:52 PM on January 9, 2019 [6 favorites]