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[0:04] Fergie L. Phillipe: It's time to meet the Muppets, so let's turn on the mic for Muppet Show beginners and experts alike.

[0:12] Fergie L. Phillipe: Run on and join the party that's only just begun.

[0:17] Fergie L. Phillipe: Let's smile for a while.

[0:19] Fergie L. Phillipe: It's time to have some fun.

[0:21] Fergie L. Phillipe: Take a show tonight.

[0:25] Fergie L. Phillipe: It's curtain up and then it's time to meet the Muppets all over again.

[0:32] Fergie L. Phillipe: So take a break and take a load off.

[0:35] Fergie L. Phillipe: Let's all take a ride in a Muppet Testic Time Machine with Fergie as your guide.

[0:41] Fergie L. Phillipe: So no more hesitation.

[0:43] Fergie L. Phillipe: Let's start the episode.

[0:45] Fergie L. Phillipe: We're moving right along.

[0:47] Fergie L. Phillipe: Let's get this show out of the show on the round podcast podcast.

[0:56] Fergie L. Phillipe: Hello, hello, hello.

[0:58] Fergie L. Phillipe: Oh.

[0:59] Fergie L. Phillipe: Hello.

[1:01] Fergie L. Phillipe: Hi, I'm Fergie L. Phillipe.

[1:02] Fergie L. Phillipe: Welcome to It's Time to Meet the Muppets.

[1:06] Fergie L. Phillipe: This is a podcast for all Muppet lovers or Muppet beginners, Muppet experts, Muppet, whatever you are, you are welcome here.

[1:14] Fergie L. Phillipe: You may know me, you may not, doesn't really matter, but uh before the pandemic and the shutdown was happening, I was playing Hercules Mulligan and James Madison in the Broadway production of Hamilton.

[1:25] Fergie L. Phillipe: Uh up until before that I was also uh on the tour, the Phillip Tour specifically, uh for about a year and a half.

[1:31] Fergie L. Phillipe: I was living in New York City, but right now I am in Miami, Florida, where is my hometown.

[1:36] Fergie L. Phillipe: Um yeah, this is my little Muppet Podcast.

[1:42] Fergie L. Phillipe: Um So they announced, you know, not too long ago that the Muppet Show was going to be coming to Disney Plus on February 19th.

[1:52] Fergie L. Phillipe: And I was like, wow.

[1:54] Fergie L. Phillipe: It would be cool if somebody did a show that was kind of like a recap.

[1:58] Fergie L. Phillipe: And then uh ding ding ding.

[2:00] Fergie L. Phillipe: I was like, hold on, maybe I could do it.

[2:02] Fergie L. Phillipe: So I got to talking to some people, and some people told me it was a good idea, and then I got to talk to the lovely folks at Broadway Podcast Network, and they were crazy enough to say, Yes, come do it on our network.

[2:15] Fergie L. Phillipe: So here I am.

[2:18] Fergie L. Phillipe: So the way that the podcast is gonna work essentially is that we are going to break down the whole episode.

[2:22] Fergie L. Phillipe: It's going to be a recap, and I'm just going to comment on what I thought was funny, what I thought was cute, what I thought was heartwarming, what I thought was really weird, but somewhat profound, or whatever I may find deemable to mention in said episode that I record.

[2:36] Fergie L. Phillipe: I also, you know, will will throw out some fun facts that I've either looked up or I already knew off the top of my head.

[2:42] Fergie L. Phillipe: And it should be noted that I definitely consider myself somebody that has a big wealth of Muppet knowledge.

[2:48] Fergie L. Phillipe: However, I will probably get some things wrong.

[2:51] Fergie L. Phillipe: Uh I'm hoping that some of the deep cut Muppet fans will come through and listen to the show.

[2:57] Fergie L. Phillipe: But you know, if I get anything wrong, obviously let me know, or I will probably figure it out myself if I don't feel like it's right, and I'll obviously correct myself.

[3:05] Fergie L. Phillipe: All opinions are my own.

[3:07] Fergie L. Phillipe: I do not represent the Muppets, I don't represent Disney in any way.

[3:10] Fergie L. Phillipe: Not yet.

[3:11] Fergie L. Phillipe: And um this show is obviously for everybody, but like it might get a little adult, I might cuss every now and then, maybe I won't.

[3:18] Fergie L. Phillipe: Who knows?

[3:19] Fergie L. Phillipe: So, yeah, let's just jump on in.

[3:22] Fergie L. Phillipe: Um before we start, uh, I I do want to give a brief history to contextualize like where exactly we're kind of coming into the show.

[3:32] Fergie L. Phillipe: So, obviously, or maybe not obviously, as I said before, all are welcome to the show.

[3:37] Fergie L. Phillipe: So, if you don't know much, I'm not gonna shame you.

[3:40] Fergie L. Phillipe: Jim Henson was the creator of the Muppets.

[3:42] Fergie L. Phillipe: Jim Henson was a puppeteer, he was born in Missouri.

[3:46] Fergie L. Phillipe: Uh ended up going to school at the University of Maryland, um, where he met Jane Neville, who eventually became Jen Henson.

[3:52] Fergie L. Phillipe: Um the two of them started a puppet program on the DC uh local uh local I guess local TV channel, not local news channel, but local TV channel called Salmon Friends, which was a kind of comedy variety show that only lasted a few minutes.

[4:08] Fergie L. Phillipe: It was often him uh and and Jane just like kind of uh lip syncing to popular records or or comedy bits at the time and and they made some cool effects and stuff.

[4:17] Fergie L. Phillipe: And from that point forward, you know, Jim, you know Salmon Friends really started getting a lot of traction.

[4:22] Fergie L. Phillipe: Uh Jim eventually formed his own corporation uh with the help of Jane of course um formed his own corporation and started doing a lot of commercial work and and ad work.

[4:32] Fergie L. Phillipe: So uh his most famous ads were probably Wilkins and Wonkins which was uh coffee Wilkins Coffee.

[4:38] Fergie L. Phillipe: Um Wilkins and Wilkins were were two characters.

[4:43] Fergie L. Phillipe: Wilken was uh kind of like a a lot of people believe that Wilkins was like the first Kermit prototype, which is not true, but but but Wilkins had a kind of humanoid like one of the first humanoid Muppet like looks to him uh and Wonkins was kind of this like short round uh mopey kind of character and Wilkins was always like trying to get Wunkins to drink some coffee but Wonkins really didn't want to.

[5:10] Fergie L. Phillipe: So basically Wilkins would punish Wonkins by hurting him in some way.

[5:15] Fergie L. Phillipe: Um and this is kind of where that classic Muppet, you know, uh explosions or or like really insane violence that that really uh solidifies the Muppet's sense of humor kind of came from.

[5:28] Fergie L. Phillipe: He would either blow him out of a cannon or he would stomp or the a human would stomp on him, or you know, what have you.

[5:34] Fergie L. Phillipe: Um but anyway, I digress.

[5:35] Fergie L. Phillipe: Uh so those commercials got really, really popular.

[5:38] Fergie L. Phillipe: Um Jim Henson really started, you know, making a name for himself in kind of the ad-agency world.

[5:45] Fergie L. Phillipe: But he was also making his own stuff on the side.

[5:47] Fergie L. Phillipe: He was doing short films, uh, one of which was Time Piece, which he eventually won the Academy Award for short film, which I don't know of his common knowledge or not.

[5:55] Fergie L. Phillipe: But essentially he was referred to a couple of people, specifically by John Stone to Joan Gans Cooney, who is one of the founders of the children's television workshop, which created Sesame Street.

[6:11] Fergie L. Phillipe: And while they were in the process of creating Sesame Street, they approached Jim about possibly coming on and and doing some of his Muppets.

[6:21] Fergie L. Phillipe: And Jim kind of went back and forth.

[6:22] Fergie L. Phillipe: Um he really was he was very worried about the idea of being uh what's the term?

[6:28] Fergie L. Phillipe: He was uh being worried about the idea of being perceived as a children's performer, especially because children's shows at the time, I mean they had Bozo, Captain Kangaroo was around at the time, but there were really not a lot of shows that um were considered highbrow children's media.

[6:45] Fergie L. Phillipe: I don't know if that's really a thing, but you know, when you think of Sesame Street, Sesame Street is a very quality children's television show that included a lot of education.

[6:53] Fergie L. Phillipe: There we go.

[6:53] Fergie L. Phillipe: Not a lot of education-based children's shows from those days.

[6:57] Fergie L. Phillipe: It was a lot of silly humor, you know, Saturday morning cartoons, that kind of idea.

[7:00] Fergie L. Phillipe: There was the idea that to teach through television was an incredibly brand new concept, and one that Sesame Street essentially solidified and created.

[7:09] Fergie L. Phillipe: Um Captain Kangaroo was doing a little bit of that, but but it was really Sesame Street that kind of honed in on that.

[7:14] Fergie L. Phillipe: And they really thought it was necessary to kind of have Jim Henson come in and really help with that.

[7:19] Fergie L. Phillipe: And so Jim, you know, eventually agreed and kind of had, you know, a really big creative hand in helping form the show in terms of its tone and its style, specifically with the comedy of the show.

[7:34] Fergie L. Phillipe: And and the characters really are what define that show.

[7:37] Fergie L. Phillipe: I mean, Ernie and Bert still exist today, Big Bird still exists today.

[7:39] Fergie L. Phillipe: Oscar the Crouch, you know, we we i i it it obviously was a profound moment for them to bring Jim Henson along, and it's probably the reason that Sesame Street is still running today.

[7:51] Fergie L. Phillipe: So he was doing Sesame Street, and you know, a little l less than I want to say six, seven years later, Sesame Street was 69.

[8:00] Fergie L. Phillipe: Oh, well, maybe maybe only a few years later, but he started really wanting to take some of the style that he was doing on Salmon Friends, but he uh but also, you know, he was doing pilots, he was essentially just doing pilots.

[8:14] Fergie L. Phillipe: Um, long story short.

[8:15] Fergie L. Phillipe: I can do a longer version of this maybe for another podcast, but because there's so much information that I'm missing.

[8:20] Fergie L. Phillipe: But essentially he started creating these pilots with these characters called the Muppets that he was, you know, kind of shopping around on different shows, specifically Ed Sullivan.

[8:26] Fergie L. Phillipe: He had um he brought the characters on a lot that were essentially these monsters and sometimes animals, but these kind of weird looking creatures um that were really funny and really adorable, and he kind of really wanted to capitalize on that.

[8:38] Fergie L. Phillipe: Um and so he started doing these uh pilots, and and if you owned the first season of the Muppet Show, you probably have seen the Valentine's Day special or the Muppet Show Sex and Violence.

[8:51] Fergie L. Phillipe: Uh, both are two pilots that he created.

[8:53] Fergie L. Phillipe: One was for ABC and the other one was for NBC, I believe.

[8:58] Fergie L. Phillipe: He created a pitch reel for C VS, but I don't think he did a pilot for CBS.

[9:01] Fergie L. Phillipe: Or maybe I'm wrong.

[9:02] Fergie L. Phillipe: But he essentially created two different pilots for two different uh networks.

[9:06] Fergie L. Phillipe: And both of the networks turned it down.

[9:09] Fergie L. Phillipe: The title Muppet Show Sex and Violence came from a really aggressive need.

[9:16] Fergie L. Phillipe: And not aggressive in a bad way, but but more that, you know, Jim was already seeing that because people heard that he was associated with Sesame Street, the people kind of dismissed him as a children's performer.

[9:25] Fergie L. Phillipe: Uh and dismissed him as not really being able to contribute to anything that would work for prime time.

[9:30] Fergie L. Phillipe: And so Jim really kind of pushed the Muppets in this direction that was gonna be a lot more adult.

[9:38] Fergie L. Phillipe: And he kind of got stuck, and eventually his agent or his manager, one of the two, uh Bernie uh oh.

[9:48] Fergie L. Phillipe: I always confuse him because there's Bert Tilstrom, and then there's Bernie Brilstein.

[9:51] Fergie L. Phillipe: There we go.

[9:52] Fergie L. Phillipe: Bernie Brilstein, who was his manager slash agent, was also Lorne Michael's agent slash manager.

[9:58] Fergie L. Phillipe: For those who don't know, Lauren Michaels is the creator of Saturday Night Live, and he still runs it today.

[10:04] Fergie L. Phillipe: And around the time when he when when Jim was kind of shopping around all of these different pilots and trying to figure out a way that he can get the Muppets on Primetime TV for their own show, Bernie Brilstein suggested that they should meet and maybe Lorne has the show coming on.

[10:18] Fergie L. Phillipe: Maybe you could do something on that that could get you some traction.

[10:20] Fergie L. Phillipe: And so for the first season of Saturday Night Live, the Muppet performers did this sketch called Land of Gorch, which I don't know if, you know, unless you're like a diehard Saturday Night Live fan, you probably have never seen this because it literally only lasted one season.

[10:36] Fergie L. Phillipe: But Land of Gorge was a was was kind of you could even compare it to the kind of the Kuzbanian sketches that happened in the Muppet Show, which are about this distant planet in outer space of these crazy creatures.

[10:46] Fergie L. Phillipe: But the Land of Gorge was specifically, again, uh keep in mind this idea that Jim was really wanting to take the Muppets in a direction that was so much more adult, much more suited for prime time.

[10:57] Fergie L. Phillipe: And so Land of Gorge was kind of this really interesting series of sketches that involve this guy named King Plubis, who was the king of this, you know, planet and all these really weird alien creatures, and he was married to a queen, but he was also cheating on her with this other woman, and there was this uh there was a thing called the Mighty Favog voiced by Frank Oz.

[11:20] Fergie L. Phillipe: To be honest, I haven't directly seen these.

[11:23] Fergie L. Phillipe: I've only seen like a couple episodes, so I can't even really tell you what the plot is, but you know, needless to say, Saturday Night Live and the Muppets did not gel together at all.

[11:33] Fergie L. Phillipe: John Belushi is very famous for having called them the mucking puppets.

[11:38] Fergie L. Phillipe: Um and also there's a story that he apparently took a big bird doll and like hung a noose around him using the like window, like using the the string you pull to pull up a window.

[11:50] Fergie L. Phillipe: Um all of it because Saturday Night Live really struggled with writing for these characters, and 'cause they were, you know, they were Saturday Night Live, especially in the 70s.

[12:00] Fergie L. Phillipe: It was very, you know, off the wall, kind of, you know, body and grotesque humor, and and the Muppets obviously don't drive with that, and and that's really not the direction Jim wanted to take it, and and they really struggled with the writers.

[12:13] Fergie L. Phillipe: And so basically, um he eventually Jim got a call from Lord Lou Grade over in London, who said, I've seen all the things you've done with the Muppets, I've seen your pitrials, I don't understand why America won't do your show.

[12:28] Fergie L. Phillipe: If you come to London, I will guarantee you 24 episodes.

[12:33] Fergie L. Phillipe: And Jim was like, and so they made a deal.

[12:37] Fergie L. Phillipe: Uh he agreed to move to London and to move his company out to London, or to move when I say his company, I mean his company of people of performers and stuff.

[12:45] Fergie L. Phillipe: I don't know about the physical company.

[12:46] Fergie L. Phillipe: Again, that's all stuff I can maybe cover on another episode later.

[12:50] Fergie L. Phillipe: But um, so yeah, so that's how the birth of the Muppet Show happened.

[12:55] Fergie L. Phillipe: As a matter of fact, I think it was like one of the last few days of shooting Saturday Night Live, um, which they were kind of planning to, you know, they were thinking about quitting, but they weren't sure what you know things were gonna be like because it was m you know, money was coming in, yada yada yada.

[13:09] Fergie L. Phillipe: All of that to say Jim kind of told Frank, like, hey, good news.

[13:13] Fergie L. Phillipe: Like, not only do we get out of SNL, but we just got guaranteed 24 episodes in London to shoot the Muppet Show.

[13:19] Fergie L. Phillipe: So then they all went over to London and started creating this thing. And I think it needs to be understood that Lou Grade really trusted Jim. Um, and he should get the credit he deserves for that because he really gave the Muppets freedom to grow and freedom to try new things and freedom to morph and to shift into shape, like, and we're gonna talk about that a lot, you know, from this first episode. Like the first season, for those who may not have seen it, because a lot of their more popular episodes are in later seasons. You know, the first season is a very different show than the fifth season, which is the case with a lot of TV shows. But specifically, The Muppet Show really has a lot of things going forward in the first season that end up really not working, um, and that they end up tossing.

And Jim was really good about that. He was really good about killing his darlings, you know what I mean? Like he'd never really held on to anything. Um, if it didn't work, it didn't work, and he let it go. Um, and there were a lot of things in that first season that they ended up letting go. Um, and that includes character designs, that includes characters in general, that includes performers, that includes—and I mean not to say that like he was a ruthless person that just got rid of everything, but, you know, Jim cared so much about the product and he cared so much about the quality of the work that he was producing that I think that's why the show ended up being one of the most popular shows on earth. So enough of the history lesson. Uh, I'm sorry if I just bore you to death, but here we go. This is the start of The Muppet Show.

[14:52] Fergie L. Phillipe: So in this first episode, um, I think one of the best things that should be acknowledged is that there is no kind of signal or there's no kind of acknowledgement that this is the first episode. The way the show functions is that it's always been around. Like it always has been and it always will be. There's never any kind of linear plot of like, oh, the show, you know, we just got into the theater or we just got here and we're moving it. No, the show starts off like, hey, welcome again to another Muppet Show. As a matter of fact, that's Kermit's first line in the episode. Um, and I think that that's so smart that they set it right in the middle of the action. Um, that's actually one of the greatest rules of improv is that like you never start from the beginning, you start right in the middle of the scene because it makes it more exciting.

And to me, it does make the show more exciting because instead of it being like, you know, we almost have to play catch up with the show. And considering how frickin' weird it is, like, to have to kind of try to keep up with it really makes a lot of sense, and to kind of just like, you know, be thrown into what The Muppet Show is right from the beginning, um, is just a really smart idea.

[16:07] Fergie L. Phillipe: One of the first things that also I want to talk about are the opening credits. Um, one of the most famous elements of The Muppet Show are those opening credits. Um, especially in the later seasons, you know, we see that like, uh, after Kermit kind of introduces the guest, it's a kind of like four pillar sequence and Sweetums and Thog and, uh, I think it's some of the mutations, they come out and you know, do like a little dance, and that's how the other Muppets are introduced. But in this opening sequence, obviously, again, we're talking about how these guys really kind of played with a lot of different things. In this opening sequence, they actually use the apron—the front of the apron of the stage.

Um, for the apron is literally right in front of the curtain. Um, and so these red curtains are closed and these Muppets come out, and it's, you know, it's very simple. It's a very simple thing that they're doing where they have these four Muppets come out, sh kind of like a umpa umpa umpa pa dance move where two go down and two go up at the same time as they're singing their first verse. But it's still separated by ladies and separated by um the men. Um, I even think when they take it to the second season, um, they use the same puppets, but they just change the choreography. And maybe they don't. No, they actually don't, because eventually Sam gets thrown in there, the Swedish Chef gets thrown in there.

So never mind what I said about that. Um, so yeah, so you have this very like interesting, like very blatant respect to British music hall style of having, uh, these Muppets kind of come out in this way. Um, and I think it's very interesting that immediately from the beginning they're already referencing British culture in this way, especially because the way The Muppet Show works is that it's very much like a British music hall variety show, and I think that was really smart of them to kind of capitalize on, especially because that was where they were filming the show, and I think for a long time they just imagined their audience was gonna be London, and so they, you know, let's play to them is what I imagine. I wasn't there when that happened, obviously.

[18:15] Fergie L. Phillipe: Anyway, um, the two characters I want to bring up that are very subtle that a lot of people don't know about. Um, if you go to the men's section, you will see kind of a blue furry creature and a green furry creature. These guys are called Frackles. Now, um, I said that Jim did like a lot of different, uh, pilots and stuff like that, but he also filmed a lot of specials. Um, a lot of them, you know, include the Tales from Tinker D, which I actually don't know if it ever aired. Tales from Tinker D. I have to look that up. But he filmed a number of different The Muppet Musicians of Bremen, uh, Hey Cinderella, The Frog Prince, all of these different things. Um, but those might have even come later.

Wow, guys, I thought my history would be a lot better than this. But what should be known is that he filmed a lot of specials. And as a matter of fact, one of those specials, which I believe was Hey Cinderella, he actually filmed with John Stone, or maybe that was Tales of Tinker D. You see where my brain gets confused because Tales of Tinker D and Hey Cinderella have a lot of lap, uh, have a lot of lap over. Um. And that's how John Stone recommended Jim Henson for Sesame Street. I digress. Um, one of the specials was called The Great Santa Claus Switch. And in this special, there's a lot of different things that happened. But some of the things that should be noted about The Great Santa Claus Switch, there were these characters called the Frackles.

And the Frackles ended up being used for a lot of background characters in The Muppet Show. And this includes the Blue Frackle and the Green Frackle. And these characters' names, the blue Frackle's name was Bopity, and the Green Frackle's name was Gloat. Um, another fun fact is that Gonzo, who we'll see at the end, uh, with his famous trumpet bit, um, actually it's not a trumpet bit, it's a drum bit, but different later on. Moving on. Um, Gonzo was actually—the build of the puppet of Gonzo was actually called the cigar box Frackle in The Great Santa Claus Switch, and then they eventually kind of repurposed and remodeled him to be Gonzo so that David Goles could have his own character. It should also be noted that, you know, for The Great Santa Claus Switch, that was the first performance um of Fran Brill and Richard Hunt.

Richard Hunt went on to perform characters like Scooter, one of the two-headed monsters, uh, Forgetful Jones, uh, Don Music, and Janice, and Sweetums. He became one of the core Muppet performers, and then Fran Brill was the puppeteer for Prairie Dawn and for Zoe and um countless, countless other characters. Um, but yeah, so The Great Santa Claus Switch just, you know, has a lot of things going on for it. But these two Frackles that appear in the opening number are actually two Frackles that you're gonna see quite a lot in many of the numbers that happen in The Muppet Show. Um, they got—they were used quite a lot and they were rebuilt quite a lot, um, because they just make great background characters.

[21:10] Fergie L. Phillipe: So going on with the theme and kind of some of the things in it that are very interesting right away that end up being changed, again, I really think they were trying to lean into the British music hall style of everything, and there's a section where um Fozzie does like a joke preview. Um, and this whole thing where they like let Fozzie do like a small joke in the middle of the theme song only happens in season one. They get rid of it in season two. And this first one is very fascinating because Fozzie doesn't even tell a joke. As a matter of fact, Fozzie gets so—Fozzie thinks the joke is so funny, he doesn't get a chance to even say it, and I think that says everything we need to know about Fozzie.

I think they perfectly encapsulate who Fozzie is right in that small, like ten-second moment of his. Um, and that's some of the genius of the show and some of the genius of the writing is that they were really a big proponent of simple is better, unless it was like blowing up chickens. I digress again. Um, but you know, that was a moment that I really think was really smart, especially for to try to introduce Fozzie in this way. Um, also we'll get into it a little bit later, but Fozzie's voice is very different, especially in the first episode than in the later seasons. Um, it's a little bit more gravelly and a little bit more low. When we get into the John Wayne sketch or the John Wayne parody sketch, we can—I can talk a little bit more about that.

Um, but the thing I really want to talk about is Fozzie's build. Um, Fozzie looks so different, and I remember when I bought the first season back in 2006, 2007. I remember when I bought the first season, I was so taken aback by how different Fozzie looked. He's kind of more frumpy, uh, he's a little bit more of like a football. And then they morph it more into a little bit of a pineapple for the second season. Fozzie actually goes through quite a number of builds over the years. Um, he kind of can go from looking drastically different to a lot of other ones, but they still manage to keep a lot of those same features, obviously. But the biggest difference is between the first and the second season.

And I think a big part of it is the eyes. The eyes are a little bit sad on Fozzie in this season, and he's kind of, uh, he's kind of a mope. Um, but I think—and I think there were some wonderful things that they found in that kind of version of the character, and then out in the second season, um, they really kind of expand on his pure intentions and his really, really sweet heart. I think they really play on in the second season. Um, one of my favorite things I've ever heard about Fozzie from Frank Oz is that everybody has a key to the theater but him. So Fozzie shows up to the theater every single morning, early as heck, waiting for Kermit to come open him up. That's how dedicated and sweet Fozzie is.

Um, and it does make it make he's one of my favorite characters because of that, and I think that assessment is so poignant in terms of like understanding who Fozzie is and why he says or does the things that he does.

[24:21] Fergie L. Phillipe: The next section that is really interesting is it's right after the Fozzie moment, and it's the official introduction of the guest star by Kermit. Um, and it's his little like to introduce our guest star. That's what I'm here to do. So it really makes me happy to introduce to you, Miss Baba Bah. Woo! And then they kind of do this like, uh, a preview of the guest hanging with the Muppets, and it's usually like, I—it's either after they've done like a number in the show and it's that and it's them kind of laughing and smiling, or it's like a random, uh, shot they just had, uh, or that they did of the guest star kind of messing around with the Muppets. And they kill this in the second season, and I think that where my brain goes is that I do believe that, uh, they connect this to a good idea of like, oh, it's really good to see the guest star acting as themselves with the Muppets, um, instead of the kind of version of themselves they end up playing in the show because this guest stars—a lot of the guest stars are so, you know, fantastic that they're able to like, you know, really play off as themselves, but, uh, for the most part the guest stars are playing a version of themselves with the Muppets.

Um, but these little previews were kind of like the guest stars in their really full natural self just hanging out. Um, and I think I do think there's a connection between this and in the second season throughout the rest of the series when it's the bit of like Leo Sayer, 15 seconds to curtain, Mr. Sayer, you know, they—and with Scooter, uh, and there was obviously like usually a little bit, and then there was a moment where the guest star would kind of like laugh it off or have like a crazy face. I have a feeling that these two are connected in some way.

[26:09] Fergie L. Phillipe: Moving on. The thing that really, really, really, really sticks out to me above anything in this episode is going to be the end of the theme song. And I do not mean to laugh, but there's one specific thing about the end of the theme song that makes me laugh every single time I see it. Um, but before I get to that, I just need to say, so in the version of the show that I imagine everybody remembers is that, uh, Kermit is kind of having his legs up in one of the arches and he goes, It's time to get things started on the most sensational, inspirational, celebrational, and it kind of pans out on each inspirational, celebrational, muppetational, you know, all that whole thing.

[26:47] Fergie L. Phillipe: It pans out to like rows and rows and rows of Muppets in the arches, and it's this really incredible moment when the sign comes down and Gonzo ha and has the trumpet and then something crazy happens. In the first season, it is not that. It is kind of this weird, like five-tier set. It's almost like a big cake. That's the only way I can really like describe it, but it looks really I do not want to say cheap, because I'm sure this show is expensive as hell to make. However, you know, there's all these like crazy shimmers in the back, and there's this five-tier set that only features about I want to say like ten Muppets. And the part that makes me laugh about this whole thing is that so you have these five tiers, you have these ten Muppets, and Kermit's doing the it's time to get things started on the most sensational, inspirational, celebrational Muppetational, this is what we call the Muppet Show.

Um But on how do I describe this? If you go back and look at that sequence, you have the rows of Muppets, and on either side, so like on the left side and the right side, on every tier, there is a stationary Muppet. So for every row, there are two Muppets on the uh one Muppet being on one side and the other Muppet being on the other side just frozen. So there are like four non-moving Muppets like completely still as they're going This is what we call the Muppet Show and nothing is happening. I don't know why that is so funny to me. I think it's because in later seasons like that is such a big production number and it becomes one of the most iconic moments in Muppet history basically. But to ha but to see these four Muppets just doing nothing and they're clearly just like stuffed and standing still, I had to pause and I just laughed for minutes and minutes.

It was so funny to me. So anyway, uh the the end of this uh is not Gonzo with a trumpet, it's Gonzo with a mallet and drum and Gonzo gets blown up at the end, which obviously becomes a very big gag for him, um in general, but like specifically for the theme song, uh the idea of him trying to hit the last note and then him going kaput. Um I just love that it was from the beginning that was kind of Gonzo's stick, Gonzo's shtick that he was going to be blown up always at the end, every single time. So that covers uh that covers the the theme song. Moving on to the actual show. Um The greatest part of this first episode is that the first sketch that they ever aired was Menomina. Um, and again, if you don't know what Menomina is, you need to pause the podcast right now, go to YouTube and look up Menomina.

Menomina is one of the most, I mean, for me, if you're getting people into Muppet lore, that is bassline foundation next to It's Not Easy Being Green, Rainbow Connection. Menomina is one of the most, if not, in all honesty, oh my god, is Menomina the most classic sketch on the Muppet Show? It actually it actually really might be the most famous sketch ever to exist on the Muppet Show. Um the song is just popular.

[30:26] Fergie L. Phillipe: And if you don't even you might you probably know the song, Menomina do do do do do Monomina Dude. But the thing that I really love about Menomina is its simplicity. Menomina is incredibly simple. It only took two performers. The main character is named Menomina, and he has these two pink cow-like furry alien creatures, uh, with horns and like round yellow lips singing the backup vocals. And this was a very popular sketch that they used to do on the Ed Sullivan show. Um the Snouths or the Snoaths were performed by Frank Oz and Menomina was performed by Jim Henson. And you know, it's no secret that Frank Oz is hailed as the greatest puppeteer to ever exist, um, especially in terms of the Muppets.

And when you look at the way he handles the Snouths, like I can't say it, guys. I don't know how it's pronounced. The Snoaths. The Snooths, the Snouths, the Snouths. I'm gonna say the Snouths. We'll see. Hopefully you know what I'm talking about. But Frank Oz's performances, the Snouths are really it's distinct, and he gives them both different like personalities somehow. Maybe I'm overanalyzing this, but like whenever I watch Menomina now, I am still blown away. I think it was only a couple years ago that I realized Frank Oz performed them both. I always figured it was two people performing them. And I really think it's just really smart. I think it's really smart how uh he performs those characters.

But anyway, Menomina is a really really popular sketch uh that they had along with another sketch they did called Java. Java, um Java was another ske I'm sorry. Java is a really weird sketch that is absolutely incredible that they end up doing on on one of the on the first season of the Muppet Show in some episode at some point. But Java and Menomina were were two really, really popular sketches.

[32:36] Fergie L. Phillipe: And I've grown accustomed to your face. We're were three really popular numbers that they would perform on these different, you know, late night variety shows and stuff. Um but essentially, if you don't know and you haven't watched the episode, which I should have said from the beginning, you have to watch the show in order to like get how the episodes work. Um because I'm just gonna be talking about them as if you all have seen them. Menomina is this crazy weird, like purple and green dude who just comes in and goes, Menomina. And the Snouths just like say. And that's the whole sketch. And essentially, uh Menomina tries to like scat during the like musical breaks, and the Snouths kind of tell him, like, you should don't do that.

They just shake their head at him and he gets mad. So then he goes back to Menomina. Doo-doo doo doo doo and it starts over again. Eventually, Menomina like runs out and it turns into a big gag. I won't reveal the gag at the end if you haven't seen it. Um but it's a really great number and it's really simple, it's really funny. Um I need to go back and look this up because I can't remember, but I have a feeling that Menomina was on Sesame Street first, I think. And I believe they did it in their first season, and they did it with just like another guy that kind of resembled Menomina. He definitely sounded like him. Uh he was like this kind of shorter dude with like a striped shirt and like he had brown hair all around him.

I'm doing an amazing job at describing these Muppets, right, guys? Um, and then he uh in that version of Menomina and Sesame Street, he had two different uh Muppets with him that were these two girls, and instead of doo-doo-do-doo, they said Pati Patipi, which is hilarious to me. Patipa Tippee is a hysterical replacement for doo-doo-do-doo.

[34:21] Fergie L. Phillipe: Um so yeah, so the uh again, this is going back to this idea that they they constantly morphed, they constantly changed uh rework things uh to make it, you know, eventually the best version of itself that it could be. And we see that obviously it turned into that because that version of Menomina on the Muppet Show is the most famous version and the version that gets referenced all the time. The Menomina puppet gets used a lot for background stuff and even a couple sketches on the Muppet Show. As far as the Snouths or the Snouths go, they do some background stuff, but they become a lot more popular in later years, like on Muppets Tonight and in the most recent Muppets film from 2011. Uh and it's mostly to reference the actual Menomina song itself. Um, but the Menomina puppet in character ends up kind of being used uh a good amount in the Muppet Show, which is really interesting.

[35:12] Fergie L. Phillipe: Um so after Menomina, we get our first well, not our first, but we get uh our first kind of like solidified uh glimpse at who Statler and Waldorf will be Waldorf, not Waldarf. Uh we get our first solidified glance at who Statler and Waldorf are gonna be for this version of the Muppet Show. Um we establish the kind of characters they are, what they do. They are these crouchy old, most likely rich men who sit in the booth and just heckle and make fun of the Muppet Show, and they do it for five years. This isn't the first time we see Statler and Waldorf. Statler and Waldorf um appear in, I believe it's the Valentine's Day special, and they might appear in the sex and violence pilot as well. I know they appear in the the Valentine's Day special, but for them it's that they're they are uh they were these two old men that were like in a retirement home uh or in in their own like bougie Victorian house.

[36:09] Fergie L. Phillipe: Um so yeah. After Statler and Waldorf, um we start immediately going backstage. Um and this is where all like of course the musical numbers and some of the comedy acts and you know, the guest stars and stuff, those are really great. But what makes the Muppet Show is the plot line of everything that happens backstage. Um there is always some plot line of something going wrong backstage. They never just have a normal show, something is always going crazy, and it's usually happening to Kermit. Poor Kermit just wants to put the show together, but there's there's always something crazy happening to him. And that's something about the Muppet Show that really is well done from the first episode. They just understand and they immediately do their best to establish character and story.

[37:02] Fergie L. Phillipe: Um, and it's actually what makes the Muppet character so memorable. Like you immediately know the kind of person Kermit is. The kind of person Fozzie, Miss Piggy, Scooter, Animal. Like you understand who these people are immediately. Um, and that attention to character, as opposed to the attention to the bit or the attention to the joke, is what makes the the Muppets it is what makes the Muppets so um funny and what makes them so good. Um there is a great trick done in this where Kermit drinks milk and also Muppy the Dog starts drinking milk. I still don't know how this is done. Like, I could tell you about how they ride bikes, how they tap dance, drinking milk. I literally have nothing for you. I have zero clue how they made the drinking milk thing happen.

[37:48] Fergie L. Phillipe: Uh I need to go find that and then I'll I'll bring that back. Um in this episode, so what's funny is that the the plot line of this episode is that Scooter, who is the the backstage gopher, uh, and they mean like somebody who goes for coffee, goes for uh lunch, you know, obviously he's like an assistant or an intern. His uncle owns the theater and um is kind of forced to give kind of forces Kermit to give Scooter a job, um, much to Kermit's chagrin. But that whole plot line actually is not explained in this episode. That is explained in later episodes, and that is because the way the Muppet Show was filmed, the Juliet Prowse episode, I do not believe I could be wrong about this. I do not believe the Juliet Prowse episode was filmed first.

[38:40] Fergie L. Phillipe: Um I will come back next episode and correct that, but I'm almost positive that was not filmed first. Um they filmed a lot of the episodes out of order, and they kind of did that in general, and then they aired them at different points. Um but there is a there is an episode that comes up. Um it might be the Connie Stevens episode, which is our next episode, funny enough. Um but I actually I really can't remember, but there's a whole plot line where we get introduced to Scooter. All that to say it's not this episode. It's not it's not in the first episode. Um and and part of that's because they were very intentional. This is not a pilot episode. I think that's also something that's that's really important about how the Muppet show function is that this is not a pilot episode.

This is the first episode of the series. But again, going back to that idea that they throw us in the middle of the action from the be from the moment the show begins, um is a really is a really smart way of kind of throwing us into everything. Um, even though there are like, you know, one or two things that might be confusing about it. Um so there's this plot line of Scooter who's the gopher, uh, kind of telling Kermit that he wants to do this act in the show called Simon Smith is an and his amazing dancing dog.

[39:52] Fergie L. Phillipe: Uh and this dog named Muppy, who alternates between a puppet and a real life dog, I'll get into that later. Um is kind of like his partner in crime. And Muppy is like Muppy does not speak, but is one of the most high maintenance performers on the show now. Uh Scooter has all these crazy demands for Muppy. Um and it and it and that's the main plot line of this first episode is that every time we go backstage, Muppy has a new uh has a new demand for Kermit in order for him to perform later on. And the only reason that Kermit tolerates it is because every time something happens, Scooter goes, Well, my uncle who owns the theater would have wanted this, and unfortunately Kermit has to go, alright, when what do you want it?

Where do you want it? How do you want it? Um so it's um um it's it's a already really funny plot line that you have between Kermit and Scooter, which ends up being a lot of the plot lines in later seasons, like Scooter wanting something and Kermit being like no, Scooter threatening the use of his uncle who owns the theater and Kermit giving in. Um very classic but very good joke every time. Um after this, you know, it goes into kind of the the um the true introduction of Gonzo. Um but before that, you know, before every act, Kermit goes in front of the curtain and kind of introduces the act. This specific sequence in this episode of him going in front of the camera uh in front of the curtain is really to be quite frank, such terrible lighting.

There is it Kermit is so poorly lit in this. Um and I even think the curtain might be different because it's a brighter color of red than the darker red that we or like it's not a burgundy, it's definitely a red that we see later on. But it's uh I don't know, but it's very different from much later. Obviously, first episode, first season, all of these different things. I even think the can the camera angle is different. Like I think it shoots from below as opposed to straight on like before. Um yeah, so that's just very interesting. So then after this introduction, we see Gonzo, who oh my god. Gonzo eating a tire to flight of the Bumblebees. That is the weirdest shit you could ever do. Like that is the weirdest crap ever.

And this is their first episode. They're like, yeah, we're absolutely gonna show Gonzo doing this. And again, genius. Absolutely like genius writing and genius character development. Let's have this weird old performance artist do not only some crazy something crazy, but something just straight up. Like, it's not even crazy. It's just weird. It's straight weird. And it perfectly defines what Gonzo ends up functioning as in the show. This like crazy performance artist who wants to do all of this weird stuff that makes no sense. Um and my favorite part is that this act lasts maybe less than 30 seconds. Like as soon as it starts, they start the audience starts booing him, and Gonzo yells and calls him Yokels, you guys you know nothing about art.

Again, wonderful character development. Um also great on timing. Back to what I was saying about, you know, simpler is better. They did not need this bit to go on for minutes and minutes and minutes and minutes and minutes. They really just like let it do its 30-second thing, hit the joke, move on. Um, so Gonzo goes backstage and kind of yells and is upset and leaves. This is when we see Juliet Prowse enter. Um, and a function that I really really love that they do on the show, um, is when they use uh they they didn't film in front of a live studio audience, they they used the laugh track, and um the applause track any time a guest star is first introduced, which rarely uh and when I say first introduced, I mean in the context of the show outside of the theme song, it's usually always backstage, and they always get applause, and it's I think it's so I think it's such a lovely introduction into the performer.

[44:04] Fergie L. Phillipe: And sometimes they even acknowledge like even the audience gets like acknowledged when they're backstage. I I just think it's a really cool thing that you don't really ever see anywhere else. Um and again, I think it's one of those things that really defines the Muppet show f in their own way. Um and makes it very, very, very unique. Um and then Kermit kind of talks to Juliet there's obvious there's like a little joke and then they and then he goes and introduces her. Um and this goes into something that I I really love about what the Muppet Show also became and what I love about Jim Henson. This number, you know, m moves away from the kind of goofy and the the hilarious and it goes in and and it goes into something a lot more sentimental and the Muppet Show was never afraid to take things seriously.

It's wonderful that they love moments of sentimentality and you know even sometimes nostalgia based on the kind of songs they sing. Um they even you know it's just really beautiful art. Like it's just really wonderful. And this is a a a dance piece with these kind of weird uh like green horse giraffe puppets that are not like traditional Muppets. I think they're all performed on rods. Um and that was also a a really wonderful thing is that Jim was not privy to just doing his style of puppetry. He often had other puppeteers on his shows, which will, you know, in other episodes, one episode in particular, Bruce Forsyth, I think he brings on a specific uh a a very famous puppeteer. Um that that does rod puppets and and marionettes and and he gives them the space to kind of just do their craft that is out outside from the Muppets.

Um and I think that's just such a really cool thing, and and Jim was not somebody who was so precious. He wasn't precious about anything. [46:01] Fergie L. Phillipe: He was really um and that's not to say that he didn't care and that he wasn't somebody who fought for what he believed in, but what I mean is that he was so adamant about what is gonna make the show better, and he was willing to try it. He was willing to consider it, he was willing to really do it to see if it would work, because he didn't know. Um and I think later on in the years they kind of stopped, they kind of like solidified themselves into what the Muppet Show became. But in this first season, it's a really experimental season, and even though the kind of number they do with Juliet Prowse ends up being something they would do frequently on the show of having these kind of beautiful pieces, I think it really speaks to the kind of the creativity that was obviously flowing uh on their production staff because this was a really wonderful number that is a really nice and gorgeous break from you know, kind of the the goofs and the hysterics. So the number ends, and now we go into At the Dance.

[47:00] Fergie L. Phillipe: Now, at the dance This is a recurring sketch that I think only happens in the first two seasons. I do think they get rid of it eventually. Um, which to me is a shame, but I do get it. Um it was just such a wonderful device for really funny and stupid jokes, like truly stupid jokes. They were two-liners, um, there was often a sight gag or physical gag, sometimes an explosion. Um and and they were silly, but they were so funny. And I love that it was like there is this thing that's literally created just for jokes. Like we're just having this thing here just for jokes. Um and so at the and so this is the this is that's all this was. At the dances, all these Muppets had a dance, and um usually the performers performed both of the puppets that were dancing, and they would voice both of them too.

Sometimes it would change, but um, if you really start to kind of tune your ear into you can actually hear, you know, Frank Oz performing the same characters or Jim performing the same characters, yada yada yada. The one interesting thing I want to bring up about this um this particular at the dance sketch is that at the end there is a certain pig that makes an appearance. That pig is actually Miss Piggy.

[48:14] Fergie L. Phillipe: Now, you might be wondering, uh, I don't know about that. It doesn't really sound like Miss Piggy right now, but it does sound like a man trying to put on a somewhat if m female voice. Um, and the way that that was working was that in the first season there actually wasn't a solidified performer for Miss Piggy. Richard Hunt, uh, who I mentioned earlier, and Frank Oz, aga and just to, you know, again, not to assume, if you don't know who Frank Oz is, Frank Oz again has often been hailed as one of the greatest, if not the greatest Muppet performer of all time. Frank Oz created the characters Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, Animal, Sam the Eagle, Grover, Cookie Monster, Bert, um so many, so many, so many more, but really iconic classic characters.

Um Miss Piggy, perhaps being his most famous next to Cookie Monster. Um and what was interesting was that between they were going back and forth between Frank Oz and um Richard Hunt, and then eventually Frank Oz obviously becomes the primary performer of Piggy, but for the first couple of episodes, you can kind of hear the differences sometimes within the same scene, sometimes within the same uh episode, you know, it it just goes back and forth a couple of times. In this sequence, uh and I think this entire episode, they're performed by um Miss Piggy's performed by Richard Hunt.

[49:40] Fergie L. Phillipe: Um Yeah. Um and we'll and I mean Miss Piggy gets her own moment later on that you can really see that it's like it it's kind of the same character, but it's obviously very much performed differently because it's performed by Richard Hunt. Um so the next thing we have is another wonderful moment, and it's a recurring moment that will stick throughout the rest of the show's history that, you know, is really another wonderful kind of departure from some of the hysterics and silliness is Rolf um just playing at the piano. Now, Rolf is a very interesting character. Um, you know, one of the amazing things about the Muppet Show is that there are a lot of characters that kind of had their own lives outside of the Muppet Show characters, um, and the Muppet Show world, and then they all kind of got brought together for this.

Rolf was featured on the D Jimmy Dean show as kind of a regular um and spent uh a good number I want to say years. I will go back and fix that if that's not true. Um uh a good number of years on the Jimmy Dean show.

[50:41] Fergie L. Phillipe: Um, and then Rolf came on to do and Rolf came on to be one of the primary performers on the Muppet Show. And what's wonderful is that Rolf was kind of the like ham of the Jimmy Dean show. He was the jokes, you know, and Jimmy Dean was kind of the straight man. Um, but what was great about Rolf, you know,'s kind of character transition in the Muppet show is that he eventually became more of a straight man, um, and he had this really grounding and calming presence, and it was usually him playing a beautiful song. It was always simple, and it was always like some, you know, it was either a classic song that Jim loved, or it was sometimes like straight up just pieces of classical music, um, and that was it.

Again, it's one of the things that separates the Muppets show from a lot of other shows for me because you know, you have these crazy moments of like Gonzo eating a tire, and then you have these really beautiful and simple moments of just a a puppet playing an instrument, and I personally just get lost in that, and I think it's absolutely gorgeous.

[51:42] Fergie L. Phillipe: Um and it's not to say that Rolf doesn't become, you know, he he sometimes is funny, and he sometimes has a he has some funny bits with Fozzie. I think he does he does a bit called titwillow with with Sam the Eagle that's really funny, and so um there there are a lot of really really funny um funny moments that Rolf gets to have, but but there are there are a lot of moments of Rolf just being um just really warm and grounding um for the audience. I he reminds me of somebody at a piano bar, he reminds me of a bartender, the way that he speaks to the audience and the way that he just kind of lets everybody in into what he's doing, and for me, wh I I guess I'm trying not to overanalyze it because it is the Muppets, but like at the same time, it's hard for me to not believe that that this kind of attention and care wasn't paid to when they were creating the show.

[52:35] Fergie L. Phillipe: Um it's really intimate for me, and another thing that that I feel like is crazy is when you look at Rolf actually playing the piano. So Rolf, this actually goes into a good thing about the kind of puppets that they are. Rolf is what's considered a bag puppet or a live hand puppet and those puppets specifically take two performers um to maneuver. There’s one person in a lot of cases it'll be if you are a right-handed performer, the right hand will be performing the mouth and the left hand will go into the left hand of the puppet like a glove.

[53:12] Fergie L. Phillipe: Um, but because it is a bag puppet, the right hand is often empty, so you need a second performer to put their right hand into it so that it's obviously looks a little bit more full. But in the case of Rolf and in Dr. Teeth, what they would do is they would have Jim just perform the mouth and another performer perform both hands. Um, and it was magic. Especially, I mean, with Rolf when he plays these classical pieces, it's very clear that there was attention paid to like the kind of, you know, where on the piano is this section and like the articulation of the fingers and how much they make sure that he's hitting the notes properly and on the right beat. Um, and the accuracy is just really incredible.

Um, and not and and not necessary. Like, it's truly not necessary, but they made sure they did it anyway. It's great. It's really, really, really great. Moving on from that, we go into another section which I actually can't remember if they keep or if they get rid of, but it's a thing where essentially Kermit speaks with the guest star in kind of like a kind of like a kind of like, you know, if he was a late-night show host, um, and he's just kind of talking and chilling with the host, and I do believe this is where kind of a little bit of improv might come in or something like that. Um, but it's very reminiscent of Carson or Sullivan. Um, maybe not Sullivan, but Jack Parr. Um, and um, there's sequences that are really not some of my favorite.

I think it's because the energy kind of goes down a bit, um, but it does also provide an interesting moment where I was saying before of the guest stars kind of being themselves around the Muppets, which I do think is a lot of fun, and especially there's actually a really great one with Ethel Merman and Fozzie later on that's really sweet. Um, there are some really good moments in the show, but you know, this I believe this sequence ends up dying out in later seasons because it does kind of bring the show's energy down a bit. Um, so after this kind of sequence, they're about to go into kind of the final scene.

[55:33] Fergie L. Phillipe: And the final scene is this big western scene, and um, Fozzie is playing the guy who kind of sticks up the joint. And right before the scene starts, he goes up to Kermit and goes, "Hey, do I sound a little bit like John Wayne?" And he does his kind of John Wayne impression. The reason that scene was filmed, again, going back to what I said before about how a lot of the sequences and the parts of the show were filmed out of order. They filmed this western sequence out of order before they really solidified what Fozzie's voice would sound like. So Fozzie's impression in that sketch is not necessarily them trying to do a John Wayne impression. It's just more that that's what they were—that's like what was one of the test voices for Fozzie at the time.

And then they eventually shot that scene after they kind of like moved away from that just to kind of like connect it all together. So that's a really, I think that's just a really interesting fun fact and really funny. So one of my favorite things about The Muppet Show is that they love a running gag, and there will be so many running gags that we end up talking about later on. Um, but this great gag of Muppy and Scooter and Kermit again happening in between every time they go backstage, you kind of get topped over and over and over again. And especially if it was a running gag that was happening to Kermit, it was usually two times Kermit got patient and the third time Kermit lost his cool.

And Kermit losing his cool was always incredibly hilarious because Kermit is not only the straight man, but Kermit is kind of the glue and the sanity that holds the Muppets together. So when Kermit kind of goes insane himself, it's always a really big laugh for me at least, especially because I think Jim portrays the anger and insanity of Kermit so wonderfully.

[57:39] Fergie L. Phillipe: And I just think it's really great. Moving on. Oh, Muppy, uh, Muppy the dog has this one sequence where the puppet goes around the corner as if it's going up the stairs, and then it cuts to a shot of an actual dog running up the stairs. Um, they would do this quite a lot. They did it with another dog in later seasons called Foo Foo that ends up becoming Miss Piggy's dog. Um, they do it with animals in general, and it's really a really smart thing that they do. Okay, getting into the western sketch. So Fozzie in this sketch. Fozzie, this is not the final sketch in the show, um, but this is like the big—they keep calling it the big western sketch. Um, and Fozzie is really stoic and absolutely hilarious.

Um, really good John Wayne, really good John Wayne impression. Um, he shoots pickles, which is also hilarious. That like he has like pickle guns that shoot legit bullets. Um, the whole sketch is insane. This is pure insanity. Pure zany-ness, pure crazy. There's literally nothing to write home about this other than it is a really stupid sketch, and it's so funny and so good how stupid it is. Um, and then of course the end where like everything has been shot up and Rolf goes back to finish the number. Hilarious. Absolutely genius.

[59:06] Fergie L. Phillipe: After this is a really weird scene with Zoot and Juliet Prowse. Um, only weird because Zoot is a not mute character, but Zoot doesn't really have a lot to say. And also in this scene, he's very lucid, and I don't know. Not to like play stereotypes, but it seems very clear to me that like of all the Muppets, Zoot is definitely the one that's usually the most zooted. Um, and so he's very lucid in this scene. Um, and it's very weird and it's very rare. But I actually really do like it. Um, and it's um, it's really fun. So yeah, there was just a weird Zoot scene there. Um, there's also a really funny sequence where Waldorf smacks Statler in his mouth. That's also a really good scene. Oh my god. Okay, here we go. Here we go, here we go, here we go, here we go. Now we're getting into the actual final scene of the show, and it's this—it's genius top to bottom. First of all, Muppet Glee Club.

[1:00:04] Fergie L. Phillipe: Like, already hilarious. There is a Muppet Glee Club that includes frogs, pigs, chickens, and whatever, and it's led by Kermit. First of all, one of the craziest things about this is that the chickens speak. Not just like, no, not that. They speak legitimate words, and it never happens again. Because they realize that if the chickens were legit chickens, it's ten times funnier. But I kind of completely forgot about this when I watched it again the other day and like freaked out and was like, "Oh my god, the chickens are like talking." So good. So yeah, again, another sequence where like Kermit blows up, always funny. They go to sing the song "Temptation," and Kermit being annoyed is truly—I keep saying about how Kermit getting blown up or getting angry, it's funny, but Kermit being genuinely annoyed is one of the funniest things ever. It never gets old to me.

[1:01:05] Fergie L. Phillipe: Um, I think part of it is because it is a brilliant manipulation of the puppet itself when he kind of like frowns, but it's not just a frown, it's much like a ugh. That's the kind of thing that I imagine he's saying whenever he makes that kind of frowned face, and it always makes me laugh. Also, great that they already established about the way Miss Piggy is just over the top, takes it too far, goes crazy at the end, she ends up like on top of Kermit in the camera. Like, it's all, you know, it's all funny, but again, it's amazing how in this first episode, when they're trying so many different things, there's already so many establishing characteristics to many of our favorite characters that end up sticking around, and Miss Piggy is a really prime example of that in this first, um, in this kind of first really featured sketch of hers.

[1:02:02] Fergie L. Phillipe: I also do need to go back because I have a feeling that the scene in "Temptation" with Piggy is spoken by Frank Oz, but then Richard Hunt sings it. I'm almost positive that's exactly what happens. Again, one of those freaky things where they alternated mid-scene. Um, also Kermit has like a burgundy suit that he wears a couple times. Not usually used a lot, and it's only really used in the first few seasons, specific—not the first few seasons, first few episodes of the first season. Really cute. It's just a really cute suit that I like seeing him wear. He looks really adorable. And you'll—I mean, we'll see it in "Happy Feet" and such, but um, yeah.

[1:02:45] Fergie L. Phillipe: So this brings us to the end of the episode. Um, one of the things they also really kill, like I think honestly, after episode two, they were like, "We have to stop doing this." They created Muppet likenesses, or maybe it's not after the second episode, but they do not do it past the first season. Um, but they created Muppet likenesses, or they create a Muppet likeness of the guest star. Um, but the joke is that they kind of like Frankenstein a Muppet version of them that eventually the guest star would actually take home in real life, but it was a little—it's a little scary. This Juliet Prowse one is scary. And I think the Connie Stevens one is even scarier. Um, but yeah, so that's the end of the first episode. Those are my thoughts. It's a really fantastic first episode to air.

[1:03:38] Fergie L. Phillipe: I don't know, in terms of when they filmed it in succession or in chronological order, I don't know when they filmed this, but you know, as far as it being the first episode they aired, it is a really, really, really good episode. Um, very solid. There are a lot of things in it that they end up keeping on throughout the rest of the show, and even the things that they don't keep, you know, they're very unique to the Muppets, and they end up taking a lot of the elements of it to use in later episodes or even in later like films and specials and things like that. Um, yeah, so that is the end of the first episode of It's Time to Meet The Muppets. I hope you enjoyed today's episode.

[1:04:15] Fergie L. Phillipe: Um, please tune in next time where we will be talking about Connie Stevens, who is actually one of my favorite guests that ever appeared on The Muppet Show. Um, there's some also other guest appearances on the show that make it really, really, really fun. Um, until next time, please keep in mind that there are other places to go for lots of Muppet and puppet information. If you want some strictly Muppet fun, head over to TuffPigs.com, The Muppet Mindset, and or Muppet Wiki, which is actually where I get most of my Muppet information, Muppet Wiki. Wonderful place. Um, if you ever want any kind of Muppetier, puppeteer, or puppet-related content as far as podcasts go, um, Under the Puppet, hosted by Grandpa Choco is a great one. Below the Frame, hosted by Muppet performer Matt Vogel, Getting Felt Up, hosted by Dan Beckham, aka Disney Dan, and Nate Beagle, and of course, Puppetears by Adam Krutinger and Gam Garrity.

[1:05:08] Fergie L. Phillipe: Also for just some fun pop culture reference stuff, uh, Defunctland, which has a wonderful series on Jim Henson. It's like a five-episode thing about kind of the journey of Jim Henson's heyday of like the—basically when he started up until his death. Um, and if you want some more pop culture stuff, also listen to The DJ Bob Show, which I've guest starred on, and he has a lot of guests on that are puppeteers and that are, uh, you know, people that have worked kind of in the same arena. And then of course, follow one of my favorite accounts on Twitter, Muppet History, so that you can get your daily dose of Muppet history. Guys, this is going great.

[1:05:44] Fergie L. Phillipe: This podcast is going great. Okay. I hope you enjoyed this week's episode, and I will see you next time. Bye-bye.

[1:05:55] Fergie L. Phillipe: Moving right along. Let's get this show out on the show on the room.