This Is What We Call the Muppet Show!

I recently picked up a couple of DVDs featuring old episodes of the original Muppet Show and have been watching them with great enjoyment. I was a huge fan of the Muppets as a kid, so I've been getting a hit of nostalgia from this not entirely unlike what I got from the Schoolhouse Rock discs. I've also had the following rather interesting thoughts:

Hey, the Muppets are actually just pieces of cloth with hands and rods inside them! I know, I know, this sounds incredibly obvious, but it's interesting for me to think back on how utterly convincing I found them when I was a kid. Yeah, I always knew they were puppets, but I just sort of accepted them for the individual personalities they were and never actually thought about the men behind the curtain. I think this mental habit stood me in good stead later on when dealing with the rubber monsters in Doctor Who.

I've seen so many interviews and things with Brian Henson about Farscape that when he came on and introduced the Muppet Show episodes, it was oddly like being greeted by an old friend. "Hey, it's Brian! How ya doin'?"

Gonzo is still my favorite Muppet, but I'd almost forgotten how great those two hecklers in the balcony were.

So, I'm watching this episode where Miss Piggy gets upset over the fact that Kermit has a crush on Linda Ronstadt (and vice versa, apparently), and she locks him in a trunk full of fungus. And I'm thinking, aw, poor Kermit. The guy just never has a chance. Nobody ever asks him if he wants Piggy, it's just that Piggy gets what Piggy wants. Then it suddenly hits me where I've seen this dynamic before: Miss Piggy = Anya! Who knew that the roots of Buffy's characterization roots lay with the Muppets?

John Denver was actually a really cool guy. You can tell he's having the time of his life clowning around with Kermit and company.

Yeah, who says this isn't educational television?