It's time to get things started on the Muppet Show tonight. That is the famous tag line from the opening theme of the fantastic Muppet Show. I have such fond memories of the Muppet Show growing up, I was such a huge fan. Perhaps that is one of the things that made me so odd in my adult life, but I like to think that it contributed to my creativity and imagination. In any event I recently purchased the DVD of season 1 of the Muppet Show and it has turned out to be the best $25 I have spent in years. I can't stop watching it, there is so many scenes that take me back to my youth and so many new jokes that I can appreciate now that I am older. Jim Henson was truly a genius and an innovator. I was surprised to hear how adult much of the humor was in the show, and for a comedy shot in 1976 the special effects are rather impressive -simple but slick-.

One of my favorite items on the DVD is the bonus features. The original pilot of the Muppet Show is on disk 4, and actually has Sam the Eagle and Floyd Pepper as main characters. In fact Kermit only has a quick one line scene. Still very interesting and funny, no human guest star and no real flow to the show, but a great introduction to the Muppets.

Another awesome extra is the Pitch Reel produced by Jim Henson to sell the show to CBS. This is a great extra -inspiration for those of you who do presentations on a regular basis-, it tells you all about the logic behind the show, why it is genius, who the target demographic is and seduces the executives with words and imagery of fame and tons of money.

Finally; one last tid bit which brought a smile to my face was that no where on the DVD (box) was there a Disney logo or label. The Jim Henson company bought themselves back from Disney and I think it was the best thing they have done for the company. Disney killed and buried the Muppets. Never letting them express themselves as they did in the glory days and made very difficult for them to be embraced by new audiences. I have a feeling that this could be the beginning of a Muppet come back.

If you were a fan of the Muppet Show I highly recommend picking it up, you will be extremely pleased. I can only hope that it sells well enough to continue the series so we can see great episodes like "Star Wars", "Dudley Moore", "Kenny Rogers" -the gambler was great- and many more.

Were you a Muppet Fan?
What did you like about them?
Who was your favorite character and why?

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