Muppeturgy: A "The Muppet Show" Rewatch Podcast

Hey y’all, prepare yourselves for the Lynda Carter episode of The Muppet Show! It has everything! Wonder Women, Wonder Pigs, Rubberband Men, giant chickens, cannibal tiki idols, backwards alligators, Whiffenpoofs in sheep’s clothing, failed skiffle outfits, and orange colored skies. Plus digressions into The Apple, postcard ads, very early HBO, and John Denver shooting puppies with a BB gun. Grab your tights and fight for your rights to listen! https://muppeturgy.com/episodes/lynda-carter

It’s a bird…it’s a plane…it’s the Christopher Reeve episode of The Muppet Show! WATCH his effortless charm! HEAR our hosts talk about Reeve-inspired sexual awakenings…some of them just this week! BRUSH up your Shakespeare! FLY east of the sun and west of the moon! TURN BACK TIME…but not with Somewhere in Time! Anyway…Christopher Reeve: Good at his job. https://muppeturgy.com/episodes/christopher-reeve

It is a dark time for Muppeturgy. Mid episodes like Anne Murray, Phyllis George, and the sinister Jonathan Winters have taken a toll on the brave hosts. During the battle, Disney+ managed to serve up a not-so-secret episode starring Mark Hamill and the stars of Star Wars, a cast with enough charm to destroy an entire planet. Joined by the often mentioned, never before heard Todd Brian Backus, our heroes race home aboard their starship to record a podcast and restore freedom to the galaxy... Show notes at https://muppeturgy.com/episodes/star-wars Get Todd's logo and more at our store!

Very special guest star Danny Lavery joins us to discuss a truly cursed episode of The Muppet Show, plus Mork & Mindy, racist tropes, surprise heterosexuality in the monoculture, and lions, tigers and aliens (oh my!) https://muppeturgy.com/episodes/jonathan-winters

We could blame Canada for this episode, but that would suggest they did something wrong, rather than give us the delightful Anne Murray (a Canadian working in the American idiom). Though a “middle of the middle” episode may suit the beigeness of Ms. Murray’s catalog a little too well, she’s a game guest star and everyone seems happy as a dodo to have her there. We also have a game guest star, the not-at-all Canadian Amy Spalding! https://muppeturgy.com/episodes/anne-murray

And the winner is…Phyllis George! For the rest of us it’s a tie at best. We’re joined by Joe Reid to talk award shows, sportscasting, Miss America, and when a clip show isn’t a clip show. https://muppeturgy.com/episodes/phyllis-george

We’ve made no secret about being Liza Minnelli fans and now the episode is finally here! Were we right to look forward to it all these weeks, or will we drink ourselves half blind over losing our love? It’s a quiet thing, but don’t worry, everything’s coming up roses and it’s gonna be a great day. With our very special guest star, Matt Baume! https://muppeturgy.com/episodes/liza-minnelli

It’s a jazzy good time of an episode, despite a guest star who appeared to only show up for half of it. But he has fun and so did we! We’ll talk about extremely glamorous fish, baffling Arabian numbers, bullfrog’s cheeks (that’s a myth! a myth!), the canonically important appearance of Waldorf’s wife Astoria, and the sadly less canonically important appearance of the Mayhem’s bongo player. https://muppeturgy.com/episodes/dizzy-gillespie Programming note: There’s a discrepancy between the Muppet Wiki episode order and the Disney+ episode order starting at this point. If you’re watching along, we’ll be sticking with Disney+!

Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl...no, wait, that’s not right. I mean it is technically right but...you know what I mean. It’s Lola Falana! She does some disco! Chickens cluck Meredith Wilson and Rodgers & Hammerstein! Gonzo is sad because he’s leaving the show! In some ways it feels like they tailored this episode directly to our interests. In other ways...not so much. We’ll get into it, as well as what may possibly be the greatest New York Times article of all time. Oh what, oh wow! https://muppeturgy.com/episodes/lola-falana

The oil crisis invades the Muppet Theater! It’s…not great! But Kenny Rogers is pretty great. (And is not Kenny Loggins, in case you were confused about that, which is crazy why would anyone be confused about that?) He knows when to hold ‘em, knows when to fold ‘em, knows when to walk away, and knows when to run, but we debate whether the puppets in the famous Gambler number are creepy, brilliant, or both. Along the way, we’ll put the lime in the coconut, fling some Muppets on trapezes, lift Mother Brown’s knees up, and of course, talk about chicken and (sigh) racism. https://muppeturgy.com/episodes/kenny-rogers

It’s a Very Muppeturgy Chrismukah! To celebrate the Winter Solstice, we muddle through this legendary — but definitely not timeless — 1979 network television special. Join us for a journey the uncanny valley of puppets whose faces don’t move and the uncannier valley of John Denver whose face doesn’t move, with stops at Christian hegemony, crimes against lyrics, how religious was too religious for television and elementary school assemblies in the 70s, if it is in fact in every one of us, a songwriter whose name is NOT Hans Gruber, extremely excellent sweaters, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. Badum-bum-bum! https://muppeturgy.com/episodes/denver-xmas

Anthony Strand joins us for a highly cultured episode to talk about racism disclaimers, Lobster Newburgh, 70s fashion, Johnny Cash being a giant, Conan O’Brien’s lip-sync “puppet” nightmares…oh yeah, and Beverly Sills is here! Was opera big in the 70s or was the monoculture small? Is this the weirdest episode? One of the best? Both? Do we, like the Muppets, wish we could hang out with Beverly Sills and practice our spoon-hanging? Let’s find out! https://muppeturgy.com/episodes/beverly-sills

Happy Thanksgiving! We definitely did this on purpose. We’re thankful for getting to spend this time together talking about baffling accents, even more baffling songs, waking death and Muppet mortality (totally normal holiday dinner table stuff), and of course Alice’s Restaurant! Stop by the woods on a snowy evening on your way to Hernando’s Hideaway and give us a listen! https://muppeturgy.com/episodes/arlo-guthrie

Mamma mia, this episode is weirdly prescient! We’ve got a show business labor dispute over replacing human artists (well, Muppet artists) with a robot…and also Dudley Moore is here! He’s pretty charming! This television is wonderful. https://muppeturgy.com/episodes/dudley-moore

Muppeturgy, this is your podcast! (Poof, you’re a podcast!) There’s a new girl in town and Linda Lavin is feeling, looking, and sounding good, but there are also some old friends coming to visit. Join us beyond the blue horizon for some clowning around and some frog kissin’. https://muppeturgy.com/episodes/linda-lavin This episode was released during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, shows like The Muppet Show wouldn't exist. You can learn more at sagaftrastrike.org and wgacontract2023.org. If you’d like to support the striking workers, please go to entertainmentcommunity.org.

Get ready, classical music lovers! This week, we go gaga for macho man Victor Borge, reconsider Bobby Benson and his attack babies, and have several outbursts of pedantry. Is this episode telling one story to the normies and another to the perverts, or did the Muppet guys not understand the significance of dressing the pigs in leather on a Greenwich Village set or did they really think they were making a sketch about “rival gangs?” What happens when you stick your hand inside a turtle shell…or a turtle? We have…no answers, only more questions. But we do have fun. Cluck our bodies and give a listen! https://muppeturgy.com/episodes/victor-borge This episode was released during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, shows like The Muppet Show wouldn't exist. You can learn more at sagaftrastrike.org and wgacontract2023.org. You can also support the striking workers via the Entertainment Community Fund if you’re so inclined!

The minute she walked in the joint we became Dyan Fannons. But is this episode all fun, laughs, good times, or has it gone to the dogs? Or the Congo? Is Foo-Foo secretly a Fosse dancer? Why would a Muppet set have a floor and a ceiling? If a cavegirl outfit isn’t designed by Bob Mackie, is it more problematic than Ally McBeal? And what’s the deal with Pogo?? We’ll answer these questions and more on this episode of Muppeturgy! https://muppeturgy.com/episodes/dyan-cannon This episode was released during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, shows like The Muppet Show wouldn't exist. You can learn more at sagaftrastrike.org and wgacontract2023.org. You can also support the striking workers via the Entertainment Community Fund if you’re so inclined!

We just can’t stay silent about the Shields and Yarnell episode of The Muppet Show. We have a lot to say about 70s clown culture, mime weddings, and the sheer rage of hearing a mime speak in their act. But did they make ‘em laugh? Take a chance on us and listen! https://muppeturgy.com/episodes/shields-yarnell This episode was released during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, shows like The Muppet Show wouldn't exist. You can learn more at sagaftrastrike.org and wgacontract2023.org. You can also support the striking workers via the Entertainment Community Fund if you’re so inclined!

Hold on to your neck seams and take a walk down River Road with us to board the ship called the Alpha Centauri…which is also bound for Alpha Centauri. It's very confusing. Let’s hope we don’t run into Dearth Nadir on the way, or any Klingons…or the most feared things in the galaxy, Muppet nipples. Back on Earth, we’ve got a prairie dog glee club (it’s really more of a show choir), bankruptcy barrels, and unexpected Harry Belafonte. (CW: racism, minstrelsy, Al Jolson) https://muppeturgy.com/episodes/crystal-gale

It’s our official Season 4 premiere! Oh yeah and the Muppets’, too. Some country roads will take us, inch by inch and row by row, to get campy about camping. We hope there are neither any al-i-ga-tors when we get there, not a Muppet version of The Last of Us. After all, man is made of dreams and bones, which might explain why goats are out to get us. Hopefully we survive and can crash on grandma’s feather bed, the exact dimensions of which are very confusing. https://muppeturgy.com/john-denver