MuppetWatch

Miss Piggy continues to take more of a central role as special guest Candice Bergen inspires her to fight for her rights as a woman and a performer. Then, we discuss her role in Carnal Knowledge, a dissection of the psyche of the male chauvinist pig.

Topics of discussion include whether it’s weird to be able to tell who’s puppeteering Miss Piggy by voice, possibly the weirdest movie to get a sequel of all time and how it could have been salvaged, the time Pauline Kael feuded with the gay community, the secret unaired snuff episode of The Muppet Show, and the unfortunate fact that conservatives has always been kind of stupid.

Bergen Bags

Knock Wood by Candice Bergen

Murphy Brown vs. Vice President Dan Quayle

Oliver’s Story (1978) movie review - Sneak Previews with Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel

Quayle Blames Riots in L.A. on Disintegrating Family Unit

The queerness hiding in plain sight in the work of Hollywood Golden Age director George Cukor

Today’s episode is very special - not just because our guest is three-time Tony nominee Sandy Duncan, and we have additional jokes by comedy legend Gags Beasley, but also because we’re joined by friend of the pod and fellow Beasley superfan Joe Blevins to discuss Duncan and the immortal banana sketch, followed by her second starring role on film in the baffling but never boring Star-Spangled Girl.

Topics of discussion include gelatin molds on television walls, when a pie in the face can be painful, square views of the counterculture, just why Gags Beasley never made the jump to the silver screen himself, and how to tell if a movie was based on a stage play.

Check out Joe’s work at d2rights.blogspot.com and thesedaysareours.libsyn.com!

Further Resources:

After a month-long hiatus, MuppetWatch is back, sort of, with a special all about the movies and songs nominated at the 2025 Academy Awards, days after people stopped caring! We apologize for reminding you of Emilia Perez's existence, are befuddled by The Six Triple Eight, reminisce about the career of a future Muppet Show guest with Elton John: Never Too Late, and cry about Sing Sing.

Fozzie Bear vows to finally fight back against Statler and Waldorf, be it by heckling them back or by rubber chicken-based physical violence. Luckily for him, he has an ally in special guest Bruce Forsyth, jack of all trades equally at home on the stage and the television screen. Then we watch Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?, a movie that is as uncomfortable as its title is unwieldy.

Topics of discussion include: Snurf evolution, Cordening, our continuing exasperation with At the Dance, Muppet trafficking, double standards of Muppet nudity, the degree to which talk segments are scripted, how self-awareness is not inherently a virtue, and Jojo Siwa.

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Today’s special guest is renaissance man of the world Peter Ustinov, whose very presence puts the show in a tizzy and forces Kermit to confront his self-esteem issues! Then, we discuss another work about a green guy with problems - Grendel Grendel Grendel, the 1981 animated Australian adaptation of John Gardner’s existentialist novel!

Topics of discussion include how scripted Muppet Labs is, the Newsflash Anchor’s skills as an actor, what you could get away with in movies for children in the 1980s, how to adapt existentialist angst in ways that are emotionally comprehensible to children, and new one-episode Muppets.

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We’re back from our hiatus! Joined by singer and actress Lena Horne, Miss Piggy and Kermit continue their push-and-pull, and Gonzo struggles to be understood. Then we discuss the 1943 film Cabin in the Sky, a movie that is… firmly of its time.

Topics of discussion include acting through singing, the types of tabloids Fozzie reads, Muppets-Looney Tunes thematic overlap, yet more Bowfingering, whether or not the Swedish Chef washes his hands, and the Cotton Club.

Today we’ve got a guest who doesn’t sing at all on The Muppet Show but sings quite a bit in his movie. The star is four time Emmy winner Harvey Korman, and the movie is 1974’s Huckleberry Finn, from the unlikely team of the Sherman Brothers and a two-time Planet of the Apes director! Topics of discussion include Fozzie Bear’s finest hour, the still confounding talking houses, the equally confounding Muppet Show production order, sex versus violence on the nineteenth century stage, different pronunciations of Maurice, and con artists pretending to be Romanovs or Bourbons.

Further resources

ABC Network - The Harvey Korman Show (Complete Broadcast, 4/11/1978)

The Dentist from The Carol Burnett Show

The Family: Sorry! from The Carol Burnett Show

Gazoo’s Antimatter Arrival in Bedrock

Harvey Korman and Brenda Vaccaro Win Outstanding Supporting Actor and Actress

Harvey Korman - Television Academy Interviews

It’s Hedley! - Mel Brooks - American Masters

“Now go do that voodoo that you do so well”

The Nutt House (1989) Ep. 1 “Pilot”

Today on MuppetWatch, we do Sam the Eagle proud and get cultured, because our special guest is French national treasure and entertainer of the century Charles Aznavour, and our film is French New Wave legend Francois Truffaut’s second ever film, Shoot the Piano Player.

Topics of discussion include whether or not Hilda is accessory to attempted murder, how drag is approached in a maybe-not-great way, the redemption of Scooter, Jack Klugman’s vocal prowess, and parallels to Hitchcock and Hamlet.

Further resources:

• Charles Aznavour dies, age 94 by Tony Cross

Thursday… today is Thursday… and this is a momentous occasion in Muppet history: their first collaboration with legendary songwriter, singer, and actor Paul Williams! Then, we and our returning guest host Dallin discuss his role in the initially-misunderstood tragedy-slash-funhouse mirror history of popular music, Phantom of the Paradise.

Topics of discussion include songs about love songs, Bunsen’s odd position among the Muppets, how terrifying it would be to work at Rainforest Cafe while high, who the ultimate Muppets antagonist should be, Rick Baker’s post-Planet of the Apes filmography, and the unfortunate ongoing relevance of movies about exploitation in the music industry.

Check out Dallin’s short film’s IndieGoGo here!

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• Daft Punk Wins Album of the Year - GRAMMYS

Miss Piggy is one of the Muppets’ breakout stars, so it’s surprising but welcome that this is the first episode to center around her, her love for Kermit, and her struggles in a world that only sees her as a piece of meat. Then we move on to the 1970s television classic that made special guest Florence Henderson a star and is still airing in reruns to this day: The Love Boat. Obviously. What else could we be talking about?

Topics of discussion include our new favorite Muppet Wiki hyperlink, which Star Trek ship Kermit and Miss Piggy are most like, the surprising parallels between The Love Boat: The Movie and Mildred Pierce, and of course, The Paul Lynde Halloween Special.

Further resources:

• 1984 Wesson Oil commercial featuring Florence Henderson