Muppet Show, Vaudeville, and Cabaret

[Dr Doran]

Whilst watching The Muppet Show with my daughter recently, I realized that it is vaudeville. It is picture perfect vaudeville. It is even "metatheatrical" with constant asides to the audience. I had not realized any of that in the 1970s and early 1980s when I watched it as a boy. Joel Grey, emcee from the fine film CABARET, is even on one episode and they do a wonderful pastiche of the opening song from the film with puppets singing "Je suis enchantee" and so on. He also does "Razzle-Dazzle" from, I believe, CHICAGO.

This, my friends, is the last gasp of vaudeville (besides, of course, neo-Burlesque).

The headaches behind the scenes. The pratfalls before a cruel audience. The trials. The tribulations. The heartache of putting a show together. The mean old men in the cupola, hurling insults. The forgotten lines. The comics putting together unfunny acts. The juggling. The dancing routines. The muppets.

 

[Doctor Strange]

"When vaudeville died, television was the box they put it in." -- Bob Hope

 

[Dr Doran]

"When vaudeville died, television was the box they put it in." -- Bob Hope

Nice.

 

[Bugsy]

The Muppets have always been a favorite of mine. The talent that went in to producing the show was/is amazing. Several years ago, they had an exhibit in San Francisco of all the Muppets in Golden Gate Park. It was amazing. The workmenship is unbelievable.:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Dr Doran]

The Muppets have always been a favorite of mine. The talent that went in to producing the show was/is amazing. Several years ago, they had an exhibit in San Francisco of all the Muppets in Golden Gate Park. It was amazing. The workmenship is unbelievable.:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

The thing is, when I used to watch it as a little boy, I didn't see all the talent. And the fact that they made Kermit so self-deprecating and the entire thing so dorky made it not seem as talentful as it was.

I think a new musical TV show centering around a vaudeville show or cabaret might be a good idea. No ***$^ing puppets (except maybe an evil ventriloquist's dummy). But a drama, like CARNIVALE. But with songs and music, and set in the present.

 

[Bugsy]

When you're able to see the puppets up close you can really appreciate the craftsmenship.

After Jim Henson died, there was a big funeral at St. John the Devine in NYC. Someone asked Brian Henson why Kermit wasn't there. Brian said that Kermit wasn't there because he lost his voice. I still think that's one of the saddest things I've ever heard. I'm still a die-hard fan.

 

[Dr Doran]

Bugsy, I agree. That is very sad.

 

[Dutch McCoy]

After Jim Henson died, there was a big funeral at St. John the Devine in NYC. Someone asked Brian Henson why Kermit wasn't there. Brian said that Kermit wasn't there because he lost his voice.

That is devastatingly sad. Wow. I LOVE the muppets and I love The Muppet Show. The wife and I have all the movies on DVD finally. And, no, we do not have children.

I am in total agreement, Doran, that was pure vaudeville at its finest. I, too, wish for something like it to come back around. I get so depressed with most of today's "entertainment." Blech...

 

[Rachael]

I started renting The Muppet Show recently and watching it with my teens. They love it as much as I did, which is wonderful.

Because my parents insisted on not having a television when we were young (it sucks the IQ out of your eyeballs, they said) we would always have Sunday dinner with family friends so that we could watch The Muppets each week. I think one reason why Muppets Tonight didn't do as well is because it was set at a television station, not a stage show. There isn't the sense of 'anything could happen' or 'the show must go on'; we expect all of the errors at a TV station to have been fixed in post. One of the joys of vaudeville was watching a high-wire act; when it works, we are amazed. When something goes wrong, you have no choice but to make it work.

 

[dhermann1]

When they were filming The Muppets Take Manhattan, I was working at the NYC Parks dept, in Central Park. I watched them film several scenes. At one point I was chatting with Jim Henson's 5 year old daughter, who had a little rag moppy dog. I swear, if that little girl had put the dog under her chin she would have loooked just like her dad!
Anyhow, it was during the filming of that film that I obtained a lock of Miss Piggy's hair. I still have it, and treasure it, and I'm not the kind of chap who would tell you how I got it!

 

[jamespowers]

Whilst watching The Muppet Show with my daughter recently, I realized that it is vaudeville. It is picture perfect vaudeville. It is even "metatheatrical" with constant asides to the audience. I had not realized any of that in the 1970s and early 1980s when I watched it as a boy. Joel Grey, emcee from the fine film CABARET, is even on one episode and they do a wonderful pastiche of the opening song from the film with puppets singing "Je suis enchantee" and so on. He also does "Razzle-Dazzle" from, I believe, CHICAGO.

This, my friends, is the last gasp of vaudeville (besides, of course, neo-Burlesque).

The headaches behind the scenes. The pratfalls before a cruel audience. The trials. The tribulations. The heartache of putting a show together. The mean old men in the cupola, hurling insults. The forgotten lines. The comics putting together unfunny acts. The juggling. The dancing routines. The muppets.

Hey! Leave the two old men alone. They made the show for me.

 

[Bugsy]

To think of all the talent that went in to creating and producing "The Muppet Show". Now we're saddled with "The Baby Borrowers". Can we go much lower??

 

[Dr Doran]

Hey! Leave the two old men alone. They made the show for me.

That, my good Justin, is because your personality and style are identical to theirs!

(I think they are the best element of the show as well. My wife [a Pole] saw them and said, "Oh old men, off by themselves, well-dressed, talking about bygone wars, and hurling insults .... they're Polish.)

 

[Lefty]

Anyhow, it was during the filming of that film that I obtained a lock of Miss Piggy's hair. I still have it, and treasure it, and I'm not the kind of chap who would tell you how I got it!

Stunningly cool!!!

I loved the old Muppets. When they started with the newer movies and the new era of the show, I just couldn't take it any longer. I recently watched DVDs of the old show and, like others above, couldn't believe the talent that I didn't appreciate when I saw it as a kid.

 

[jamespowers]

(I think they are the best element of the show as well. My wife [a Pole] saw them and said, "Oh old men, off by themselves, well-dressed, talking about bygone wars, and hurling insults .... they're Polish.)

Sounds like a gathering of my family (although they are all now long gone) and I am not Polish.
Makes sense that I like them. I was among the old men all of the time.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

Just the other day I did a TiVO search to no avail, because I really wanted my six year old daughter to see it. I did put it into the Netflix list though.