MuppetWatch

2025 Oscars Best Original Song Special

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.

113: Bruce Forsyth & Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?

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.
Further resources:
BBC Blogs - BBC Genome: Coming to You Live - The Origins of Outside Broadcast Television
Bruce Forsyth Obituary
Bruce Forsyth on Magnum P.I.
Didn’t he do well…
Sir Bruce Forsyth breaks TV career world record

112: Peter Ustinov & Grendel Grendel Grendel

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.
Further resources:
British actor Peter Ustinov, who had an appointment with Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi…
A genius who spent life dabbling
Logan’s Run: The Naming of Cats - Peter Ustinov - Closed Captioned
OMNI: the New Frontier
Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf. Peter Ustinov, Herbert von Karajan, London Philharmonia Orchestra
Sir Peter Ustinov (1921-2004)
Sir Peter Ustinov - UNICEF

111: Lena Horne & Cabin in the Sky

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.
KTLA-5 March 22, 1970 Harry & Lena Special
Lena Horne - Ain’t It the Truth - Cabin in the Sky 1943
Lena Horne - Stormy Weather (1943)
Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music Tony Awards Performance
Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne by James Gavin
The Wiz - “If You Believe”

110: Harvey Korman & Huckleberry Finn

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”

109: Charles Aznavour & Shoot the Piano Player

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
Charles Aznavour: ‘I wanted to break every taboo’ by Angelique Chrisafis
Charles Aznavour - Les plaisirs demodes (Audio Officiel)
The Odd Couple - Tony Randall & Jack Klugman - The Inch Worm
Quantum Leap - “The Inch Worm”
Why Charles Aznavour’s Global Fame Never Reached American Shores by Franz Nicolay

108: Paul Williams & Phantom of the Paradise (with Dallin Agatone)

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!
Further resources:
Daft Punk Wins Album of the Year - GRAMMYS
“New documentary pays tribute to loyal Winnipeg fans of Phantom of the Paradise, a 'wild gem of a film'” by Kelsey Mohammed
Paul Williams Arrives Straight From Filming Battle for the Planet of the Apes - Johnny Carson
Paul Williams: Still Alive Trailer
Paul Williams - The Hell of It - The Brady Bunch Variety Hour
The Swan Archives - Genesis and Financing

107: Florence Henderson & The Love Boat

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
"Amish Paradise"
Bathtubs Over Broadway Official Trailer
Florence Henderson - I Have to Tell You (1954)
Indy 500 2011 - God Bless America
Life is Not a Stage by Florence Henderson and Joel Brokaw
The Paul Lynde Halloween Special

106: Jim Nabors & Cannonball Run II

Live from the Benny Vandergast Memorial Theatre, the Muppets are joined by TV’s Gomer Pyle, Jim Nabors, and Scooter, a new recruit, except for the episodes he already appeared in. Then we watch Cannonball Run II, a movie that we didn’t hate quite as much as it hates us. Jim Nabors, we apologize.
Topics of discussion include new Muppet lore, the career trajectory of Rowlf, the erosion of the all-around performer, why you shouldn’t always let your friendships direct your career choices, the possible Bowfingering of Frank Sinatra, and an accidentally-relevant anecdote about the making of Master of Disguise.
Further resources:
Carol Burnett & Jim Nabors: Medley of Broadway Tunes (1967)
‘It wasn’t a facade’: Friends, fans remember Jim Nabors’ talent, wit and folksy charm by HawaiiNewsNow staff
Jim Nabors’ Last “Back Home Again in Indiana” 2014
Jim Nabors, TV’s Gomer Pyle, Dies at 87 by Miriam Di Nunzio
MST3K Invention Exchange: Rat Pack Chess Set
Siskel & Ebert / Cannonball Run II / 1984

105: Rita Moreno & West Side Story

In the first episode of The Muppet Show that we would call great, we're joined by jacqueline-of-all-trades and third-ever EGOT Rita Moreno. Then, we discuss West Side Story, which looms large over Moreno's career - but due to an entirely unplanned mixup, one of us watched the 1961 film and the other watched the 2021 film.
Topics of discussion include whether Miss Piggy's competitiveness is solely gender-based, whether Marvin Suggs is too sadistic, the source of the EGOT acronym, and how a remake can have a point.
Further resources:
The Electric Company - Director’s Sketch - Good Night
How Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story Finally Solved the Problem of “I Feel Pretty” by Charles McNulty
How West Side Story’s Anybodys Went From Tomboy to Trans Character by Isaac Butler
Mainly on Directing: Gypsy, West Side Story, and Other Musicals by Arthur Laurents
Rita Moreno Winning Best Supporting Actress - 34th Oscars (1962)
Rita Moreno Wins Outstanding Lead Actress, Single Appearance, Drama or Comedy (1978)
Rita Moreno Wins Tony (1975)
Steven Spielberg Wanted to Cut “I Feel Pretty” from West Side Story by A. A. Cristi
West Side Story stars Ariana DeBose and Rita Moreno open up about Anita’s attempted sexual assault by Maureen Lee Lenker