While watching some DVDs of the show I learned recently that Debbie Harry (lead singer of Blondie) was a co-host on the Muppet Show. I find it highly appealing that a punk-ish rock singer at the height of her popularity took the time to sing Rainbow Connection with Kermit the Frog. I’m also pleasantly surprised that Henson would invite her.
The show starring Rudolf Nureyev is maybe even better with Swine Lake [sic] and the duet with Miss Piggy singing “But Baby it’s Cold Outside”.
As ZipperJJ noted: Guest Star
They were never billed as Co-Host
So many greats. I’d say that, among my favorites, some noteworthy appearances:
[ul]
[li]Peter Sellers[/li]“It was to be a grand impersonation of Her late Majesty Queen Victoria whilst on vacation at Bognor Regis in the year 1888.”
“What went wrong?”
“I couldn’t remember what she looked like.”
[li]John Cleese[/li]“Every one of my contracts has a standard No Pigs Clause. I only work with the frog, the bear, and the ugly disgusting one who catches cannonballs.”
P.S. Gonzo: “Now I can’t tie my shoes!!!” is one of my favorite lines in the entire history of The Muppets.
[li]Gilda Radner[/li]Gilbert and Sullivan with a giant carrot!!!
[li]Alice Cooper[/li]Everything about this episode
[li]Madeline Kahn[/li]Because …well, she’s Madeline Kahn!!!
[li]Steve Martin[/li]In a booking error, Steve Martin is booked to be the Guest Star on a night when there is no show. Instead, Kermit has auditions scheduled for new acts. Steve hangs out anyway and plays banjo, juggles, and makes balloon animals.
[/ul]
My memories are strongest for seasons 1-3, because I have the DVD sets and have watched in recent years. I also remember loving the Christopher Reeve episode, but I haven’t seen it in years and can’t recall specifics. Ditto the Star Wars episode: Mark Hamill appeared as himself doing song-and-dance type performances, but he also appeared as Luke Skywalker in a B plot.
Also noteworthy is the 90s series Muppets Tonight! which got poor ratings and therefore didn’t last long, but it was a great show. Michelle Pfeiffer, Billy Crystal, and Prince had very good episodes.
Can anyone refresh my memory of the Carol Burnett episode?
From the description on the Wiki page it looks great: She doesn’t like the show, doesn’t want to be there- I always love it when the Guests play it that way (John Cleese did it), rather than the obvious “I’m so happy to be here!”
And I remember there was something brilliant about the Asparagus Sketch (although, I have a suspicion that the brilliant bit was that they kept building it up but then never did it- is that right?).
In the chrono list, great to see Alice Cooper and Liberace share a fortnight.
I guess I didn’t watch it as often as I’d thought, because I only have memories of about 25% of those guests. I was 7-9 years old then, so I probably did see others, but didn’t know who they were, so no such memory was formed.
For whatever reason, the few that do stick in my head include Sandy Duncan, Victor Borge, and of course Rudolf Nureyev.
To this day, my wife and I frequently drop the line “The lights! The lights! They’re melting the cheeses!” from Muppets Tonight. Dancing cheese wheels, melting as they flop on stage. Classic stuff.
They had a dance contest through the entire episode. She had to speed things along by playing disco until they all dropped so she could get time to do her Lonely Asparagus sketch but her plans were undone by robot dancers.
I always like episodes where they relocate, so that everyone is out of their comfort zone and there’s a new dynamic. There was another Muppet Show episode where they do the whole show in a railway station, with Loretta Lynn as the guest star.
Anyway, my favourite guest star was Chris Langham, because he was a complete unknown and was utterly bonkers. (He was in fact one of the writers of the show)
Gave me chills to even read that - that is one of the first and strongest memories I have, too.
But as for favorite co-host/guest star, there are far too many to choose!
The Rudolf Nureyev one was certainly up there near the top though.
