I first heard about it in '77(?), Grade 5 i think. A number of kids had seen it (Sesame street maybe?) but weren’t supposed to tell anyone (hey, this is the story I got). About 6 years later on the Muppet Show, Kermit was running the show and alerted the performers that the Banana Sketch was next, but the action was all backstage with the guest, so they never showed it.
So, I know that there is/was some sort of Banana Sketch, but have no idea whether it was a running gag or the cruel 10 year olds have successfully screwed me for the last 23 years…
[semi-hijack]The muppets have never left my brain. Last week I went with my mom to see Cabaret. Decent show, Kate Schindle was okay as Sally Bowles and the guy playing the emcee was excellent. She mentioned she bought tickets for the whole series. My brother was going to see Ragtime and I could see Fosse. I know who Bob Fosse is but my brain clicks: “A bear in his natural habitat…a Studebaker. Wacka-wacka.”
My lowbrow brain reminds me of the scene in Tales of the City where Paul Gross is hitting on Janeane Garafalo in a singles bar:
JG: I work for Francis
PG: The talking mule?
JG: <disgusted> Ford Coppola
[/semi-hijack]
Now I could be wrong here, but I’m a big fan of the Muppets. Often Kermit would announce that an act was coming up (like a scottish bagpipe player gargling Beethoven), then get “distracted” by the guest star, which turns into an off stage skit. Then we never actually see the bizarre act he was describing. We have to use our imaginations to figure it out. I shall investigate further, though. I may get to the bottom of this conspiricy!
Well, that didn’t take long. I believe I’m right. Here’s a decription of the episode it appeared on:
Guest Star: Sandy Duncan
Two bomb jokes
Song: Sandy does a drunken bar song & dance
Fozzie’s writer Gags Beasely (and the banana sketch)
At the Dance
Sandy cheers up Sweetums (and overdoes it with the next one)
Song: “Never Smile at a Crocodile”
Sandy & Fozzie tease Kermit about the banana sketch
Vet’s Hospital
Song: “Try to Remember the Kind of September” - Kermit & Sandy
So I think the first skit is Fozzie discussing the banana sketch with the “writer”, then later he and Sandy Duncan are teasing Kermit about it. The sketch never comes to fruition, though.
Actually, there was such thing as a banana sketch, but I don’t know if this was the same one that you’re referring to. Enjoy! (I have the book Sesame Street Unpaved hardcover, nyeh nyeh nyeh!) :^P
**The Banana Sketch, Part I **
(Ernie is standing in the apartment humming to himself. He’s holding a banana in his ear. Bert approaches.)
Bert: Hey Ernie? Hey, uh, Ern? Ernie: (Notices Bert): Oh! Hi, Bert! Bert: Uh, yeah. Hey Ernie, uh, you know that you have a banana in your ear? Ernie: (Loudly) What was that, Bert? Bert: I said, you have a banana in your ear, Ernie. Uh, bananas are food. They are to eat, not to put in your ear, Ernie. Ernie: (Loudly) Whatdya say, Bert? Bert: (Yelling) WILL YOU JUST TAKE THAT BANANA OUTTA YOUR EAR! Ernie: (Yelling back) I’M SORRY–YOU’LL HAVE TO SPEAK A LITTLE LOUDER, BERT! I CAN’T HEAR YOU! I HAVE A BANANA IN MY EAR!
The gist was that at last, after years of pleading and hoping and dreaming, Fozzie was allowed the opportunity to perform the famous Banana Sketch. But several muppetously extreme obstacles kept looming up, almost preventing his ability to perform the famous sketch.
Finally he gets his chance, starting with the feedline “Two bananas were walking down the street…”
But we’re backstage for the whole performance, so we never get to see what caused the riotous laughter and applause for the classic joke
Johnny,
I take back all the crazy biker words we had. You are my hero!
You couldn’t be more correct. This episode was on a few weeks ago (on the Odyssey channel). I saw it, but for a million dollars I couldn’t have pulled that name out. Wow!
Zette
(Giving Johnny a big, greasy Harley hug and messing up his pretty boy leather riding suit)
The scary thing is, I haven’t seen it since it was originally broadcast back in the… 70s? 80s?
Hug ya back. Hey, it’s all two wheels!
(Little aside for Zette: I thought about buying my sister’s '62 FLH, but it’s been chopped. By the time I put it back into shape, the only original thing would have been the engine! Anyway, she wanted too much for it.)
Seeing your posts about the banana sketch reminded me of a similar “Muppet Show” bit which always mystified me. The guest star of the week was Carol Burnett. For reasons that escapes me, about halfway through the show, Ms. Burnett is packing up her stuff in her dressing room yelling at Kermit and about to storm out of the theatre. Kermit apologizes for whatever rude behavior she’s suffered and forelornly mentions he was “looking forward to see her do her ‘lonely asparagus’ sketch.” At the very mention of this, Carol Burnett instantly perks up and excitedly prepares to play the lonely asparagus, a part she loves but no-one will ever let her do. Of course, muppet hijinks prevent her from performing the sketch.
So does anyone know what the “lonely asparagus” was???
I am not making this up. I swear I’ve seen this episode…
Does anyone know anywhere that I can get a copy of the episode in which Alice Cooper was the guest star? It was once available on video, but has been discontinued everywhere that I have come across.
The Muppet Show rocks. Someone needs to bring that back to television in re-runs, on the Comedy Channel or one of the kids’ channels or somewhere! What a great show.
I remember the Carol Burnett one, but do not recall the asparagus bit… hmmm…
The scary thing is, I knew exactly what you were talking about WRT the Lonely Asparagus… I think it was during or after the credits, where she finally gets to say…
“I’m just a lonely asparagus, because all my hollandaise are over…”
Or something like that.
And yes, they should bring all the Muppet Show episodes back. In order. Maybe YTV or the Comedy Channel will do it.
KimKatt:
I personally am in posession of that very episode. It ran on Odyssey sometime in the spring. I can probably (depends on if my friend still knows how to hook vcr’s up properly) make a copy for you if you want.
