Recommended music: Sam Eagle – Chairman of the Board [Never filmed, but included on The Muppet Christmas Carol Soundtrack]
It’s #SomethingElseSunday, and we’re still celebrating 70 years of the Muppets! Today, from the Palisades Toys Muppets line, it’s Sam the Eagle!
Sam first appeared in the 1975 pilot, The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence. He returned later that year for the first Muppet Meeting Films, which were created to add some laughs to long, dull meetings. Sam made his official Muppet Show debut in the third episode of season one and went on to be included in the opening theme for the last four seasons of the show, and 46 of the series’s 120 episodes. Thankfully, the physical Sam puppet got an update for season two, with less wild eyebrows and matching blue on his head and body, a look he’s kept for most of the past 50 years.
On The Muppet Show, Sam acted as the self-appointed censor and often introduced or moderated skits. As an American eagle, he sees it as his job to stand up for American morals and values. Often written to mock political ideals, Sam always plays the straight man and is usually shocked by the silly things that count as entertainment. Basically, he’s always appalled by classic Muppets humor. 😜
Following The Muppet Show, Sam Eagle has appeared in every Muppet film to date, as well as in many Muppet books, TV shows, and video games. Frank Oz played Sam Eagle until 2000. After Oz, Kevin Clash and Drew Massey took on the role for a few productions, and then Eric Jacobson became Sam in 2005 and still plays him today.
Sam first appeared in wave four of the Palisades Toys line as Sam Arrow from Muppet Treasure Island. The regular Sam Eagle figure was added in wave eight about a year later. The figure is well-detailed and has eleven points of articulation, though there is minimal wrist movement and no tail joint. Sam comes with a book on Standards and Practices, a copy of the U.S. Constitution, a lectern, and three different seal options for the front.
A “shifty-eyed” variant of the figure was also released with left-looking eyes. It included four alternative lectern seals and a different book. Overall, it’s a great release and a must-have for longtime Muppet fans.
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