Tag: The Muppet Show

Recommended music: The Muppet Show Episode 318: Gonzo’s Song

Checking in this #SomethingElseSunday, we’re still celebrating 70 years of the Muppets! From the Palisades Toys Muppets line, it’s Camilla!

While chickens and other unnamed background animals had already been a staple of Muppet productions for years, Camilla the Chicken officially made her debut when name-checked during The Muppet Show episode 305 in 1978. Later in the season, it was revealed that Gonzo had declared Camilla as the love of his life, yet would often mistake her for other similar-looking chickens.

While the specific chicken, Camilla, only appeared in eight episodes of the Muppet Show, she soon began appearing the Muppet films and dozens of other Muppet productions over the years.

Camilla was included twice in the Palisades Muppet toy line, first arriving in wave 5, appropriately packed in with a tuxedoed Gonzo. The figure has minimal articulation for her neck and legs, but I’m not sure what else you would want there. Also, Camilla was the only pack-in to receive a “Mega Muppet” release from Palisades, which reuses the same sculpt, but done as a “2-up” or double the original figures size.

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Additional music: Mister Chicken – Por ti volaré

Recommended music: The Muppet Show Episode 419: Janice “A Little Help from My Friends”

Just in time for dinner, this #SomethingElseSunday, we’re still celebrating 70 years of the Muppets! From the Palisades Toys Muppets line, it’s Janice!

Janice made her debut in the second Muppet Show pilot “The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence” back in March of 1975. She became a major Muppet player during the five year run of The Muppet Show, not only as a part of the recurring Veterinarian’s Hospital sketch (as Nurse Janice), but mostly as the lead guitar player in The Electric Mayhem house band, appearing in 86 of the 120 episodes.

In later seasons of the show, Janice is seen as a part of the orchestra playing a trombone or trumpet. Besides the guitar, you can also see her playing tambourine from time to time.

Puppeteer Richard Hunt took over for performing Janice during season two, which not only led to the character being left-handed but also was the beginning of Janice’s signature Valley-girl voice and attitude. Her name is likely a nod to singer Janis Joplin, and the design of her face (specifically the oversized mouth) is meant to resemble Mick Jagger.

For the Palisades toy line, Janice finally arrived in wave 5 to complete the Electric Mayhem lineup. The standard version appeared in a pink top, with a brown hat, and came with a white guitar and brown amp. The chase version (seen here) came in a pink top, green hat, brown guitar, and green amp. Both versions also included a tambourine and base, but unlike the Floyd figure, neither had a cord to connect the electric guitar to the included amplifier.

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Recommended video: The Muppet Show Episode 510 Rockin’ Robin sketch

Recommended music: The Muppet Show Episode 306: Jean Stapleton – “I’m Just Wild About Harry” 

Coming in hot this #SomethingElseSunday, we’re still celebrating 70 years of the Muppets! Here’s a Muppet character you’ve seen many times who always ends the scene with the bang. From the Palisades Toys Muppets line, it’s Crazy Harry!

Harry made his debut in the 1974 Muppet Show pilot “The Muppets Valentine Show.” He was originally called Crazy Donald. This name referred to Don Sahlin, the Muppet builder who created the Muppets’ special effects explosions at the time. For his appearance in the next pilot, “The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence,” the name was changed to Crazy Harry

The character appeared in more than 20 episodes of The Muppet Show during its run and dozens of other Muppet productions since. He is known for popping up when any character makes the smallest mention of anything explosion-related, repeats what was stated as a question, and then sets off an explosion himself. In 2007, Muppets writer Jim Lewis was asked why Harry was seen less frequently. He replied, “A combination of things. First, Jerry Nelson performs Crazy Harry, and his availability is one factor. Second, Crazy Harry is always punctuation, so the scene has to fit his personality and his unique talent for blowing things up. And third, unofficially, I find that in a post-9/11 world, blowing stuff up—even in foolish fun—isn’t as funny as it once was. But again, that’s my personal opinion.”

In the Palisades toy line, Harry made his debut in series 2 and was the only Crazy Harry toy available until being included in Disney’s Vinylmation line. The figure came well armed with two sticks of dynamite, a barrel of gun powder, a bomb, and a spring-loaded plunger. The cannon here was borrowed from another line but fits perfectly for the season two sketch where the Great Gonzo attempts to catch a cannonball with Harry as his assistant.

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Recommended video: The Muppet Show Episode 223 Gonzo & Crazy Harry Sketch

On this #SomethingElseSunday, we’re still celebrating 70 years of the Muppets! Here’s a character you’ve likely seen a few times. From the Palisades Toys Muppets line, it’s Robin the Frog!

In March 1969, a one-hour TV special called “Tales from Muppetland—Hey Cinderella!” debuted on the Canadian network CBC. The program was later broadcast in the USA, debuting on ABC in April 1970. A year later, another Tales from Muppetland special aired, “The Frog Prince.”

This special was narrated by Kermit the Frog and featured the first appearance of a human prince who turned into an unnamed Muppet frog. Fast forward five years to the 8th episode of The Muppet Show, and the tiny frog returns and is named Robin.

Robin made a couple more appearances during the first season of The Muppet Show including singing a A.A. Milne’s “Halfway Down the Stairs,” which also appeared on the first Muppet Show vinyl record in 1977. In season two of The Muppet Show, Robin was established as Kermit’s nephew and has appeared in dozens of Muppet productions since.

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Recommended video: Robin the Frog – Over the Rainbow

Lastly, this #SomethingElseSunday, we’re still celebrating 70 years of the Muppets! Here’s a character you’ve seen many times, but you may really only remember from one particular sketch. From the Palisades Toys Muppets line, it’s Link Hogthrob!

While Link was first seen as part of the expanded cast during The Muppet Show Theme from the beginning of The Muppet Show season two onward, his speaking debut was on Episode 203 (Milton Berle) where he was featured as the captain of the Swinetrek on the reoccurring Pigs in Space sketch.

Unlike his resident scientist pig, Dr. Julius Strangepork, Link was featured in dozens of sketches over the last four seasons of the show, on top of the dozens of Pigs in Space bits. The character and voice were usually a play on a stereotypical male bravado, but I have to think Captain Kirk was also an inspiration for at least the Pigs in Space segments.

In the Palisades toy line, Link made his debut with series 4 along with Dr. Julius Strangepork. This seemed like a risky choice to me at the time, considering the First Mate Piggy included with the Pigs in Space Playset didn’t come out until wave six. The figure is a pretty excellent likeness of the character in a shiny purple suit with a silver cape. Accessories include a ray gun, a ‘Starhog’ magazine, and a miniature model of the Swinetrek ship.

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Recommended video: The Muppet Show Episode 307 Pigs in Space Sketch

For this #SomethingElseSunday, we’re still celebrating 70 years of the Muppets! You surely recognize this drummer and know his name. From the Palisades Toys Muppets line, it’s Animal!

Animal (with The Electric Mayhem band) made his debut on The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, which aired FIFTY YEARS AGO this month! In Animal’s first appearance, he was so wild that he was chained up when in-between musical acts. While his chains have been visible from time to time throughout Animal’s history, he has broken free of just being a freaky part of the band and is now used nearly as much as any character in the Muppets roster.

Unlike the rest of the Electric Mayhem, Animal’s popularity garnered his inclusion in the animated Muppet Babies series. Also, for the 1998 Winter Olympics, Animal was the mascot of the U.S. snowboarding team.

In the Palisades toy line, Animal made his debut with series 2 when included in the Electric Mayhem Playset. The figure is pretty unique as it is the only one in the line (besides the much larger Sweetums figure) with movable parts on his face featuring an articulated jaw. For Animal fans unable to pick up the playset, he was also available as a retailer and convention exclusive in a handful of different shirt styles.

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Recommended video: Animal Compilation

On this #SomethingElseSunday, we’re still celebrating 70 years of the Muppets! You likely recognize this saxophone player but don’t always remember his name. From the Palisades Toys Muppets line, it’s Zoot!

Zoot (and the rest of The Electric Mayhem band) made his debut on The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, which aired FIFTY YEARS AGO this past week. When The Muppet Show started in full the following year, he continued to perform with The Electric Mayhem as well as The Muppet Orchestra.

The character is notable for playing the final note of “The Muppet Show Theme” in the closing credits on all but two episodes of The Muppet Show. The only exceptions were episode 123 when the band was on strike and episode 514 when Beaker clones replaced the band. Despite his skin tone changing from gray to blue to green, and his nose going from green to yellow, Zoot has remained a cool character in dozens of Muppet projects over the past 50 years.

For the Palisades toy line, Zoot was released in wave three in a blue hat, rust-red shirt, and a gold saxophone, which depicted his Muppet Short season two look. He also had a chase version with a brown hat, tan shirt, and silver sax which is more akin to his look from season three (though he did wear the blue hat during the end credits for seasons 3-5).

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Recommended video: Zoot End Credit Montage

For this #SomethingElseSunday, we’re still celebrating 70 years of the Muppets! Today, we’re getting spooky with the Palisades Toys Muppets line, it’s a Muppet Ghost!

Ghosts popped up a few times on The Muppet Show starting with a trio of ghosts in season one that haunted both Fozzie Bear and Gonzo. Slight variations have shown up with male and female ghosts appearing as recently as the Muppets Haunted Mansion special in 2021. The character is typically filmed against a black or blue background. Then, they are composited into the final show to make them appear floating and semi-transparent.

For the Palisades toy line, a white Muppet Ghost was included on a clear stand as an accessory with the Uncle Deadly figure. It was then repainted as a glow-in-the-dark version and released in clear plastic. I have yet to pick up those two variants, so I also repainted mine to GITD.

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Recommended video: Muppet Ghosts- I’m Looking Through You

So, this #SomethingElseSunday, we’re still celebrating 70 years of the Muppets! I know that you’ll recognize this guy from the Palisades Toys Muppets line, it’s The Swedish Chef!

The Swedish Chef debuted on The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence special in early 1975 which served as the second pilot for The Muppet Show. From this December 1974 taping all the way until The Muppets at Walt Disney World in 1990, Chef was performed by Jim Henson himself.

The character appeared in over 30 episodes during the initial run of The Muppet Show with sketches from his kitchen and has made dozens of other appearances since whenever anything culinary related comes into play for a Muppet project.

For the Palisades toy line, Chef in his blue striped shirt was included in the pictured Swedish Kitchen Playset and nearly 40 other accessories to fill out the set piece. The figure was repainted twice for single releases with new accessories based on additional Muppet Show episodes.

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Recommended video: Swedish Chef Montage

Recommended video: Muppet Show: Planet Koozebane

On this #SomethingElseSunday, we’re celebrating 70 years of the Muppets! From Palisades Toys Muppets line, it’s Koozebanian Mama!

The long-nosed Female Koozebanian creature made her debut preforming the “Galley-oh-hoop-hoop” mating ritual in 1974 on The Muppets Valentine Show which served as the first pilot for The Muppet Show series. During the show’s seventh episode in 1976, a re-recorded version of the sketch aired to a much larger audience who tuned in for that night’s guest, Florence Henderson.

Though the character showed up in the opening “The Muppet Show Theme” for seasons 2-5, and had brief cameos in a handful of Muppet Show episodes and films, she never a big role, so her inclusion with the Kermit action figure in his reporter outfit dubbed “Koozebane Kermit” is still an interesting choice.

Besides Kermit in his trench coat and a microphone like the one seen in the episode (but not on Sesame Street), the set also includes a male and child Koozebanian creature, some Koozebane landscape, and pair of creatures known as Merdlidops.

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