The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence

The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence
Genre	Television special
Created by	Jim Henson
Written by	Jim Henson Jon Stone Marshall Brickman Norman Stiles
Directed by	Dave Wilson
Starring	Jim Henson Frank Oz Jerry Nelson Richard Hunt Dave Goelz Fran Brill John Lovelady Jenny Oates Caroly Wilcox Rollie Krewson Jane Henson
Theme music composer	Joe Raposo
Country of origin	United States
Production
Producer	Jim Henson
Editor	Alfred Muller
Running time	25 minutes
Production company	Muppets, Inc.
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	March 19, 1975(1975-03-19)

The Muppet Show: Sex and Violenceis the second of twopilotsforThe Muppet Show,airing onABCon March 19, 1975.The other pilot,The Muppets Valentine Show,aired in 1974.

Plot

In this half-hour variety special,the Muppetsparodythe proliferation ofsexandviolenceon television. Nigel,Sam the Eagleand hippie bassistFloyd Pepperprepare for a pageant based on theseven deadly sins.

Sketches include:

• Mount Rushmore:The stone presidents trade jokes!
• At the Dance!
• The Wrestling Match: TheSan FranciscoEarthquake displays his winning tactics.
• Statler and Waldorf sit in their dentist
• The Swedish Chef demonstrates how to make a submarine sandwich.
• Male birds try to attract females in a jazzy sketch!
• The Electric Mayhem sing "Love Ya to Death".
• Theater of Things: A group of pencils is introduced to a new ruler.
• Two Heaps, tarantula-like monsters, talk in gibberish.
• Films in Focus: A review pans the filmReturn to Beneath the Planet of the Pigs.This sketch would become the basis for the comedy sketch series "Pigs in Space."
• The Seven Deadly Sins Pageant

Cast

The special introduced several newMuppets,including Nigel (who acts as host, but would eventually play a minor role as an orchestra conductor onThe Muppet Show),Sam the Eagle,Dr. Teeth,Animal,Floyd Pepper,Janice,Zoot,theSwedish Chef,Statler and Waldorfand an early version ofDr. Julius Strangepork(named Dr. Nauga). Popular Jim Henson characters, such asKermit the Frog,Rowlf the Dogand Frank Oz'sBerthave cameos. Several holdovers from the previous pilot,The Muppets Valentine Show,appear, such as Crazy Donald (now called Crazy Harry),George the Janitor,Mildred Huxtetterand Brewster. The special also includes early versions ofMiss Piggy,Fozzie BearandGonzo the Great.

• Jim Hensonas Nigel,George Washington(Mount Rushmore),Swedish Chef,Dr. Teeth,Waldorf,Kermit the Frog,Shirley (puppetry), Green Heap,Ernie,Woman, Hudson andRowlf the Dog
• Frank OzasAnimal,Sam the Eagle,Theodore Roosevelt(Mount Rushmore), The San Francisco Earthquake's wrestling opponent, Clyde, Ruler, Purple Heap,Bert,Pig andGeorge the Janitor
• Jerry Nelsonas the Announcer,Floyd Pepper,Thomas Jefferson(Mount Rushmore), Thudge, Thudge's dancing partner,Statler,Harvey,Envy,Pencil, Gold Stalk,Gluttony,Gene ShalitMuppet, Dr. Nauga andSloth
• Richard HuntasCrazy Harry,Mel, Hoggie Marsh andLust
• Dave Goelzas The San Francisco Earthquake, Avarice,Zoot,Duke and Brewster
• John LoveladyasAbraham Lincoln(Mount Rushmore head),VanityandAnger
• Fran Brillas the receptionist's voice,Janice,Doris, Pink Stalk, Leafy Green Vegetables,Miss Piggy,Queen Pig and the Whatnot dancer
• Rollie Krewsonas Shirley (voice)

Additional Muppet performers includeCaroly WilcoxandJane Henson.

Production

In August 1974, Jim Henson and ABC reached an agreement granting the network exclusive broadcast rights to the Muppets and greenlighting several specials, including anafter-school special,aTV movieand a second pilot episode; the first had beenThe Muppets Valentine Showin 1974. The new pilot, which Henson informally called "The Muppet Nonsense Show", was to strike a different tone than that of the first effort, with recurring gags and a zanier tone.

Henson also wished to demonstrate that the Muppets appealed to adult audiences, saying: "A lot of our work has always been adult-oriented. So we'll be working a lot with those aspects of the Muppets. Through this pilot, we hope to be able to demonstrate that puppetry can be very solid adult entertainment."

The special featured 70 Muppets manipulated by 10 puppeteers, including several new characters.Dr. Teethwas designed byMichael Frithfrom a drawing provided by Henson that was inspired by singerDr. John.TheSwedish Chef,a character first conceived in the 1960s, debuted as Järnvägskorsning (Swedishfor "railway crossing" ), a name that Henson soon abandoned, believing it too difficult to remember or pronounce.Sam Eaglewas another new character created by Henson that "represents the older establishment values."Miss Piggyhad first appeared on the 1974 ABC specialHerb Alpertand the TJB.

At Henson's request,Kermit the Frogwas relegated to a brief cameo appearance in a dance sequence, with theemceerole given to a new Muppet character named Nigel. According toSesame Streetwriter and directorJon Stone,Henson wished to establish another lead character in order to free himself to pursue other creative opportunities. However, when Henson realized that the Nigel character was a mistake, it was too late to make any changes.

Taping for the pilot commenced in November 1974, and a rough edit was sent to ABC in January 1975. The network suggested several changes and expressed its concern over Henson's proposed title, but Henson insisted that the title remain. He later said: "The special's title was a humorous hook. While the show depicted some of the current attitudes toward sex and violence, our purpose was to poke fun at them."

Henson did accede to several of ABC's requests, which included the deletion of an introductory segment featuring Henson on camera as himself and the shortening of aDr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhemmusical number.

When the special aired, its title appeared in television listings as simplyThe Muppet Show(billed in some listings asThe Muppets Show) in the wake of the recent commitment by all three major networks to comply with theFamily Viewing Hourrule in the 1975 season.

Reception

Contemporary reviews following the special's nationwide broadcast on March 19, 1975 were mixed.

Arthur UngerofThe Christian Science Monitorwrote:

Much of the broad humor was so broad that it was flattened out and some of it is so subtle it would have had to run in slow-motion for the uninitiated to catch. And there was an elitist quality to the show—designed to make you shake your head sadly and laugh, too, because you know the cultists just adored it. The you-may-not-get-it-but-I-do humor may have made you feel guilty when only the easy sight gags seemed at all funny while all around you the cognoscente were busy appreciating the intellectual content. This kind of rarified humor is totally missing in the "Sesame Street"Muppetry—there the humor is complex enough to appeal to the kids and yet simple enough for us adults to appreciate as well. In this special, the quality of lovableness was somehow missing—where, oh where, was the endearing humanness ofCookie MonsterandBig Bird?... Please, Mr. Henson, try again.

In a positive review forThe Arizona Republic,critic Thomas Goldthwaite called the special "hands down the most original, innovative thought that ABC has ever had" and "[a] surrealistic romp full of menacing ogling, jerky energy and such intensive fun-making that it's bound to wipe every other show off the charts with the thoroughness of a Cookie Monster."

Home media

The Muppet Show: Sex and Violencewas released onDVDin 2005 as an extra feature on theMuppet Show: Season Onebox set. On the box and within the DVD menus, it is calledThe Muppet ShowPilot.

External links

• The Muppet Show: Sex and Violenceat Muppet Wiki