We all have our comfort TV, as evidenced by the millions of copies snapped up since favorite series first appeared in boxed sets.
For me, growing up in rural, pre-dish Minnesota, comfort TV was one commercial station and whatever syndicated fare got crammed into the half-hour after dinner when it wasn’t my turn to do the dishes.
“The Muppet Show” filled that bill, and the entire first season is now available in a four-disc DVD set ($39.99) so comforting I may never leave my basement.
The goofy, self-aware vaudeville of “The Muppet Show” remains somehow retro and postmodern at the same time. Shaggy puppets would tell the worst pun-based jokes in one moment, then turn around and shatter the fourth wall by ridiculing their own guest stars or cue-card holders.
Cute puppies beg human guests for a hug, followed immediately by an abstract dance of animated slinkies that makes you grateful the show existed before extensive employee drug testing. Acid-dropping Muppet rockers vied for attention with endearing frogs and incomprehensible Swedish chefs.
Created by Jim Henson in 1975 as he looked for an older audience after the success his Muppets enjoyed on “Sesame Street,” “The Muppet Show” pilot was rejected by networks. So Henson took it to Great Britain, and then to America’s syndication market, where local stations filled the time slots not dictated by their network masters.
It became one of the most successful syndicated comedies ever, drawing families from 1976-81, then spinning off into movies and other media. One of the great extras in this first-season set is the pitch tape Henson used in trying to sell the show to TV executives. A Muppet newscaster – one of Henson’s favorite recurring gags – implores his viewers to buy a weird show that appeals to everyone:
“Small children will love the cute, cuddly characters. Young people will love the fresh and innovative comedy. College kids and intellectual eggheads will love the underlying symbolism of everything. Freaky, long-haired, dirty, cynical hippies will love our freaky, long-haired, dirty, cynical Muppets. Because that’s what show business is all about.”
That spirit, of ruthlessly undercutting show business even while shamelessly honoring it, infused the series from start to finish. The human guest hosts now read like an honor roll, nearly forgotten, of versatile song-and-dance-and-joke legends: Peter Ustinov. Lena Horne. Sandy Duncan. Vincent Price. Rita Moreno. And when they were feeling really hip, Avery Schreiber.
The best skits are as funny, and family-friendly, as ever.
Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and poor Beaker, always getting blown up for a good cause.
The Swedish Chef shouting, “Bork, bork, bork!” as his recipes fall apart.
The soap-opera satire “Veterinarian’s Hospital,” where Dr. Bob demands that his operating-room nurse hand him a stick. He throws the stick and yells, “Fetch!” On the gurney, patient Fozzy asks, “What’s that all about?” Dr. Bob gleefully replies, “She’s my laboratory retriever!”
Groaners? Certainly. Comforting? Most assuredly.
The Muppets worked because they created their own universe. The shows were set in an old theater, and we followed the characters seamlessly from the front of the house to the back, bickering all the way. The human guests appear to be responding to big crowds and chaotic production teams, even though the sets must have been cramped and often were graced solely by wisecracking Statler & Waldorf.
Here’s hoping for an extra in a future season set that would show us how all this comfort food was filmed.
Staff writer Michael Booth can be reached at 303-820-1686 or mbooth@denverpost.com.
NEW ON DVD
Because of Winn-Dixie *** 1/2 Denver native AnnaSophia Robb stars as India Opal Buloni, a 10-year-old who rescues a dog and is rescued in return. Based on Kate DiCamillo’s award-winning novel, which grapples with sorrow in its many guises – national, marital, social – in ways that treat young people as the emotionally astute and complex people they can be, this film isn’t as subtle or trusting of its audience as the author was of her readers. Yet, thanks to an impressive cast – newcomer Robb, Cicely Tyson, Eva Marie Saint, rocker Dave Matthews and Jeff Daniels as Opal’s preacher father – “Because of Winn-Dixie” makes a fine argument for what kid-friendly, Christian-compassionate, intelligent entertainment can be. PG; 106 minutes (Lisa Kennedy)
Kung Fu Hustle *** 1/2 Writer-director-star Stephen Chow’s “Kung Fu Hustle” glides and flies and rushes headlong toward absurdity every chance it gets. This tale of the collision of a ruthless Chinese gang, denizens of a rundown apartment complex and two wannabe gangsters spares no punch line. Chow’s extravaganza has heart and isn’t ashamed to dance to its accelerated beat. R; 99 minutes. (Lisa Kennedy)
Look at Me ** 1/2 There is a reward waiting at the end of the French drama “Look at Me,” but getting there can feel excruciating. Rarely does a director intentionally assemble such an irritating set of petulant, emotionally infantile adults to carry a feature. Twenty-year-old Lolita (Marilou Berry) battles her weight and her insecurity while seeking the attention of her obnoxious intellectual father Etienne (Jean-Pierre Bacri). She wants to be a singer but may not have the talent. Meanwhile, her voice teacher battles the insecurities of her own writer-husband. The climactic scene makes it all come together in a moving and tense fashion, but you may not want to wait that long. PG-13, 111 minutes (Michael Booth)
