The Best of the Muppet Show - Diana Ross / Brooke Shields / Rudolf Nureyev

Rating:
Summary: Correction about "extras"
Review: I agree with previous reviewers that this is not the strongest disc in the series, but it's still wonderful!

I'd like to correct the comment a previous reviewer made that the "extras" are the same from disc to disc.

I have viewed 6 discs out of 15 available (not sure why Amazon only carries 8, but there are more out there!) and the extras are NOT the same on every disc. First, each episode includes outtakes from that particular show.

Each episode also includes a "behind the scenes" introduction by Brian Henson...once or twice I've seen the same intro repeated but mostly it's particular to that specific show. For example, for the Harry Belafonte episode, Henson tells how the song from that show was sung by Belafonte at Jim Henson's funeral.

Also each disc includes a Movie Mania segment...perhaps the previous reviewer didn't watch these and assumed they were the same on every disc, but they're not. One disc has "Flipperdance" (a parody of Riverdance) another has FrogFather (GodFather) and so on.There is only one of these on each disc.

Rating:
Summary: Not the best
Review: I would rate the two out of the three episodes as rather weak. The saving graces were the Rudolf Nureyev episode, Vets Hospital, and Statler and Waldorf rating the Muppets performances.

Rating:
Summary: Classic Take of What the Muppets Do Best.
Review: This 3-episode collection of THE MUPPET SHOW contains the episodes that guest-starred Diana Ross, Brooke Shields, and world famous ballet dancer Rudolph Nureyev.

In the Diana Ross episode, the running gag is that the Muppet Theatre is jammed packed with Diana Ross fans who love everything Diana does, but hate everyone else and boo them off the stage. Waldorf and Statler decide to rate everything done on stage: Diana gets 10s and the Muppets can't seem to get a score higher than a 3. The Gill brothers, a group of singing fish are literally filleted. Fozzie doesn't even get through his "Wacka, wacka, wacka," before he does an about face and leaves the stage. Meanwhile, Gonzo is taken to the hospital after he was injured with a vegetable knocking him off his high dive. This episode of THE MUPPET SHOW has Diana Ross singing the song "Love Hangover" with the largest Muppets that Jim Henson's company ever created for the show. The creatures are over 8-feet tall. They look really bizarre and are kind of freaky looking (almost like a cross between those long-legged creatures in DARK CRYSTAL and the fire birds who pop their heads off in LABYRINTH).

The second episode on the disc stars a young Brooke Shields. Shields was the youngest guest star ever to be on the show (she was only 16 at the time). The cast puts on its own version of Alice in Wonderland with Shields in the lead. Something interesting I learned from watching the intro of this episode is that Shields was too young to work a full work day, so in her time off she helped create some new Muppets (including the slithy toves seen in the Jabberwocky scene).

The last episode on this disc is one that stars Rudolph Nureyev. Now, it might seem unusual that a world famous ballet dancer would guest star on THE MUPPET SHOW, but that's the kind of stuff that Jim Henson, Frank Oz, and company were always doing. If my recollections are right they also had a marionette troupe guest starring on the show once and another time, I believe there was a mime troupe as well. Anyway, Nureyev wanted to dance with Miss Piggy, but since at the time they couldn't do a dance with Piggy that looked realistic, they made a huge Pig Costume that a performer was fitted in and the giant pig danced with Nureyev in "Swine Lake". I've purchased several discs of the Best of Muppet Shows, looking for one particular sketch. This is the episode I've been looking for: it has the sketch with the Muppet who has only half of a face living in a half world singing about how he is incomplete until he meets his true love. When he meets up with her in the end, he and everything in his life becomes whole. The song is slightly humorous, but it's also surprisingly poignant (which is so typical of The Muppets).

This DVD also includes some Movie Mania, Muppetisms, and a sketch from the archives of the giant pig costume. Though there aren't a whole lot of outstanding sketches on this disc, it is a great example of what typical episodes of THE MUPPET SHOW were like and a typical Muppet Show was at least three times as good as most shows on the air at the time. Personally, I think this DVD is worth owning just for the "Incomplete Man" sketch and seeing Miss Piggy come on to Rudolph Nureyev.

Rating:
Summary: Episodes to make you say, "Huh?"
Review: While "weird" is the natural domain of the Muppets, this set of episodes is weird even for them. That isn't exactly a good thing, either. The Diana Ross episode seems dated and thin (like Ross herself), and its major running gag is weak. The Brooke Shields episode is more palatable; personally, I was glad to see my long held conviction that Dr. Teeth is the Cheshire Cat finally vindicated. Even here there are some uneven bits, but this second episde of the set is the best of the three. The Nureyev episode is a little flat but important because it aired at a time when he was a superstar, and his appearance helped make the show a big success. Nureyev is charmingly good-humored with the cast, but his singing doesn't really go over well.

I have bought all of these discs to date and will continue to do so, but I would only recommend this one to people who are die-hard fans of either the Muppets or one of the guests on this set. A note about the "extras" - these are repeated from disc to disc, so if you have bought all of the previous discs then you won't see anything new here. It's a shame, too, because the Muppets are interesting enough to deserve better extras.

Rating:
Summary: Episodes to make you say, "Huh?"
Review: While "weird" is the natural domain of the Muppets, this set of episodes is weird even for them. That isn't exactly a good thing, either. The Diana Ross episode seems dated and thin (like Ross herself), and its major running gag is weak. The Brooke Shields episode is more palatable; personally, I was glad to see my long held conviction that Dr. Teeth is the Cheshire Cat finally vindicated. Even here there are some uneven bits, but this second episde of the set is the best of the three. The Nureyev episode is a little flat but important because it aired at a time when he was a superstar, and his appearance helped make the show a big success. Nureyev is charmingly good-humored with the cast, but his singing doesn't really go over well.

I have bought all of these discs to date and will continue to do so, but I would only recommend this one to people who are die-hard fans of either the Muppets or one of the guests on this set. A note about the "extras" - these are repeated from disc to disc, so if you have bought all of the previous discs then you won't see anything new here. It's a shame, too, because the Muppets are interesting enough to deserve better extras.