Original air date: May 20, 1981
Five years ago, our own Joe Hennes discussed whether the Melissa Manchester episode of The Muppet Show served as an appropriate series finale, since it was supposedly the last new episode to air in the United States. Or so we thought! Years after our “40 Years Later” series concluded, the crackerjack editors at Muppet Wiki uncovered listings that revealed that the Johnny Cash episode was the last to premiere.
You see, the question of “what was the series finale of The Muppet Show” has multiple answers. Cash was the last guest star in the US, but over in the United Kingdom, Shirley Bassey had that honor. And that’s just in terms of air dates! Meanwhile, Gene Kelly’s episode was the last to be produced (plus it had the whole “end of the world” storyline), but Roger Moore’s episode is the last one in order of production numbers. But if you ask my opinion, there is an answer; not in production or airing, but in the spirit of the show: the series finale of The Muppet Show wasn’t an episode at all. It was the special that celebrates its 45th anniversary this week, The Muppets Go to the Movies.
First, there’s the nuts and bolts of it: it was the last production shot at ATV Elstree Studios in London using The Muppet Show‘s sets. As Danny Horn and Anthony Strand pointed out on Movin’ Right Along, it also aired in the US on ABC, where The Muppets Valentine Show and The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence were also broadcast. The Muppet Show said farewell on the same network where it took the first steps on its journey. How’s that for symmetry?
And it’s littered with finale tropes. We get to see something long unseen: the exterior of the Muppet Theatre. At no point during the series did they ever show us the outside. For once, Statler and Waldorf’s jokes are worse than Fozzie Bear’s. And the long-suffering character finally triumphs and tells (or transplants, to be accurate) a joke that makes Mulch laugh. That’s huge for Fozzie! It’s honestly satisfying to see him finally have one of his jokes land, even if it takes a little time. And it all ends with a musical number about how they’ll see us again down the road. (Of course, it would only be a few weeks until The Great Muppet Caper was released, so that road happened to be very short.)
But perhaps most important of all to me, this special is a loving celebration of the reason they stopped making The Muppet Show. In just five short years, these characters had blossomed from television curiosities into bona fide movie stars. The whole special was made to promote The Great Muppet Caper and show off all the cool things that the Muppets could do outside of a television studio. Movies as an artform hold a special place in human culture, and the Muppets were now part of that. It was time for both the characters and the people who bring them to life to move on to bigger things.
So how does it work as a finale? I’d say it isn’t a perfect sendoff, like M*A*S*H or Newhart, but it is an extravagant special that focuses on a singular topic, cinema, and spoofs it with the same affectionate anarchy that viewers of The Muppet Show had come to expect. There isn’t a particular storyline, like the backstage stories we got on the series, but it makes up for that with parody after parody. It also helps that guest stars Lily Tomlin and Dudley Moore were well-acquainted with the Muppets by this point, and they knew just how to complement their costars. There’s lots of music, special effects, and comedy, so as it stands, we got a pretty good way to say goodbye to one of the most unique series in the history of television. It doesn’t abandon the show’s roots, but it has an eye to the future. And for that, I’d say it did pretty well. It certainly got me excited to watch The Great Muppet Caper, but unlike those viewers in 1981, I don’t have to wait to see it. Suck it, past!
Best Joke: In a special packed with parodies, the one that gets me to laugh the most is when the Muppets spoof themselves in “Silent Strawberries.” That first moment when Kermit delivers his classic “hi-ho” in mock Swedish gets me every time. (Apologies to Mulch. “Hot cross bunnies” is also pretty good.)
Lamest Joke: Much as I appreciate the idea of the bit, Moore’s mock Japanese in “Invasion of the Unpleasant Things from Outer Space” does come off as a bit insensitive. I think it’s because he abandons the whole premise and inserts “Tora! Tora! Tora!” in the middle of it that it just feels like he’s not taking it seriously. So one mock language works for me, the other doesn’t. People are strange that way, I guess.
MVM (Most Valuable Muppet): Since this is the series finale, I think that not only for being a great host, but for his dramatic turn in “A Frog Too Far,” it’s only right to give the honor to Kermit. He can share it with Olaf if he wants.
Most Classic Moment: “It’s that simple wimp Pimpernel and his Humperdinck’s lumpy pumpernickel crumpet!” What more is there to simper about?
Should-Be-Classic Moment: As a film buff, the spoofs of all the movie studio logos are pitch-perfect and deserve as much love as the Muppets’ antics.
Most Dated Joke: There are quite a few of them, but it’s still funny to think that even in 1981, Rowlf was still making fun of television being in color. (Of course, he’s one of the few Muppets who was around when it was predominantly black and white.)
First Appearance Of…: As previously mentioned, it’s the first time we get to see the outside of The Muppet Theatre.
Musical Highlight: Aside from “We’ll Meet Again,” Miss Piggy gets to pay tribute to Marilyn Monroe and classic movie musicals with “Heat Wave,” which appeared in There’s No Business Like Show Business.
Adultiest Content: Taking a stand against violence, Kermit and Tomlin remind us in “A Frog Too Far” that “war is heck.”
One More Thing: I want to give another shoutout to the Muppet Wiki team, who are constantly finding new information about the history of the Muppets. In fact, when they updated the air dates, they discovered that the Johnny Cash episode first aired in the US on June 1, 1981… which is almost two weeks after this aired. CRAP!
Okay, One More Thing: I guess I better get this started so I can make the deadline. See you in 2066!
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by Matthew Soberman – [email protected]
