| The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Television special |
| Created by | Jim Henson |
| Written by | |
| Directed by | Dave Wilson |
| Starring | |
| 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 Violence is the second of twopilots forThe Muppet Show, airing onABC on March 19, 1975.[1] The other pilot,The Muppets Valentine Show, aired in 1974.
In this half-hour variety special,the Muppetsparody the proliferation ofsex andviolence on television. Nigel,Sam the Eagle and hippie bassistFloyd Pepper prepare for a pageant based on theseven deadly sins.
Sketches include:The two ushers.
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 Waldorf and an early version ofDr. Julius Strangepork (named Dr. Nauga). Popular Jim Henson characters, such asKermit the Frog,Rowlf the Dog and Frank Oz'sBert have cameos. Several holdovers from the previous pilot,The Muppets Valentine Show, appear, such as Crazy Donald (now called Crazy Harry),George the Janitor,Mildred Huxtetter and Brewster. The special also includes early versions ofMiss Piggy,Fozzie Bear andGonzo the Great.[2]
Additional Muppet performers includeCaroly Wilcox andJane Henson.
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 movie and a second pilot episode; the first had beenThe Muppets Valentine Show in 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.[3]
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."[3]
The special featured 70 Muppets manipulated by 10 puppeteers, including several new characters.Dr. Teeth was designed byMichael Frith from a drawing provided by Henson that was inspired by singerDr. John. TheSwedish Chef, a character first conceived in the 1960s, debuted as Järnvägskorsning (Swedish for "railway crossing"), a name that Henson soon abandoned, believing it too difficult to remember or pronounce.Sam Eagle was another new character created by Henson that "represents the older establishment values."Miss Piggy had first appeared on the 1974 ABC specialHerb Alpert and the TJB.[3]
At Henson's request,Kermit the Frog was relegated to a brief cameo appearance in a dance sequence, with theemcee role given to a new Muppet character named Nigel. According toSesame Street writer 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.[3]
Taping for the pilot commenced in November 1974 at Metromedia-TV (Channel-5) studios in NYC, 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."[3]
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 Mayhem musical number.[3]
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 Hour rule in the 1975 season.[4]
Contemporary reviews following the special's nationwide broadcast on March 19, 1975 were mixed.
Arthur Unger ofThe Christian Science Monitor wrote:
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 Monster andBig Bird? ... Please, Mr. Henson, try again.[5]
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."[6]
The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence was released onDVD in 2005 as an extra feature on theMuppet Show: Season One box set. On the box and within the DVD menus, it is calledThe Muppet Show Pilot.
| The sins | |
|---|---|
| Describing the sins | |
| In art and culture |
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| Related | |
