The Muppet Show

Tv muppet show opening The Muppet Show opening

The Muppet Show was a television program broadcast through syndication from the year 1976 to 1981. Utilizing a troupe of puppet characters, referred to as Muppets, each episode showcased a prominent celebrity guest. The Jim Henson Company conceived the Muppets, and since 2004, The Walt Disney Company has held ownership of them.

Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Peter Mayhew made guest appearances portraying their well-known characters in the show's episode from February 23, 1980; this was four months preceding the initial theatrical debut of The Empire Strikes Back. Hamill takes on the role of Luke Skywalker in addition to portraying himself, who is referred to as "Luke's cousin," while the other two actors only portray their respective Star Wars characters.

Star Wars episode

Luke and "Leia"?

Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), and R2-D2 (operated remotely) find themselves having crash-landed on Earth and directly onto the sets of the Muppet Show. Following their encounter with Luke's "cousin," Mark Hamill (playing himself), they reveal their quest to locate Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew, who, according to a hyperspace telegram sent to the droids, has been "captured by a bunch of weird turkeys." They proceed to commandeer the Pigs in Space skit's cast to "borrow" their spacecraft (the Swine Trek) for the purpose of their search. Overwhelmed with infatuation for Luke, Miss Piggy (Frank Oz) dons a costume to resemble Princess Leia.

After an accidental crash landing on the planet Koozebane, the group is confronted by "Dearth Nadir," who is actually Gonzo, a Muppet, dressed in a Darth Vader costume. (In a prior episode, "Nadir" invaded the Swine Trek accompanied by a squadron of chickens serving as his "stormtroopers.") He possesses a device known as the Krypto-Anagon Transmitter, which has the ability to neutralize blasters, rendering Luke's weapon useless. Artoo also becomes severely weakened by the device's power and temporarily ceases to function.

Chewbacca, who was being held captive on the planet, manages to break free and launch an attack on Nadir. However, the villain summons Angus McGonagle, the Argyle Gargoyle, who uses his Gershwin gargling to send Chewbacca staggering. Luke and his "cousin" meet once more. Just as the main action is about to commence, Kermit the Frog signals for a musical performance. The Star Wars characters enthusiastically participate, with C-3PO showcasing his dancing abilities with a soft-shoe routine (having previously watched several Fred Astaire movies). Mark Hamill, portrayed as distinctly different from Luke in the show, dances along, while Luke, feeling frustrated, departs from the scene.

The episode is officially available for purchase on DVD as part of the "The Best of The Muppet Show - Mark Hamill / Paul Simon / Raquel Welch" DVD. Nevertheless, it has been extensively bootlegged by fans and is frequently included with bootleg copies of The Star Wars Holiday Special. The episode is also officially accessible on Disney+.

Related works

Daniels also made a guest appearance as C-3PO in an episode of Sesame Street, which is another Muppet production. In this episode, he and R2-D2 become friends with Big Bird, and R2 develops a fondness for a fire hydrant. Although R2-D2 was featured in The Muppet Show episode, it was the "three-legged" version of R2, which was operated by remote control and not by Kenny Baker. However, Baker later collaborated with Jim Henson, playing a goblin in the movie Labyrinth (with George Lucas serving as executive producer).

From 1985 to 1989, Marvel Comics released a monthly Muppet Babies comic book through their Star Comics imprint. The series ran for a total of 26 issues. One of the issues featured a Star Wars fantasy, with baby Piggy reprising her role as Leia, and baby Gonzo once again as Darth Vader. The Muppet Babies cartoon also presented several episodes that parodied Star Wars, most notably Gonzo's Video Show.

Frank Oz, the puppeteer behind Yoda, was a prominent puppeteer and creative consultant on The Muppet Show, where he performed the characters of Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Sam the Eagle, and numerous others. Another regular on The Muppet Show, Kathryn Mullen, served as Yoda's right hand in The Empire Strikes Back. Unused storyboards for the 1984 film The Muppets Take Manhattan, which Oz directed, depict Yoda and Darth Vader as attendees at Kermit and Piggy's wedding, among a group of non-Henson puppet and costumed characters. As the happy couple departed from the chapel by car, the plan was for it to ascend into the skies of New York City with Yoda using force telekinesis.

Legacy

A segment from the Star Wars episode of The Muppet Show was incorporated into the 2004 MTV documentary titled When Star Wars Ruled the World.

During Anthony Daniels' event at Celebration IV, he presented various clips from his career as C-3PO, which included his appearances on The Muppet Show and Sesame Street, as well as a C-3POs cereal commercial and The Star Wars Holiday Special. Daniels provided insights into these appearances and shared stories about his experiences working on them.

Koozebane was featured in the appendix of The Essential Atlas.

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Notes and references

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Appearances