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The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence is the second of two pilots for The Muppet Show, airing on ABC on March 19, 1975. The other pilot, The Muppets Valentine Show, aired in 1974.
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The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence is the second of two pilots for The Muppet Show, airing on ABC on March 19, 1975. The other pilot, The Muppets Valentine Show, aired in 1974.
The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence is the second of two pilots for The Muppet Show, airing on ABC on March 19, 1975. The other pilot, The Muppets Valentine Show, aired in 1974.
In this half-hour variety special, the Muppets parody the proliferation of sex and violence on television. Nigel, Sam the Eagle and hippie bassist Floyd Pepper prepare for a pageant based on the seven deadly sins.
Sketches include:
Mount Rushmore: The stone presidents trade jokes
At the Dance (with Bert and Ernie, Anything Muppets, Thudge, Kermit the Frog, etc.
The Wrestling Match: The San Francisco Earthquake displays his winning tactics (while The Anything Muppets, Statler, Waldorf, Kermit the Frog, Sam the Eagle, etc. watch the match).
Statler and Waldorf
The Swedish Chef demonstrates how to make a submarine sandwich
Male birds try to attract female birds in a jazzy sketch.
Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem sing "Love Ya to Death"
Theater of Things: A group of pencils are introduced to a new ruler
Two Heaps and Two Stalks talk in gibberish
Films in Focus: A review, Gene Shalit (muppet version of him) pans the film Return to Beneath the Planet of the Pigs, with Rex, Miss Piggy, Dr. Nauga and the Pigs. This sketch would become the basis for the comedy sketch series "Pigs in Space"
The Seven Deadly Sins Pageant
The special introduced several new Muppets, including Nigel (who acts as host, but would eventually play a minor role as an orchestra conductor on The Muppet Show), Sam the Eagle, Dr. Teeth, Animal, Floyd Pepper, Janice, Zoot, the Swedish Chef, Statler and Waldorf and an early version of Dr. Julius Strangepork (named Dr. Nauga). Popular Jim Henson characters, such as Kermit the Frog, Rowlf the Dog and Frank Oz's Bert 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 of Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear and Gonzo the Great.
Jim Henson as Nigel, Scudge, Snerf, George Washington (Mount Rushmore), Swedish Chef, Dr. Teeth, Waldorf, Kermit the Frog, Shirley (puppetry), Green Heap, Ernie, Woman, Rex and Rowlf the Dog
Frank Oz as Animal, Beautiful Day Monster, Billy Monster, Sam the Eagle, Theodore Roosevelt (Mount Rushmore), The San Francisco Earthquake's wrestling opponent, Clyde, Ruler, Purple Heap, Bert, Pig, Yorick, and George the Janitor
Jerry Nelson as the Announcer, Floyd Pepper, Thomas Jefferson (Mount Rushmore), Thudge, Thudge's dancing partner, Statler, Harvey, Envy, Pencil, Gold Stalk, Gluttony, Gene Shalit Muppet, Dr. Nauga and Sloth
Richard Hunt as Crazy Harry, Mel, Hoggie Marsh and Lust
Dave Goelz as The San Francisco Earthquake, Avarice, Zoot, Duke and Brewster
John Lovelady as Abraham Lincoln (Mount Rushmore head), Baskerville the Hound, Vanity and Anger
Fran Brill as the receptionist's voice, the mouthless female hippie teenage girl, Janice, Doris, Pink Stalk, Leafy Green Vegetables, Miss Piggy, Queen Pig and the Whatnot dancer
Jonathan Frith as Junior Monster
Rollie Krewson as Shirley (voice)
Additional Muppet performers include Caroly Wilcox, Nancy McGeorge, Greg Antonacci, Byron Whiting, John Byrum, Cary Antebi, Eren Ozker, Danny Seagren, Bonnie Erickson, Marilyn Sokol, Brian Henson, John Henson (puppeteer), Lisa Henson, Cheryl Henson, Don Sahlin and Jane 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 an after-school special, a TV movie and a second pilot episode; the first had been The 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.
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."
The special featured 70 Muppets manipulated by 10 puppeteers, including several new characters. Dr. Teeth was designed by Michael Frith from a drawing provided by Henson that was inspired by singer Dr. John. The Swedish 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 special Herb Alpert and the TJB.
At Henson's request, Kermit the Frog was relegated to a brief cameo appearance in a dance sequence, with the emcee role given to a new Muppet character named Nigel. According to Sesame Street writer and director Jon 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.
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."
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 a Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem musical number.
When the special aired, its title appeared in television listings as simply (billed in some listings as The Muppets S
Source: The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence (CC BY-SA)
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