Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #34858 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-12-09
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 80 minutes

Amazon.com
Steve Martin, Carol Burnett, and Gilda Radner are the special guests in this delightful trio of episodes from the 1970s The Muppet Show. The Martin and Burnett installments are particularly interesting for their atypical formats. Instead of a variety presentation, the Martin show is organized as a series of auditions for new acts, including high-stepping rats, dancing cheese, and the extraterrestrial Four Fazoos. Into the mix comes Martin with his vintage balloon animals, banjo, juggling gear, and arrow-through-the-head prop. It's a truly original program, and even gets by without the series' usual canned laughter. Burnett's show is also built around a unifying concept: in this case, an episode-long dance marathon. Finally, Gilda Radner is paired with a snooty, 7-foot talking carrot (instead of the 7-foot parrot she requested) for a Gilbert and Sullivan medley, and later attempts to tap dance while unintentionally glued to Beaker. Priceless stuff. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Weak for this series
I admit to echoing the opinions of most of the other reviewers thus far, but a consensus about this disc might prevent buyers from being disappointed with it. We buy each of the "Best of the Muppet Show" dvds as they come out, and this one is the weakest so far. Steve Martin's episode falls flat, although the sketches remind me of the Ed Sullivan bits available on the "Muppets Magic" dvd. The Carol Burnett episode is better but not one of the greatest shows; Carol sings a lot more than she does her signature comedy schtick, and the dance contest gag gets old before the episode ends. By far the best of the three episodes, the Gilda Radner show delivers the kind of laugh out loud comedy that one would expect from this disc.

If you own all of the other dvds and want to expand your collection, then this disc will be worth it for the Gilda Radner show, but don't buy this one as your first Muppet Show dvd! The Peter Sellers/John Cleese/Dudley Moore disc is MUCH funnier if you want Muppets and comedians, and the Harry Belafonte/Linda Ronstadt/John Denver disc has lots of great singing AND great jokes.

Stuck on You.
This Best of the Muppet Show Collection contains three episodes. The first episode is the show where Steve Martin guest stars. The big joke about this whole episode is that Kermit cancels the Muppet Show that night because they have to have auditions to book new acts. Steve Martin is a bit upset about the whole thing, but ends up "auditioning" a couple of times himself-- performing just for the Muppets themselves. He does a hilarious sketch with balloon animals and later plays a tune on the banjo. As much as I enjoy the Muppet Show and like Steve Martin, this is one of the weaker episodes I have seen (though it is worth watching just to see the balloon animals and Rowlf's response to the doggy balloon).

The second episode guest stars Carol Burnett. Carol arrives to find out that Gonzo has talked Kermit into allowing a dance marathon to take place on the show. Everyone is dancing the whole night, including Burnett. She gets to sing a few songs and a couple times becomes so frustrated that she starts to choke Kermit (in the same way that Homer Simpson does to Bart). This episode netted Jim Henson and company an Emmy for Best Writing for a Comedy Series.

The last episode on the disc is one that guest stars Gilda Radner. I was too young to remember any of Radner's original performances, but from just watching this episode one can tell that the woman was a comic genius and could have been as big as Lucille Ball. This episode is the funniest episode on the disc and includes a couple of hilarious sketches including one where Radner sings a duet with a 7-foot tall carrot and another where Radner accidently releases a tube of Dr. Honeydew's special glue all over the set. Things get really messy and the glue forms a gag that lasts the rest of the show.

This DVD also includes an archive photo and a few facts about Beaker, some Muppetisms (which are essentially public service commercials) and several adds for other Henson films and shows.

From all the Best of Muppet Show discs I have seen, this one is rather weak. Nevertheless, it is THE MUPPET SHOW and a weak episode of THE MUPPET SHOW is ten times better than one of the current comedies(such as FRIENDS) on television today.

Carol and Gilda are a scream!
May I just say that I enjoy all three of the actors on this DVD. But Steve Martin's show was like watching rehearals, and he wasn't that funny. I got bored of him 'trying' to act funny. Kermit had auditions for new acts and Steve's show had been cancelled without telling him, so Steve auditioned too... I wouldn't have hired him...

Regardless! Carol Burnett and Gilda Radner's shows more than made up for it. Carol's episode won an Emmy, I believe for writing. Brian Henson will tell you this in the intro, and I believe it. The whole show was a dance contest Gonzo had convinced Kermit into letting him do while Carol was supposed to perform. She ended up paired with Animal. Carol is a riot!

Gilda Radner's episode stole the whole DVD however, and I'm a huge Carol Burnett fan. They spent most of the show getting stuck to things after an accident with Dr. Honeydew and some Muppets Labs superglue. Gilda's hand was stuck to her forehead for most of it.

A good DVD. I'm disappointed in the other reviews save one that actually was about the DVD itself. Don't bring the ratings of a DVD down because you're too lazy to look for the whole set on the internet and need to complain, that's not fair. Go to timelife.com and for 150.00 you can buy the entire thing. Duh! I get them from Amazon because I get to pick and choose which ones I want. At timelife it's 25.00 a piece to choose.