The Good

Who doesn't love The Muppets?

The Bad

For some reason, the First Season just seemed better.

The Muppet Show: The Complete Second Season is probably the most notable because it features Kermit the Frog doing his well known song, "It's Not Easy Being Green." Beyond that we get regular skits like "Pigs In Space," "Swedish Chef" and "At the Dance," as well as Kermit hosting the show with Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggie and Rolph at his side. Mixing up the idea of what a variety show could be, this puppet show often made viewers forget that they were even watching puppets. There was such an easy going, seat of your pants feel to this show that it's no wonder we got such seemingly candid moments from guest stars like Bob Hope, John Cleese, George Burns and others. What is also to be appreciated is that amidst this controlled chaos emerged a genuinely entertaining show.

In a lot of ways The Muppet Show really recalled the variety themed shows of previous years. However, by employing the Muppets instead of humans, we get a more skewed look at the shows from that time. The Muppet Show: The Complete Second Season manages to both entertain as well as educate us about America's past performance history.

Features

The Muppet Valentine Special

From 1974 we get a young Mia Farrow and a bunch of Muppets that I had never seen nor heard of in my life. I did some research on this and apparently this particular show aired before The Muppet Show itself had even started broadcasting. On this show, there's a host named Wally and the whole thing is somewhat disorienting especially if you're very familiar with the latter show. Also, I have never really been that big a fan of these sort of one off, variety specials. The Muppet Show works for me because it was a weekly event that provided continuity amidst the skits, singing, and comedy.

Weezer & the Muppets

The Muppets on the Muppets

This is some footage of the Muppets giving interviews. They talk about their characters, what they like and dislike, and they also talk about their fellow Muppets. I don't usually think that featurettes like this are that great and, sadly, I didn't really think that here. There were funny things that the characters said, but oftentimes I find that when people try to be too funny they usually fall short. Decide for yourself, personally I don't know that I would call this section mandatory viewing.

Video

Full Screen. I love the way that Walt Disney Video has compressed these shows. We don't get any of the 1970s sludge where it seems like "ghost streams" follow our characters as they move across the screen. Everything looked really crisp and well compressed here, and the big reason why I am not that surprised is because Walt Disney Video usually puts out pretty pristine products. I never felt like these older images were overwhelmed by how they were presented on this DVD set. It seems like Disney has contained things enough to make this release play even better than the shows did when they originally aired.

Audio

English - Dolby Digital 2.0. Disney has also done a fairly top notch job on the audio. Sure, it might seem like at any moment things are going to become incomprehensible (that's just the nature of how this show was set up), it's very comforting to see that they don't. Admittedly, I am not the biggest fan of musical entertainment but there's something about the Muppet songs that I don't mind. There is an earnestness and a comedic factor that helps to keep things fresh. The sound on this release isn't going to blow anybody's system away, but I don't think it will get their attention for any negative reasons.

Package

Miss Piggie's face is front and center on this slip case cover and that is basically all you need to know about it. The back portion lists out what users can expect from The Muppet Show: The Complete Second Season, it also offers up Special Features and Technical specs. The four discs in this collection are neatly stored inside where there is more artwork contained showcasing our favorite Muppets. One can easily navigate these discs to find whatever episodes or Special Features they wish to access.

Final Word

As much as I enjoyed The Muppet Show: The Complete Second Season, I couldn't help feel that it was missing something. Maybe it needed more extras? Perhaps I am too old to really be able to enjoy this show? Whatever it was, I just thought that The Muppet Show: Season One worked better for me. That said, as soon as Kermit and Co. came bounding across the screen it was hard not to get caught up in what was happening. Also, getting to see some of the stars work on this show was also exciting. There are people like John Cleese who can work well in any situation and then there are others that just seem out of their element. Like Alf, I never felt that the Muppets played down to their guest stars or tried to make them seem like they were smarter or funnier than they were. The Muppet Show is an enduring institution and this new, four disc set should bring a lot of smiles when it is played on people's television sets.

If you want good laughs, good times and humor that doesn't play down to any audience, I suggest picking up The Muppet Show: The Complete Second Season.

The Muppet Show was released .