Rather shockingly it's been a little over a year since I last reviewed an episode of The Muppet Show and well I suddenly got an erge to review another of the show. However with there being really so many episodes with so many great guest stars in them it was hard to pick an episode to review however what helped to narrow things down quite alot is the fact that Goldfinger is also my personal favorite James Bond film and so then so then join me as I review that sees a future Dame appear with the muppets with the episode in question being called simply just "Shirley Bassey" enjoy.
The plot of the episode is Scooter has to try and get some gold paint for there guest star Shirley Bassey's performance. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual, plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty on the thin side but that's kind of what you expect and want from The Muppet Show as this show really isn't known for it's deep plots with those mainly being saved for the movies with the show you want something that's rather simple and easy to follow as after all this is kids family friendly show and that's what the plot of this episode deliverers to us in spades with this episodes plot being really entertaining ad as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is Jim Henson as Kermit The Frog , Rowlf , Dr. Teeth , The Newsman and Waldorf and Frank Oz as Fozzie Bear and Animal , Jerry Nelson as Bruno , Floyd Pepper , Violinist , Pops and Duck , Richard Hunt as Scooter , Beaker , Janice, Statler and Cow , Dave Goelz as Gonzo , Zoot , Dr. Bunsen Honeydew , Sheep and Doctor , Steve Whitmire as Lips and Dancing Sack , Kathryn Mullen as Gaffer , Louise Gold as Dancing Sack , Betsy Baytos as Timmy Monster and Pig and Dame Shirley Bassey as Herself.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. With all of this episodes cast members turning in some really good performances which really isn't all that surprising as this show has always had some really good acting in it with this episode being no exception to that rule as the cast at this point have been playing these characters for years at this point which means that this episodes cast would know what performance would best suit there characters in any given situation with the acting in this episode not really being helped by the episodes script as the script really just isn't up to the really high standerd seen in other episodes of The Muppet Show.
For some reason for this particualr season of the show they changed the way that they introduced each guest as instead of having them show up and having Scooter knocking on there dressing room we now have the guest in question walking up to The Muppet Theater before having a talk with Pops. This is a change that just wasn't work as while it does make sense to show the guests turning up to the theater the old set up worked better as they would have been there for hours rehearsing for the show where as with this new set up it makes it appear as if they just turn up having no clue what there going to do on the show and just go on stage and make it up as they go along which just wouldn't be the case at all as any one of this shows guests would rehears for whatever there going to do as there act on the show with that feeling being lost with this guest introduction.
If your a James Bond then you'll be glad to know that this is the shows second James Bond guest with the first one appearing just a few episodes earlier in this very season of the show with that guest being none other then Sir Roger Moore himself. However were as Sir Roger Moore would have most likely have been on the show in order to promote "For Your Eyes Only" Dame Shirley Bassey is here just because she wants to be there and that is something that really does show through in the episode as it really does look like that she's having a blast working on this show with her getting fully stuck in on The Muppets type of madness and insanity and unlike the Sir Roger Moore appearance they don't make the fact that she's worked on a still hugely popular spy franchise the only joke about her infact they don't really make any jokes about her which they really should have done as Dame Shirley Bassey is known as a bit of diva but in a good way and they really could have played up that aspect of her and made that a running joke all throughout the episode but they don't do that for some reason which is weird as it could have a potentially funny running joke in the episode.
This episode really isn't the best of the show as while it does contain all of the typical madness that you expect from The Muppets. It doesn't contain any of the heart and soul that made and still make The Muppets stand out with this episode just feel anarchic just for the sake of feeling anarchic which is something that just doesn't work for The Muppets and while a more better episode could have pulled that of by having acts that are actually entertaining and could distract you from the rest of the episodes faults this episode doesn't have that going for it and as a result of that the episodes faults become bigger as we the audience are now forced to focus on them alot more with this episode lacking those emotional moments that help to make this show work with the show also lacking alot of that rebellious nature that the show is also really known for as well.
For some reason the makers of this show has Dame Shirley Bassey sing "Goldfinger" which is still a really good song. However when compared to "Diamonds Are Forever" which is a better song it's odd that they would only go for the song that's more popular thanks to the film instead of the song that's more better it's not even a case of the song that's more popular in it's own right as people that don't like the film "Diamonds Are Forever" still like the song and people that like the film "Goldfinger" alot of them don't like the song and yet they had her singing "Goldfinger" for no reason whatsoever which just doesn't make sense as the makers of this show are usually pretty good in choosing the better song for an artist to sing and almost never go with the song that's more popular which makes it all the more weirder that they would do so here heck given the year that this episode was made in they could have had her sing "Moonraker" and have her sing it with the cast from Pigs In Space.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly twenty five minuets and thirty two seconds. Which is pretty much the bogstanderd running time for this show but on the flip side of that is the fact that this episode really doesn't have a strong enough plot to really justify that long of a running time with the episodes main plot being really thin at best but enjoyably so but thin none the less with this being made worse by the fact that the acts that are featured on this episode just aren't that fun or creative to watch with none of them really justifying there length either with alot of them just being there really just for the sake of being there and not because there really creative to look or because there entertaining to look at all of which make them feel like a chore to sit through in this episode all of this does make the episode a slight chore to sit through but I will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is a comedy that means that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. However that's also the issue as the comedy in this episode wasn't all that good either with there being alot more bad jokes in this episode then there are good ones but when we do get a good joke in this episode you really do know about it's just a shame that we have to sit through alot more bad jokes just to get to one or two decent jokes which only become good when you compare to the rest of the bad jokes that are in this episode in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall this episode quite clearly isn't The Muppets at there best but at the same time it's also quite clearly a sign that the makers of this had done all that they could have done with the characters in a TV show format in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode that are in this very review and as such that really means that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 6 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from the official The Muppets fandom wiki page , the official James Bond fandom wiki page and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from these very episode that I used in this very review being the official The Muppets fandom wiki page really simply just due to the fact that alot of the images that are on the official The Muppets fandom wiki page are really all really fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.