The Muppet Show "Johnny Cash" Review

The Muppet Show is the one show that The Muppets are perhaps most well known for so much so that just this year Disney+ did a Muppet Show special that gave rave reviews from both fans and critics alike. Therefore I thought that i'd take a look back at a classic episode of the show as let's be real here sometimes we all just need to watch an episode of this show for no good reason and so then join me as I review the episode that sees the guest star perform a song with someone other then his late wife with the episode in question being called simply just "Johnny Cash" enjoy.

The plot of this episode is when Kermit allows a country radio station to broadcast from The Muppet Theatre Kermit has to deal with the host of the show who is a bully. 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 really good. The episodes plot was alot more tighter then what it usually is for an episode of this show as nine times out of ten an episodes plot is usually nothing more then an excuse for jokes to happen and whilst this is still very much the case in this episode here it does feel like that the episodes plot is trying to be alot more focused. This is not to say that the episodes plot doesn't have room for moments that are just meant for jokes as alot of the stuff with Fozzy is exactly that but it's rather that the plot this time around is alot more focused with the episode being alot more plot driven then it is joke driven which was both kind of refreshing and yet at the same time it's not what you come to an episode of this show to see as you come to see this show to see some really good good jokes that are set up in smart ways but at the same time it was quite refreshing to see this more plot driven episode as it does show you that these characters can still work in a more plot driven project something which we would later find out to be exactly the case with The Muppet Movie with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this episode is Jim Henson as Kermit The Frog , Rowlf , Waldorf and Wally Whoopie and Frank Oz as Fozzie Bear and Miss Piggy. Also starring in this episode is Jerry Nelson as Pops , Big Tiny Tall Saddle , Lew Zealand , Slim Wilson and A Bearded Man , Richard Hunt as Scooter and Statler , Dave Goelz as Gonzo , A Singer , A Hillbilly and Beauregard , Steve Whitmire as Billy Boy and A Singer , Kathy Mullen as A Singer , Louise Gold as A Singer and Johnny Cash as Himself.

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. The episodes acting was to be frank just as good as you'd expect it to be as alot of this episodes really do know there characters inside and out due to the fact that alot of them have been paying there respective characters since the sixties and in the case of Jim Henson had also created the characters with Johnny Cash doing a really good job of playing himself in this episode something which couldn't have been easy due to the fact that the he's not an actor he's a singer and yet here he is not only being asked to act but also doing a good job of it. With the best actor in this episode being Jim Henson as Kermit The Frog , Rowlf , Waldorf and Wally Whoopie due to the fact that he does get to play out alot of characters in this episode with even Kermit being a main character in the episode with Jim doing a good enough job of highlighting just how frustrated that Kermit is getting the further the episode goes along and heck even Rowlf gets angry in the episode and you do buy into due to how good Jim Henson was an actor. With the acting that's in this very episode really being helped by the fact that this episodes scr5ipt is just so good that all this episodes actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.

As was mentioned at the very start of this review the guest in this episode of The Muppet Show is Johnny Cash. With him to be frank not really making for the best guest as he doesn't join in with any of The Muppets chaos rather he just does his own thing which is something that does make it look like he was only doing the show just to either promote something or to make any little kids in his family happy and that's it whereas it would have been more fun to see him take part in the chaos that these characters do bring whereas if you compare it to the John Cleese episode he went all in even helping to write the episode and it is something that does come through in the final product as John Cleese does look like he was happy to be there. Where as with Johnny Cash his smile looks forced and rehearsed and while he is a good singer as that is afterall his job it felt like that the episode was relying on that a bit to much when it would have been nice if we got to see Johnny do something that we didn't know that he could do as that would have made his appearance in the episode alot more fun to watch, with the only thing that stands out about him in this episode is the fact that he gets to perform the song "Jackson" without his wife June Carter something which he never really did as he always performed that song with her and when she died he good as well retired from the performing the song all together which does make him performing the song here with Miss Piggy stand out all the more with Miss Piggy even sounding really good in the song altho you can tell that while Johnny is clearly performing life Miss Piggy clearly isn't as it does sound like her part of the song was recorded before hand and was played in during the filming of this episode.

The whole idea of a country and western radio show broadcasting this episode was actually a really good idea. With it being something that this episode really does lean into by having certain characters where country and western clothes and have one main set for all of the acts look like a barn on a farm but in saying this tho it is the only set that we get for all of the acts in the episode when it would have been more fun if we did get to see more country inspired sets even if they are generic like maybe we get a western set or maybe we get a farmyard set yes these are generic sets but it's better then just having the one main set as while yes that set does look really good it is a bit boring to just look at the same set for act after act. What really would have made this whole concept of having a radio host muscle Kermit out of hosting the show his way be alot more better was if they leaned into the country aspect with the Big Tiny Tall Saddle character as while we do get to find out that he has a horse that he has to pump up it would have been fun to see them lean in all the way with the fact that his character is meant to be a cowboy and yet we don't get to see any of that rather we just get to see him be this tough as old boots bully type of character which don't get me wrong is still fun to see but it adds nothing to the episodes idea and rather feels out of place in the episode whereas if the makers of this episode did something like have him challenge Kermit to a dual when Kermit stands up for Fozzy or have him perform this over the the top country song only to be cut off by Johnny Cash just something that played into the episodes idea of having this radio station be broadcasting the episode live rather then just having him show up a few times in the episode.

Look to be frank whilst this episode does have alot of things going against it does also have some things working for it. With the idea of Kermit being forced to not host his own show while someone else muscles his way being one of them as that is something that we haven't seen Kermit and while the episode doesn't fully explore that idea all that much it explores it enough to the point where we do know what's going on and where we do know how Kermit is going to react and seeing getting pushed to that point is something that does make the episode be all the more entertaining but it is something that oddly makes you feel sorry for Rowlf as while Fozzy was essentially getting heckled by someone that he is meant to be sharing the stage with it was no worse then what Statler and Waldorf do to him on a weekly basis whereas Rowlf had his act cut from the show and Kermit was nowhere to be found when that happened. One of the other things that the episode does gave going for it is the fact that we do get to hear some pretty decent songs all of which are sung by Johnny Cash and all of them are some really good songs with even one of them being a song about a dog that kills chickens which is made funnier by the fact that we have Rowlf not only performing the piano during that number but also getting offended by it which is a smart thing to have in the episode with it being a good way to showcase Johnny's talent as a singer as we do get to hear that famous voice of his and yet we also get to see that he was quiet the entertainer not only in that part of the episode where he was cracking jokes with pops all of which does on paper make him seem like a good fit for this show but due to the fact that he doesn't get to do much outside of alot of singing he does feel like a third wheel to everything else in the episode. 

The episodes main villain if you will Big Tiny Tall Saddle did make for a decent enough villain for this show to have. As he does bully Kermit throughout the entire episode changing the acts that Kermit has booked for the shows for the ones that he prefers but in saying this this isn't something that makes him an outright villain as the character is just trying to do what Kermit is trying to do and that's put on the best show possible and while yes how he and Kermit go about doing that with Big Tiny using fear and intimidation and Kermit using loving and kindness it doesn't change the fact that that they are one in the same as it where as they both want the same thing with the only difference being that Big Tiny is abusive towards Kermit's friends. Big Tiny is someone who could have made for a great minor villain in one of the muppet movies like maybe he's working with Doc Hopper in the first movie or with Tex Richman in the 2011 movie which is something that might have been well within his character to do so as Doc Hopper is doing everything that he can do to get rid of Kermit which is something that Big Tiny tries to do and Tex Richman is just a greedy oil baron which is something that might have worked with Big Tiny and if it did then it would have allowed for Tex to have more of a country villains song and not a rap number but in saying this tho there is only so much that you could have done with Big Tiny as a villain and as a character and therefor maybe it is for the best that the character only appeared in this episode despite the fact that he does have a really good look to him with him looking like the stereotypical cowboy complete with sideburns.

Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly twenty six minuets and forty one seconds. Which is pretty much the bogstandard running time for this show and to be fair this is something that does work for this episode as the episode does have alot of plot to cover when compared to the rest of the series which mainly has alot of acts to cover and very little plot and therefor this episode does work it's best within it's running time and to do this episode even just five minuets shorter would do a huge disservice to the episode as it would mean that something would end up falling threw the cracks be it a good joke that could have been great or a character or plot moment with the episode having more then enough plot there to really cover that amount of running time in the first place. Yet in saying this tho this episode really doesn't use it's running time all that wisely as this episode really doesn't take the time to fully develop its plot with the episode not really being all that focused on giving us things that add to the episodes plot this is despite the fact that the episode does have things that could have been added like showing Kermit getting more and more angry before the big blow up or even showing other Muppet character reacting to there acts getting cut just something would have been nice with the makers of this episode putting more and thought into making sure then we now that Johnny Cash is a singer then they did into giving this episodes plot some much needed plot development. This is something that does also effects the episodes character development as none of the episodes characters get any kind of development which is something that is fine for the regular Muppet characters but it is something that both Big tiny and Billy Boy really could have used as we know as much about them coming out of this episode then we did coming coming into the episode with the makers of this episode putting more thought and effort into making sure that we don't like Bug Tiny then they dud into giving the characters some character development but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean 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 really good. To be honest here the episodes comedy whilst it is still funny as it does still have that typical Muppet chaos to it but at the same time it does feel oddly more tame when compared to earlier episodes of the show like for example when Fozzy hurts his throat on the wire backstage earlier episodes would have gone the whole way by having Fozzy speaking with a different voice but here they just have him rubbing his throat which is still funny but it is something that could have bee alot more funnier. With the best joke in the whole entire episode being when after Fozzy has just been heckled on stage by Wally Whoopie Kermit finally snaps and comes out to defend his friend and while he's defending Fozzy on stage in front of Big Tiny and calling him all of these nice things Fozzy is just there in the background hoping that Kermit will call him funny which is just such a sweet joke with it feeling like something that Fozzy would do with even the fact that Kermit really does call him funny being something that does tell you that Kermit really is a good friend, even the fact that for alot of that scene Fozzy is just hiding behind the certain being a really good character moment as well as being a really funny visual as really everyone except for Big Tiny and Kermit can see and hear him with the rest of the episodes jokes being just as good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. 

Overall whilst this episode did have alot of fun moments in it the fact that they didn't really do anything with the special guest star and just had him d what he's known for doing is something that does make this episode a hard but fun episode to watch as there is a good episode in here it just needed to make better use of the guest start t make it be as good as it possibly could have been 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 in this very review and a such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 6.5 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 Amazon . Co . Uk , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very post being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them really being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images really are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.

The Muppet Show 2026 Special SPOILER FILLED Review

When people of a certain age think of The Muppets they nine times out of ten think about The Muppet Show. Which does make sense as that show is there most popular show and was what helped to make them a big name in the first place well now Disney have done the unthinkable and released a revival special for the show and well you all just knew that I had to check out the special the very first chance that I got and so then join me as I give you my SPOILER FILLED review of the special that dares to light the lights one more time with the special in question being called simply just "The Muppet Show" enjoy.

The plot of this special is Miss Piggy finds out that she's being cut from the show due to Kermit accidentally booking to many performers and so will do anything to get on the show. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special 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 special was in all honesty really good with the specials plot doing a very good job of capturing the pure insanity that is The Muppets whilst also making it feel like the next episode of the show with the only real issue when it comes to the plot being the fact that the episode doesn't really have alot of scenes in it that focus on the plot which is something that does make sense as the original show was also kind of like that as well but here in this special they do actively have Miss Piggy invading one of the episodes performances which is something that does make you wonder why the episode didn't devote more time to this plot as this is something that could have led to some really funny scenes in and yet the makers of this special just felt lime that they were playing it kind of safe with the episodes plot this isn't to say that the plot was bad as it's really not as the plot does allow for all of the typical Muppet mayhem to come into play but it is something that would have been all the more funnier if they devoted more backstage scenes to it as well with the plot of this special being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this special is Bill Barretta as Rowlf The Dog , Dr. Teeth , Swedish Chef and Pepe The King Prawn , Dave Goelz as Gonzo , Zoot , Waldorf , Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beauregard and one of this special executive producers Eric Jacobson as Miss Piggy , Fozzie Bear , Animal , Sam Eagle and The Newsman. Also starring in this special is Peter Linz as Lips , Statler , Link Hogthrob , Robin The Frog and A Brown Creature, David Rudman as Scooter , Janice , Beaker and  Miss Poogy , one of this special executive producers Matt Vogel as Kermit The Frog and Sgt. Floyd Pepper , Stephanie D'Abruzzo as Hilda , Bradley Freeman Jr. as Rizzo The Rat , one of this specials executive producers Seth Rogan as Himself , Maya Rudolph as Herself and one of this specials executive producers Sabrina Carpenter 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 special 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 special was in all honesty really good. With all of the specials actors turning in some really good performances in this special even Matt Vogel who was getting an awful lot of hate online when the trailer dropped for this special does make for a really good Kermit and while yes his Kermit voice isn't perfect he is the new official actor for Kermit and has been doing the role for some years now with him getting better and better each performance with this special being of no exception to that rule with all of the actors that are playing The Muppets doing a really job of playing there truly iconic characters some of whom were even on the original show like for example Dave Goelz who has played Gonzo from the very beginning and is still knocking it out of the park as the character with the specials best actor being Bill Barretta as even tho he doesn't get a whole lot to do in this special he does still turn in a good performance with it being quite obvious that he and the rest of the Muppet actors are having the time of their lives being able to raise the curtain on The Muppet Show tonight one more time with the acting that's n this very special really being helped by the fat that the script for this special is just so good that all this specials actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very special.

The Muppet character are just so iconic in there own right that it really is hard to get them wrong and thankfully this special doesn't get them all wrong as all of the Muppet characters feel like there old selfs. With Miss Piggy being a really over the top diva and Kermit being about one piece of bad news away from having a complete and total melt down this is how these characters were in the original show and it's why the characters became so popular to begin with as they were fun but flawed characters and while it's only really Miss Piggy and Kermit that get the most screen time devoted to them as this episode does feel like an actual episode of the original show alot of the other Muppet characters do also appear in the special as well just in limited roles as we don't get hear Fozzie tell any bad jokes and nor do we get to see Swedish Chef fail to make something that's edible and that's OK as this special was meant to be all about reminding us why we liked these characters in the first and part of that does entail being like an episode of the show and while yes it would have been more fun to see Sabrina Carpenter interacting with more of the Muppet cast outside of Scooter , Kermit and Miss Piggy there would have been no way to do that without repeating yourself alot of the time but at the same time the people that are most likely to watch this special are the fans of The Muppets and sadly we don't get enough of the main Muppet cast in this episode with alot of them being reduced to backstage segments with a few of them coming on stage for the big finale number with them not really getting a chance to show us just what it was that made them so likable in the first place.

SPOILERS START HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Believe it or not this is actually the first time that The Muppets have actually down a verity show since 1996's Muppets Tonight. With all of the other shows that they've done since then being either a straight sitcom like 2015's The Muppets a solo show like Muppets Mayhem or an oddly forgotten crossover with various Disney Channel stars in Studio DC: Almost Live and it's kind of odd that that would be the case as the verity show setting is where these characters work best as all of The Muppets characters are meant to be agents of chaos something which we do see in this special as when Rizzo perhaps his musical number we keep on cutting backstage to see Beauregard messing things up or when Sabrina Carpenter is doing her opening number "Manchild" we cut to Crazy Harry going overboard with the wind machine thus causing all of the chickens in the scene to loose all of their feathers which is something that you could see that character doing and yet it is something that does work really well in this special as it's something that does show case just how chaotic that putting on one episode of The Muppet Show could be and that is something that does get lost when you take The Muppets out of the verity show format as while Muppets Mayhem was a really good show that should have gotten a second season it also didn't put the characters into a setting where they were allowed just be chaotic the 2015 Muppets whilst it did give us an update to the verity show format was more focused on all the stuff happening backstage when showing things going wrong on the main show would have been way more finnier to see.

If there's one thing that The Muppets are k own for it's there heart this is something that you see even in The Muppet Movie. With it being something that does come back in this special as right at the end of special when Kermit has to choose just one of his friends to go out and be the big final act he can't do it and so he gets up on stage and starts singing the song "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen as a way to get all of his friends on stage with them all joining him for one big rocking musical number with Dr. Teeth And The Electric Mayhem of course providing the backing for the song which to be fair is a good number to go out on but it's also something that makes you wonder how they managed to get Disney to agree to putting that song in this special as when you look up what the song is about you start to realise that it might be a bit to adult even for The Muppets and yet it's also a rather fitting way to end this special as it does come across as The Muppets being rebellious and outright telling people that no matter what your going to do to them you'll never be able to stop them as they'll always come back in some way shape or form and given that one of there more famous songs is a cover of the song "Bohemian Rhapsody" also by Queen and has alot of adult themes in that song as well it does make sense that they would end this special with another Queen song while it is of course impossible to say if Jim Henson would have ended on that song for this special it does seem right as The Muppets are characters that will never go away as they'll always be someone somewhere willing to talk about them and the fact that they managed to bring back alot of characters including ones that haven't been seen for decades and one who hasn't spoken a single line of dialog since the first season of the original show does show you that the makers of this special really are Muppet fans.

There was one joke that was bit to adult for me even for The Muppets which is after the end credits for the special have finished playing but before the company logos play they straight up hint at Statler having a heart attack. Which was a bit off putting to see as while The Muppets have never really shied away from doing adult themed jokes in the past they always left it up for interpretation which was something that always made it feel like that the kids would get the joke on one level and then the adults would get the same joke on another level whereas here it felt like they were straying a bit to far into the adult world which was something that Jim Henson would never do and heck it's even something that the Disney Muppets would never do as well which makes that joke about and old man dying feel even more out of place with that one bit of the special being the only time where I questioned what was actually going on in he special this would have been something that wouldn't be an issue if they revealed that his arm was numb and he was having these chest pains because of the fact that he did genuinely like the special and play it off more as being a heart warming moment but they don't do that and given the fact that they straight up killed of and then brought back to life Maya Rudolph in the special as well it is something that makes you wonder if they were planning on killing of Statler in this special as that is something that wouldn't go down well at all with the fanbase and is something that i'm glad that they didn't do if that was the original plan as it would have caused this special to end on a rather sour note as only hinting at him having a heart attack yes is still a weird way to end things it also allows the character to show up in other Muppet projects as they can just say that he better.

Now then this special has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly thirty minuets and ten seconds. Which to be fair is slightly longer then what the average running time of the original show was which is something that does make this special feel more special as it gives us time to really soak in the fact that we are seeing these characters back home where they belong and while the episode really doesn't have alot of plot there to really cover tat amount of running time in the first place this is something that is not a huge issue as the show is all about giving us unique acts and isn't focused on giving us alot plot with the episode really using it's running time really wisely as while the special really doesn't have alot of plot there to begin with it's plot is as simple enough as you'd want it to be with alot of the fun and the joy coming from this special coming from the fact that we are seeing The Muppets back home on stage at The Muppet Theater once again and to be fair that is something that doesn't really require alot of plot or alot of plot development either with the same thing even being true for the specials character development as we already know how Kermit and co are meant to be and therefor the only character that needed character development was Sabrina Carpenter herself and that's it and to be she does come across as well developed character with her being a die hard Miss Piggy fan and that's it and to be fair that's all she needed as none of the shows other guest stars would get character development as they all just play themselves and that's it but I really will admit that this special really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy thats actually featured / presented to us in this very special 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 special was in all honesty really good. With the special having alot of really good jokes in it all of which feel true to who The Muppets are as characters be it from Kermit booking one to many acts to Miss Piggy getting an even bigger ego when Sabrina says how much she meant to her and even modelled her look after her which Miss Piggy says that both she and her lawyers have noticed and will be in touch with Sabrina saying her lawyers would be honored to talk to her lawyers which is a really good joke as it is something that Miss Piggy would do with the best joke in the whole entire episode funnily enough also being a Miss Piggy joke as when she finds out that she's not doing another number on the show she straight kicks down Sabrina's dressing room door as Kermit is right on the other side of the door with her not even seeing him there in the first place with the two of them then having a chat about how Miss Piggy inspired her in the first place with Sabrina forgetting all about Kermit and only getting him out of the door when Miss Piggy has left which is a really good joke made even more funnier when you take into account that the joke plays to Sabrina's strengths as a comic actor with her and Miss Piggy having some really great comedic chemistry together somethin which we do see come to play in alot of there scenes together as that's were we get to see some really good and funny jokes with the special having alot of painfully jokes in it all of which feel true to who these characters are as characters in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

SPOILERS END HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Overall go right now and watch this special on Disney+ and then tell your friends to go and watch and get them to tell there friends to go and watch it as Disney needs to see that people do still care about The Muppets and with the special being this good it does deserve to be seen by as many people as is humanly possible 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 vey special in this very review and as such that really does mean that this veery special really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly an 8.5 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 Amazon . Co . Uk , IMP  Awards . Com an Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very special that I used in this very review being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very special with alot of them being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.

The Muppet Show "John Cleese" Review

The Muppet characters are so beloved that it's hard to picture a time where there wasn't some form of Muppet media in our lives. With The Muppet Show being that popular of a show that alot of the time they made fans out of the people the guest stars that worked on the show with the same thing being true for the episode that i'm going to be reviewing for you all today as the guest star for this episode built up a really good working relationship with the muppet crew and cast and so the join me as I review the episode that depending on where you first saw the episode had two slightly different introductions to it with the episode in question being called simply just "John Cleese" enjoy.

The plot of this show is when he is booked to be the guest star on the show John Cleese doesn't want to do the show with Kermit having to try and convince him to do the show. 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 really good with it being very refreshing to see a guest star be so openly opposed to appearing on the show that he will do quite literally anything to get out of appearing in the show and while this plot line does kind of get resolved by not even the half way mark it was still a really interesting plot and one that could have carried the whole episode as there are room for lots of jokes about John not wanting to be on the show in the first place with this episode even kind of having a subplot with Gonzo as well as when one his stunts goes right Gonzo ends up with a really long arm and has to try and figure out a way to shrink it back down to size with the episodes main plot being the more interesting of the two plots just due to the fact that it does give us something new as all of the guest stars on The Muppet Show are always happy to be there that it does make it refreshing to see someone that wants to be anywhere else but on The Muppet Show with the only thing that does hold the main plot back is that it does not only get resolved quite early on in the episode but it does also get forgotten about quite quickly when they could have spent the entire episode just on that one plotline alone with the plot of this episode being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this episode is this episode co-writer Jim Henson as Kermit The Frog , Link Hogthrob , Rowlf , Waldorf , The Newsman and Zeke and Frank Oz as Fozzie Bear , Miss Piggy , Whatnot Dancer and Gramps. Also starring in this episode is Jerry Nelson as Slim Wilson , Floyd Pepper , Crazy Harry , Robin , A Waiter , Eric The Parrot , Whatnot Dancer and The Announcer , Richard Hunt as Scooter , Statler , Sweetums , Bubba , A Waiter and Pig , Dave Goelz as Gonzo, Koozebanian Spooble , Marvin and Lubbock Lou , Louise Gold as Lou and Sir John Cleese as Himself.

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 this being something that does make alot of sense as all of the Muppet performers are a bunch of really good actors in there own right a while yes there just playing with puppets basically they still have to turn in a performance and that is something that they always manage to do and do well with this episode being of no exception to that as they all work really bouncing there already manic and chaotic energy off of John Cleese who himself turns in a manic and chaotic performance with it being quite hard to say just who the best actor is in this episode as alot of the Muppet performers do a good job with there characters as you'd expect from them John Cleese is also really good as someone who just wants to get out of this mad house whilst he himself is trying to keep his own sanity but if push did come to shove the best actor in this episode would have be Dave Goelz really just due to the fact that Gonzo gets alot more screen time in this episode then what he usually really gets and therefor Dave gets more of chance to show us just what it is that he can do as an actor with the acting that's in this episode really being helped by the fact that this episodes script is just so good that all this episodes actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.

As was mentioned this episode does give Gonzo not only his own subplot in the episode but also more screen time so much so that you could consider him a co-leading character in the episode. With this being odd as he doesn't usually take a lead role in alot of Muppet productions with his only other leading role really being the film Muppets From Space and that's really it and yet here him being being in a co-lead role oddly works as we get to see what happens when one his stunts does work with him catching a cannonball with one hand which has the adverse effect of making the arm that he caught the ball with longer then the rest of his body and while the episode doesn't really take the time to explore what this could do to Gonzo as a character as he was always full to the brim with confidence it would have been interesting to see him become more big headed because of it only for the other characters to remind him of his longer arm but for whatever reason the makers of this episode instead go the opposite way and have the character become more despondent not because of the fact that the stunt was a success but it's rather because of the fact that both Fozzie and Floyd keep on making jokes about his long arm which does feel true to there characters but at the same time it would have added to Gonzo's character if we got to see him be this big headed person who now thinks that he can do anything like how funny would it be to see him act like a diva to someone like Miss Piggy or something like that as that would have felt like a natural extension of his character given the fact that he's meant to the groups everyman and alot of people when they do a small amount of success do nine times out of ten get a big ego because of it.

This episode does technically have two introductions to it depending on where you saw the episode as in the USA John Cleese is introduced as being someone from Monty Python which makes sense as Monty Python And The Holy Grail was a big film. However over here in the UK he is introduced as being one of the stars of Fawlty Towers which again makes sense as that was his latest show to air at the time and while nothing is lost in the two intros as all they are is a way to introduce just who John Cleese is it does feel odd that they would film two completely different introductions for the same person when it would have made more sense for them to just us the Monty Python one as Monty Python was the bigger name at the time and yet in saying this tho it does make sense for them to use different intros as alot of people outside of the UK to this very day still don't know about Fawlty Towers this is despite the fact that it's one of the UK's most well known sitcoms and heck it could be argued that John in this episode is playing himself more like he plays Basil in Fawlty Towers as he is constantly stressed out and is always trying to impress people even when it all comes crumbling down around him much like what Basil would do whereas John in real life is actually a pretty smart and well educated person who actually knows that he's talking about but with the show having two different introductions for him there is a good chance that it will make people who haven't heard of Fawlty Towers to go and look up the twelve episodes and even if they have heard of it then it might make them want to go and check out his work with Monty Python either way it will result in a good time and having him work with The Muppets was always going to be good time for us the audience.

In what was a really shocking move it turns out that Sir John Cleese actually had a hand in writing alot of his scenes for the episode more specifically he either wrote or helped to write the Pigs In Space sketch , the scene backstage with Gonzo where he refers to him as the ugly one and the episodes finale. With John bringing his own manic energy and writing style to the show and whilst that could be seen as being a negative due to the fact that The Muppets themselves are pretty much just chaos in felt form here it oddly works as John is portrayed as being someone who has enough of The Muppets and there kind of chaos and will do just about anything to get out of the show and while it's not obvious that he and the rest of the episodes cast and crew struck up a good working relationship so much so that they had him do a cameo in The Great Muppet Caper it is something that does help as it shows that he is in on the joke and doesn't have to be to be convinced to go as over the top as the other guests do as he already knows The Muppets style of humor due to the fact that it's close enough to the style of humor of both himself and the rest of the Monty Python team with Jon being a very good fit for this show because of his expirence with Monty Python and while it would have been more funnier if John was the more manic one and The Muppets were the more calm ones in this scenario that would also go against just who they are as characters as well as the guest host should compliment The Muppets style and not do something that works against it Roger Moore works as he gets to be charming and calm whilst this whirlwind of chaos is happening all around him and John works because his actively encouraging the chaos to happen.

The Muppets have always ben known for innovating and for pushing just what it is that you can with a puppet. With oddly enough the same thing being true for one single shot in this episode as in what shot during a song that's sung by Miss Piggy we see the full Muppet Theater stage with the camera then slowly moving back in on Miss Piggy with that one shot being something that makes you wonder just how it is that they did it as with the movies you could very well argue that they had the budget to try out these new things that might or might not work but with a TV show where every single is a special effects shot and the budget has to be spread out across several episodes that's just not something that you can do ad yet in this episode they do pull off a shot that is hard to work how they did it as it could have been a remote control Piggy which is something that would make sense as there's not a really a way to fit the puppeteer in the shot but on the other hand it very well could have been the traditional Miss Piggy puppet being controlled as she normally would have done which is something that does make sense as this scene was a UK spot and therefor wouldn't really need that much effort put into it but at the same time tho it does look like a really hard shot to pull off with a traditional puppet and therefor there very well might have been a remote control puppet used to make the shot either way it is something that does highlight the fact that the makers of this episode really were some creative people and it's something that the makers of the 2026 The Muppet Show special should try to be if they want to do The Muppets any kind of justice as The Muppets were always creative and where always trying to do new and exciting things.

Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly twenty six minuets and thirty seconds. Which is pretty much the exact running time for alot of this shows other episodes as well with this episode having just about the right of plot there to cover that amount of running time in the first place as while the main plot is more then enough to cover that amount of running time it really makes it when you add in the subplot with Gonzo as well and while this episode doesn't really use it's running time all that wisely as the episode doesn't develop either of it's plots it really doesn't need to as the main focus of this show has always been and will always be the episodes sketches and that's really it with this show being one that doesn't really require a deep and thought provoking plot in order to make it work as all it needs is good sketches and that's really it with this even being true for the episodes characters as well as The Muppet characters have several other episodes to get across just what there character is and get there development in those other episodes and therefor it's not really needed in an episode like this where they don't have that many backstage segments with the ones that do have being there to push along both the main plot and the episodes subplot which does leave very little room for character development and while it would have been nice for there to be some form of character development as characters like Gonzo very rarely is ever get the lead role and therefor he could have done with getting character development it also wasn't need as his character in this episode works just as fine without it but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho. 

So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean 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 really good. With this episode having alot of really funny jokes in it all of which play to both the strengths of The Muppets and to John Cleese and all of which work really well because of it and while yes this episode does have a few bad jokes in it those jokes are very few and far between as the episode has that many jokes in it that by the time that it's told a bad joke it's busy telling you one that will make you laugh with the best joke in the whole episode being the backstage segment where Gonzo is trying to get John to make his arm normal length again with the only thing that John does to help him is pull his other arm to make it the same length and when Gonzo then complains that he can't tie his shoes John then pulls his legs to make them the same length but in doing so he then makes Gonzo's arms smaller so he has to pull both of Gonzo's arms at the same time with the thing that makes that joke work being the psychical comedy from John as he really is great at that kind of silly slapstick comedy and while the episode really does have a lot of really funny jokes in it all of which play to the strengths of both The Muppets and there guest star the episode really plays to it's strengths when the jokes are more slapstick based as that's what John Cleese is more known for and that's when we get to see true comedy gold and that's when the episode becomes alot more funnier in this episode in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall this is one of the more better episodes of the show due to the fact that we get to see just why both Sir John Cleese and The Muppets are really funny with them both really working off of each perfectly and being a match made in comedy heaven as that's just how good that they both work really together in this episode and in The great Muppet Caper as well 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 thigs that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7 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 Amazon . Co . Uk , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.

Muppets Haunted Mansion Special Review

When you think of halloween specials the one group of characters that you don't expect to have one is The Muppets. Yet in 2021 that's exactly what Disney and The Muppets Studios released on Disney+ with those few years being spent really pushing The Haunted Mansion as just a few years later we got another film version of the ride and so then join me as I review the special that is to date the last special that The Muppets have ever done with the special in question being called simply just "Muppets Haunted Mansion" enjoy.

The plot of this special is when Gonzo and Pepe are invited to take part in a halloween challenge in the worlds most haunted mansion they have to conquer there fears before they become the mansions newest inhabitants. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special 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 special was in all honesty really good as it's a plot that takes itself seriously enough to be considered epic but also not to seriously that it stops The Muppets from being there usual charming selves with this specials plot doing a good job of including elements from both franchises and making the crossover aspect seem seamless and yet in saying that tho this specials plot is one that isn't as good as it really could have been as while focusing the special on just two characters is a good idea it's also one that limits just how fun that this films plot could have been as it would have been all the more fun if the special had more of the muppet characters in main roles and not just in supporting roles like they are in this special with the plot of this special not really getting alot of focus as they do ham fist in another plot near the end with Gonzo trying to save Pepe from marrying an evil bride that kills all of her husbands which is a decent plot but at the same time it adds pointless stakes to the special and comes into play far to little to late for it to have any real effect on the plot as a whole with the plot of this special also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.  

Starring in this special is Dave Goelz as The Great Gonzo , Dr. Bunsen Honeydew , Waldorf , Beauregard , Randy Pig , Chip and Zoot and this specials co-writer Bill Barretta as Pepe The King Prawn , Rowlf The Dog , Dr. Teeth , Johnny Fiama , Howard Tubman , Bobo The Bear , Big Mean Carl , Swedish Chef , Andy Pig , Bubba The Rat , Beautiful Day Monster , Clean Gene The Behemoth and Party Tomato. Also starring in this special is Eric Jacobson as Miss Piggy , Fozzie Bear , Sam Eagle and Animal , Matt Vogel as Kermit The Frog , Floyd Pepper , Pops as a Duelist , Crazy Harry , Lew Zealand , Uncle Deadly as the Justice of the Peace and Sweetums , Peter Linz as Walter, Robin The Frog , Statler , Joe The Legal Weasel , Lips and The Ghosts , David Rudman as , Scooter , Janice , Beaker , Wayne and Squid Ghost , Brian Henson as Sal Minella , Julianne Buescher as Yolanda Rat , Beverly Plume , Wanda as a Happy Haunt and Screaming Goat , Alice Dinnean as Miss Cartier , Mummy , Caretaker's Dog and Pee Wee , Bruce Lanoil as Duddy , Ballroom Rat and Mo Frackle , Nicolette Santino as Party Tomato , Alex Villa as Pumpkin , Will Arnett as The Host / The Great MacGuffin , Yvette Nicole Brown as The Hearse Driver , Darren Criss as The Caretaker , Kim Irvine as Haunted Mansion Maid , Quinn McPherson as Hallway Knight , John Stamos as Famous Person , Ed Asner as Claude , Jeannie Mai as Maude , Chrissy Metz as Harriet , Alfonso Ribeiro as Fred , Danny Trejo as Huet , Sasheer Zamata as Mary and Taraji P. Henson as The Bride.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special 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 special was in all honesty really good. With this being something that's not really all that surprising as alot of the actors that are playing the muppet characters have been playing them for decades at this point in time and so they would of course know how there characters would act in any given situation with this being helped by the fact that the special director and co-writer Kirk Thatcher has directed these muppet actors in other Muppet productions and even wrote the film Muppet Treasure Island so he would have an idea of how these characters would also act in any given situation as well with the acting from the specials human actors being where the acting does take a slight dip in quality as you can tell that alot of them are just playing up to the fact that there in a Muppets special and therefor aren't going to be taking it as seriously as they would aby other film or TV show and that is something that really does shine through with the best example of this being Will Arnett who spends alot of the special just over acting in alot of the scenes that he's in with the best actor in the whole special really being hard to tell as it could be either Dave Goelz or Bill Barretta as they both get to show off new sides to there characters be it the fact that Gonzo does have fears or the fact that Pepe just wants a girlfriend and yet they both make them work so well for there respective characters and yet if push did come to shove i'd have to say that the best actor in this film is Dave Goelz just because of the fact that Gonzo does have an arc in the special with the acting that's in this special really being helped by the fact that this specials script is just so good that all this specials actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very special.

Whilst this isn't the first time that we've seen The Muppets take on ghosts as they did appear in The Muppet Christmas Carol this is the first time that they've been featured in something that's meant to be seen as kid friendly horror. As you don't really expect The Muppets to not only do a halloween horror special in the first place and yet at the same time embrace it as much as they could possibly do by having ghosts and other scary things in it in the first place with those things being something that does oddly work for this special as they keep them scary enough for kids as that's who this special is primarily aimed but at the same time tho they also add in enough of The Muppets to make them feel like something that could belong in the world of these characters be it by having several well known muppet characters openly play ghosts in this special as well as there regular selves or just having newly introduced characters appear as ghosts or even having a pair of ghosts whose sole purpose in the special is to get laughs out of you these are all small things but they all add up to the fact that The Muppets aren't really afraid to add in these things that could potentially be seen as being two scary for kids and all because of the fact that they put there own Muppet twist on them and while the special doesn't have any blood and guts or anything that you might find in a Terrifier movie for example the fact they did at least try to have these spooky things in this special does say that the makers of this special knew how to include elements from The Haunted Mansion ride and do them in a way that won't scare kids two much but will also feel true to the muppet brand as a whole.

Incase you didn't know this special came out after Muppets Now and my god does the special really want you to know that. As they include not one but two characters from that special in slightly big cameo roles as we have both Beverly Plume who hosted a cooking segment on Muppets Now with Swedish Chef and Joe The Legal Weasel who is meant to be The Muppets new lawyer but just comes of as being a less funny Sam Eagle those two characters really didn't need to be in this special as they very easily could have used characters from other Muppet shows , movies or specials in those roles and it would work out just the same and while I might be one of the few people that actually enjoyed Muppets Now that doesn't mean that I want to see those new characters in everything that The Muppets do as they very easily could have had Clifford who hosted Muppets Tonight or even Deise from the 2015 version of The Muppets for example come in and play the roles that both Joe and Beverly play in this special as while those characters would have been very deep cut characters there also characters that alot more people would know as Muppets Now barely got any views and so not alot of people are going to know about those characters despite the fact that those characters in this special were alot more funnier then they were in that show just due to the roles that they played on the show itself with it feeling like that those characters were only included because of the fact that Disney wanted to make sure that the special had characters that only kids would know and not really for them to have any deep cut kind of characters appearing in the special.

This special dies also do something that really doesn't work for the special in that instead of pairing up Gonzo with Rizzo they instead pair him up with Pepe which granted there was a reason for this as Disney not The Muppet Studios but Disney fired Rizzo and Kermit actor Steve Whitmire all because of the fact that he dared to fight to keep Kermit in character during the production of the 2015 The Muppets TV Series. With this being the first time since Muppets From Space that Gonzo plays a leading role in any Muppets productions as he is usually more of a recurring character and while it was nice to see him taking the leading role in a Muppets production again it's his pairing with Pepe that doesn't really work as with Rizzo Gonzo could be more of the funny man of the duo with Rizzo acting more of the straight man of the two thus giving the duo someone to bounce off of when something crazy needs to happen but here with Pepe they are both being the funny man and the straight man with neither character committing fully to either role as both characters had previously been established being more of the funny man in whatever duo they were apart of and so having them team up doesn't really work as they both need someone who can be that straight man to bounce off of and while both character do indeed have the potential to work well together that would mean having to completely change alot of who those characters are just to make it work when it would be much more better to have had have another Muppet who is usually the straight man be the third man in this duo like for example both of them would have worked really well with some one like Rowlf or Scooter.   

To give this special a bit more credit they do try infuse the special with as much horror as they possibly could do. Be it by having Ghosts and skeletons appearing in the special but perhaps the best example of this is the fact that they have the character of The Bride in this special and not only that we get to see her openly try to kill Pepe several times during all of their scenes together which is something that you just wouldn't get to see in a lot of Disney horror films or specials as they'd be more focused on trying to remain as kid friendly as possible and while of course we the audience know full well that she's never going to kill him it's the fact that she trys to do that makes it worth while but in saying that tho he storyline with Pepe gets introduced far to late into the special and so it does come across as the makers of the special trying to force in what might be another Haunted Mansion character just for the sake of doing it where as having the characters confront there fears head on was a more solid plot for them to have in this special and feels more true to the ride and while it was nice seeing Taraji P. Henson play the role in this special it would have been more funny if they got Uma Thurman to play the role but then instead of having her act straight up evil like she does in this special she has like a yellow stripe down her wedding dress and is trying to kill Pepe because she thinks his name is Bill and just make there whole plot line one big Kill Bill joke as that storyline is more of a B plot anyway it wouldn't have hurt to make it more comical and just go nuts with it but in saying that tho the Bride's plan in this special does work for the more horror based tone that the special was going for with her trying to kill Pepe and have him join the ghosts of all of her other dead husbands which is perfect horror plot and to be fair it is something that does work for this special as well.

Now then this special has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly forty nine minuets and fifty one seconds. Which is a perfectly solid running time for a kid friendly horror special like this one to have with this special even having the right amount of plot there to cover that amount of running time and while the special doesn't fully use it's running time all that wisely as it does have to squeeze in a few songs and therefor it doesn't really have the time that it really did need to further develop it's plot for something that was never really mean to by adults and was clearly made with kids in mind it is something that does work really well even taking into account that this special is pretty much just there just to promote both The Muppets and the Haunted Mansion ride and therefor it really didn't need to have a plot that that's well developed in the first place as all it needed was the basic set up which in this case was just simple enough to make the whole special work in the first place and while Gonzo does get some character development as he gets over his fear of never being able to see his friends which is something that does no doubt stem from the 2011 The Muppets movie it still would have been to see Pepe get some character development as even tho he's a popular character so much so that just last year he officially became a meme he gets nothing in terms of character and still remains the exact same character coming out of the special that he was going into the special when it would have helped the character out a little bit if he was given some form of character development as that could mean that more people would get to like him as a character but I really will admit that this special really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special 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 special was in all honesty not that bad. As we do get to see alot of the typical mayhem that these characters are known for including a ghost version of Fozzie getting heckled by ghost versions of Statler and Waldorf but at the same time tho this special really isn't all that funny with it being made clear that the makers of this special put alot more effort into the films horror aspect then they did it's comedy when the balance really should have been more fifty fifty with this being a Muppets production afterall people would expect it to have alot of jokes in it something which doesn't happen in this special as the comedy does at several points take the backseat to the specials horror element that's not to say that there isn't some funny moments to be found in this special it's just that there alot more hard to find with the best joke in this special being one of the specials more cutest moments as we get to see Kermit dressed as Miss Piggy and Miss Piggy dressed as Kermit something that was Piggy's own idea and seeing Kermit just absolutely hate his costume let alone the poorly written sketch that Piggy has written purely to feed her own ego is a good solid joke and is a good example of just how funny that this specials can be alot of the time it's just that the special has alot more unfunny jokes then it does have some actually funny jokes in it in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall it's clear as day that this project is the better Gonzo lead Muppets project as it's miles better then Muppets From Space but with that being said tho this is a special that could have been alot more better then what it was as the special does have alot of things wrong with it and that keep it from being one of the more memorable Muppets projects but it is still a really enjoyable special all the same 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 special in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very special really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7.5 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 Disney fandom wiki page and the official The Muppets fandom wiki page. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very special that I used in this very review being the really great the official The Muppets fandom wiki page really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very special with alot of them really being better quality then what you'd really think of and really all of the images are really of course up and really on the official The Muppets fandom wiki page are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.