Shows
MuppetWatch115: Candice Bergen & Carnal KnowledgeMiss Piggy continues to take more of a central role as special guest Candice Bergen inspires her to fight for her rights as a woman and a performer. Then, we discuss her role in Carnal Knowledge, a dissection of the psyche of the male chauvinist pig.
Topics of discussion include whether it’s weird to be able to tell who’s puppeteering Miss Piggy by voice, possibly the weirdest movie to get a sequel of all time and how it could have been salvaged, the time Pauline Kael feuded with the gay community, the secret unaired snuff epis...
2025-04-241h 18MuppetWatch114: Sandy Duncan & Star Spangled GirlToday’s episode is very special - not just because our guest is three-time Tony nominee Sandy Duncan, and we have additional jokes by comedy legend Gags Beasley, but also because we’re joined by friend of the pod and fellow Beasley superfan Joe Blevins to discuss Duncan and the immortal banana sketch, followed by her second starring role on film in the baffling but never boring Star-Spangled Girl.
Topics of discussion include gelatin molds on television walls, when a pie in the face can be painful, square views of the counterculture, just why Gags Beasley never made...
2025-04-102h 22MuppetWatch2025 Oscars Best Original Song SpecialAfter a month-long hiatus, MuppetWatch is back, sort of, with a special all about the movies and songs nominated at the 2025 Academy Awards, days after people stopped caring! We apologize for reminding you of Emilia Perez's existence, are befuddled by The Six Triple Eight, reminisce about the career of a future Muppet Show guest with Elton John: Never Too Late, and cry about Sing Sing.
2025-03-252h 02MuppetWatch113: Bruce Forsyth & Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?Fozzie Bear vows to finally fight back against Statler and Waldorf, be it by heckling them back or by rubber chicken-based physical violence. Luckily for him, he has an ally in special guest Bruce Forsyth, jack of all trades equally at home on the stage and the television screen. Then we watch Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?, a movie that is as uncomfortable as its title is unwieldy.
Topics of discussion include: Snurf evolution, Cordening, our continuing exasperation with At the Dance, Muppet trafficking, double standards of Muppet nudity, the degree...
2025-03-041h 03MuppetWatch112: Peter Ustinov & Grendel Grendel GrendelToday’s special guest is renaissance man of the world Peter Ustinov, whose very presence puts the show in a tizzy and forces Kermit to confront his self-esteem issues! Then, we discuss another work about a green guy with problems - Grendel Grendel Grendel, the 1981 animated Australian adaptation of John Gardner’s existentialist novel!
Topics of discussion include how scripted Muppet Labs is, the Newsflash Anchor’s skills as an actor, what you could get away with in movies for children in the 1980s, how to adapt existentialist angst in ways that are emotionally comprehensible to children, and ne...
2025-02-1756 minMuppetWatch111: Lena Horne & Cabin in the SkyWe’re back from our hiatus! Joined by singer and actress Lena Horne, Miss Piggy and Kermit continue their push-and-pull, and Gonzo struggles to be understood. Then we discuss the 1943 film Cabin in the Sky, a movie that is… firmly of its time.
Topics of discussion include acting through singing, the types of tabloids Fozzie reads, Muppets-Looney Tunes thematic overlap, yet more Bowfingering, whether or not the Swedish Chef washes his hands, and the Cotton Club.
KTLA-5 March 22, 1970 Harry & Lena Special
Lena Horne - Ain’t It the Truth - Cabin in the Sky 1943
Lena Horne - Stor...
2025-01-291h 11MuppetWatch110: Harvey Korman & Huckleberry FinnToday we’ve got a guest who doesn’t sing at all on The Muppet Show but sings quite a bit in his movie. The star is four time Emmy winner Harvey Korman, and the movie is 1974’s Huckleberry Finn, from the unlikely team of the Sherman Brothers and a two-time Planet of the Apes director! Topics of discussion include Fozzie Bear’s finest hour, the still confounding talking houses, the equally confounding Muppet Show production order, sex versus violence on the nineteenth century stage, different pronunciations of Maurice, and con artists pretending to be Romanovs or Bourbons.
Furthe...
2024-10-181h 15MuppetWatch109: Charles Aznavour & Shoot the Piano PlayerToday on MuppetWatch, we do Sam the Eagle proud and get cultured, because our special guest is French national treasure and entertainer of the century Charles Aznavour, and our film is French New Wave legend Francois Truffaut’s second ever film, Shoot the Piano Player.
Topics of discussion include whether or not Hilda is accessory to attempted murder, how drag is approached in a maybe-not-great way, the redemption of Scooter, Jack Klugman’s vocal prowess, and parallels to Hitchcock and Hamlet.
Further resources:
Charles Aznavour dies, age 94 by Tony Cross
Charles Aznavour: ‘I wanted to bre...
2024-10-101h 11MuppetWatch108: Paul Williams & Phantom of the Paradise (with Dallin Agatone)Thursday… today is Thursday… and this is a momentous occasion in Muppet history: their first collaboration with legendary songwriter, singer, and actor Paul Williams! Then, we and our returning guest host Dallin discuss his role in the initially-misunderstood tragedy-slash-funhouse mirror history of popular music, Phantom of the Paradise.
Topics of discussion include songs about love songs, Bunsen’s odd position among the Muppets, how terrifying it would be to work at Rainforest Cafe while high, who the ultimate Muppets antagonist should be, Rick Baker’s post-Planet of the Apes filmography, and the unfortunate ongoing relevance of movies about ex...
2024-09-261h 58MuppetWatch107: Florence Henderson & The Love BoatMiss Piggy is one of the Muppets’ breakout stars, so it’s surprising but welcome that this is the first episode to center around her, her love for Kermit, and her struggles in a world that only sees her as a piece of meat. Then we move on to the 1970s television classic that made special guest Florence Henderson a star and is still airing in reruns to this day: The Love Boat. Obviously. What else could we be talking about?
Topics of discussion include our new favorite Muppet Wiki hyperlink, which Star Trek ship Kermit and Miss...
2024-09-191h 03MuppetWatch106: Jim Nabors & Cannonball Run IILive from the Benny Vandergast Memorial Theatre, the Muppets are joined by TV’s Gomer Pyle, Jim Nabors, and Scooter, a new recruit, except for the episodes he already appeared in. Then we watch Cannonball Run II, a movie that we didn’t hate quite as much as it hates us. Jim Nabors, we apologize.
Topics of discussion include new Muppet lore, the career trajectory of Rowlf, the erosion of the all-around performer, why you shouldn’t always let your friendships direct your career choices, the possible Bowfingering of Frank Sinatra, and an accidentally-relevant anecdote about the making...
2024-09-111h 15MuppetWatch105: Rita Moreno & West Side StoryIn the first episode of The Muppet Show that we would call great, we're joined by jacqueline-of-all-trades and third-ever EGOT Rita Moreno. Then, we discuss West Side Story, which looms large over Moreno's career - but due to an entirely unplanned mixup, one of us watched the 1961 film and the other watched the 2021 film.
Topics of discussion include whether Miss Piggy's competitiveness is solely gender-based, whether Marvin Suggs is too sadistic, the source of the EGOT acronym, and how a remake can have a point.
Further resources:
The Electric Company - Director’s Sketch...
2024-09-041h 18MuppetWatch104: Ruth Buzzi & Freaky FridayToday’s special guest is Laugh-In favorite Ruth Buzzi, but will she and the Muppets be able to withstand the terror of MechaKermit? Then we watch the 1976 film Freaky Friday, which is much stranger than either of us expected. The title probably should have warned us.
Topics of discussion include a plethora of recurring sketches that feel like filler, frustrated housewives in popular culture, John Astin’s unfortunate resemblance to William F. Buckley, and droopy basset hounds.
Further resources:
Can’t Take My Eyes Off You - 10 Things I Hate About You
Can’t Take My...
2024-08-281h 07MuppetWatch103: Joel Grey & Cabaret (with Dallin Agatone)Today on MuppetWatch, the podcast is joined by friend and filmmaker Dallin Agatone to discuss Tony and Oscar winner Joel Grey! Then we discuss the film that won Grey his Oscar, Cabaret, and find our opinions split.
Topics of discussion include waiters at the Hotel for Dogs, the personality shift of Sam Eagle, being an underdog versus just being pitiful, cutting edge 70s video technology, and how literally we are meant to take the Kit Kat Klub as representative of Weimar Germany.
Further resources:
Broadway Legend Joel Grey Opens Up About His Sexuality by...
2024-08-131h 32MuppetWatch102: Connie Stevens & Rock-A-Bye BabyTonight on MuppetWatch, our special guest is singer-actress Connie Stevens, and the show undergoes more growing pains. Then we take a trip back to 1958, with the Frank Tashlin-directed Jerry Lewis-starring semi-remake of The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek, Rock-A-Bye Baby.
Topics of discussion include Muppet skin versus fur, the Electric Mayhem still having yet to perform as a group, unfortunate color schemes for evening gowns, the FTA tour, and how much emotional suffering for Fozzie Bear is too much emotional suffering?
Further resources:
Baywatching: “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”
Connie Stevens - Official...
2024-08-051h 12MuppetWatch101: Juliet Prowse & G.I. BluesTonight on MuppetWatch, we’re joined by dancer Juliet Prowse in the first episode of The Muppet Show produced and all of its awkward growing pains. Then, we watch G.I. Blues (1960), where Prowse plays love interest to Elvis Presley in his first film out of the army.
Topics of discussion include Space Mutiny-esque Elvis names, the troubling implications of a Muppet version of yourself, StarKid musicals that haven’t aged well, the career of Arnold Drake, and At the Dance: Yea or Nay?
Further resources:
Championship Ballroom Dancing (1987)
Circus of the Stars (1987)
Dancer-Actress Juli...
2024-07-291h 05MuppetWatchMuppetWatch 001: Mia FarrowOn this very special pilot episode of MuppetWatch, we cover The Muppets Valentine Show (1974) with special guest Mia Farrow, and The Muppet Show: and Violence (1975), with not much , a decent amount of violence, and no humans. Then, we discuss Rosemary's Baby, the film that made Mia Farrow a star.
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