I just finished the first disc of season one of The Muppet Show. I hadn’t heard of most of the guests (except Jim Nabors, whom I rather wish I hadn’t heard of), and there was a very 70s air about many of them. Also, there was a lot more singing than I remember, and not all of it silly. I like my comedy with a little more… comedy.That said though, there’s a lot of great stuff here. The bizarre nonsense was just as bizarre and nonsensical as I remember it being. (The Swedish Chef, Manamana, Waldorf and Statler.) In the first 2, they presented their guest stars with Muppet renditions of themselves. Then they stopped for some reason. That’s kind of a shame.
All in all, the appeal here is largely nostalgic (obviously; I am a child of the 70s and 80s). I’m not sure I would enjoy this show tremendously if I were catching it for the first time, but the Muppets are such a substantial part of my subconscious that I can’t help but enjoy them. I really wish they’d come out with DVD box sets of old school Sesame Street.