The Muppet Show sticks its toe in the waters of meta-narrative, which encourages Pete to try and get Ben to finalize his grand theory of just what kind of show The Muppet Show actually is. Pete, in turn, works on his Muppet-based philosophy that "Peoples is peoples", much to Ben's repeated chagrin. https://audioboom.com/posts/7988980 Sources and … Continue reading Henson Perspective: Guest-starring Valerie Harper!

Tonight, our panel discusses questions of lasting importance: Do "pig slurs" deserve to be answered with violence? Was Kermit really flirting with our pal Flo? Is calling Florence Henderson that overly familiar and fundamentally disrespectful?  https://audioboom.com/posts/7981531-henson-perspective-guest-starring-florence-henderson Sources and References: As mentioned, there is an alternate version of "Cottleston Pie" than the melody that appears in … Continue reading Henson Perspective: Guest-starring Florence Henderson!

Pete and Ben muse over Peter Ustinov's dated ethnic impressions, "One-World" philosophy, and award nominations, while engaging in their own intractable and tangential debate on the value of the French language. Sacre bleu! https://audioboom.com/posts/7976912 Sources and References: While the character of Turtle Wexler may claim that all famous quotes are either from the Bible or … Continue reading Henson Perspective: Guest-starring Peter Ustinov!

Ben and Pete start down the winding, uncertain path of developing a grand unified theory of whether the Muppet Show is a filmed stage show, a television show within a show, and whether the viewing audience exists in the Muppet Show universe. Oh, and they also review the sketches, guest, etc., etc., per usual. https://audioboom.com/posts/7971616-henson-perspective-guest-starring-lena-horne … Continue reading Henson Perspective: Guest-starring Lena Horne!

Sometimes repeating the same joke over and over makes you go from laughing at it to hating it to laughing at it again. Sometimes it makes you wonder why an episode was nominated for an Emmy. Join Pete and Ben as they lose their patience for short jokes, but stand tall for the performance chops … Continue reading Henson Perspective: Guest-starring Paul Williams!

Ben and Pete experience continuity whiplash as they revisit an episode from earlier in production that doesn't quite mesh in tone or format with the other episodes reviewed so far.  So they break format as well, and plunge straight through the running order, with only a minor detour where Ryu, Ken, and Gonzo each try … Continue reading Henson Perspective: Guest-starring Joel Grey!

Pete and Ben find some giant legs of mutton to chew on, as well as other topics of conversation: namely, whether Scooter's origin is too far from what his character evolves into, what is or isn't actually a joke, and just how good Ruth Buzzi's Twitter feed is. https://audioboom.com/posts/7958556-henson-perspective-guest-starring-ruth-buzzi Sources and References: Pete makes a … Continue reading Henson Perspective: Guest-starring Ruth Buzzi!

Ben and Pete try to figure out what it means to enjoy an episode and yet still feel like the guest-star is a mismatch with the material. And how is that possible when the guest is clearly giving it her all? Come for the central question, stay for diversions into ALF, Love Never Dies, and … Continue reading Henson Perspective: Guest-starring Sandy Duncan!

Pete takes control of the mic and the guest trivia as he and Ben discuss the second US broadcast of The Muppet Show and which segments worked, along with the vicissitudes of lip-syncing, the inherent comedy of an upright piano, and Disney's warning labels. https://audioboom.com/posts/7951018 Sources and References: The use of "Indian Love Call" in … Continue reading Henson Perspective: Guest-starring Jim Nabors!

From the third leg of the unstable milking stool that is The Perspective umbrella of podcasts comes an analysis of the first season of The Muppet Show on this, the occasion of its 45th anniversary. (We were too impatient to wait another five years!) Join Ben and his new co-host Pete for an analysis of … Continue reading Henson Perspective: Guest-starring Rita Moreno!