The Muppet Show Season 1 Episode 6

Paul Williams

The Paul Williams episode was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy-Variety or Music Series. This marks the beginning of Paul Williams' collaborations with the Muppets. He would later write the music for "Emmett Otter's Jug-band Christmas," "The Muppet Movie" (and provides a cameo), and "The Muppet Christmas Carol". Twenty-five years later, Paul would be the special guest star at the Muppets' first fan convention, MuppetFest, where he participated in a panel discussion and played a special grand finale medley during a live performance of "The Muppet Show". Fran Brill, the main female Muppeteer at the time, makes her Muppet Show debut in this, her first of only two episodes. Dr. Bunsen Honeydew's design was reportedly based on Sir Lew Grade's appearance. During the first season of The Muppet Show, Bunsen would be working alone in the lab. His assistant Beaker will debut in Season Two. Mary Louise must love frogs! She'll sing with them again in the Sandy Duncan and Steve Martin episodes. Having been mercilessly heckled by Statler and Waldorf in his monologues, the writers start to experiment with Fozzie's comedy spot, sensing it may not be working. Last week, Fozzie did impressions and this week he does a duo scene with Scooter. With a few exceptions, the rest of Fozzie's monologues this year will follow their standard format but Fozzie will also start to be used more in sketches and backstage plots in order to salvage the character. In later seasons, Floyd and Janice would become a couple, but in the show's first season, Janice would often be paired with Zoot! In this episode, they appear together in "At the Dance" and "Rowlf's Poetry Corner." Especially in these early episodes, Zoot is featured quite a bit, perhaps due to Jerry Nelson's fleeting availability as Floyd. In later seasons, Zoot would become more mellow and quiet since Dave Goelz tended to agonize over the delivery of Zoot's lines. He saw Zoot as someone who best expresses himself through the saxophone. The final number incorporates a chorus of Muppets gathering around the guest as he sings, providing backup. This would typically be done throughout the show's run and often allow some of the show's "non-performers" like Hilda the costume lady and George the janitor opportunities to come onstage.