My review of the DVD release of The Muppet Show Season One.

What I liked:

• The Original Muppet Pitch Reel
• Season 1 Promo Gag Reel
• The inclusion of the UK spots interspersed within the US episodes
• The running count of Miss Piggy’s karate chops when you watch the episodes with “Muppet Morsels” turned on
• The muppet host of the pilot turns out to be the orchestra conductor for the series

What I didn’t like:

• The Original “Muppet Show” Pilot

I love the fact that it was included, but thankfully the show was molded into what we all know and love. Kermit as host, Scooter as the theatre owner’s nephew, more cohesiveness between sketches. The whole thing got much better after the pilot.

Which isn’t to say that the pilot was terrible, it just wasn’t The Muppet Show. It was Henson and company and some muppets, but it wasn’t The Muppet Show.

• No sub-chapters for quicker access to particular sketches within a show

Unfortunately, you’re stuck scanning an entire episode rather than jumping a chapter to the next segment. I hope Season Two has a more robust menu, because there I times when I wanted to get to the next skit instead of the next show, but I had to fast forward instead of just changing chapters, which is easier.

What I’m anticipating/wishing for with Season Two on DVD:

• Better chapter organization allowing users to skip segments within an episode
• Zero Mostel as guest host
• Potentially promos for each episode, instead of (in addition to) a season two gag reel
• A “making of” featurette that shows Muppeteers doing their thing during a show taping

Overall, as a fan of The Muppet Show, I’m really happy that this show is finally getting the kind of DVD treatment it deserves. It’s a truly great show that has that same magical, funny, happy quality it did when I was watching Season Five during it’s first run and all the previous seasons as re-runs (I was born in 1976).

That said, I guess I’m not a big TV on DVD person, because I would have expected multiple chapters per episode. Given the format of The Muppet Show, I think it would be great to skip to my favorite segment by jumping chapter-to-chapter as oppossed to fast forwarding.

But all of my complaints are minor. It’s a great collection in a nice package at a good price. If you’re a Muppet, fan pick it up.

Me, I need to get Fraggle Rock Season One on DVD for review purposes and I need to pre-order Season Two which contains my favorite guest, as noted above, Zero Mostel.

See you next time on The Muppet Show!