The joy of "The Muppet Show" was not flashing back to Vaudeville (or, in England, music hall) or even the wonderful weekly guest stars, but the miracle of bits of cloth acting so human. Laughing not at their jokes so much as at their "expressions" (especially their phenominal double-takes) and body language. And actually feeling sad for them or scared for them in tight situations. I think I was more likely to be drawn to them because when I was a kid my companion was not a stuffed animal but a felt hand puppet. We had so many conversations I'd have related well to the Muppets.
Some guest stars were more adept than others at playing against felt. A few were visibly ill at ease. And it depended on your preference. I preferred seeing Petula Clark's cool eyes glaring at the camera than Theresa Brewer's laughing at everything. Danny Kaye appeared to be right at home.
Some guest stars appeared wasted. I mean, they didn't have enough to do or what they were given wasn't worthy of their talents. I suppose it depends on the guest star, though I don't know how much imput they had in the decisions. I'd never have thought of Linda Carter singing "Orange colored sky" but it worked.
The last situation seems to fit the phenominal Peter Sellers. Every guest star had personal back-stage chats as themselves, but that seemed a waste of time with Sellers, who did his "There's no me" shtick. I've heard other actors, like Henry Fonda, say similar things but Sellers made it his gimcrack gimmick. If half the stories about Sellers were true he just didn't want to look too closely in the mirror to see what sort of person stared back at him. If you're a hateful person it doesn't pay you to be introspective.
But though he did a wide range if voices on this episode I never thought Sellers was doing material really worthy of his talents. The "masseuse" routine where he channeled Dr. Strangelove was another waste of time. I enjoyed his "Cigareetes, whusky an' wild, wild women" number but it's not much of a song.
Overall, while I try to catch everything Sellers did, the Muppets make this episode, not the talented guest star. Too bad. He seems like he'd be a natural to act against felt.
Some guest stars were more adept than others at playing against felt. A few were visibly ill at ease. And it depended on your preference. I preferred seeing Petula Clark's cool eyes glaring at the camera than Theresa Brewer's laughing at everything. Danny Kaye appeared to be right at home.
Some guest stars appeared wasted. I mean, they didn't have enough to do or what they were given wasn't worthy of their talents. I suppose it depends on the guest star, though I don't know how much imput they had in the decisions. I'd never have thought of Linda Carter singing "Orange colored sky" but it worked.
The last situation seems to fit the phenominal Peter Sellers. Every guest star had personal back-stage chats as themselves, but that seemed a waste of time with Sellers, who did his "There's no me" shtick. I've heard other actors, like Henry Fonda, say similar things but Sellers made it his gimcrack gimmick. If half the stories about Sellers were true he just didn't want to look too closely in the mirror to see what sort of person stared back at him. If you're a hateful person it doesn't pay you to be introspective.
But though he did a wide range if voices on this episode I never thought Sellers was doing material really worthy of his talents. The "masseuse" routine where he channeled Dr. Strangelove was another waste of time. I enjoyed his "Cigareetes, whusky an' wild, wild women" number but it's not much of a song.
Overall, while I try to catch everything Sellers did, the Muppets make this episode, not the talented guest star. Too bad. He seems like he'd be a natural to act against felt.
