History YMMV / TheMuppetShow

* MemeticMutation: A couple.
** Mahna Mahna!
** "You've never heard of the banana sketch?"[[note]]The Sandy Duncan episode has a recurring joke about an unseen [[NoodleIncident "banana sketch"]]. Everyone (including the guest) thinks it's hilarious, except for Kermit because he's the only one who hasn't heard it.[[/note]]
** "Did somebody say boom/bomb/bang?"[[note]]Crazy Harry's shtick[[/note]]

** Hugga Wugga.

** [[SelfDemonstratingArticle Elsu, zee Svedeesh Cheff's ect prubebly qooeleeffies, ispeceeelly vhee perffurmeeng mooseecel noombers oor oozeer uncunfenshunel ects. Børk børk børk!]]

* UglyCute: It's most apparent in the "monster" characters--''Sesame Street'' monsters such as Grover, Telly or Elmo tend to be more traditionally cute, but the monsters of ''The Muppet Show'' and related productions are usually designed to look more grotesque, and are still pretty adorable--but it's a widespread trope for the Muppets in general. In fact, any Muppet not specifically designed to be cute is likely to be Ugly Cute in some way.
** Also, Animal and Gonzo.

* ValuesDissonance: Due to the show being nearly half a century old, the Disney+ release prefaces eighteen episodes with a disclaimer warning viewers of outdated material that can be considered offensive. Gags involving ethnic stereotypes (particularly in the Creator/SpikeMilligan episode) and sexist comments (primarily targeted at Piggy), as well as a few other questionable things (like the numerous Confederate flags seen in the Music/JohnnyCash episode) can be found throughout the show's run. Thankfully, these aberrations are rare enough on the show that no episode or segment was deemed necessary to be cut (the Chris Langham episode was withheld due to unspeakably horrifying things he did ''decades'' after the show ended). Given its age, the jokes have held up admirably well for the most part; viewers should be prepared for the occasional unpleasant gag.

** Similarly, Scooter's {{Nepotism}} in early episodes is kept fairly ambiguous, with it usually unclear if he's tacitly blackmailing the staff into hiring him, or genuinely just totally niave to their fear of his uncle (their boss).

** Similarly, the cast's rendition of "[[WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}} When You Wish Upon a Star]]" as the finale of the ''Star Wars'' episode. Besides the obvious, Disney now owns the Muppets, Creator/{{Lucasfilm}} AND [[Creator/TwentiethCenturyStudios Fox]]! It's also oddly reminiscent of Disney's newest VanityPlate, which was displayed at the beginning of [[Film/TheMuppets the 2011 film]], and ''Film/MuppetsMostWanted''.

** The technique Henson and Oz used to operate the Swedish Chef became a game on ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway'' called "Helping Hands", letting the audience see firsthand just how much dexterity was required.

** The Newsman.

* ValuesDissonance: Due to the show being nearly half a century old, the digital release prefaces eighteen episodes with a disclaimer warning viewers of outdated material that can be considered offensive. Gags involving ethnic stereotypes (particularly in the Creator/SpikeMilligan episode) and sexist comments (primarily targeted at Piggy), as well as a few other questionable things (like the numerous Confederate flags seen in the Music/JohnnyCash episode) can be found throughout the show's run. Thankfully, these aberrations are rare enough on the show that no episode or segment was deemed necessary to be cut (the Chris Langham episode was withheld due to unspeakably horrifying things he did ''decades'' after the show ended). Given its age, the jokes have held up admirably well for the most part; viewers should be prepared for the occasional unpleasant gag.

* CommonKnowledge: The Disney+ release got a ton of accusations of "cancelling" the numerous episodes featuring bits that are now considered to fall into ValuesDissonance. In fact, while there were several edits to the episodes, they're all due to songs that Disney (yes, even ''Disney''!) is unable to secure the rights to. The only change to the offensive material is putting an unskippable disclaimer at the start.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: The show was Henson's attempt to prove that his craft could be primetime adult entertainment, not just early morning children's programming. ''The Muppet Show'' was initially viewed as a raunchy, all ages show but time has caused many of the skits to seem less mature than when they first premiered and the Muppets themselves have become much more skewed towards younger audiences. As such, reruns and home video releases pretty much market the program as a children's show.

** [[{{Dracolich}} Uncle]] [[TokenEvilTeammate Deadly]]. He didn't appear much (only in a few episodes, musical numbers and the "Muppet Melodrama" sketches), but he became somewhat popular, especially after his major role in [[Film/{{TheMuppets}} the 2011 film]].

* FirstInstallmentWins: While it's certainly not the first Muppet TV show, it is the first one to feature the current Muppet ensemble cast we know and love now and as far as shows featuring them go, it's undeniably the most beloved and successful out of the bunch, with later series such as ''Series/MuppetsTonight'' and ''Series/TheMuppets'' being less successful and having a more divisive reception.

** The ColdOpen of the Music/{{Liberace}} episode showcases a living piano with razor sharp teeth. One can imagine that a ''Videogame/SuperMario64'' designer saw that episode, and realized the piano's potential as an [[NightmareFuel invincible enemy that would traumatize children who played it for life]].

* UncannyValley:
** Piggy's season 1 design is just ever-so slightly off from her later appearances that it can be... unsettling to look at.
** Wayne and Wanda. They're supposed to look like soap opera stars, which makes them stand out from the more cartoony characters who look adorable precisely because they don't have lifelike features.

* BizarroEpisode: As much as the show's general weirdness would seem to defy the concept, there's still a few that stand out:

* CommonKnowledge: The Disney+ release got a ton of accusations of "cancelling" the numerous episodes featuring bits that are now considered to fall into ValuesDissonance. In fact, while there were several edits to the episodes, they were all due to songs that Disney couldn't secure the rights to. The only change to the offensive material is putting an unskippable disclaimer at the start.

** [[http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Original_songs_from_The_Muppet_Show Only 13 songs, including the theme, were written specifically for the show]], and while plenty of the other songs the Muppets did were already popular (Music/TheVillagePeople's "In the Navy", or "I Whistle a Happy Tune" from ''Theatre/TheKingAndI''), a great deal more were from obscure vaudeville and novelty records, leading to this.
** As mentioned above, "Mahna Mahna", first written and recorded by Piero Umiliani for the {{Mondo}} documentary ''Svezia, inferno e paradiso'' (Sweden: ''Heaven and Hell'') in 1968. While the original wasn't as obscure as it's sometimes made out to have been (Umiliani's version got a lot of radio airplay in 1969 and reached #55 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, getting into the Top 40 on the competing ''Record World'' chart), the Muppet version is much more famous now. In fact, the ''Muppet Show'' version covers up earlier versions that Henson did on ''Series/SesameStreet'' and ''Series/TheEdSullivanShow''. And ''The Muppet Show'' led to RevivalByCommercialization for Umiliani's version, which made the UK Top 10 in 1977.

*** In one sketch, he tries to make frog legs... from Robin the frog, who screams out in help before Kermit comes in to stop the sketch.
** Miss Piggy fighting and attacking guests, particularly if they're women, in jealous rages. Including one instance where she actually tries ''biting'' a guest. Now imagine if that were a real person doing that. But since it's a Muppet attacking a person...
** There are a few bits where Wayne and Wanda sing. (Wayne and Wanda can be counted for a lot of these moments.)
*** They're singing "Goody Goody," and Wayne punches Wanda in the face after singing about someone who knocks you off your feet. The curtains close as she stands up and gives him a murderous DeathGlare.

*** The Vincent Price episode has them singing "Bewitched, Bewildered and Bothered". Wanda actually starts out well with the song...only for smoke to appear and replace her with a monster. Wayne's reaction, to say, "Bewildered and bothered," indicates that it wasn't part of the show.
** "You Are Always Welcome At Our House" boasts this attitude when Marisa Berenson dresses as a little girl and romps around a house set. She explains how she and her family treated guests coming for various reasons by inviting them inside, knocking them out, and tying them up in various rooms all around the home. This should be NightmareFuel and you can hear the audience giving nervous laughter, but then the kidnapped victims sing along while tied up! Then it goes straight back to ridiculous, especially when viewers realize Creator/ShelSilverstein wrote the song.

** For a Muppet that only appears once in a blue moon, Crazy Harry is real popular with the fans.

* FirstInstallmentWins: While it's certainly not the first Muppet TV show, it is the first one to feature the current Muppet ensemble cast we know and love now and as far as shows featuring them go, it's undeniably the most beloved and successful out of the bunch, with later TV shows such as ''Series/MuppetsTonight'' and ''Series/TheMuppets'' being less successful and having a more divisive reception.
* FridgeBrilliance: Creator/DannyKaye and Miss Piggy get into a huge argument right before they're supposed to perform "Cheek to Cheek", with the result that for most of the performance they're singing this romantic song to each other with forced smiles and clenched teeth. What makes it brilliant is that "Cheek to Cheek" was originally a Creator/FredAstaire/Creator/GingerRogers song, and the sketch not only plays off that pairing visually (with Kaye as the suave older man and Piggy as the younger blonde), it ALSO evokes the [[CommonKnowledge popular belief]] that Astaire and Rogers supposedly hated each other off camera, despite their great screen chemistry.

** While Kermit and the rest of Jim Henson's non-''Series/SesameStreet'' Muppets were successful early on, it was this show (Alongside ''Film/TheMuppetMovie'' later on) that would completely solidify Kermit and the Muppets into the beloved and iconic household names they are now.

** In the Music/AliceCooper episode, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew enlarges a virus to make it easier to study (Beaker, of course, gets overwhelmed by it.) The virus is specifically mentioned to be a streptococcus virus. Henson would die of a streptococcus infection a decade later.

** A real-life example. When the series first started, it was a real struggle to obtain guests. The prospect of appearing with "puppets" seemed embarassing, so to get guests, personal favors had to be made/called in. Rudolf Nureyev's Season 2 appearance reversed this. Now, it's hard to believe that any actor wouldn't want to be involved in a Muppet production, considering it's a clear sign you've hit the big time as a star to be invited to clown around with Kermit and the gang.

** Similarly, the cast's rendition of "[[WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}} When You Wish Upon a Star]]" as the finale of the ''Star Wars'' episode. Besides the obvious, Disney now owns the Muppets, Creator/{{Lucasfilm}}, AND Creator/TwentiethCenturyStudios! It's also oddly reminiscent of Disney's newest VanityPlate, which was displayed at the beginning of [[Film/TheMuppets the 2011 film]], and ''Film/MuppetsMostWanted''.

** The season 2 episode with Creator/RichLittle features the "Glow-worm" sketch, which was performed on several variety shows with Kermit[[note]](see NightmareFuel/TheMuppetShow for more information)[[/note]], only with Lenny the Lizard replacing him. Several episodes later, in the one hosted by Creator/SteveMartin, Lenny tries to replace Kermit again, this time by auditioning to be the new host of the show.

* MagnificentBastard: "[[Recap/TheMuppetShowS4E14 Liza Minnelli]]": [[CausticCritic The unnamed critics]], played by Statler and Waldorf, are a duo who absolutely despise the shows the nameless theatre troupe preform. Seeking to end their shows for good, they go about stealthily and systematically murdering the cast members with guns, knives, and poison. The two are only foiled when Liza O'Shaughnessy fakes her death, causing them to reveal themselves since they had no intentions of killing her. When O'Shaughnessy reveals she tricked them and has the two arrested, the critics take their defeat well, genuinely applauding her acting skills and even cracking a joke about their own imprisonment.

** "You've never heard of the banana sketch?"[[note]]The Sandy Duncan episode has a recurring joke about an unseen [[NoodleIncident "banana sketch"]]. Everyone (including the guest) thinks it's hilarious, except for Kermit cause he's the only one who hasn't heard of it.[[/note]]

** Mahna Mahna: That one sole skit on the first episode of ''The Muppet Show'' [[note]]Having been performed previously on various variety shows of the 1960s and 1970s, most notably ''Series/TheEdSullivanShow''[[/note]] became so popular, all three characters made appearances on ''Series/MuppetsTonight'', and all the way into ''Film/TheMuppets''!

* RetroactiveRecognition: Creator/CandiceBergen was much more a model than an actress at the time, and likely got onto the show largely due to being the daughter of one of Creator/JimHenson's greatest inspirations, Edgar Bergen (who made it on himself a year later, when it had actually become a prestige gig). Now she's best known as Series/MurphyBrown.
* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: The show was Henson's attempt to prove that his craft could be primetime adult entertainment, not just early morning children's programming. ''The Muppet Show'' was initially viewed as a raunchy, all ages show but time has caused many of the skits to seem less mature than when they first premiered and the Muppets themselves have become much more skewed towards younger audiences. As such, re-runs and home video releases pretty much market the program as a children's show.
* SmurfetteBreakout: Miss Piggy, one of the few female Muppets, was initially only a minor character, but her popularity skyrocketed and she is now probably the most famous of them, along with Kermit.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Let's be honest here. [[MoralGuardians Sam the Eagle]] ''is'' SurroundedByIdiots. It's just kind of easy to ignore him complaining about it because it's so obvious that ''he's'' an idiot, too.
* ToughActToFollow: This show was so well-made and so beloved that future attempts at a regular Muppet variety series (''Series/TheJimHensonHour'', ''Series/MuppetsTonight'', ''Series/TheMuppets'') were all short-lived, with a strong TheyChangedItNowItSucks reaction from the public (and mixed reaction from diehard Muppet fans). ScrewedByTheNetwork (for the last two) was also a factor.

* ValuesDissonance: Due to the show being nearly half a century old, the digital release prefaces eighteen episodes with a disclaimer warning viewers of outdated material that can be considered offensive. Gags involving ethnic stereotypes (particularly in the Creator/SpikeMilligan episode) and sexist cracks (mostly aimed at Piggy), as well as a few other questionable things (like the numerous Confederate flags seen in the Music/JohnnyCash episode) can be found throughout the show's run. Thankfully, these aberrations are rare enough on the show that no episode or segment was deemed necessary to be cut (the Chris Langham episode was withheld due to unspeakably horrifying things he did ''outside'' of the show). Given its age, the show's jokes have held up admirably well for the most part; viewers should just be prepared for the occasional unpleasant gag.

-->'''Statler:''' It says we're ensemble darkhorses here?
-->'''Waldorf:''' Yeah, we don't act ''and'' we're better than the rest of em!
-->'''Both:''' DOOOOOOO-hohohohoho!

* AdaptationDisplacement: Twice over for "Mahna Mahna". Who here knew the song was written for an Italian soft-core "documentary" in the 1960s before Creator/JimHenson decided it would be the perfect material for an early ''Series/SesameStreet'' skit? Even so, the song is more strongly associated with ''The Muppet Show'' than with ''Sesame Street''.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:

** Ms. Piggy fighting and attacking guests, particularly if they're women, in jealous rages. Including one instance where she actually tries ''biting'' a guest. Now imagine if that were a real person doing that. But since it's a Muppet attacking a person...

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Is Professor Honeydew ''really'' as absent-minded as all that, or does he know full well he's hurting people (Beaker especially) and just doesn't care? The fact he often follows his actions with that little giggle isn't in his favor.

* UncannyValley: Piggy's season 1 design is just ever-so slightly off from her later appearances that it can be... unsettling to look at.

* NightmareFuel: [[NightmareFuel/TheMuppetShow Has its own page.]]

* RetroactiveRecognition: Candice Bergen was much more a model than an actress at the time, and likely got onto the show largely due to being the daughter of one of Jim Henson's greatest inspirations, Edgar Bergen (who made it on himself a year later, when it had actually become a prestige gig). Now she's best known as Series/MurphyBrown.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: One can learn a lot about late 1970s pop culture by watching this show. Although the show deserves some sort of award for managing to make the episode with "Mr. Topical Monologue" Bob Hope relatively timeless.
* ValuesDissonance: Due to the show being nearly half a century old, the digital release prefaces eighteen episodes with a disclaimer warning viewers of outdated material that can be considered offensive. Gags involving ethnic stereotypes (particularly in the Spike Milligan episode) and sexist cracks (mostly aimed at Piggy), as well as a few other questionable things (like the numerous Confederate flags seen in the Johnny Cash episode) can be found throughout the show's run. Thankfully, these aberrations are rare enough on the show that no episode or segment was deemed necessary to be cut (the Chris Langham episode was withheld due to unspeakably horrifying things he did ''outside'' of the show). Given its age, the show's jokes have held up admirably well for the most part; viewers should just be prepared for the occasional unpleasant gag.

** The episode hosted by Zero Mostel contains a skit where he recites a poem about his fears, ending with his greatest fear: something for which he himself is only a fear that can be erased by that realization, upon which he vanishes into thin air. Mostel died suddenly before the episode aired, which must have made the scene pretty eerie.

* ToughActToFollow: This show was so well-made and so beloved that future attempts at a regular Muppet variety series (''Series/TheJimHensonHour'', ''Series/MuppetsTonight'', ''Series/TheMuppets'') were all short-lived, with a strong TheyChangedItNowItSucks reaction from the public (and mixed reaction from diehard Muppet fans). ScrewedByTheNetwork (for the last two) were also factors.

* ToughActToFollow: This show was so well-made and so beloved that future attempts at a regular Muppet variety series (''Series/TheJimHensonHour'', ''Series/MuppetsTonight'', ''Series/TheMuppets'') were all short-lived, with a strong TheyChangedItNowItSucks reaction from the public (and mixed reaction from diehard Muppet fans). ScrewedByTheNetwork and Henson's death (for the last two) were also factors.

* AnimationAgeGhetto: [[AvertedTrope Averted]]. ''The Muppet Show'' is the puppet show most famous for catering to adults just as much as children, if not more. This was in fact Henson's entire motivation for creating the show, as he didn't want to be stereotyped as a children's performer thanks to ''Sesame Street''. Despite this, the Muppets tend to dip in and out of this trope in other media.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** The episode hosted by Zero Mostel contains a skit where he recites a poem about his fears, ending with his greatest fear: something for which he himself is only a fear that can be erased by that realization, upon which he vanishes into thin air. Mostel died suddenly before the episode aired, which must have made the scene pretty eerie.
** And then there's the scene in Creator/PeterSellers' episode where Kermit finds him dressed in a bizarre mix of costume pieces in his dressing room. ("I was trying to do Queen Victoria, but I've forgotten what she looked like.") When Kermit responds that it's okay for him to be himself on the Muppet show, Sellers replies, "That would be impossible. There is no me. I do not exist. There used to be a me, but I had it surgically removed." The scene has since been quoted many times as summing up Sellers' view of himself as doomed to be seen [[IAmNotSpock only as his various characters and not his true self]]. In fact, he contributed to the sketch in lieu of the show's usual scene of the guest star out of character backstage, due to his discomfort at being seen out of character.
** One of the show's best moments was Music/HarryBelafonte singing "Turn the World Around" accompanied by Muppets inspired by African masks. The song is upbeat, but it's hard not to cry when you know that Belafonte performed the same song at Henson's memorial. The lead-in to the song—which talks about how life is very brief but we can change the world if we care about each other—only makes things worse.
** In the Music/AliceCooper episode, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew enlarges a virus to make it easier to study (Beaker, of course, gets overwhelmed by it.) The virus is specifically mentioned to be a streptococcus virus. Henson would die of a streptococcus infection a decade later.
** Henson singing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJHVUWwUCeA "Time in a Bottle"]].

* HarsherInHindsight: "NOTHING can stop him [[[Franchise/StarWars Chewbacca]]]!" [[Literature/NewJediOrder Tosi-Karu]]!

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGOuDRViTGw The theme song]], of course! It's an incredibly catchy, jaunty, upbeat, most sensational, inspirational, celebrational and Muppetational big band piece that perfectly sets up the silly nature of the show.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGOuDRViTGw The theme song]], of course!