When Valerie Harper shows up unexpectedly, she begs Kermit to let her be on the show. Kermit agrees, but Statler, smitten with her beauty, decides to go backstage and meet her. Since Kermit won't let him go up to her dressing room, he sits backstage to wait for her—but the African berry bush he's brought for her threatens to overwhelm the backstage when George waters it.
Songs and Sketches
- "Broadway Baby", performed by Valerie
- The Swedish Chef: Japanese Cake
- Muppet Newsflash: Man turns into a rug.
- Rowlf's Poetry Corner: "The Butterfly"
- At The Dance
- UK Spot: "Tit Willow", performed by Rowlf and Sam
- "Searchin'", performed by Floyd and two Whatnot Muppets
- "On A Clear Day (You Can See Forever)", performed by Wayne and Wanda
- Muppet Newsflash: Blank paper.
- "Nobody Does It Like Me", performed by Valerie and the Clodhoppers
This episode has examples of:
- Ambiguous Syntax: Statler and Waldorf both want to meet Valerie, so they agree to flip for it. Waldorf flips a coin, while Statler does a backflip and falls on the floor. Waldorf agrees that Statler wins.
- Anthropomorphic Food: The Swedish Chef decorates a cake. When he's about to cut the cake, it protests in mock Japanese. The Chef uses a dictionary to translate it into mock Swedish.
- Attack of the Killer Whatever: The African berry bush. As Statler puts it when George waters it the first time, "It will grow and grow and eat everything in sight!" The backstage area winds up becoming a jungle, with the plant grabbing people in its tendrils.[Kermit, wearing a pith helmet, fights his way over to the intercom.]
Kermit: Onstage for the next sketch, please.
Fozzie: [entering] Uh, Kermit?
Kermit: What?
Fozzie: Kermit, I cannot do my monologue.
Kermit: How come?
[Fozzie shows him a large, chewed-up card.]
Fozzie: Because the tree ate my cue cards. - Awkward Poetry Reading: The ending of Rowlf's poem offends a giant butterfly, which catches Rowlf in a huge butterfly net and drags him offstage.
- Batter Up!: Swedish Chef gets into an argument with the talking cake he's made, and eventually gets fed up and brings down a baseball bat (or "cakensmoosher", if you will) on it.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Lampshaded by Statler when the African berry bush has turned the backstage area into a jungle.Kermit: Statler!
Statler: Hmmm?
Kermit: One of these days, I'm gonna get you for this.
Statler: Well, you could have avoided all this if you had let me meet Miss Harper when I asked. - The Determinator: When Valerie asks to do the opening number...Kermit: Oh, well, we had planned to open the show with Bertha Beasley and her Galloping Geese.
Valerie: Yes.
Kermit: But actually, uh, Bertha isn't here yet, and the show's about to start.
Valerie: She won't be here, Kermit.
Kermit: Uh... what?
Valerie: I scotch-taped a bushel of birdseed to her body. Even as we speak, geese are pecking her into oblivion.
Kermit: Uh... wow, you are some determined lady. - Have a Gay Old Time: Rowlf plays and sings a song from The Mikado and convinces Sam to play the part of the bird... after all, Rowlf claims, since it's light opera, it's cultural. The song, called "Tit Willow", is about a "dicky-bird" that sorrowfully sings before drowning himself in a river.Sam: Why are they laughing?
- Heads or Tails?: Parodied. As Statler and Waldorf argue over which of them gets to go backstage to meet Valerie, Statler decides they'll flip for her. So he flips himself. Off the balcony.Waldorf: You win.
- Ironic Name: For the closing number, Valerie performs "Nobody Does It Like Me", a song-and-dance routine with a chorus line of fuzzy blue creatures called the Clodhoppers. Despite the fact that these Muppets are called "Clodhoppers", it's Valerie who steps on toes and keeps dancing in the wrong direction.
- Literal-Minded: George the Janitor proves to be this when he overhears Kermit talking to Statler.[Statler's African berry bush has taken over the entire backstage area.]
Kermit: Statler! You gotta do something about this crazy plant of yours!
Statler: Now, hold it right there. I know my rights. Section three, paragraph four, Theatergoer's Manual. "Any member of the audience has the right to..."
Kermit: Oh, don't give me that hogwash!
[George enters, carrying a bucket.]
George: What did you say?
Kermit: I said, "Don't give me that hogwash."
George: Oh, all right. I was gonna wash the hogs, but if you don't want the hogwash, I'll just dump it here. [Pours the contents of the bucket on Statler's plant.]
Kermit: No, no, not there!
[Gonzo, Scooter, and Wanda run in panic as the plant starts to grow even bigger.] - Mass "Oh, Crap!": The other Muppets, when George dumps a bucket on the African berry bush.Gonzo: Help! Bush running amok! Bush running amok!
- May–December Romance: Statler wants to go out with Valerie, who's much younger than he is.
- Musicalis Interruptus: Wayne and Wanda's rendition of "On A Clear Day (You Can See Forever)" is interrupted by a factory spewing smoke.
- Shout-Out: Valerie auditions for the show by singing "Broadway Baby," dressing as Ethel Merman, then as Mae West, and then as Marilyn Monroe.Kermit: Oh, that was great! You were just wonderful, Valerie! I tell you, you're going out on that stage a star, but you're gonna be coming back a chorus girl!
Valerie: ...I'm not sure that's what I had in mind.
- [Waldorf is hanging from the balcony.]
Waldorf: [chuckles] I was practicing my flip. HELP!!!
