Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

It’s been quite a long journey, but my parents and I have managed to see all the episodes of ‘The Muppet Show’ on Disney+. We started checking out ‘The Muppet Show’ in 2021, revisiting Seasons 1, 2 and 3 on Disney+ after initially checking them out on DVD. We’ve now seen all of Seasons 4 and 5.

Seasons 4 and 5 weren’t released on DVD in the UK for some reason, but I’m glad my parents and I have been able to see more of ‘The Muppet Show’ on Disney+. Some of the episodes have been very funny and enjoyable, featuring familiar faces as special guest stars that interact with the Muppets. 🙂

I had planned to review Seasons 4 and 5 individually, like I had done with Seasons 1, 2 and 3, but I’ve been busy lately from late 2022 to the present day in 2023, especially with celebrating ‘Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary. So, I’ve decided to share a general summary of how I have found Seasons 4 and 5.

One thing to mention is that not all the episodes from Seasons 4 and 5 are on Disney+. The episode featuring John Denver as a special guest star isn’t there, at least not in the UK. Why it’s not on the UK version of Disney+, I have no idea, but it seems to be something to do with music rights issues. 😐

The rest of Season 4 and most of Season 5 seem to be present though. I enjoyed the episodes featuring some recognisable actors who have been in movies and TV shows that I’ve seen. There were musicians and singers that I recognised in some episodes, particularly ones my Dad knows of. 🙂

There’s Jonathan Winters, who I’ve seen in ‘The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle’ and quite recently heard in two ‘Smurfs’ movies on Netflix. There’s also a ‘Star Wars’-themed episode, featuring Mark Hamill as a guest star. This was all before Disney purchased ‘Star Wars’ in the 2010s.

As well as Mark Hamill, R2-D2, C-3PO and Chewbacca made appearances in the episode. Mark Hamill also played himself as well as Luke Skywalker. I enjoyed the ‘Pigs In Space’ sketches featuring the ‘Star Wars’ characters. It was funny to see Gonzo as a Darth Vader-like character in those sketches. 🙂

Miss Piggy also had a Princess Leia hairdo in the ‘Pigs In Space’ sketches. I’m surprised Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher didn’t appear with Mark Hamill at the episode’s end. 😀 There were also two DC superhero actors in ‘The Muppet Show’. First up, there was ‘Superman’ actor Christopher Reeve. 😀

I greatly enjoyed Christopher Reeve’s episode in ‘The Muppet Show’ and he got to be in a ‘Veterinarians’ Hospital’ sketch with Rowlf, Miss Piggy and Janice. There was also ‘Wonder Woman’ actress Lynda Carter. I have yet to see Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman in her own 1970s TV show. 🙂

I enjoyed her in her ‘Muppet Show’ episode and she’s very good in ‘Sky High’ and ‘Wonder Woman 1984’. Alan Arkin also makes an appearance in one of ‘The Muppet Show’ episodes, having seen him in ‘Edward Scissorhands’. Alan Arkin gets to be funny, especially when he becomes a werewolf monster.

Moving on to Season 5, Gene Kelly appears in the first episode, having enjoyed him in the 1952 film ‘Singin’ in the Rain’. Thankfully, he does sing in the song in his episode, despite attempting not to. 😀 There’s Shirley Bassey, who has sung James Bond songs and has appeared with Morecambe & Wise.

Incidentally, Brooke Shields and Chris Langham’s ‘Muppet Show’ episodes also aren’t to be found on Disney+. Glenda Jackson’s episode with the Muppets is on Disney+ though. She’s another one who’s been with Morecambe & Wise. I enjoyed her being a pirate captain with the Muppets in her episode.

I enjoyed Tony Randall’s episode, especially when Miss Piggy got turned into a statue. Don’t blink! 😀 I also enjoyed Mac Davies’ episode where there were lots of Beakers. There’s also an episode with Marty Feldman as a special guest star and he’s joined by the Cookie Monster from ‘Sesame Street’. 🙂

Ernie, Bert, Count von Count and other ‘Sesame Street’ characters were also in the episode too. 😀 There are also episodes featuring Johnny Cash and Buddy Rich – it was great to see Buddy Rich in a drum battle with Animal. The final ‘Muppet Show’ episode features Roger Moore as a special guest.

It was surreal to see Sir Roger Moore as a guest on ‘The Muppet Show’, especially after seeing him as Simon Templar in ‘The Saint’ and of course James Bond in the movies. It’s fair to say Roger Moore can’t sing when he performs ‘Talk to the Animals’, but then Rex Harrison didn’t sing the song either.

It’s been great to check out ‘The Muppet Show’ on Disney+ from 2021 to 2023. Granted, not all the episodes are on Disney+, but I’m glad I’ve been able to see the majority of them. It’s also been great fun to see Muppets like Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear and Gonzo doing their routine silly antics. 😀

Hopefully, I’ll be getting onto checking out ‘The Muppet Mayhem’ show on Disney+ next.

Thanks for reading!

Bye for now!

Tim 🙂