Honolulu Weekly

There is a T-shirt that has gained popularity over the last few years that reads, ‘I appreciate the Muppets on a much deeper level than you.’ While I’m amused by the shirt, I often doubt the wearer, for while they may find something deeper in felt pigs, frogs and whatever Gonzo the great is supposed to be, few have made it a philosophy.

But perhaps they haven’t thought about it enough.

Consider the first skit on season one of The Muppet Show, first broadcast in 1976. A musical number titled ‘Manah Manah,’ a sunglasses-wearing, shaggy-haired lesser-known character called Bip Bippadotta, along with two pink alien bird type things, break into a cover of the Piero Umiliani song. Bip sings the first line of ‘Manah Manah’ to which the alien birds follow with ‘Do-do deedodo.’

Sounds familiar, right?

The chorus ends and Bip breaks into a scat solo, but the birds stop dancing and look over at him in with expressions (well, with as much expression as googly eyes can render anyway) that say, ‘What the hell is this guy doing?’ The monster notices the stares, gets nervous, and then goes back into the song.

‘Manah manah.’

The birds resume dancing.

When the song reaches the end of the stanza, Bip again tries to sing his solo. The birds stop and look at him again, shaking their heads in shame. Bip again notices and resigns singing what’s expected. The birds start to dance again. This continues for a while, and you can tell the monster is getting really tired of singing this insipid song. Now when he says ‘manah manah,’ you can hear the contempt in his voice.

See, Bip represents the individual. The birds on each side represent society as a whole. Bip wants to sing his own song, but it brings about the contempt of society, which wants him to continue doing the same thing. So how does it end?

Bip leaves the theater–and the birds–in the middle of the song.

When I recount that story, and I do so often, I amend the ending to be how I remember it from my childhood: culminating in Bip eating the birds. To this day, no one has corrected me, everyone claiming to remember the same scene. There were other incarnations of the skit, performed on specials and Sesame Street, and I still hold faith that I’m not making up that particular ending.

The Muppet Show, now celebrating the release of the season two DVD set, has several moments like that–deep, vivid and fond memories that may or may not match with the actual episode. What’s wonderful about the skits are the cues you discover as you grow older, such as the realization that Rowlf the piano playing dog is based on Tom Waits, or possibly the other way around. They entertain children without pandering, and they’re enjoyed by adults on a different level than the likes of SpongeBob SquarePants, which simply celebrates childlike innocence and exuberance. The show, which ended its run in 1981 to allow creator Jim Henson to work on other projects such as The Dark Crystal, tuned down the instructional aspects of earlier work on Sesame Street but always carried a finer appreciation for the arts and culture bringing an eclectic mix of entertainers such as Paul Simon, Rudolf Nureyev, Dizzy Gillespie and Johnny Cash to perform next to Sam the Eagle, Fozzie Bear or Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem.

The show, first dismissed by agents as simple children’s television became sought after by larger stars after appearances by Lena Horne and Peter Ustinov in the first season. Song licensing has previously prevented a comprehensive video or DVD release of The Muppet Show episodes, and when the Walt Disney Company) bought the rights to the episodes, they were unable to include all the songs due to issues over royalties, and several were cut from the first release. Season two claims to be complete.

The term ‘raping my childhood’ is bandied about a lot these days with sub-par remakes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers and the like, but with the release of these DVDs, my childhood was totally asking for it. Unfortunately, with this second release, Disney has emptied any emotional attachment. The first DVD set includes a slew of bonus features including pop up trivia, providing great (but horrendously copy edited) factoids about airdates, puppeteers and revealing mistakes. The two-year span between releases made one think we would be treated to more of the same. Instead, we have a short special, some short ‘interviews’ with the Muppets themselves, and a 2002 Weezer video featuring the Muppets. There are no commentaries or trivia this time around, forcing one to fill in scenarios with imagination.

In my case, it’s the thought of Disney executives being eaten by a sunglasses-wearing, shaggy-haired, googly-eyed Muppet.