Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Can you pick the Countries More Populated Than California - Sporcle Games & Trivia

There will be a post coming soon (after Easter!). But in the meantime, take a shot at testing your knowledge of the World's Population. Click the link below to take a fantastic quiz I made!



Can you pick the Countries More Populated Than California - Sporcle Games & Trivia

Friday, March 21, 2014

THE MUPPET SHOW: Every Episode Ranked - The Best Episode of All Time!


THE MUPPET SHOW
EVERY EPISODE RANKED
PART I     PART II     PART III     PART IV
PART V     PART VI     PART VII     PART VIII


AND NOW...
THE BEST EPISODE OF ALL TIME!

1. HARRY BELAFONTE
Season 3, Episode 14 - Fozzie the Writer
Writing is a very hard profession.  It is much harder than most people think it is.  It is difficult even for the most intelligent of minds.  So why the heck does Fozzie Bear think he can be the show's writer and all he needs is a typewriter?!?!?!?  Despite his lacking, Fozzie tries his hand at scripting the show (as its going on!).  And with a guest star like the worldly singer/songwriter Harry Belafonte, he wants to make the show perfect (then maybe he shouldn't be writing it, but I digress!).  Belafonte begins his appearance by singing his most famous tune "The Banana Boat Song (Day-O!)."  It was the first time he sang it on Television and Fozzie worked in his Fozzie Bear-way to make it special.  Watch below as Fozzie and Harry (and other Muppets) try "do this song right" (especially watch Belafonte's reactions to Fozzie!).

The humor in this episode and some of the other numbers are fantastic (including a drum battle between Mr. Belafonte and Animal!).  All of that certainly makes it "Top 10 Worthy," but the episode is sent into the proverbial stratosphere by its finale.  Mr. Belafonte (like Mr. Cleese) wanted to be very much involved in the material he did on the show.  And he wanted to sing a song that he wrote while travelling in Africa.  He played the song for Jim Henson and the Muppet creative team and they were extremely impressed.  Henson himself oversaw the construction of the Muppets used for the number (which are various African Masked Muppets).  The number, entitled "Turn the World Around," is one of the most rousing, inspirational and heartwarming songs ever performed by the Muppets.  And it became a personal favorite of Henson (Belafonte performed the song at Henson's memorial service in 1990).
It is a perfect ending to a perfect episode!

NOW, GO OUT AND SEE MUPPETS MOST WANTED!!!!

THE MUPPET SHOW: Every Episode Ranked - The TOP TEN (Part C)



THE MUPPET SHOW
EVERY EPISODE RANKED
PART I     PART II     PART III     PART IV
PART V     PART VI     PART VII     PART VIII

#'s 3 & 2

3. JULIE ANDREWS
Season 2, Episode 17 - Don't Have a Cow!
She twirled on mountaintops, flew over London with a carpetbag and an umbrella and was the undisputed "fair lady" of the Great White Way.  Julie Andrews was a marvelous guest star for The Muppet Show and her episode is "practically perfect."  Ms. Andrews performs two Rodgers and Hammerstein songs on the show: one from The King and I (with the Muppet monsters) and the other from The Sound of Music (the Musical to which she will forever be associated, below).  In addition to those fantastic numbers, she sings a song to Kermit which she actually wrote!  She also has one of the best "Talk Spots" in the history of the show (it's my brother's favorite!).  During all of this, Kermit is flummoxed to find a live cow backstage (not a Muppet cow and actual cow!).  He enlists Scooter to find out where it came from and figure out what to do with it (and he's not pleased when Scooter's solutions include the Swedish Chef and the Flying Zucchini Brothers!).  And of course, Gonzo falls for the cow!  I won't spoil for you where the cow came from (you do find out!) because its something that has to be seen in the context of the episode (cause its hilarious!).

2. JOHN CLEESE

Season 2, Episode 23 - Stop the Show, I Want to Get Off!
John Cleese is probably one of the funniest people on the planet.  Just watch him in things like A Fish Called Wanda or Fawlty Towers or anything with the Monty Python banner on it.  He is also a very creative and very involved performer; so much so that when he was asked to appear on The Muppet Show, he asked if he could sit in on the writers' meetings and actually work on shaping the episode with them!  And together they came up with (in certainly my brother's opinion, and I pretty much agree) what is the funniest episode in the show's canon.  According to the show's head writer, the late Jerry Juhl, it was Cleese who came up with the concept that he is the guest star who absolutely does NOT want to do the show.  And of course, this concept gave the writers some great leeway and hilarious material.  A major highlight is the "Pigs In Space" sketch where Cleese is "forced" to play a pirate who mistakes the Swinetrek for a ship on the sea.  But the funniest moment (quite possibly the show's funniest moment ever!) is the finale in which...well just watch it below!  Another highlight in the episode is the Great Gonzo's cannonball-catching act (and you can just imagine what that entails!).

Later Today: The Best Episode of All-Time!

Thursday, March 20, 2014

THE MUPPET SHOW: Every Episode Ranked - The TOP TEN (Part B)



THE MUPPET SHOW
EVERY EPISODE RANKED
PART I     PART II     PART III     PART IV
PART V     PART VI     PART VII     PART VIII

#'s 6 - 4

6. DIANA ROSS
Season 4, Episode 24 - What an Audience Wants
When one of the biggest superstars in the world guests on your show, of course the audience will want nothing but that superstar.  The Muppet writers know this and they used it as the primary storyline of the episode starring "Supreme" diva Diana Ross.  The Muppet audience, which is usually apathetic to what the Muppets have to offer (with the exception of Statler & Waldorf!), this time is fairly hostile to the Muppet gang when they are doing anything that has nothing to do with Ms. Ross (they start scoring the acts like Olympic judges!).  Ms. Ross is a hit with the audience singing her songs "Love Hangover," "Last Time I Saw Him" and the anthem "Reach Out and Touch Somebody's Hand" (seen below).  The audience jeers everything else from "Pigs In Space" to a charming rendition of "I Go to Rio" to Fozzie Bear's act (naturally!) to Beaker singing "Feelings" (don't ask, just watch!).

5. ALAN ARKIN

Season 4, Episode 20 - Nowhere to Hyde
Alan Arkin is one of the best character actors of his generation.  He's been in countless films and even has earned an Academy Award (for playing the foul-mouthed grandfather in Little Miss Sunshine!).  His varied character parts have ranged from a frazzled Russian officer to a deranged criminal to a Hollywood producer.  Yet, variety performer is not the first thing people think of when they see Mr. Arkin.  The Muppet writers cleverly play with this by having him accidentally drink Dr. Bunsen Honeydew's Jekyll-Hyde potion (seriously, don't ask!).  It turns him into a horrible, raging monster that violently throws the Muppets around (witness the rendition of "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" below!).  He does manage to get perform one number...one that he composed himself (You didn't know he was a songwriter did you?!?!?).  Also in this episode is a truly awesome rendition of Charlie Daniels' classic "The Devil Went Down to Georgia."

4. CAROL BURNETT

Season 5, Episode 15 - They Shoot Muppets Don't They?
The Muppet writers are on a roll!  When they latch onto the theme, they go all out.  And this episode is no exception (it won the 1981 Emmy for Best Writing of a Variety Series!).   With the Queen of TV Variety Carol Burnett as the guest star, you know it will be funny.  But you never expect a theme like this.  The Great Gonzo apparently talked Kermit into revolving the whole show around a Dance Marathon.  Gonzo is so determined for this marathon to be successful...and his idea of success is everyone falling to the floor lifeless from exhaustion (again, don't ask!).  Of course, Kermit is uneasy with this whole idea and it certainly doesn't sit well with the guest star (especially when she meets the partner Gonzo has chosen for her, below!).  Kermit does try to give her the variety show she was promised, but Gonzo's Dance Marathon invades everything from "Pigs In Space" to Burnett's songs.  It is probably the funniest Dance Marathon ever to occur!

Tomorrow: The TOP THREE!

THE MUPPET SHOW: Every Episode Ranked - The TOP TEN (Part A)



THE MUPPET SHOW
EVERY EPISODE RANKED
PART I     PART II     PART III     PART IV
PART V     PART VI     PART VII     PART VIII

#'s 10 - 7
10. ELTON JOHN
Season 2, Episode 14 - Scooter's Song
First of all, Elton John is one of the greatest pop-rock songwriters of all-time.  His appearance on The Muppet Show is quite possibly the best episode as far as use of Music goes.  He sings four of his biggest hits on the show: "Crocodile Rock" (seen below), "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," "Bennie and the Jets" and "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart" (in which Kiki Dee is replaced by Miss Piggy!).  The only qualm I have about this episode is Sir Elton's acting.  It is just this side of atrocious, but at least he tries (and I have to say, in his many TV appearances as himself over the years since, he has gotten much better!).

9. BERNADETTE PETERS

Season 2, Episode 12 - Just One Person
I have been privileged enough to see Bernadette Peters live on Broadway twice and she was nothing short of phenomenal both times.  On this episode, she sings two absolutely charming songs (one with the Muppet Monsters and the other with Jug Band).  But the biggest highlight of the episode comes thanks to the littlest Muppet, Robin the Frog.  Robin, Kermit's nephew, is frustrated that no one pays attention to him because he is so small.  He decides to run away from home and goes to Ms. Peters to say "Goodbye."  In response, she (with help from some of the other Muppets) sings what has since become one of the most iconic and most touching songs in Muppet history, "Just One Person" (which first appeared in a flop Broadway Musical based on the Peanuts cartoons entitled Snoopy!).  The episode is filled with other great things, but the song (seen below) is so beautiful and powerful that you could read the phone book afterwards and it would still be a great episode.

8. BROOKE SHIELDS

Season 5, Episode 6 - Brooke In MuppetLand
Brooke Shields was indeed the youngest guest star in Muppet Show history.  In honor of her youth, the Muppet writers decided to have the Muppets perform Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures In Wonderland with Brooke cast as Alice.  With her wide-eyed innocence, Brooke Shields is the perfect choice and she willingly plays along with the zaniness of these disarming Muppets (she even helped build some of the puppets during her breaks from filming!).  Of course, being the Muppets, not everything goes so smoothly.  Miss Piggy believes that she is perfect for Alice (not Miss Shields!), Floyd has a hard time getting around in his caterpillar costume, the special effects of shrinking and growing cause alarming problems for the guest star, the White Rabbit is not as sweet and cute as Mr. Carroll originally described him and even Fozzie Bear dresses as the Tin Woodsman because he mistakenly believes they were performing...wait for it..."Peter Pan!"  It is silly, zany, all-over-the-place and quite possibly one of the cleverest ways they've ever performed a story on The Muppet Show.

7. RAQUEL WELCH

Season 3, Episode 11 - What a Woman!
Probably the sexiest guest star to appear on this show was the actress who gained fame in cult films like One Million Years B.C., BedazzledMyra Breckinridge and Richard Lester's The Three Musketeers: Ms. Raquel Welch.  And in addition to being drop dead gorgeous, she is quite the dynamic musical performer.  She sings Diana Ross' hit "Baby, It's You" and dances with a large Muppet spider (see below).  She sings a beautiful seduction song ("Confide in Me") to a rather flustered Fozzie Bear.  And she tops it off with a sexy rendition of the rock classic "Woman" with help from the fantastic (if not a little jealous!) Miss Piggy.  Frank Oz really does deserve an MVP award for the work he did in this episode as Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Animal and the lesser known Marvin Suggs who shows off his abuse of the poor little Muppaphones.

Later Today: More of the TOP TEN!