DVDizzy Forum

Posted: **Tue Nov 23, 2004 7:37 am**

Update: The Muppet Show: The Complete First Season is coming to DVD on August 9th as a 4-disc Special Edition set with extras that will include the original pilot, a Jim Henson retrospective, "Muppet Morsels" pop-up facts, a Season 1 promo gag reel, the original pitch reel, and a Muppets' Wizard of Oz trailer. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... emz">Click here to preorder from Amazon.com</a>.

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=2494

This is good news, though I've never seen the old-school Muppet Show. I think I'd still heavily consider buying these (so long as the price tag isn't too high), despite their age, because I love the Muppets and it's bound to be funny.

Most exciting about this news, though, is that we know for sure now that Disney wants to do something with their newly-aquired Muppet properties in the way of DVDs (something I was thinking about this morning, and then boom- here is on the web).

Hopefully this leads the way to re-releases of all the movies in OAR on either 2-Disc sets or extremely adequate 1-Disc sets, and season sets of the Muppets Tonight and Muppet Babies, all of which I would buy on release date, in a heartbeat.

Great news for Muppets fans!

-Aaron

Posted: **Tue Nov 23, 2004 8:53 am**

I own five of the three episode disks from and they are all great. The Muppets were always at their best on TV, far better than any of their movies.

And I see more good news for the Guru(Green Acres) and me(Wonder Woman).

As for price, it is possible given all the musical performers and the rights clearances that then get involved that they could get pricey. But there are so few things that work for both kids and adults that I would still get them.

Posted: **Tue Nov 23, 2004 8:56 am**

That's very cool. I've always wanted to get some Muppet Show on DVD, but I've been dissuaded by the 3-episode-per-disc route that Time/Life took.

Posted: **Tue Nov 23, 2004 9:06 am**

JimmyJackJunior wrote:As for price, it is possible given all the musical performers and the rights clearances that then get involved that they could get pricey. But there are so few things that work for both kids and adults that I would still get them.

I think it will be a mircle if a whole season is released without a single edit. The music rights must be a nightmare!

Posted: **Tue Nov 23, 2004 10:18 am**

Woo Hoo!

Although like netty says, there may be problems with rights!

It's time to play the music,
It's time to light the lights...

Posted: **Tue Nov 23, 2004 11:09 am**

Are the re-run episodes of the Muppet Show on TV, edited? If you have the channel CTS (satelite) you can watch it every afternoon. I've watched a few but I have no idea of those are edited or not.

Posted: **Tue Nov 23, 2004 11:36 am**

DVDFreak wrote:Are the re-run episodes of the Muppet Show on TV, edited? If you have the channel CTS (satelite) you can watch it every afternoon. I've watched a few but I have no idea of those are edited or not.

It doesn't really matter. Broadcast rights are totally different to home video rights.

I was reading an interview with the producer of Teachers the other day (a UK series with a strong emphasis on music for mood and atmosphere) and she was asked if all of the music in the current series was pre-cleared for home video release. She said it was, but it was more by luck than judgement. As she put it (to paraphrase) "If it comes between licencing music for the TV series which is watched by 3 million people, or licencing music for the DVD which is sold to perhaps 250,000 people, I'll always choose what's best for the TV. We are, after all making a TV series for millions of people to enjoy."

Posted: **Tue Nov 23, 2004 11:36 am**

DVDFreak wrote:Are the re-run episodes of the Muppet Show on TV, edited? If you have the channel CTS (satelite) you can watch it every afternoon. I've watched a few but I have no idea of those are edited or not.

No TV broadcasts are OK, but when you release a DVD or video sometimes the artists or guests in this case, especially if they sing a song sometimes want royalties. This is the reason the mousketeers segment was not on the Disneyland USA DVD.

This is why sometimes songs are changed when a film or TV Show goes to DVD. And also (this has happened a couple of times in the UK with some DVDs, don't know about the US) sometimes the theme tune from a TV show will be missing, changed or will just be an instrumental.

Posted: **Tue Nov 23, 2004 9:50 pm**

I just read over at TVShowsOnDVD.com that there are plans for Disney to release Muppet season sets starting in 2005 or 2006. The sooner the better for me. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to buy all of those 3 episode discs that were previously released.

Posted: **Tue Nov 23, 2004 10:32 pm**

Practical Pig wrote:I just read over at TVShowsOnDVD.com that there are plans for Disney to release Muppet season sets starting in 2005 or 2006. The sooner the better for me. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to buy all of those 3 episode discs that were previously released.

Just merged this with Aaron's existing thread.

Posted: **Wed Nov 24, 2004 1:49 pm**

awallaceunc wrote:Hopefully this leads the way to re-releases of all the movies in OAR on either 2-Disc sets or extremely adequate 1-Disc sets, and season sets of the Muppets Tonight and Muppet Babies, all of which I would buy on release date, in a heartbeat.

Great news for Muppets fans!

-Aaron

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YAY! Disney is releasing Muppet DVDs! WAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would definitely have Muppets Tonight rather than the classics since I used to always watch Muppets Tonite on the Disney Channel when I had the chance. Anyone know the Sandra Bullock episodes where they sing about phenomena? LOL!

Anyhow, I REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY hope that they finally release Muppets at Walt Disney World. It's an old tv special, but I still hope they release it!

Posted: **Wed Nov 24, 2004 2:02 pm**

Kram Nebuer wrote: Anyhow, I REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY hope that they finally release Muppets at Walt Disney World. It's an old tv special, but I still hope they release it!

Wow, I didn't know about this! It sounds awesome though, I would LOVE to see it!

-Aaron

Posted: **Mon Mar 21, 2005 7:54 am**

New news posted at TVShowsonDVD.com this morning, courtest of MuppetCentral.com:

Fact or Fiction: The Muppet Show DVD season sets

Season 1 is slated for release by the end of 2005

By Greg James
March 20, 2005

Last November word reached us that The Muppet Show was coming to DVD in complete season sets. It was at a New York Henson event that Craig Sherman first publicly mentioned that Disney was working on season by season box sets of The Muppet Show.

After talking with several insiders about the DVD sets, some information has been collected and gathered. Please remember that until there is an official announcement from Disney, anything listed can potentially change.

It was announced in November that the first set would be hitting stores in 2005. This estimate seemed optimistic to some, but has now been confirmed by several sources inside the Muppet Holding Company as a very likely option. “The Muppet Show – The Complete First Season” should be in stores by the end of the year.

The DVD's are scheduled for release, but since the street date has already changed a few times, any premature date could end up changing again. So we’ll just have to wait for an official announcement later this year to find out exactly when the first season will be out.

The video is reported to be transferred from their original British (PAL) tapes. Aside from working to get a beautiful transfer and mastering of the video, it is also said that the episodes will be unedited and will contain the UK skits. This goes to show how Disney is trying to create a collection of the episodes like never seen before.

Although at this point, the inclusion of the original season 1 opening sequence is still undetermined. Apparently there are strong arguments for including the original openings, and also powerful reasons for not including them. The answer of which it will be has flip-flopped back and forth throughout the set’s production and the final outcome is not available at this time.

There were two pilot episodes produced for The Muppet Show (“The Muppets Valentine Show” and “The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence”). There were also some specials produced during the run of the show, including the great behind the scenes special “Of Muppets and Men”. Many fans wondered if these season sets would include any of the show’s pilots or specials. The answer to this is yes. Disney does plan on including several of the historic Muppet Show pilots and specials.

As many TV-DVD fans can attest, there are many other special features that could be included on such sets: such as audio commentaries, original promos, photo galleries, episode intros, cast/crew interviews, and much more. You can guess all you want, but until the official announcement (and maybe even not until the actual release) will the full and complete list of features be available.

Nonetheless, many Henson employees, performers, and fans have been interviewed on film for bonus material. These include: Craig Shemin, Jerry Juhl, Jerry Nelson, Dave Goelz, Carroll Spinney, and Michael Frith – just to name a few. It is not definite how these interviews will be used, but it probably means there will be a great collection of information on these sets.

One feature that has been confirmed is trivia and other factual information. This will expose all kinds of things about the show, the characters, the skits and songs, and much more (even the die-hard Muppet Show fans will learn something). The information, facts, and trivia for the sets was provided and created with the help of Michael Dixon (webmaster of Kermitage.com), Craig Shemin, Dave Goelz and Jerry Juhl. The information was gathered and provided by people who really know the Muppet Show inside and out, and really shows the dedication of Disney to produce quality sets.

Disney has stated that they want to make the best possible sets and it seems like they are. The project is not finished yet, but from talking with those involved, the work done will amaze, excite, and delight the fans. The DVD sets are being designed for DVD collectors, Muppet Show fans, and nostalgic viewers. So don’t worry about the show being watered down, or trying to appeal to an overly childish audience.

An official announcement of the season 1 DVD features, release date, retail price, and more should be released by The Muppet Holding Company and Disney Home Entertainment later this year. At the moment Disney is working to release all five seasons of the show in separate season sets. But as with everything, the release of the later seasons may depend on the earlier ones. Although Disney feels that this should not be a problem and the release of all five are pretty certain.

Source: http://www.muppetcentral.com/news/2005/032005.shtml

Very good news! I'm thrilled to see Disney going to such lengths to ensure a quality release! I've decided I'm definitely going to pick up this set... hopefully the price isn't too high. I also really hope to see more Muppets releases from Disney (which will surely come when the season sets are a success, which I'm sure they will be).

Kram- was that Disney World special one of the ones made for the original series? If so, it sounds as if it might be included in one of the sets!

I can't imagine what the good reason for not using the original opening them is, but I hope they include it.

-Aaron

Posted: **Mon Mar 21, 2005 8:10 am**

Well that sounds excellent! Thanks for sharing, Aaron. As a rather big fan of the Muppet movies, I've always wanted to see the show and this sounds like the perfect way to get into it. Really great to hear they're going to be doing it right.

Posted: **Mon Mar 21, 2005 8:28 am**

This sounds really cool!!!...I always loved watching the Muppet Show as a kid(I actually have two of the individual DVDs;the one with the "Mark Hamill/Luke Skywalker" episode and the one with the "Elton John" episode)..

Posted: **Mon Mar 21, 2005 8:34 am**

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

I am so glad that they are doing this properly!

I'm off to rejoice with muppety glee!

"It's time to play the music..."

Posted: **Mon Mar 21, 2005 8:50 am**

I own the Time-Life versions and will definitely be buying these too.

Posted: **Mon Mar 21, 2005 9:04 am**

2099net wrote:
JimmyJackJunior wrote:As for price, it is possible given all the musical performers and the rights clearances that then get involved that they could get pricey. But there are so few things that work for both kids and adults that I would still get them.
I think it will be a mircle if a whole season is released without a single edit. The music rights must be a nightmare!

I don't think it'll be a problem.

It's not like the show used existing song soundtracks which they'd have to pay royalties to like the contemporary series on television nowadays.

They were all live performances and half the time, the music was created specifically for the show. It's probable that Henson might have even aquired the rights to the performances through contract as the series was being broadcast.

Otherwise, I can't see why any of the artists would object to their performances being issued to DVD. It's pretty much guaranteed that all of the major artists whose episodes were released via the Time-Life series will show up on the season sets. I can't imagine that anyone who performed live on the Muppet Show would now object to that being released given the context of Henson's series. Plus Disney is a company that could afford to pay for licensing so I'm sure they won't have a difficult time securing rights.

Posted: **Mon Mar 21, 2005 9:40 am**

I am definetely going to purchase The Muppet Show on DVD. I too am tired of the 3-episodes per disc. That is the way Fraggle Rock is released.. but I bought the collection anyway.

Posted: **Wed Mar 23, 2005 8:58 pm**

awallaceunc wrote: Kram- was that Disney World special one of the ones made for the original series? If so, it sounds as if it might be included in one of the sets!

I can't imagine what the good reason for not using the original opening them is, but I hope they include it.

-Aaron

Thanks for the news, Aaron! I can't wait to see the Muppet Show again!

The WDW special was not made for the original series. I think it was just a promotional piece for WDW. From synopsises (plural of synopsis?), it seems like Kermit is going to the Florida swamps to visit some of his family and he goes to WDW to visit his friend Mickey. I think this special coincided with the opening of Muppet*Vision 3D, though I'm not completele sure.

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