It was less than a year ago that I excitedly expounded on the second season of The Muppet Show being released on DVD, so it’s with that same enthusiasm that I bring you the third season of the Muppets Show. With a total of five seasons ever filmed, we’re over halfway towards having a complete collection of almost everything Muppets - and with the plentiful DVD extras, this goal is more possible than ever.

This DVD set contains 24 episodes, as have the previous releases. By the third season, the Muppets had really hit a unique rhythm and were attracting a huge variety of guests from the entertainment world. While every episode has at least a half-dozen memorable moments, not even counting the truly awesome Swedish Chef and Muppet Labs scenes, this season also holds some of the most well-known episodes, featuring Alice Cooper, Danny Kaye, and the legendary Harry Belafonte episode, which is a spiritual experience in itself. This might be a ridiculous thing to say of puppets, but I find it to be absolutely true.

There’s such a vibrant innocence to the show, and it’s never more clear than during Belafonte’s ‘Turn the World Around’ musical number. It needs to be seen. The Henson folks worked very closely with Belafonte on almost all of the content of the episode, all the way down to Muppet design - making sure that none of the African Mask Muppets would upset any religious or cultural sensibilities.

Some of my personal favorite guests include Leo Sayer and Roger Miller. Sayer’s spasmodic overacting makes him seem like he IS one of the Muppets, and while it’s pretty cringe-inducing, you settle into it by the end of the episode and you can probably base a drinking game on how many times Sayer can flailingly change his emotions in any given moment. Mime doesn’t work when your mouth is moving, Leo.

I admit that I’m too young to know who most of these people are without hearing their notable songs or seeing them in action, since all of the names come right out of the 1970s, but Roger Miller was one that I recognized by voice alone. In his episode, the entire cast comes down with Cluckitis and begins transforming into chickens. While he is spared from catching the epidemic, I had become a fan of Miller from his role as The Rooster in Disney’s 1973 production of Robin Hood (which is my favorite animated Disney movie of all time), so he got to be fowl after all.

Other guests on the 4-disc set include Jean Stapleton, Kris Kristofferson, Cheryl Ladd, Sylvester Stallone, Liberace and Gilda Radner, among many others. Of course, any TV-on-DVD set is only as good as its extras, and this set has some gems.

‘Muppets on Puppets’ is an hour long, black and white feature originally filmed in 1969, and is an extended exploration of puppets and puppetry by none other than Jim Henson, with assistance by Frank Oz and his puppet-making team. In relatively simple terms, Henson interacts with a bunch of puppets and talks about puppets from around the world, how they’re operated, how to make them, and how to put on a puppet show. It’s a rare opportunity to see Jim Henson as himself, operating his Muppets, and also pointing out to Rowlf that he is indeed a puppet, which only slightly shatters his world. Given how elaborately the Muppets are operated and have had a world seamlessly structured around them, it’s strange to see the humans who stick their arms up the Muppets’ guts. Just like the actors who performed alongside the Muppets, I forget that they’re not real - which is Henson’s real masterstroke. The whole feature is like watching an oldschool arts and crafts TV program, and it’s worth the price of the DVD set alone.

Additionally, there’s a 15-minute featurette called ‘A Company of Players’, which is a current-day conversation with the Muppet team about how some of the Muppets came about and the working relationship of all of the players. Finally, there’s 6 or 7 minutes of Purina commercials from the 60s that star Rowlf and another dog Muppet. As a huge fan of retro commercials, I approve.

And the whole thing is fuzzy. Yes, fuzzy. You can rub against it and it feels nice. It’s exceptional viewing, without exception, and I have many a soft summer afternoon planned with this playing. You should too.

Okay, I know that I talk about action figures. A lot. What I hope to communicate in these little talks, more than anything, is that there is a toy for everyone. Sure, a vast majority of well-known action figures focus around superheroic characters or movie properties, but they’re so much more. They’re figural reminders and representations of things we like - and I guarantee you that there’s at least ONE for everyone.

And more and more, there’s one OF everyone. I’m not even sure if I can count the figures created in the likeness of Johnny Depp in his various personas, or the growing collection of through-the-ages Elvises (Elvi?) - but even behind the scenes, and usually fairly camera shy, we have the creators, thinkers and artists behind the things we love. While it’s uncommon that these guys ever get too much personal exposure, they do get a lot of intellectual respect, and recently, action figures of themselves. And almost always, it’s really clever.

The first action figure / creator item that came to my attention happened within the Muppet Show line of action figures by Palisades. Through a limited edition, Collector’s Club only event, Palisades created a complete action figure of Jim Henson. Of course, since this was a Muppet line, they created the figure of Henson in his Muppet form so that he’d blend in with the rest of his creations. The actual Henson Muppet appeared on the show a few times as a background character, but the posthumous homage to Henson as a Muppet, godfather to such a vast and interesting array of creations, was both appropriate and moving.

Peter Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, also appeared as an action figure created by ToyBiz. While Jackson didn’t appear onscreen, (and please correct me if I’m wrong - there was a lot going on in those movies), he appeared as a rare Hobbit figure, right alongside Frodo, Sam, Pippin and the like. In properties where there are large, generic races of things and armies of faceless warriors, one can often find the face of a crew member or other important behind-the-scenes players slipped in among the masses. Peter Jackson also made an appearance as a Corsair Warrior in a line of statues created by Sideshow Toys.

Todd McFarlane, creator of Spawn, collector of baseballs, controversial personality, and toy revolutionary, possibly made the earliest appearance of a creator-as-action-figure. While not an independently released toy, McFarlane was a pack-in accessory in the Spawn Alley Playset, as ‘Todd the Bum’. The whole McFarlane toy company has always had a bizarre sense of humor. The figure was later re-released through the collectors’ club as ‘Todd the Artist’.

Of all creators, George Lucas has had the most figures made of himself - all of them limited edition and usually only available in special giveaways, conventions, or online shops. He’s appeared as a Stormtrooper, a Rebel Pilot named Jorg Sacul, and also in a Lucas family four-pack, which features likenesses of the whole Lucas family (two of whom have appeared in the Star Wars films in one way or another). Within this pack, Lucas is re-named ‘Baron Papanoida’, and is again given an alien biography to back up the figure - but he’s never really been great with creating alien names. Unofficially, Lucas has made a fourth appearance in the Star Wars McQuarrie Concept collection of figures. These are an ongoing line of figures (mixed in with regular Star Wars assortments) that are based on the original artwork of Ralph McQuarrie, the artist who painted an array of characters and scenes to pitch the Star Wars trilogy to producers. McQuarrie’s painting of the original Han Solo bears a striking resemblance to a young George Lucas. While there’s no official word that this is actually based on Lucas, I’d bet my Death Star on it. Or at least, like, twenty bucks. Ralph McQuarrie has also recently been made into an action figure, conveniently and respectfully named ‘General McQuarrie’.

Quentin Tarantino recently appeared as an action figure also, after he made an on-screen appearance in Grindhouse. In an action figure line with only four figures, he was one, and because of his twisted sense of humor, his figure was simply called ‘Rapist #1’.

We also can’t forget about the immortal Stan Lee - finally made into an action figure during this past summer’s convention season, Marvel Legends style. He features an interchangeable head that he can switch out with Peter Parker, so he also doubles as Spider-Man in some bizarre, old-man way.

And there are surely many left to come. The dreams of us lowly creators becoming action heroes, or at least figures, are becoming more realistic. Be sure to keep an eye out for the Collin David action figure - sometime in the distant future.

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It’s been two years. Two whole years since the release of the first season of the Muppets - all 24 inaugural episodes wrapped up nicely in their charming green, flocked package. As a DVD collector who is obsessive-compulsive enough to both need to complete entire sets of things and also collect them in order, the release of season two is like a gentle sigh of relief from between two nerdy lips. Goodness knows that ‘nerdy lips’ don’t get much action besides that.

I think that you’d be hard pressed to find a living human being who wasn’t at least partially charmed by The Muppets in some form or another, and if you do meet one, please introduce me - I’d like to test a theory I have about soullessness and buoyancy. This second season of The Muppet Show, packaged in a fuzzy pink Miss Piggy theme, includes the 24 episodes that comprised the second season of the show, spanning 1977 to 1978. The Show would ultimately last for five complete seasons of 24 episodes each, with a few specials thrown in here and there for good measure. Whereas the first set included un-aired pilots and pitches, this set includes a rarely-aired special, ‘Valentines Day Special, The Muppets on The Muppets’ pseudo-interview feature, and the ever-popular Weezer & The Muppets Keep Fishin’ video.

The Valentines Day show is actually similar in appearance the theme to the pre-Muppet show pilot episodes - Kermit isn’t much more than a supporting character, and the whole show seems to take place in a bed and breakfast (or possibly a boarding house) with highly developed environments, and without the typical laugh track that accompanies the later episodes. It’s a completely different creature when it’s not being presented as a live show, and it definitely has its own charms, and it’s definitely a great surprise for any Muppet fan who’s seen it all. Similarly, the ‘Muppets on Muppets’ feature is a series of a dozen or so minute-long interviews with Muppets (or pair of Muppets) that seem largely ad-libbed and are fairly hilarious. All of them are obviously recently taped, and I’m not certain if they’ve ever aired anywhere before.

Each season of the original Muppet show inevitably presents me with guest stars that were simply before my time, as well as jokes that are bizarrely dated - but that’s a great deal of the appeal. The idea of a show involving puppets being so firmly contemporaneous at the time, as well as incorporating musical bits from well before their OWN time, is pretty neat to witness. Season Two has a few indelibly classic episodes, always defined by their notable guest stars : Steve Martin, Zero Mostel, Peter Sellers (who was the only guest star to always be in a character, and refusing to appear as himself), George Burns and John Cleese among them. Sorry, nerds, the amazing Star Wars episode doesn’t happen until season four.

I spent many, many years collecting the complete set of Muppets action figures and displaying them around my room. Indeed, a Statler and Waldorf still reside in their comfy balcony chairs and critique my questionable television choices. There’s an extremely rare Jim Henson action figure (in puppet form) around here somewhere, a kind of demigod to all of us puppetry and art enthusiasts. It might be silly, but there’s a true sense of reverence for the show and the man alike. So, my heart is really in the Muppets. I think that any one of would happily spend a day hanging out with them. While it pains me severely to admit this, I actually borrowed the Muppets’ ‘Time in a Bottle’ sketch and decided to perform it for my classmates in Elementary School, complete with tape player and props. I don’t know what compelled me, and these were the days where I was still outgoing and had not yet been destroyed from the inside-out by the ravages of humanity… but I did it. And I can’t think about it without feeling slightly nauseated. But that’s how much I loved the Muppets, learned from videos borrowed from my local library on hot summer days, and watched repeatedly on our prehistoric VCR and wooden TV. You remember those. Those guys were stylin’.

As far as recapturing the Muppets on DVD, I cannot attest to the completeness of the discs, since the first season had to drop about six musical numbers with Jim Nabors, Vincent Price and other guest stars due to licensing rights. I’m not expert enough to know what might have been omitted, if anything, but some of these missing bits can always be YouTubed, or pieced together from the original release of the randomly assorted Time-Life discs from many years ago. This second season set will be released on August 7th, and it’s a gem, coming with my highest recommendation. It’s fun, it’s all-ages, it feels nice, it’s well assembled, and it looks great on a shelf.