The other evening, my son pulled out our copy of a Muppet Family Christmas, and settled in for a good chuckle. It's a pity the show - a 1987 special that sees various Henson creations settle in at Fozzie Bear's mother's farmhouse - isn't more widely available. It's filled to the brim with corny jokes and sentimentality (it's the Muppets, for Kermit's sake), but it's pretty entertaining. Over the years, I've seen loads of kids sit down to enjoy it, often having seen it before.
Because of rights reasons - the original production had music clearances for television, but not for home video - the complete show is a bit hard to find, and it's not commercially available in Canada at the moment on DVD. You can find it online used, and there's always the possibility that it will air on TV again. I taped it off YTV a while back. You can read about what got cut and how in the various versions here.
The plot is pretty simple: the Muppet gang heads uninvited to Fozzie's mother's house, just as she's leaving for a California vacation and renting to the place to Doc - you might remember him from Fraggle Rock. The plot doesn't matter; the point is to pack as many muppets into the scene. The Sesame Street muppets show up, there's a weird detour to Fraggle Rock itself (peculiar basement in that farmhouse) and there's even a Muppet Babies flashback. Enough to make you go, hmmmm, in other words.
But the special is fun to watch, and a tonic for kids. In a couple of weeks, NBC will air Letters to Santa, a brand-new special. I'll record it, of course, but I've had my doubts about various Muppet specials over the years. Muppet Family Christmas, contrived as it is, holds up. (And watch for the unusual Jim Henson cameo at the very end.)
I've looked for this Muppet Christmas Special on DVD every Christmas forever... but had no idea why it was so hard to find. I remember liking it when it originally aired and have been eager to take that stroll down memory lane again.
Posted by: Robert Hiscock | Tuesday, December 02, 2008 at 11:07
Great post! I love the Muppets! And I love Christmas! I recently stumbled upon this blog like I did yours and I thought your readers may appreciate it: http://burisonthecouch.wordpress.com/2010/12/20/tis-the-season/
I’ve started to look for their stuff more regularly and I think I’m going to add your blog to my list as well. Thanks for the post!
Posted by: Amy | Tuesday, December 21, 2010 at 18:50