Deep Dive Disney: Wes Looks at the Star Wars Episode of the Muppet Show

Welcome to Deep Dive Disney my friends. Today's spur of the moment article came about when your humble writer learned that the birthdays of Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill and the late great Jim Henson are actually back to back. And hey, we love crossovers here on the blog and Muppets and Star Wars both fall under the Disney umbrella, so what the hell, let's take a look at an episode of the Muppet Show that happens to guest star the extremely talented Mark Hamill. But this is no ordinary guest spot on the Muppet Show. Hell no, this was 1980, the absolute peak of Star Wars mania. A New Hope was still considered a smash hit and The Empire Strikes Back was mere months away. This was a pretty big deal at the time. As such, Mark Hamill didn't come alone, but brought his Star Wars buddies along for the ride. That's right, in addition to Mark Hamill and his identical cousin Luke Skywalker, R2-D2, C-3PO and Chewbacca the Wookie were all getting in on the Muppet Madness and the result is one of the most memorable episodes in the show's entire five season run. Apparently, this was partially done as a favor to Jim Henson and Frank Oz for their work on The Empire Strikes Back and specifically the character of Yoda. So, to pay tribute to two really cool guys on their birthday weekend, let's late a look at the Star Wars episode of The Muppet Show!

The show opens, as it always does, with Scooter giving the guest of the week the five minute curtain warning. Kermit must be scraping the bottom of the barrel this week because the guest he's booked is Angus McGonagle the Argyle Gargoyle. Now, we love us some Scottish Gargoyles here on this blog, but come on Kermit, step your game up. Fortunately, it looks like he won't have to as busting through the wall comes Luke Skywalker, C-3PO and R2-D2. While Luke and the others just look confused about how they got there, Scooter thinks these guys would make way better guests than Angus McGonable and promptly shoos the purple Gargoyle out of the room. 3PO is wondering where they are and Luke speculates that they've crashed landed on some kind of comedy variety show planet.

After the theme song, in which Gonzo nearly gets his nose bitten off by a duck, Kermit introduces the show and hypes up the crowd for their new guest stars, much to the irritation of Angus McGonagle the Argyle Gargoyle who demands his spot. Kermit says he doesn't even know what an Argyle Gargoyle does. Apparently, he gargles Gershwin... gorgeously.

Following that, we get our opening musical number in which a shepherd and his flock of sheep sing Rama Lama Ding Dong by the Edsels. It's a pretty fun opener if I do say so myself. Also, keep an eye out, because for some reason, there are a lot of sheep all throughout this show. It's the Muppets, I'd be concerned if there wasn't sheep. Naturally, Statler and Waldorf aren't impressed and give the performance a big Bah Humbug. Save it for The Muppet Christmas Carol fellas.

Backstage, C-3PO introduces himself to Kermit and says its an honor to be working with such a distinguished amphibian who has brought so much joy to the universe. Kermit is grateful for the compliment but still isn't sure why the Star Wars gang is here. Apparently, they're searching for Chewbacca who's been kidnapped. According to a telegram sent by Chewie, he's being held prisoner by a bunch of weird turkeys. Naturally, The Muppet Show was the first place the gang looked. Luke then barges through the stage door, blaster drawn shouting "Remember Alderaan" and "Death to the Empire" prompting both Kermit and 3PO to comment on how strange humans can be.

In a Muppet News Flash, the Muppet Newsman reads the results of the national sheepdog trials. All the sheepdogs have been found not guilty. For reading this news, a bunch of sheep who are apparently unfamiliar with the phrase "Don't Shoot the Messenger" dogpile the Newsman and beat the shit out of him. See what I mean about the sheep.

Elsewhere, Scooter is practicing for his big number later in the show where he's heckled by, what else, a sheep. Again with the sheep! I thought The Muppet show was filmed in London not Cardiff. (I'm going to Hell for that joke but it was worth it.)

Backstage yet again, Kermit asks Luke if he'd be willing to go on stage and do a song and dance number, but Luke is here for an important mission, not to be on some third rate variety show. Kermit insists that it's a second rate variety show, which might be one of the funniest self-owns in human or Muppet history. Fozzie shows up and recognizes Luke as Mark Hamill. Luke insists Fozzie is mistaken and that Mark Hamill is actually his identical cousin. Luke then promptly leaves and in walks Mark Hamill. Fozzie suggests that Mark could be the guest on tonight's show and Kermit asks him what he can do. Mark says he does impressions and shows off his awful Kermit and Fozzie impersonations. Incidentally, knowing that Hamill would go on to be a prominent voice actor, watching him pretend to be bad at impressions is hilarious to me. Mark can't sing, dance or tell jokes either as he painfully demonstrates so Kermit asks what else he can do. Mark says he gargles Gershwin... gorgeously, prompting Kermit to tell him to get out of his theatre. Mark leaves and Luke immediately returns, blaster still drawn and threatening to turn Fozzie into a rug if he makes a wrong move.

With the stage empty, Angus McGonagle the Argyle Gargoyle seizes the opportunity and gargles out a stirring rendition of Gershwin's Summertime. He's soon joined by Hamill and suddenly we have a gargling harmony going on until Kermit sicks Animal on them both.

Next up is a UK spot. See, in the UK, commercial breaks tend to be shorter than they are here in the states, so each episode of the Muppet show had one segment that was exclusive to UK broadcasts that rarely if ever connected to the rest of the show. This offering is a song called Three Little Fishes. An eel sings a song that tells the story of three little fishes who swam out to see and met a shark. It's fine, even if the fishies sound like Alvin and Chipmunks.

Next up is Scooter playing a song called Six String Orchestra, and people, I absolutely love this segment. The song is about a kid who plays a guitar and isn't very good at it yet, but has dreams of being a big star. It starts off in Scooter's bedroom, and as the song goes on, he's joined by apparitions of The Electric Mayhem and suddenly the scene changes to a big stage with thousands of people cheering for one last chorus before it fades back to Scooter's bedroom. I'm kind of surprised more people don't bring this up when they talk about iconic Muppet musical numbers. It's a great song about the importance of having big dreams, something that definitely feels in line with The Muppet brand.

And now it's time for... PIGS... IN... SPAAAAAACE!!!! Apparently, Luke and the others have hijacked the spaceship Swinetrek to continue looking for Chewie. Link Hogthrob shows up demanding to know what's going on and demanding the name of Luke's tailor because he loves that outfit. Link gives his measurements. Jacket size 44 long, head size 42 thick. After R2 zaps Julious Strangepork across the room, Piggy comes in dressed as Princess Leia, because of course she's dressed as Princess Leia, and starts throwing herself at Luke. It goes without saying that this is before it was revealed that Luke and Leia were brother and sister, that would have made this whole thing even more awkward than it already is. Luke insists that Piggy isn't the Princess, but Piggy threatens to karate chop him in half if he doesn't go along with this and Luke nervously complies. However, now's when we reveal the evil fiend who kidnapped Chewbacca, none other than... DEARTH NADER... aka Gonzo in Darth Vader cosplay.

Our heroes crash land on the planet Koozebane and confront the evil Dearth Nader who also wants to know who Luke's tailor is. Luke tries to blast Nader back to Tatooine, but Nader has a device that neutralizes the power of any blaster. That means it's time for Luke's ultimate weapon, Chewbacca the Wookie! And indeed, as the Star Wars Theme plays triumphantly, good ol' Chewie makes his grand entrance and starts choking out Dearth Nader. However, Nader has an ace up his sleeve, Angus McGonagle the Argyle Gargoyle! Indeed, even Chewbacca is no match for the horror of gargling Gershwin. What could possibly get our heroes out of this predicament. Well, this is The Muppet show, so the only answer that makes sense is a song and dance number!

Indeed Kermit arrives and leads everyone in a rendition of You Are My Lucky Star much to the confusion of Luke. Even the Star Wars gang gets in on the fun. I have no idea if that was actually Anthony Daniels doing that soft shoe in the C-3PO suit, but I hope it was. It's Luke's turn to sing, but Luke still isn't interested so he leaves to retrieve his cousin Mark Hamill and in probably one of the eeriest predict the future moments in media history, the Muppets and the Star Wars gang close out the show with a rousing rendition of When You Wish Upon a Star as the Disney Castle rises in the background. Keep in mind, this was more than twenty years before either property would be owned by Disney. That is what you call a scary coincidence.

Kermit closes out the show by bringing out all the Star Wars characters for one last encore, including a split screen effect that was rather impressive for 1980 which allows Mark Hamill and Luke Skywalker to share the stage at the same time. Mark of course asks for the name of Luke's tailor as the credits roll and Statler and Waldorf wonder if there's life in outer space, since there's certainly none in this theater.

What do you want me to say. This was The Muppets and the Star Wars gang hanging out and being hilarious. It was pure fun from start to finish, which one should expect from a classic episode of The Muppet Show. Mark Hamill is great here and excels when given a chance to showcase his comedic chops both as himself and as Luke Skywalker. From what I've read, pulling double duty like that was actually Hamill's idea. While he understood that Star Wars was too big to ignore, he didn't want to be labeled as Luke Skywalker for the rest of his life. Jesus, I thought the Disney castle was creepy foreshadowing. Don't worry Mark, to me, you'll always be The Joker first. On that note I'd like to wish a heartfelt happy birthday to Mark Hamill and Jim Henson and thank both of them for all of the entertainment they've provided me with over the years. Now it's back to my hiatus as I continue to get my seasonal articles in the can and ready to go, but come next month it's the spooky season and we're kicking things off with The Scream Team!