Tag Archives: frank oz

December 20, 2025

Dec. 20 – Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas

By Joe
Original air date December 4, 1977.

Without a doubt, my biggest Christmas special blind spot is the Jim Henson produced Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas. I hear all of the time from people my age and older about this one and how much they love it. I don’t know why I never really encountered it much in my life. I think I saw this as a kid. It feels like the sort of thing my family might have borrowed from the library. That’s how I saw some other holiday specials, and I’m curious if as I watch this one if any scenes will jar a memory loose. As I write this now though, I can’t recall anything specific from this holiday special. I know it’s about an otter, it’s done with puppets, and at some point Christmas is going to play a role.

Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas is a Jim Henson production and it’s directed by Henson as well. It’s based on a book by Russell and Lilian Hoban and the special was originally produced for CBC Television in 1977. Maybe that’s why I’m not super familiar with it since I didn’t grow up in Canada? It’s original US broadcast was also on HBO, a channel I never had, but it also aired on ABC in 1980. It would seem it was pretty much one and done, and if something is not an annual holiday special, it can be hard to find. VHS tapes in the 1980s were expensive so renting was a must. Holiday specials also weren’t that big on cable in the early days from what I remember with that becoming more of a 90s thing. Per Wikipedia, this special did find a home in the 90s on Nickelodeon and again on ABC, but I don’t know how prevalent those airings were. I definitely don’t remember the ABC airings, while Nickelodeon did air Jim Henson content for a short while. I think on Sunday nights? That was how I was exposed to most of the not-so-popular Jim Henson features, but it was also never appointment viewing. I recall it being a thing that would be on television when nothing else was. It also would come on around the time we had to leave my grandmother’s house to head home.

Many times over the years, I’ve been close to buying this special on DVD. I don’t why I never have. I think I’ve just been putting it off as I usually buy multiple holiday features at a time and if I buy too many then I’m bound to fail to watch them all. I don’t think my avoidance of it has been intentional, though there may be some bias on my part as I’ve never been a big Muppet guy. I don’t dislike the Muppets, but I like them in small doses. Movies and hour long specials aren’t really for me. That’s probably why I’m not as high on A Muppet Family Christmas as a lot of people, though in the case of that special I think its unavailability for a long time built it up to be something better than it truly is. This one is also a special where I hear a lot of praise for it, but I never really hear what it is about this one that makes it so special. I’ve never really been convinced to go and seek it out, but I’m going to do it now because I feel like this is a blind spot I need to erase. And it’s a true blind spot as I don’t know anything about the plot of this one.

There’s a slapstick gag with Kermit quite early, but don’t expect a lot of laughs. Or Muppets.

This one begins in a rather simple fashion. The scenery is a set and it’s not trying real hard to hide that fact, which is fine. I’ve always felt that the Muppets are not supposed to trick you into thinking their world is a real one, it’s not a magic show, it’s an aesthetic. Quickly, one Kermit the Frog (Jim Henson) comes into view riding a bicycle – that famous special effects trick they pulled off for The Muppet Movie, only this special predates that movie by a year. It’s a good one, though again, I’m not personally into the spectacle. I’d have been fine if he was a doll in a remote controlled vehicle. Kermit isn’t really here to be a part of the story, but just to set the stage and provide narration. Unfortunately for the frog, he apparently can’t bike and talk at the same time as he crashes into the sign for Frogtown Hollow. As he sits up to recover from his accident, he informs us that this is the home of Emmet Otter and we’re going to hear all about him and his jug-band Christmas.

Meet the Riverbottom Gang. They’re actually not going to play as big a role as Kermit would lead you to believe.

Kermit is then interrupted by an oncoming vehicle. It’s an old, rickety, beat-up hot rod of sorts and it’s occupied by a rather interesting group of individuals. There’s a bear sitting behind the wheel, a snake, weasel, lizard, and what looks to be a fish in the rumble seat which is full of water. That’s a fun design. In checking a cast list, it would appear we have Chuck Stoat (Frank Oz), who is the bear. The rest are Fred Lizard (Richard Hunt), Howard Snake (Henson), Popeyed Catfish (Dave Goelz), and Stanley Weasel (Jerry Nelson). One of them draws attention to “the frog,” while another says he’s too ugly to be a frog and must be a toad. The lizard asks the bear, who is apparently the leader of this gang, if he sees anything he likes on the frog who responds that he likes his scarf. The fish uses a fishing rod to snatch the scarf from around Kermit’s neck, and they all laugh and drive off. As they do, they even discard the scarf so they just took it to be jerks. Kermit then turns to the camera to tell us that we’re also going to have to get to know the Riverbottom Gang as they apparently have a role to play in the story ahead.

Christmas specials have would lead most to associate snow with the holiday, but around where I live, this is what Christmas typically looks like.

Now the special can properly begin. We’re treated to some nice aerial shots of the sets which look really expansive. It takes me back to visiting my great grandfather and his neighbor who had a big model train set that I loved looking at. The setting is really evocative of what I think of as Christmas weather. We get that idyllic, snowy, setting in most specials, but more often than not December is just cold and barren in the northeast. The trees are bare, there’s still some leaves on the ground, but snow usually doesn’t arrive until the new year. It’s a great design.

This is Emmet and Alice, two otters just trying to scrape by.

We soon find a pair of otters leisurely rowing down the river in a rowboat. This would be the titular Emmet Otter (Nelson) and his mother Alice “Ma” Otter (voice of Marilyn Sokol, Frank Oz on puppetry). They’re moving along and singing a folk song, “The Bathing Suit that Grandma Otter Wore.” If you weren’t paying attention to the words, it would seem like this slow, lethargic, song one might sing while slowly making their way down a river. The words are a bit more humorous as apparently grandma’s bathing suit was so big it could be used as a sail. Poor fat-assed granny, God rest her zombie bones. I wish the performance leaned more into the comedy, but Nelson and Sokol play it so straight that I feel it loses something. And Sokol’s highs are a bit overdone and made me turn down the TV.

And this jerk is Gretchen Fox. They made sure to make her look wealthy.

The song concludes when Wendell (Goelz) the porcupine interrupts them from a dock. He just wants to tell them he’s fishing, which was plainly obvious just by looking at him. I don’t think he’s too bright, but he seems nice. Emmet tells his apparent friend he’s helping his mother deliver laundry and then heading to the town of Waterville. As they move along, the two get to talking. Emmet compliments his mom on the singing performance and suggests he “pass the hat,” as in pass the hat around to collect payment for the performance. Only there’s no one around except the fish. Ma tells her son that his pa, who they just call Pa, used to say if you pass the hat to the fish all you get is a wet hat. They’re going to do this a lot. This leads to a conversation about money and their lack of it. It would seem that Pa is dead and these two were left very little which has Emmet wondering what they’re going to do about Christmas as they pull up to a dock where Gretchen Fox (Eren Ozker) is waiting for her laundry delivery. She makes a rude comment about having to wait and Ma just responds firmly they’re here at the same time every week which Gretchen remarks is always late. She also complains about a scorch mark in her laundry last time and Ma apologizes and offers to give her a discount on this load. Gretchen, not one for humility, asserts that she shall and that she’ll pay her next week. Ma tries to request payment now since they’re just 3 days out form Christmas, but Gretchen just marches off. As she does, Ma, makes a remark about wishing she would fall off the dock and her son seems to enjoy that.

This guy is much nicer than the fox lady and a frequent bartering partner with Alice, by the sounds of it.

All is not lost for Will Possum (Goelz) was sitting by fishing on the bank and he compliments Ma for not taking any crap from Gretchen. Or at least her attempt at not. He then asks if she’s got anything to barter today and Ma confirms she has some nice wool socks she just knitted. Will has a couple of pumpkins and Ma thinks that’s a fair trade since she can make pies out of the pumpkins and sell them at a profit. When the pair pull away, Emmet asks her if she can really make much off of pies and Ma replies sure, probably enough for more wool for socks. Emmet points out the absurdity of her reasoning, but in a good-natured fashion, which just makes his mother laugh and concede the point. She urges him to keep rowing or they’ll never make it to Waterville. I’m in agreement. I think this is going to be a very slow, leisurely, sort of Christmas special.

Sometimes a serpent’s tail has a mind of its own.

In Waterville, the Riverbottom Gang is pulling into town in their beat up old hot rod. As they do, they smash into a fruit stand destroying it before Chuck slams on the breaks in front of a music store because Snake wants to check it out. The others are perplexed at why he did that, but we soon see that Snake, seated behind Chuck, has his tail wrapped around Chuck’s neck. Chuck points this out and the snake apologizes, I guess he just can’t help himself. Snake wants to go into the music store for a string for his guitar, while the weasel doesn’t want to. Chuck has to remind Snake to get his tail off his shoulder and he sounds pretty pissed. Snake gets to slip in a little quip about how he should be thankful to have shoulders, but does as he’s told. Chuck then announces that he’d like to go into the store and suddenly everyone is in agreement that heading into the store is a good idea. Clearly, Chuck has a lot of influence. The fish decides to stay with the car though on account of it being too dry in there. Makes sense. As the others leave, the owner of the fruit stand marches over angry at what they did. The fish just spits water in his face in retaliation and he backs down clearly not wanting to mess with this riff raff.

A number of shots use marionettes to show the characters walking. There’s a reason why we don’t often seen the Muppets walking around.

We then find Emmet and his mother doing some window shopping. For the long shot, they’re clearly marionettes as we see their legs and there is an attempt to make it look like they’re walking. I previously stated I’m not much interested in movie magic when it comes to the Muppets and it’s not important that they look realistic or believable, but I think the marionettes is taking things too far. They just look silly as there’s no weight to their legs. They just kind of drift with legs flailing. I would have cut this. Emmet asks if they’re done with their errands and Ma confirms they’re out of money needed for errands, so yeah. Emmet suggests they return to the river which prompts Ma to ask him if he got paid for fixing Sam Turtle’s steps the prior day. He informs her that he did not on account of the fact that he was the one who broke them. She just laughs and points out their money problems. Apparently this is partially the result of Pa being a snake oil salesman. The two share one of his sayings that it’s tough being a snake oil salesman when no one wants to oil a snake.

Emmet has his sights set on a guitar for Christmas. He is apparently delusional.

The pair come to the same music store we saw the Riverbottom Gang head in earlier. In the window is a used, acoustic, guitar that Emmet immediately gravitates towards. Apparently not one for reading a room, he tells his mother that’s what she can get him for Christmas even though the instrument is clearly marked as carrying a price of $40. I don’t think it’s in the budget, kid. The pair are soon distracted by a sound coming from inside. It’s the gang, and they’re making a racket, though honestly it sounds pretty good. The clerk is none too pleased though and is in some distress. Emmet asks his mother who they are and she assumes they’re hooligans from Riverbottom – a pretty solid assumption on her part. A drum goes rolling by them and soon the gang emerges as the clerk accosts them. Lizard retorts that if they didn’t want the drum to roll then they should have made it square as he tosses it back in. Chuck then announces he’s hungry. Or rather, he’s huuuuuuungryyyyyyyy and the gang moves on. It’s pretty clear that the rest of the gang fears their boss when he’s reached this level of hunger.

The camera makes sure to zoom in on Doc Bullfrog ensuring he’ll play some role in the plot to come.

Emmet and Ma head back up the river. They begin making more small talk, but it’s small talk with a purpose. Christmas keeps getting brought up which is clearly stressing Ma out while Emmet wants to reflect on the last Christmas they had with Pa. I guess they never had much money since he references decorating a Christmas branch as opposed to a tree. A memory of his mother playing their piano is called upon which is a painful one for Ma. She had to sell that piano and she calls it one of the hardest things she’s ever done. All she has left is a sense of humor and a washtub which prompts Emmet to remark that at least there isn’t a hole in the washtub. That means we’re getting another song, “There Ain’t No Hole in the Washtub.” I’m not ready for another song, but at least this one is a little more up-tempo. Ma even remarks it’s a song for keeping warm while rowing. At the same time, it’s deceptively slow as the vocal melody is much faster than the instrumentation behind it. We do get to pass by Wendell once more who is delighted about catching a boot. He definitely isn’t too bright. Meanwhile, some rich looking frog sees the pair and remarks that they’re two of the nicest folk in town. I am guessing this is some foreshadowing.

I think Wendell is my favorite puppet in the show. I love how his quills poke through his coat.

The sun eventually sets as the song fades out. A new establishing shot of an aerial view of town is utilized to signal the start of a new day. Now there’s a light dusting of snow on the ground, a pretty common sight in December, and I remain impressed with the sets. As Emmet is out gathering wood, Wendell approaches to inform him that he’s got a lead on a job. Some woman in town will pay him fifty cents to mend her fence, but the problem is he doesn’t have any tools. Emmet has his dad’s old tool set and Wendell offers to split the fifty cents with him if he’ll help which Emmet enthusiastically agrees to. As he runs into the house with the wood, he leaves Wendell to try to figure out what fifty cents divided by two is.

These guys want to form a jug-band. I’m guessing that’s going to happen given the title of this one.

As Emmet reaches the door he encounters Miss Muskrat (Ozker) who is there to see his mother. She is kind enough to open the door for Emmet who has a bundle of logs to bring in. The pair enter and we find out that Muskrat is there to use the spinning wheel she let Alice borrow some time ago. Alice is delighted to see her, though slightly flustered since she doesn’t even have water on for tea. Emmet tells her about his job, grabs the tools, and scampers off leaving Alice to wonder what she did with the tea pot (she’s holding it in her hand). We then get another long, marionette, shot of Wendell and Emmet marching off to work. It’s a little better than the other one, but they almost look like they’re goose-stepping. Again, I’d have cut these. It’s during this walk we get to what I think is going to be the central plot here. Wendell reveals there’s a talent contest coming up in town and the winner gets fifty dollars. The scene is cut with another one back at the Otter house where Muskrat is telling Alice the same and she’s clearly intrigued. Emmet and Wendell are then approached by Harvey Beaver (Henson) and Charlie Muskrat (Hunt). They want to put together a jug band to enter the talent competition. Wendell is pretty interested, but doesn’t know what he’d play. Harvey tells him he can blow the jug and Emmet can play the washtub bass. Emmet refuses and seems a bit hostile about it. When Wendell asks why it’s because in order to play a washtub bass you have to put a hole in the washtub, and that’s basically all his mom has left!

This job might not be worth the quarter it pays.

There’s a clever cut where we immediately return to Alice as she’s using the washtub and a washboard to do the laundry. Hetty Muskrat is still there and they’re still talking about the prospect of entering the talent show. Alice dismisses the idea of singing in it on account of not having a costume she could wear. Hetty pretty much agrees, but Alice still accuses her of trying to sweet talk her into entering the thing. We jump back to Emmet and Wendell who are now on the job. Old Lady Possum (Ozerk) is squawking at them from her porch as Emmet looks at how dilapidated the fence is and notes this is a much bigger job than Wendell let on.

If all Emmet is used to is a Christmas branch I wonder what he would think of Charlie Brown’s tree?

Time to move the plot along as the picture cuts back and forth between Emmet and his mother as the two go about their tasks. While they do so, we hear their internal monologue. Alice wants to buy her son a proper, store-bought, Christmas present. And that guitar would be the perfect gift. Emmet reflects on never buying his mother a Christmas present, or his father, and now it’s too late to buy him something. He wants to get her a new piano and knows that would make her happy. The dilemma, of course, is neither has the means to buy the other a gift. Alice thinks she needs a costume for the talent show and the way to get the money to buy the materials to make one is to sell something, but the only thing she can think to sell is the old toolbox that Emmet uses for odd jobs. Emmet has a much clearer path to the talent show, but it involves putting a hole in his mother’s washtub which she needs for her laundry business and will effectively ruin it. He also notes that 50 bucks four ways is $12.50 – not enough for a piano, but enough for a down payment on a used one. And that’s our setup. Both characters want to get the other a Christmas present, but it’s going to be costly and they’ll be competing with each other for the same fifty dollars. It’s basically a “Gift of the Magi” setup. I have to say, not one of my favorite Christmas stories, but maybe Emmet and his Ma can sell me on it.

Ma is easily amused by her son.

Emmet returns home with the family Christmas branch! We saw him cutting it during the whole business with him and his mom deliberating internally with themselves. We also find out that Pa used to only cut a branch because he couldn’t bring himself to cut down a whole tree. Emmet shares that he used to say, “Because I didn’t cut it down the rest of that tree will still be here in a hundred years!” He does so while imitating his father’s voice and his mom compliments him on his impression. Emmet then asks his mom if she thinks it would be okay to use Pa’s slide now. She thinks about it a moment, then agrees that the ice is probably thick enough by now. I don’t know, lady, the river was ice-free just the day before. I guess otters don’t need the ice to be too thick in order to pass along it. Plus, they’re otters. If they fall in they should be fine.

Behold! Pa Otter’s greatest invention: the slide!

We jump to Emmet standing atop a slide which goes down to the river. He zips down it and ends up sliding across the snow-dusted ice that was just yesterday a river. I can’t tell what the slide is supposed to be made out of. Practically, it appears to be plastic or vinyl, but in-world I have no idea. Ma enjoys the slide as well and the two take turns going down it and having fun. When they settle down a moment Emmet remarks that the slide is the best thing Pa ever built. Ma says he didn’t leave them much, but what he did is good enough. Emmet politely disagrees and says he thinks Pa left them a lot and Ma corrects herself to say he left what he could. More Pa memories are used to further the plot as Ma recalls he always said you had to take chances. We then hear her thoughts as she concludes that Pa would sell that toolchest. Emmet concludes that he’d put a hole in the washtub. I don’t know why, but that sounds funny to me. With their minds made up, Emmet then asks Ma if she remembers Pa’s favorite song. Oh boy, I guess that means it’s time for another one. This one is called “When the River Meets the Sea.” It’s another slow one and the sleepy pace of this special is starting to get to me. It concludes with a scene of Ma putting Emmet to bed which for the first time has me questioning how old he’s supposed to be? I feel like most would put a real, young, kid to bed in this fashion, but we know Emmet is capable of rowing a boat and doing odd jobs. Does he go to school? I suddenly have so many questions.

The emotion this puppet is capable of will shock and delight you.

The next morning, we see Emmet quietly trying to leave the house, but as he does he’s also leaving behind a note. A voice over informs us that it’s a note to Ma explaining the actions he’s about to undertake regarding the washtub. What he doesn’t realize, is that Ma has already left him a similar note and we get her voice over explaining what she’s doing with the toolchest, so yeah, “Gift of the Magi” plot confirmed. Emmet heads outside and approaches the washtub with a small log and a nail. He pauses to gather himself before striking the nail once with the log to put a hole in Ma’s washtub. Even though there isn’t much to the puppet, the scene is shot really well to the point where you can feel the uncertainty in Emmet’s heart over what he’s about to do. The scene is allowed to hang a moment and that one strike feels heavy. Well done.

We’re halfway through this one and we finally have ourselves a jug-band!

It’s time for more music! The jug-band is now together in what looks like a treehouse. They’re performing a song called “Bar-B-Que” and it’s a jaunty tune, probably my favorite so far. When the song ends, the gang all seem pretty pleased with themselves, all except Emmet. He’s not down on the performance, but he considers it fair at the moment. He wants to practice more, but the other guys are less enthusiastic. Emmet insists since he has a lot riding on this and references the hole in his mother’s washtub. Harvey gripes a bit, but they all resume playing. As the boys get back to playing we check-in on Alice. She’s hawked the toolchest like she said she would to buy some fabric to make a costume. She’s over at the Muskrat residence using Hetty’s sewing machine. Hetty remarks she can’t believe Alice sold the toolchest, but Alice insists that she needed to do it in order to win the contest and once she does she’ll have enough money to buy Emmet that guitar and the toolchest back. Hetty asks the question we’re all wondering, “What if you don’t win?” Alice won’t hear any of it and insists that she has to win.

Puppets on snow mobiles. It’s pretty charming.

Back at the treehouse, the boys have wrapped up their practicing for the day and are ready to head to Waterville for the contest. They’re feeling pretty confident, but the sound of motorcycles gets their attention. Actually, it’s not motorcycles, but snow mobiles and it’s the Riverbottom Gang! They pause outside the treehouse so Chuck can point out “the birds in the tree.” The boys take umbrage to this as they inform the gang they’re not birds, but a jug-band and they’re going to win the contest tonight! Weasel has a laugh at that and soon the other guys join in. I like that Cat Fish is now riding in a bucket of water on two skis behind one of the snow mobiles. After they laugh a bit, Chuck shouts for them all to shut up and they head out leaving the boys confused about this awkward display they just witnessed.

It’s damn near showtime and Alice is quite the Nervous Nelly.

Evening arrives and it’s almost time for the talent show. The Waterville mayor (Henson) is in the town hall directing performers to their dressing rooms: boys to the right, ladies to the left. This causes a problem for a couple going as a tandem horse, but they just rip their costume in half and politely do as they’re told. Alice enters and appears a bit flustered. The mayor points her in the right direction and she’s so nervous that she flubs her thanks, “I’m very nice to have helped you,” she says to him leaving him a bit perplexed. She realizes her error and tries to correct herself, but gargles up the words. She just ends with “You’re terribly nervous,” as she ducks into the dressing room. The jug-band has also arrived and Harvey is still feeling most confident as he looks around. He thinks they’re a lock to win and no one says otherwise.

That may have scarred a few children.

Time for the show! Mayor Fox takes the stage to welcome everyone to their first annual Christmas talent show. He introduces the judges which include a badger, the mayor’s wife Gretchen Fox (the one who stiffed Ma on the laundry earlier), and Doc Bullfrog (Nelson), the wealthy looking fellow we saw remarking on the Otters earlier. He is apparently the owner of the hottest night spot in town which feels like a tell on how this whole story is going to wrap-up. The first act is then brought on, Shirley and Nat Muskrat as Carrots the Dancing Horse. This was the couple we saw earlier and they apparently didn’t have enough time to get their costume stitched back together. Carrots the Dancing Horse is more like a horror show as the two halves flail about on stage. When Nat falls over, the crowd has a laugh and the couple scamper off the stage. What a start!

The boys are feeling might confident right about now. That’s fixin’ to change.

The mayor is back on the stage after an act break. It would seem we have been spared seeing all of the acts and the jug-band is feeling even more confident about their chances which means something is about to happen to knock them down a peg. And sure enough, the next act is Yancey Woodchuck (Nelson) who is here to perform, as the mayor puts it, the ever popular song “Bar-B-Que.” Yancey is just a solo act, and not a very good one if you’re asking me, but the mere fact that he’s performing the same song the jug-band was planning on doing has put a scare in them. I will say, pretty lame of the organizers to not spot that and let the guys know. Emmet’s not taking any chances as he ushers the band into an alley behind the town hall to work on a new song. The show goes on and we have to watch some rabbit couple flop around before seeing what the boys are doing. We don’t even see them play a note before the mayor orders them back inside so they don’t miss their cue.

Ma left her nerves in the dressing room, it would seem.

After some tumblers that appear to be mink do a routine, the mayor comes out to inform the crowd that up next is Alice Otter. Alice calmly walks out on stage in what I guess is her costume. It just looks like something she’d ordinarily wear making me question how necessary it was for this performance. She nods to the piano man to play and starts singing the song “Our World.” Whatever nerves she had are apparently gone. It’s a slow song, but an optimistic one. Emmet and the boys see her and are surprised. Wendell thinks they’re cooked since she sounds better than them.

Well Emmet, time to upstage your own mother.

The song finishes and Alice receives some hearty applause. When she exits the stage she walks right into Emmet and the guys who shower her with praise. She then asks what they’re doing there and Emmet tells her they formed a jug-band to participate in the contest. Before she can notice or ask about the washtub, the mayor introduces the group which is calling itself the Frogtown Hollow Jubilee Jug-Band. The boys hit the stage and start into their song. They may not have been in that alley for very long, but apparently it was long enough to rehearse a new song, “Brothers.” It’s about how they’re not related, but are like brothers anyway. It’s…not a very good song. The hook is just them saying “Brothers!” The crowd seems to disagree with me as they get a nice applause when they’re done. Ma even runs over to say they’re sure to win.

I know they’re the bad guys, but this performance is really that much better than the rest.

The mayor returns to the stage to inform the crowd that the jug-band was supposed to be the last act, but we have a late entry. You didn’t think the special forgot about the Riverbottom Gang did you? It turns out, they have their own rock band: The Nightmare. They have all of the equipment and costumes you would expect of a 70s rock act. Chuck is on the keys, Weasel appears to be on guitar and we know Snake has a guitar too, but I suppose his could be a bass. Lizard is on drums and Cat Fish is in a tank of water. When he splashes around it kind of sounds like cymbals clashing. They get into their own song, “Riverbottom Nightmare Band.” It’s not bad, has some strong hints of Blue Öyster Cult, but no cowbell as far as I can tell. There’s a lot of star-shaped lens flare on the lights which adds to the glamour of it all and when the band wraps up their song it’s plainly obvious who is going to win this talent show. When it’s over, Doc Bullfrog makes it official: the winner of the contest is The Nightmare.

Maybe they wouldn’t look so blue if they had read “The Gift of the Magi.”

Outside the town hall, the boys and Ma are looking pretty glum. It’s time for Ma and Emmet to come clean about what they did to be here tonight. Ma goes first and tells Emmet she hawked the toolchest to get money for her costume. Emmet responds to acknowledge she can see what he did with her washtub. She just responds simply, “Yep.” Doc Bullfrog is seen exiting the building and pauses to give the group some encouragement. He says he and the other judges liked their performances, but felt it was missing a little extra something. He wishes them a merry Christmas and heads off back to his restaurant. Ma declares they should be getting on home and suggests they walk along the frozen river. As they do, Ma and Emmet get to talking and share with each other what their plans were for the prize money. Ma declares the piano is the nicest present anyone has ever wanted to buy her, which is both heartwarming and sad. She does explain that, despite not winning, she feels pretty good right now and it’s because she knows she did what Pa would have done. Emmet agrees.

Most people would sing Christmas carols, but this is fine.

Harvey is humming on his kazoo as the group meanders down the ice. Ma compliments him on his playing and then seems to get an idea. She declares the two songs could fit together. When Emmet asks her how, she decides to demonstrate. She starts singing “Our World,” then nods to the boys when she wants them to come in and they do as they’re told. They start performing this mashup right there on the ice. The performance soon attracts an audience, and who do you think is part of that audience? Why, none other than Doc Bullfrog! Seems they made it down to his cafe which prompted him to come out and watch. He declares that’s exactly what their two songs needed, each other, and he wants them to come inside and play his Christmas Eve party. Ma confirms it’s regular pay for regular work and it sounds like the group has a new job going forward.

I wonder how many nights it will take to earn enough for a new washtub?

Inside, the group plays their newly discovered song for the patrons of Doc Bullfrog’s place. They’re playing a bit livelier than they did outside and I can hear a piano, though no one appears to be on piano. Among the patrons this night, why it’s Kermit the Frog! He tells us that with Ma and Emmet finding regular work that Christmases on the river were much better from now on. The scene fades out, but we’re not quite done yet. The gang is all heading home after their night’s work feeling mighty good about themselves and looking forward to more nights like this one. Emmet concludes they’re a lot better at performing than they ever were at odd jobs and laundry. Ma agrees, but then asks the boys if they might join her in a song for Pa. Oh boy, one more song.

I had a feeling we’d see this character again.

We’re doing “When the River Meets the Sea” again, though now with a band behind Ma’s singing. Well, more like a choir as the band doesn’t really play behind her. Emmet looks like he is, but I don’t hear a washtub bass, just another unseen piano. The song has a slightly different energy, Ma sounds less sad this time. It’s subtle, or maybe it’s my imagination, but it’s a nice change even if it’s largely the same as before. The jug-band then comes in at the end to a play more lively, instrumental, version over the credits and we go out on some scenic shots of Frogtown Hollow.

Scratch another one of the list. I finally got around to this one and my take on it might disappoint those who really love it. This is a fine Christmas special, jut not really the kind that is going to appeal to me. I can see why it’s not referred to as a true Muppets special because the Muppet sense of humor is toned way down. It pops up in a few spots, but this is a mostly sincere tale about a poor family of otters struggling following the death of their patriarch, who probably wasn’t a great provider even in life since he was a literal snake oil salesman. The Otter family of Emmet and Alice are easy to like and easy to root for and we also wince with them when we see the lengths to which they’ll go in order to secure a Christmas present for each other.

It’s heartwarming enough, but like their songs, it feels like it’s just missing that extra special ingredient.

What doesn’t always work for me is just how slow this one moves and how obvious it is with its direction. We literally watch two otters slowly make their way down a river to start the picture singing a rather low key tune. It really does set the mood and expectations for how this one is going to progress. I like some of the character bits and how they can just make small talk with each other, but it’s loaded with exposition. I think the production thinks it’s being more clever than it is by weaving their backstory into conversation, but it’s pretty obvious. I kind of got sick of hearing about Pa after he was brought up for the fourth or fifth time and every time after.

The special is also loaded with songs which it relies upon for padding. I’m guessing the CBC wanted an hour long special and this was the easiest way to stretch the story into an hour. None of the songs are terribly long, “The Bathing Suit that Grandma Otter Wore” and “Riverbottom Nightmare Band” are the two longest checking in at just over 2:40 in length, but there were definitely moments where I was dismayed to see yet another song starting up. There’s just not enough variety to the performances. It helps make a song like “Bar-B-Que” stand out because of its up-tempo nature, but all of Alice’s songs are just way too similar. I bet Marilyn Sokol has more range than this – let her cut loose!

I mentioned during the write-up that I’m not a big fan of “The Gift of the Magi.” I don’t like watching well-intentioned characters make the wrong choice. The choices aren’t wrong on their own, it’s that they’re two competing choices. Poor people needlessly sacrificing at Christmas. It just doesn’t make for a fun story, in the end. This one isn’t quite so bad as others. Ma doesn’t love her washtub, she just needs it for work. The same is probably true of the toolchest and Emmet, though it was his father’s so there may be sentimental value there, or not. The toolchest one was also a hard sell since Ma Otter didn’t have much of a costume. The story really telegraphs where it’s going to go which perhaps takes the sting out of it. Seeing the wealthy looking Doc Bullfrog early on is unnecessary as we know the story wouldn’t show him unless he was going to be important. And then when the mayor makes it a point to tell us who he is at the start of the talent show it makes it even more obvious what his role is going to be in the end. I wanted to feel something more uplifting when Doc Bullfrog extends an invite to come play at his tavern, but I felt nothing and that’s highly unusual for me. Even the corniest Christmas specials can move me to tears, but this one never even got close.

The scenery really is delightful. It’s not really trying to trick you into thinking it’s real, which helps one to appreciate the amount of work that must have went into it.

What I did enjoy was the overall presentation. I mentioned my dislike of the use or marionettes and that didn’t change as the special went on, but I don’t think I needed to harp on that. The other puppets looked nice. The Otters are simple, but effective. I remain impressed with the scene of Emmet driving the nail through the washtub in just how emotive that simple puppet felt there. It makes me wish they could have been more subtle with other aspects of the story and let the visuals tell the tale. The scenery was gorgeously simple. Just dusty, old, wooden buildings faded in the sun soon covered with a dusting of snow. There’s a coziness to the interiors, but not a false one. The production never lost sight of the fact that these are poor individuals, for the most part, and they don’t have much. There’s a reason why the special devotes a lot of shots to just panning over the outdoors because it looks great and I’m guessing a lot of resources went into that aspect of the production. It’s an indulgence I can approve of.

This leaves me to the final question regarding Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas – where to place it on my big list of Christmas specials? I want to preface this by saying I liked this one, even if I find faults with it. I couldn’t find a place for it in my top 25 though, but I do think it’s a lot better than A Muppet Family Christmas. That one is a bunch of decent gags stitched together that falls apart in the second half. It’s also better than the other semi-famous Henson Christmas tale, The Christmas Toy. That one is a bit off-putting for me and it’s more entertaining as a proto-Toy Story than as a Christmas special. This one at least remains pretty consistent the whole way through. I feel comfortable putting it in my top 50 and it’s landed at number 44 on my list. This list is a pretty moving target and with these one-off entries this year, I did prioritize splitting them up. Tomorrow, we’ll be looking at what I placed at numbers 43-34. If I were just slotting this one into my rankings and not dedicating a solo post to it, it would wind up a lot closer to 34 than 44. Opinions may differ, but as I look over the entries from 34 and up it doesn’t strike me as an insult to be ranked that high. There’s some good stuff around this one. And if you like this one more than me for whatever reason you’re also justified in feeling that way too.

Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:

Dec. 20 – Futurama – “A Tale of Two Santas”

It was right here in this spot one year ago today that Futurama’s “Xmas Story” was inducted into the very prestigious Christmas Spot Top 25 Christmas Specials of All-time. Well, it was named as such a few years prior, but last year is when it got the full write-up treatment. And while I selected that…

Keep reading
by Joe

Dec. 20 – Futurama – “Xmas Story”

Welcome, to the world of tomorrow! Today! We’re looking forward while we look back on one of the best animated Christmas episodes of all time – Futurama’s “Xmas Story.” Have you ever wondered what Christmas could be like in the 31st century? Well, now you don’t have to. Turns out, it’s pretty bad, but the…

Keep reading
by Joe

Dec. 20 – A Charlie Brown Christmas

Let’s continue our look at the best of the best in the field of Christmas specials with perhaps the most quoted, parodied, and maybe even beloved special of all time: A Charlie Brown Christmas. This is the special that shouldn’t exist. It’s one if you are able to separate your nostalgia for the special itself…

Keep reading
by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in christmas, Television

December 21, 2022

Dec. 21 – A Muppet Family Christmas

By Joe
Original air date December 16, 1987.

This year we’re celebrating two things at The Christmas Spot. Well, 3 things if you count Christmas by itself, which I suppose you should. Every fifth day, we’re celebrating the best of the best which is why yesterday was A Charlie Brown Christmas. If you read the feature on December 1st for this year, then you also know that I am personally celebrating 35 years of my beloved family heirloom The Christmas Tape. I basically want to cover everything on that tape and the good news is I had already covered most of it going into this year’s countdown. What I had yet to cover was the special Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town which I rectified already. That leaves one other special left: A Muppet Family Christmas.

Oiriginaly broadcast in 1987, my Christmas tape was once a sought after item because of the fact that it contained this unedited broadcast. Future broadcasts were not in primetime and not on broadcast networks so the special was trimmed down to accommodate cable. Subsequent releases of the special on VHS and beyond contained the cable cut, or some stuff was omitted for copyright reasons, I’m not sure. I never actually had to watch them or any rebroadcast because I had the original at my beck and call whenever I wished (provided it was in-season, no watching The Christmas Tape in June, house rule). I did include this special in my original Top 25 Christmas specials, but when I redid those rankings a couple of years ago I actually dropped A Muppet Family Christmas. This puts it in the odd spot of not being in consideration for the every fifth day redo the other specials are getting, but it’s still worthy of a better write-up than the original one I gave it so let’s do that now.

A Muppet Family Christmas was unique at the time because it sought to combine all of the Muppet brands under one umbrella at Christmas. And in 1987, those were primarily the Muppets, Fraggle Rock, and Sesame Street. It aired on ABC and was followed by Julie Andrews’ The Sound of Christmas, a special I will in all likelihood never look at and my parents thankfully did not record it in ’87. The format for this one is nothing special, all of these characters are getting together because it’s Christmas and we have a nice scenic home in the countryside where the holiday can be celebrated. There’s a B plot involving Miss Piggy, and the special does its best to incorporate everyone as best it can. Jim Henson also makes a cameo which gives this one a little added “oomph” given he’s no longer with us and would only be around for a few more years following the broadcast. Let’s not let that get us down though as this musical special wants to make us laugh, and add in a dose of Christmas melancholy, for the next hour.

The Muppet gang has packed up their pickup and is heading out to Fozzie’s childhood home in the country for a good old-fashioned family Christmas!

The special begins with a beat-up pick-up truck driving through a snowstorm. Our driver is Fozzie (Frank Oz) and riding shotgun is Kermit (Jim Henson) with Gonzo (Dave Goelz) seated between them. In the bed of the truck are a whole bunch of characters. Now, I’m a pretty basic Muppets fan and I pretty much only know the heavy hitters by name so I won’t attempt to name everybody, but it sure looks like most everybody is in this truck. And if they’re not, it’s because they’re making their own entrance later. Anyway, the gang is singing “We Need a Little Christmas” as they drive through the snow and I think this is honestly my preferred version of this song (sorry Johnny Mathis), but it also might be the first version of the song I ever heard so that undoubtedly is influencing my opinion.

Fozzie’s mom, Emily, is in for a real surprise that’s going to ruin her holiday vacation. It’s partly her own fault for not sharing with her son her holiday plans.

We get a break in the singing for Fozzie and Kermit to basically set up the special. The whole gang is heading out to the country to surprise Fozzie’s mother for Christmas. She has no idea what’s coming for her. Fozzie assures Kermit this is fine as his mother is likely seated in her farm house all alone and wishing someone would come spend Christmas with her. As he sets the stage, we see a lovely farm house that certainly looks like it’s owned by an old lady. Maybe not a bear, but it has real grandma energy. Fozzie’s mom (Jerry Nelson) comes walking into the scene and she is not some granny looking to sip tea in a rocking chair. She’s carrying a suitcase and sporting some fancy shades as she talks aloud about being bound for Malibu! It seems Fozzie’s mom had found a much more entertaining way to spend the holidays this year. We cut back to the gang in the truck so they can finish their song while also getting a few shots of other occupants of the truck.

Doc clearly has no idea he’s in a Muppets special since he’s expecting a nice, quiet, Christmas.

After our first commercial break, we return to the farm house where Emily “Ma” Bear is looking over her airplane tickets and getting ready for her departure. A ring of the doorbell interrupts her and on the other side waiting for her is…Doc! Doc (Gerry Parks) is here with his trusty, canine, companion (who is a Muppet) Sprocket (Steve Whitmire) and he is apparently renting Emily Bear’s house for Christmas while she’s on vacation. Both he and Sprocket are surprised to find out that Emily Bear is an actual bear, but they seem to pay it no mind. If you’re unaware, Doc is from the Fraggle Rock show and the premise there is Sprocket sees and encounters the Fraggles, but Doc does not.

As the Muppets come storming in most will fall victim to the dreaded icy patch. Emily has a farmer’s porch, so in order for her to have an icy patch there must be a leak in the roof above. She should get that looked at.

As Doc heads upstairs to his room, another ring of the doorbell occurs. This time it’s Fozzie, and Emily is very surprised to see her son, but not disappointed. They do a special greeting and it’s rather sweet as the two embrace. She doesn’t tell him about her vacation, but when she remarks how this is quite the surprise Fozzie lets her know he has an even bigger surprise: he brought all his friends! Since Emily is wearing sunglasses we can’t see how surprised she really is as Kermit and the gang all come barging in. As they do, most, if not all, of them slip on an icy patch she previously warned Doc about who deftly navigated it with little more than a stumble. The various Muppets mostly go head over heels on the thing and it will be a running gag throughout the special.

Doc and Sprocket are going to have to just roll with this.

As the crew comes pouring in, Emily tries to mask her disappointment at this development so as to spare her son’s feelings. Doc is not so concerned and he calls from atop the stairs asking if she remembers him, the guy who wanted a nice, quiet, Christmas? He’s going to say that a lot. All Emily can do is shrug, a gesture indicating she’s just rolling with it, while Doc warns Sprocket to stay clear of these potential aliens. Emily tells him they’re just from television and describes them as Fozzie’s “weirdo friends.” When she does, Dr. Teeth (Henson) confirms this while Sam Eagle (Oz) wonders aloud “Why am I here?” Doc also asks Sprocket, in a whisper, if these characters are like those Fraggles he keeps telling him about and Sprocket just holds up his hand to make a gesture that says “Sort of.” I had no idea Sprocket was capable of communication enough to be able to actually tell Doc the word “Fraggle” at some point in the past.

Emily meets the lizard.

Fozzie then introduces his mother to Kermit, whom he describes as his boss, friend and inspiration. Emily just responds “Oh yeah, the lizard.” Kermit politely corrects her on his species before apologizing for all of them barging in like this. Emily, ever the gracious host, will here none of it and tells him they’re all welcome while Doc reminds her of his desired nice, quiet, Christmas. She just throws it back at him by saying “You’re disappointed? I just took three months of surfing lessons for zilch!” The telephone rings, which Animal announces, to break up the brief argument. Animal (Oz) is the one to answer it and he seems excited, but then says “Oh…pig” and drops the receiver.

Miss Piggy has better things to do than spend Christmas Eve at a farm house. She’ll come when she’s ready.

Miss Piggy (Oz) is on the other end when Kermit picks up the phone. He asks where she is as she was supposed to join them at the farm house, but she apparently neglected to tell him about a teensy, weensy, photo shoot she had scheduled. She explains she’ll be heading his way once she’s done, the whole time they’re talking a photographer (David Rudman) is calling out instructions from off camera to Piggy to do various poses ending with a kissy face up close at the camera. Kermit hangs up looking a bit disappointed while Emily is leading a bunch of characters up the stairs to show them to the guest rooms while Doc pleads with her to do no such thing. The door rings and you can see the guy’s heart basically hit the floor as he cries, “Not more!”

Am I the only one who is kind of creeped out by Chef’s actual, human, hands?

Fozzie answers it and it’s Swedish Chef (Henson). He’s arrived with a bunch of cooking equipment and promptly dumps it all as he wipes out on the icy patch. After he gathers himself, Fozzie basically translates his gibberish for us as we find out he’s here to cook the Christmas turkey though we could have figured that out because he says “Gobbly gobbly turkey!” Fozzie is excited to have him and offers to show him to the kitchen. As the two head there, they both basically just sing the melody to “Good King Wenceslas.” I realize that Swedish Chef is considered by some to be offensive these days. I think he’s just called “Chef” now to reflect that. I view him as rather innocuous, but I’m also not Swedish so my opinion might not matter. I’ll probably just refer to him as Chef the rest of the way, mostly because it’s shorter, but also to respect those wishes.

Gonzo is just looking out for this turkey, but he’s basically punished for doing so.

As the two walk towards the kitchen, Gonzo is shown searching for his precious Camilla, the chicken. He’s the original Chicken Lover. The doorbell rings once again and Gonzo stops his search to answer it only to find a turkey on the other side. The turkey (Whitmire) is sporting some shades, a newsboy cap, and carrying a tennis racket for some reason. He’s very colorful too, far more colorful than most turkeys. Gonzo is shocked to see him and ushers him out onto the farmer’s porch. There, he tries to discourage the bird from attending this gathering for he knows what Chef likely has planned, but the turkey won’t take a hint. He says he was invited by some Swedish guy wearing a Chef’s hat and thinks this is a great place to spend the holidays. He just demands to know where his room is and Gonzo tells him if he isn’t careful it will be the oven, but this turkey dismisses his concerns because he’s a survivor. As he walks off, Gonzo calls after him, “See you at dinner!”

Robin sucks.

In the kitchen, Chef is surrounded by a bunch of chickens, rats, and Fozzie and Kermit. He’s not too happy about this and when Kermit asks what the problem is Fozzie tells him that Chef doesn’t want rats and chickens in his kitchen. Seems reasonable. Kermit suggests that he show them their bedrooms and Chef seems to like that idea so Fozzie does as suggested leaving Kermit and his nephew Robin (Nelson) alone in the kitchen. Kermit remarks how crazy things are getting, but Robin reminds him this is how Christmas usually is. A very sweet, but also loud, version of “Jingle Bells” starts to play in the background as the frogs reflect on their current station. By the way, Robin sucks. I hate Robin, he’s such a dork, and it might be this scene that makes me dislike him as he just starts singing this very sickeningly sweet rendition of “Jingle Bells” in sync with the music. Yuck!

I would much prefer to listen to Doctor Teeth and Electric Mayhem than Hall & Oates or whoever else recorded “Jingle Bell Rock.”

Dr. Teeth apparently agrees with me as Robin’s song is interrupted rather quickly with “Jingle Bell Rock” courtesy of Electric Mayhem. Suck it, Robin! It’s a lively and fun rendition of the song which Robin and Kermit are shown enjoying. The rats like it too, as does Sprocket, though Doc looks a bit befuddled by the whole scene. When it ends we go to a break, but return with Fozzie outside building a snowman that’s clearly a Muppet. A bear and a raccoon are harvesting a Christmas tree and soon Rowlf (Henson) comes upon them. He enters with a joke, “I’ve been chasing a truck the whole way and boy am I exhausted” which Fozzie enjoys. He tells him to head inside and introduce himself to his mother who loves canine humor.

Dog meet dog.

Emily directs the beer and raccoon on where to put the tree and then turns to Doc to help her with the garland for the banister. It would seem since she wasn’t planning on being home for Christmas she decided not to bother decorating and now they have to hastily make the place seem merry. Rowlf comes bounding in and slips on the icy patch momentarily dropping the presents he was carrying in. When he gets up, he informs Emily he’s hear for the holidays and Doc is not happy to hear this. Emily just sighs and indicates she’ll see if there’s a pillow in the kennel. Rowlf seems to get the impression his being there is an inconvenience, but he doesn’t dwell on it since he encounters Sprocket. The two trade barks and Doc actually smiles for once as he remarks “Don’t you just hate it when you can’t speak the language?”

They make a cute couple.

Rowlf soon spies an old piano and heads for it. As he starts playing “Sleigh Ride,” on it he remarks it’s out of tune before adding that he loves out of tune pianos. We then cut to outside where Fozzie comes in with the lyrics as he continues to build his snowman. When he gets to the line “Out here the snow is falling,” it’s not Fozzie, but the snowman, who sings it much to Fozzie’s delight. He and the snowman (Richard Hunt) work their way through the song before breaking into a comedy routine. They trade lame jokes and are soon joined by a bunch of penguins and later some more woodland animals. Doc and Sprocket are also shown enjoying the song from the porch so he’s gradually lightening up.

Nope, still not ready to spend the day with the other weirdos.

When the two finish their song, one of the penguins tells Fozzie they’re the funniest comedy duo in the area. This gets Fozzie all excited as he goes running into the house, slipping on the icy patch in the process, calling for Kermit. He finds the frog in the kitchen, but before he could tell him about his new act the phone rings and Kermit goes to retrieve it. It’s Miss Piggy and her photo shoot is done, but she still has to do some Christmas shopping. Kermit is disappointed that she isn’t on the way, but Piggy doesn’t seem to care as she reassures him she’ll be on her way shortly. He hangs up as Miss Piggy starts eyeing some fuzzy, green, slippers and turns his attention to Fozzie. He tells him he’s “All ears,” but before Fozzie can get it out they’re interrupted by the sound of a dog barking. As Kermit goes to investigate, Fozzie remarks that frogs don’t even have ears. Yes they do, you stupid bear.

For a Christmas special, there sure is a lot of attempted murder in this one.

The source of the barking turns out to be Sprocket, he is under attack from the Chef who seems to think Sprocket is a turkey. Doc is getting quite exasperated with Chef as he explains that Sprocket is a dog, but Chef seems to be rather convinced that Sprocket is not what Doc says he is. Doc can apparently understand Chef and it’s through him we find out that the turkey told Chef that Sprocket is a turkey which causes Doc to remark “The dog is not a turkey, the turkey is the turkey, you turkey!” He leads Sprocket away as Chef seems to head back into the kitchen. Then the turkey comes into the frame to laugh and indicate that he’s having some fun. Camilla then walks in which gets the turkey’s attention. Apparently, she being a chicken isn’t a problem for him as he starts hitting on her.

Lets gather around and watch some Muppet Babies!

Scooter (Hunt) then calls out for Kermit’s attention as he found some home movies to share. Doc is seated beside him and seems genuinely interested to watch what Scooter describes as the very first Christmas the Muppets ever spent together. Kermit is eager to see it as a bunch of individuals have gathered in the living room. Scooter rolls tape and it’s basically the Muppet Babies, minus Skeeter, but in actual puppet form. They’re singing “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” with Rowlf on piano. When Fozzie’s part comes on, Mrs. Bear remarks he was still in diapers back then which seems to embarrass him. Someone refers to Rowlf as a wee puppy which just opens him up to make a pee joke while Gonzo thinks the baby version of him was rather handsome. The song ends with baby Animal tearing through a present and they all remark “Oh, Animal” which is his cue to come ripping through the projector screen. Doc enjoyed the show and remarks to Sprocket, “Even weirdos are cute when they’re babies.”

Gonzo doesn’t deserve this.

Some clucking from the other room gets Gonzo’s attention and he runs over to find Camilla in the arms, err wings, of the turkey. He angrily orders the turkey to get his hands off of his girlfriend which the turkey seems to find disgusting on account of Gonzo not being a bird! This turkey is a racist, opposed to this sort of inner-species love, so now I’m fine with him going in the oven. Gonzo is ready to throw down and the turkey seems game as well as they both go nose-to-nose until Kermit runs over to break them up. He indicates that he hears something, which Gonzo chimes in with “Yeah, you’re about to hear me make some turkey hash,” but Kermit tells him it’s carolers that he hears.

Now this party can really get started!

It’s the gang of Sesame Street that has come a caroling, appropriately enough singing “Here We Come A-Caroling.” As they all come into view for Kermit to enthusiastically point out it’s the Sesame Street Gang, the song stops so Big Bird (Caroll Spinney) can wish everyone a Merry Christmas from Sesame Street! They then go into “Deck the Halls” and characters from Sesame Street get a little face-time in between “Fa la las”. For some reason, a random cow puppet gets a line in(her name is apparently Gladys, but I don’t remember her as being a featured character), while the rest basically just play it straight. The only gag is when it’s Oscar the Grouch’s (Spinney) turn he just says “I will not sing this song!”

This is the best joke in the show.

When the song is over the gang basically storm the house. Doc seems to be accepting his fate at this point as he remarks to Emily this likely means he and Sprocket will have to give up their hammock in the attic. I get wrecking the guy’s nice, quiet, Christmas and forcing him to adapt, but I do think he’s at least owed a bed, no? It’s not like he’s the host, after all, but I guess it’s just funnier this way. After his remark, Emily says it’s either that or he builds bunk beds so he tells Sprocket to find him a hammer. As Emily leaves, Doc is introduced to Bert and Ernie (Henson). He’s cordial, and when he says his name is Doc, Bert (Oz) replies with “That begins with the letter D!” When Doc confirms it does by saying, “Yes,” Ernie points out that begins with the letter “Y,” and Doc says “True,” and you get it. When Doc asks what’s going on, Bert informs him that this is small talk where they come from. That is a perfect Sesame Street joke that isn’t taking place on Sesame Street.

Time’s up, turkey!

Doc excuses himself to go build some bunkbeds and Bert and Ernie continue the bit amongst themselves. In the kitchen, Chef has finally got his mitts on the turkey and he isn’t being tricked anymore. He’s literally measuring him to make sure he’ll fit into the roasting pan he brought all the while the turkey tries to convince him he’ll make a terrible meal. He has one more ace up his sleeve though as he leads Chef to the door to show him what just entered the house: Big Bird! Chef is blown away and refers to Big Bird as a “Gobbly gobbly humongo!” He rubs his hands together and tosses the roasting pan aside as that won’t due any longer while the turkey snickers off in the background.

There’s some good old-fashioned Muppet humor.

Oscar then tells everyone to be quiet as there’s a news bulletin coming on. A newsman (Henson) comes on to warn of an oncoming blizzard and indicates that barometers are falling sharply. He’s them bombarded with a bunch of literal, falling, barometers. Scooter has a laugh at the newsman’s expense, then reacts to the snow falling outside while The Count (Nelson) tries to count the flakes as they fall, an exercise in futility. Kermit peers out the window with worry on his face for Miss Piggy still hasn’t arrived.

They’re gonna do some stuff in that can.

When we come back from a break, Fozzie and his mother are working on a checklist for where everyone will be sleeping. When they get to Oscar, he informs them that he’ll be fine right here in his trash can. Rizzo the rat (Whitmire) then comes to scope it out and asks Oscar if he could bunk with him. Oscar rubs his chin and thinks it might be nice having a rat in his can and I’m not sure how we’re supposed to interpret that thought. Janice (Hunt) comes wandering over baring Christmas cookies and comes upon the wrong guy: Cookie Monster (Oz). He devours every last morsel on her tray leaving her standing there wondering “Who was that strange, blue, creature?” Animal is there to add “That my kind of fella!”

I think it’s pretty incredible how the Sesame Street gang upstages the Muppets in this one. Maybe it was just liberating for everyone to get these puppets off of PBS for a night?

Ernie then calls for everyone’s attention as he and the gang are preparing to put on a play: Twas the Night Before Christmas. He will be playing Papa, and in the role of Mama is a very embarrassed Bert who needs some coaxing to come out from behind the curtain. They all have a laugh at Bert’s expense, including Ernie, before things get started. Ernie reads the poem and after the first line out comes Grover (Oz) dressed as the mouse who is not stirring. We know he is not stirring because he’s carrying a bowl to illustrate that he is clearly not stirring.

If you’re watching this today with your kids they’ll be delighted to see Elmo, then bummed that he never says or does anything in this special.

Ernie moves on to the next part of the poem, the arrival of Santa, and when the curtain is thrown aside we see a sleigh full of eight…monsters! In the middle is Elmo and I only point this out because this is when he was a new character and not the phenom he would become, so Elmo is seen in this special, but not heard. Bert seems almost disgusted with Ernie for selecting the monsters as reindeer and wants to know who is Santa. Ernie tells him to hold on as he gets to that part and in comes the two-headed monster with both heads sporting hats and beards. Sam Eagle is left to remark, “Is nothing sacred?” as he drops his face into his hands. Bert just tells Ernie to get to the finish, so he does, and it’s the monsters who get the last line. They all leave to raucous applause.

Miss Piggy can’t defeat a blizzard.

Doc then comes bursting in through the front door to confirm that, yes, there’s quite a blizzard raging out there. A few of them head over to the window to look at the storm and it’s Emily Bear that remarks to “the lizard” that it’s a good thing all of his friends are safe and warm inside the farm house. Kermit basically gulps out, “But all of my friends aren’t safe and warm inside the farm house.” The phone rings and Kermit runs off to grab it and, of course, it’s Miss Piggy. She’s calling from a phone booth (remember those?) to tell Kermit that her chauffer, Jerome, got the limo stuck in a snowbank so she’ll be taking a taxi the rest of the way. Kermit advises against doing so on account of the blizzard, but Miss Piggy dismisses his concerns as “Just some snow.” She hangs up and it takes all of her strength to force open the phone booth doors to get out. As she starts walking up the street, the wind is fighting her the whole way. First her hat sails off, then the phone booth, and soon she follows with a scream and a loud crashing sound is heard offscreen.

Even the snowman wants to come inside.

Kermit is left holding the phone, worried, as Fozzie comes by to cheer him up. He indicates to Kermit that he could use a dose of comedy right now and tries to take him outside to view his new act. Kermit tries telling him it’s too cold to go out there, but Fozzie insists it’s fine. They get to the door and it swings open and in comes the snowman looking to warm up. Kermit just looks at Fozzie with an “I told you so,” expression, but Fozzie just tells Kermit this is his new partner. The snowman agrees and declares they’re terrific together. Fozzie welcomes him towards the living room and asks if anyone wants to see they’re act. Responding in the affirmative are Fozzie’s mortal enemies: Statler (Hunt) and Waldorf (Henson). They play off of each other with one saying “We’d love to see your act,” followed by, “In fact, we’d hate to miss your act,” and finishing with “In fact, we’d love to hate your act!” As Fozzie bemoans their presence, he finds out they’re friends of his mother who always visit her around the holidays.

The best Muppets. The crappiness of this image is reminding me to point out that I’m taking this from a well-worn 35 year old VHS tape.

Fozzie can’t believe what he’s hearing and as he stands there speechless, it’s Statler who remarks “These two are made for each other; the snowman’s ice cold, and the bear’s not so hot!” They’re killing it, but Fozzie and the snowman try to go into their act, but every time they approach a punchline, Statler and Waldorf beat them to it. The snowman complains he’s starting to melt, though I think it’s his pride that hurts most. Waldorf zings him once more, and Fozzie sadly leads the snowman out of the house and to the back porch.

The Count gets to do his thing in prime time.

By the window, Doc and Kermit are just staring out at the snow. Kermit is clearly worried, and Doc mentions that he’s “One worried frog,” to the nearest character, which just happens to be The Count. He restates Doc’s observation the only way he can, and then Robin comes in (I hate that frog) to indicate he’s not the only one worried so Count gets to add, “That’s two worried frogs! Ha. Ha. Ha,” before walking off. Sprocket appears confused and Doc remarks it must be more small talk before saying he should go collect more fire wood. Kermit and Robin are left standing together looking out the window with Kermit draping an arm around his nephew’s shoulders.

Bert and Ernie get to be funny, but Big Bird is still pretty much Big Bird.

In the kitchen, Chef is up to something. Big Bird soon enters and it would seem Chef lured him there. He tries to smack Big Bird with a rubber mallet, but Big Bird doesn’t notice and as he turns around he knocks the chef on his ass with his tail. As Chef prepares to try again, Big Bird tells him he brought something for him: chocolate-covered bird seed. He completely disarms Chef with his generosity as he indicates he felt he must be feeling a little blue since he’s so far from home. Chef is touched and seems to forget about murdering and cooking Big Bird and the two go into the most unlikely duet of the special: “The Christmas Song.” Chef sings in gibberish which is what makes this a rather bold choice. When they finish, he begins to sob as he clearly is lonesome this Christmas. Big Bird seems to pay it no mind, or he wants to cheer him up by changing the subject, and asks what he’s making for Christmas dinner. Chef seems to have had a change of heart as he explains something to Big Bird which the kind, yellow, bird translates as shredded wheat and cranberry sauce. This is apparently his favorite. I say he should go back to killing the turkey, if Gonzo hasn’t already.

Piggy is suddenly determined to get to this Christmas gathering.

Once again, we see Kermit by a window. Beauregard (Goelz) is there with him this time to remark he’s got a lot of shoveling ahead of him. He becomes the latest to remind Kermit of the current situation by asking him, “Aren’t you glad you’re all in here all warm and toasty?” leaving Kermit to remind him that Miss Piggy isn’t. We cut to Piggy and she’s positioned behind a taxi. She tells the driver to “Gun it!” as she’s trying to help get it unstuck apparently, and all that happens is she gets sprayed with mud from a spinning tire. Doc then comes in with the firewood and sees Kermit. He acknowledges Kermit’s worry, and then offers to go look for Miss Piggy. Kermit is surprised since he doesn’t even know her. Doc explains that he didn’t know any of them before today, but now he considers them all friends. He then adds how he and Sprocket were planning on having a nice, quiet, Christmas alone, but this is better! When he asks Kermit what she looks like, he indicates she’s a pig causing Doc to remark, “Well, up until a short while ago I would have thought that strange.” He vows to give it a try and heads out leaving Kermit to remark, “What a sweet guy.”

Now seems like a good time to investigate a strange hole.

Robin (ugh) then calls out for Uncle Kermit from the cellar. Kermit heads down there to see what the kid is up to only to find some, weird, tunnel. Robin asks him if this might be a Fraggle Hole, and Kermit seems to think it is so the two investigate further. As they walk in they find an expansive system of caves. As they wander, some beings in the background are poking their heads up to look at the frogs. Kermit thinks he heard something, but doesn’t see anyone. It’s played off as kind of spooky and as the two frogs turn a corner they nearly bump into a Fraggle.

We can’t leave out the Fraggles, though they honestly don’t add a whole lot to this thing.

It’s Red Fraggle (Karen Prell) that gives the two a mild start which causes them to bump into Gobo Fraggle (Nelson) behind them. They’re soon joined by Mokey Fraggle (Kathryn Mullen), Boober Fraggle (Hunt), and Wembley Fraggle (Whitemire). They’re pretty confused by what they’ve come across, but Kermit knows that they are Fraggles. He tells them they’re frogs, and that doesn’t clear anything up, but they move on when Kermit says they came down to wish them a merry Christmas. The Fraggles don’t know what Christmas is so Robin explains it as the time of year when you gather with the people you love to wish them peace on Earth. A nice sentiment, but I don’t know if I’ve ever heard Christmas described in such a way.

Remember kids, Santa may not have brought you what you really wanted, but at least he didn’t bring you an orange rock.

The Fraggles indicate they have a similar time of year, and it’s going on right now! Mokey says they gather together and give each other presents and says she’s about to give a pebble (which looks like a pretty large, orange, rock) to Boober to mark this occasion. The other Fraggles all chime in that they’ve been passing this rock around for years and it’s Goober who confirms it’s been a gift 37 times. Apparently, re-gifting is encouraged in Fraggle Rock. This prompts the Fraggles to sing a pretty lame song called “Pass it On.” There’s some bongos and they just do a sequence of “La la’s” ending with “Pass it on!” There’s some verses and such about gift giving, and how it’s better than receiving, but little in the way of jokes or anything. The frogs get in on the act and when the song is over it’s Robin who is given the Fraggle pebble.

Miss Piggy wasn’t going to let a little thing like a blizzard keep her from making a grand entrance.

As the two leave remarking how nice a meeting that was, Scooter calls for Kermit because they heard something outside. He rushes to the window where others are gathered and soon Miss Piggy comes into view. She’s being brought to the farm via dogsled with Doc serving as the driver. She’s no longer covered in mud and looks about as elegant as a pig can. Doc is also wearing a fancy uniform and he laughs as he explains that when he found her she had the costume for him. Kermit is left to remark that Piggy always does know how to make an entrance.

And, naturally, Piggy gets taken down by the icy patch.

With everyone now outside, Piggy goes into another song: “Home for the Holidays.” It’s played straight, as most of the songs have been, with the whole gang joining in as Piggy makes her way into the house. As the song is fading out, Kermit leads Piggy into the house where she slips on the icy patch. All of the onlookers cry out in unison, “Careful of the icy patch!” I think that’s the last time that joke is recycled and they did save the best instance of it for last.

At least they’ll sleep well.

After the break, Fozzie is putting the finishing touches on the tree to lots of “oo’s” and “ah’s” now that it’s lit. Fozzie then calls for quiet as his mother has an announcement. It’s at this point that Emily Bear formally welcomes them all here, and then follows by asking that they are all here now? She’s relieved to hear it confirmed that everyone is indeed present and then breaks the news that two people are going to have to sleep hanging from hooks on the wall. We cut to Gonzo remarking to Animal what a great idea this was as the two are hanging from said hooks. Animal appears to be in agreement. We find out that’s how Animal always sleeps. Emily Bear refers to them all as weirdos, but nice weirdos.

The party really starts when Kermit puts on pants.

Kermit, now clothed and seated beside Piggy, tells everyone it’s time for their annual carol sing. He gives Rowlf the signal to start them off, and now my job gets easy because they’re going to sit and sing. A lot. They start with “Happy Holidays,” then move onto the following: Ding Dong Merrily On High, I Saw Three Ships a Sailing, Good King Wenceslas, The Holly and the Ivy, I’ll be Home for Christmas, Happy Holidays (a reprise), Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Caroling Caroling, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, It’s in Every One of Us, Old Friends New Friends. There aren’t really any jokes during those 8 minutes or so of singing, save for Beaker doing some of his weird noises. The Fraggles are also shown ascending from the basement and they’re singing with Doc and Sprocket, though I think the implication is that Doc doesn’t notice them.

Here you go, Piggy, your own living, sentient, being.

When it’s mercifully over, we return to the living room where Emily is finishing hanging Fozzie’s stocking so that Santa can leave him a present. Fozzie indicates he’s embarrassed again, so his mother offers to take it down, but he stops her pretty quickly. This reminds Kermit that he has a present for Miss Piggy. She is quite excited to receiver her gift, and when Kermit announces that he got her a mink she practically faints. Then she gets rather sour when an actual, mink, Muppet named Maureen (Prell) comes into frame. She obviously thought she was getting a coat, but somehow Kermit managed to find her an indentured servant in 1987 (seriously, I get the joke, but this is rather weird, no?). Piggy cheers up when Maureen expresses how she’s a huge fan and worships the ground she walks on. Piggy then gives a little chuckle and embraces the mink to show Kermit she’s happy with her gift, but I’m not convinced.

Oh good, we’re doing more with the pebble.

Off to the side somewhere, Robin and Grover share a moment where Robin gives Grover his Fraggle pebble. Grover is surprisingly delighted by the offering and Robin gets the satisfaction of carrying on the tradition. Or he just didn’t want a rock. The doorbell then rings, again, and in comes…Santa! Well, it’s clearly Doc dressed up as Santa, but the sentiment is nice. He’s got gifts which he starts to hand out while everyone else breaks into song, again, with “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”

It’s Christmas, so even Jim is going to get in on the fun.

We then cut to the kitchen and diehard Muppet fans are encouraged to reach for the tissues. It’s Jim Henson shown watching his creations celebrate. He’s not alone as Sprocket is at his feet. He remarks how they’re having a good time out there and adds that he likes it when they have a good time. He then gives Sprocket the bad news that there’s a lot of dishes to do. He offers to wash while Sprocket dry, and I’d love to see how that works.

It’s time to say good bye. It was fun, but I’m ready for this one to be over.

We then zoom out from an image of mistletoe while the Muppets keep right on singing. Underneath the deadly plant are Kermit and Piggy. Piggy tells Kermit to look up and he does remarking “Uh oh,” upon seeing the mistletoe. Piggy plants a gentle kiss on his cheek and wishes him merry Christmas. Kermit returns the favor and expresses the same. They then turn to the camera as the song finishes and the whole crowd shouts, “Merry Christmas everyone!” The title comes back onto the screen and the credits roll to raucous applause from the many Muppets on screen.

Over 6,000 words later, this one is done! These hour long specials take even longer as a write-up, but they’re worth it. A Muppet Family Christmas may have been knocked from the ranks of the top 25, but it’s still a special I enjoy watching each year. It’s charming and there’s a lot of sweetness to it. The jokes tend to be corny, but there’s some good material here as well. Mostly, this one just serves as a celebration of all things Jim Henson in 1987. It’s pretty neat seeing it all come together, and it’s really in the joining of Muppets and Sesame Street where the best comedy is found. The Fraggles do feel a bit tacked on, but I’m sure for fans of their show it was a big deal to see them included. I personally have never been a fan of the show Fraggle Rock so I could do without especially since their scene feels like padding. This probably didn’t need the full hour, but again, if you were big into The Muppets in 1987 this probably hit a lot harder.

There are so many puppets in this one that they can’t even fit them all into one shot.

Where this one does suffer a bit is in its self-indulgence. It’s greatest strength is it’s greatest weakness. We don’t spend a lot of time with anyone except Kermit as there’s just so many characters here. And even so, around one fifth of the special’s runtime is devoted to a medley of Christmas carols and Muppet/Sesame Street originals. That’s the moment where the special really drags and every time I watch it I’m surprised at how long that segment lasts. It just keeps on going. At the same time though, it’s really impressive seeing all of those puppets in one place at one time all being manipulated. The set must have been fairly large and pretty expensive to construct for a one-off. I’m not a Muppets expert so I don’t know if this set was ever reused or not. There were definitely a lot of extra hands here as Frank Oz and Jim Henson can’t work 8 different puppets each at once so this thing’s existence is special. It’s just more interesting on paper than it is in reality.

Seriously, here’s the ones you can’t really see in that other shot.

If you are a big fan of the Muppets then this is probably a must see each and every year, and I get that. If I were a bigger fan of the Muppets then I’d probably like it more than I do. And I do like it! I just don’t love it. If you wish to view it, it has been released on physical media though I know it’s tricky to find the right one. I want to say the Canadian release has everything, but I’m not positive. It is available on YouTube for free and it’s the 87 broadcast so it has everything, and there’s even one out there with commercials included. Though if I’m being honest, the commercials on my tape for this special are kind of weak, but better than nothing. Maybe ABC just didn’t get the good ones or advertisers weren’t sold on The Muppets? Oh well, as fun as old commercials are, the special is what matters most.

Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:

Dec. 21 – Count Duckula – “A Christmas Quacker”

In the 1980s, Nickelodeon didn’t have a lot of animated content. That’s probably surprising for today’s adolescents, but that’s how the network was in the old days. That was due in large part to the network first prioritizing educational content, and then wanting to make sure whatever it aired couldn’t be found on another channel.…

Keep reading
by Joe

Dec. 21 – Buzz Lightyear of Star Command – “Holiday Time”

When Pixar set out to create competing, fictional, toys in its debut film Toy Story it settled on cowboys and space rangers. The thought being that once upon a time cowboys were the most popular fantasy toy among boys, but were soon replaced by fantastic space voyagers once real-life space travel became possible. In order…

Keep reading
by Joe

Dec. 21 – Nerds and Monsters – “Zanti-Clops”

I was doing a lot of different things in the year 2014. It was a busy one, but one thing I was not doing was watching Canadian children’s animation. Which is why I had zero knowledge of the cartoon series Nerds and Monsters before today. Nerds and Monsters, from what I have read and the…

Keep reading
by Joe

2 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in christmas, Television