I’ve been watching a lot of “The Muppet Show” lately. I just finished season 2, which means 48 episodes down and 60-some to go. I have watched the series completely in order thus far with two exceptions: I watched the Spike Milligan episode to see why Disney gave it one of its disclaimers, and I watched the Danny Kaye episode because…well, any day of your life is better with this:
I have also been reading a lot of articles about “The Muppet Show”, because there have been a lot of them to read. One of them pointed out the similarities between the theme to “The Muppet Show” and the theme to “The Bugs Bunny Show”, later known under a multitude of titles including “The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show” and “The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show”.
Both theme songs are about the excitement, for audience and performers, of putting on a show. Both of them visually present a parade of familiar characters welcoming us to another episode. Both of them are as ingrained in my noggin as the names of my family and the number of steps from my 3rd floor apartment to the front door. (21.)
“This Is It” was written for the primetime “Bugs Bunny Show” on ABC which aired from 1960 to 1962. Then, because a good song is a good song (and animation is expensive), that same 60 seconds of music and animation were reused, with some additions and changes here and there, until 2000.
Here’s a “redraw” of the opening (basically the original sequence was re-traced so different costumes could be put on Bugs and Daffy). This is from a later ABC broadcast but this version was created for CBS in the mid-1970s when they decided the original 1960 visuals looked old hat. That backdrop looks like something Carol Burnett would walk out of to take questions from the audience.
“This Is It” is a song that bears the mark of professional songwriters, because it was written by Mack David and Jerry Livingston. As a team they wrote songs for Walt Disney’s “Cinderella”; the theme song to the comedy-western “Cat Ballou”; and theme songs for Warner Bros. TV series “Surfside Six” and “77 Sunset Strip”.
As for “The Muppet Show”, its theme song was written by Sam Pottle with Jim Henson. Henson would have known Pottle from his time, beginning in 1974, as composer for “Sesame Street.”
So here are the intros from all 5 seasons. Note in the first season the much simpler opening, and the very different-looking Fozzie and Gonzo. These characters, as well as Miss Piggy, were rebuilt between seasons one and two. I think my favorite opening is season 5, where Statler and Waldorf croon the timeless lyric:
“Why do we always come here?
I guess we’ll never know
It’s like a kind of torture
To have to watch this show!”
So which is the better theme song? Yikes, this is tough.
“This Is It” is an all time classic. But it could have been written for any number of TV shows from the 60’s. “The Hollywood Palace” or the like. Nothing in it tells you that it’s a theme for Looney Tunes, except of course that Bugs and Daffy are singing it.
“The Muppet Show” theme starts out strong and builds…and builds…and builds…especially the re-done intro starting in season 2. “Most sensational, inspirational, celebrational, Muppetational” is a great line. And it never takes itself too seriously–from the audience chanting “WHY DON’T YOU GET THINGS STARTED?” to Gonzo trying but failing (with rare exception) to blow his horn.
Advantage: Muppet Show! But it’s really really close.