The best bits from the original 'Muppet Show'
Come fall, it's gonna be time to play the music and light the lights once more.
On Thursday, ABC announced that it's bringing the Muppets back to prime time, to the delight of Gen Xers who watched the variety show, which ran from 1976-81 and can now watch the new mockumentary-style series with their own kids.
Here are a few things we loved about the original series:
Statler and Waldorf heaving insults from the balcony
The gist: Ever hear a pair of codgers or your office cranks referred to as Statler and Waldorf? The reference comes from the Muppets' cranky critics, who sat up in the balcony passing judgment on what was happening down on the stage.
Who they might have inspired: Everyone who watches TV while logged onto Twitter.
Who knew? When the cranky critics made their debut in Season 2, they originally watched from a living room set instead of the balcony.
Bunsen and Honeydew drop science (Meep!)
The gist: Welcome to Muppet Labs, where the future was made every week. Long before Bill Nye or or Dr. Oz, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew carried out scientifically and morally questionable experiments with the help of his faithful assistant Beeker.
Who they might have inspired: The Big Bang guys and Walt and Jesse from Breaking Bad. And Beeker's one-word vocabulary helped pave the way for this guy:
Who knew? Bunsen worked solo throughout Season 1. Also worth noting: They totally predicted the future with their robot politician.
The eclectic guest-star list
The gist: Nowadays, Sesame Street is the show where celebs go to connect with kids. But back in the day, they hung with Henson's other felt friends. Among the guest list: The cast of Star Wars, James Bond himself (Roger Moore), Peter Ustinov, Monty Python's John Cleese, Diana Ross, Ethel Merman, EGOT winner Rita Moreno and John Denver.
Who they might have inspired: The aforementioned Sesame Street. And they were getting celebs to do silly skits when Jimmy Fallon was still in diapers.
Who knew? The producers had a hard time booking good guests until Russian ballet icon Rudolf Nureyev appeared on the show. After that, the celebs came out in droves.
The Swedish Chef
Thanks to the Food Network, kids can probably name like 10 celebrity chefs off the top of their heads. But for kids of the 1970s, there were maybe three: Julia Child, Chef Tell and the Swedish Chef. We have no idea what he was saying (we could only make out "Bork, bork, bork!" most of the time), but we loved watching him play with his food. And we'd still choose his food over Guy Fieri's.
Who he might have inspired: Iron Chef, Anthony Bourdain, and this drunken cooking sketch from Ylvis (you know, the What Does the Fox Say guys). OK, this one 's a bit of a stretch but still funny enough to warrant a viewing. (Note: Turn on the captions so you can follow what they're saying, unless you happen to speak Norwegian.)
Who knew? Brian Henson explained the inspiration behind the Swedish Chef during an interview: "(Father Jim Henson) used to drive to work and I used to ride with him a lot. And he would drive to work trying to make a chicken sandwich in Mock Swedish or make a turkey casserole in Mock Swedish. It was the most ridiculous thing you had ever seen. And people at traffic lights used to stop and sort of look at him a little crazy. But that was the roots of the character that would eventually become the Swedish Chef."
Also, don't ask a Swede about the Swedish chef. They really don't like it and will be quick to tell you his unintelligible dialect sounds more like Norwegian.