EPISODE NOTES

Milton Berle portrays a sleazy used car salesman, Mad Man Mooney in 1979's The Muppet Movie.

Week two of the female performer auditions continues this time with musical actress Abby Hadfield stepping up to her uncredited challenge. Although she's noted to have both contributed vocal talent and physical puppeteering to this episode, it's unclear as to whether she actually manipulated Zelda in her main number as the puppetry is quite well done and more likely to have been in the hands of one of the vets to a prerecorded track. She also performs Scoff in the opening number and provides double tracked vocals for (and most likely puppeteered either) female whatnot and Lydia in "The Entertainer".

This is really the first good look (aside from the opening theme) of the new Gonzo puppet. During the break between the seasons, Dave Goelz rebuilt Gonzo taking him from his rough continually droopy look to a more refined version with an eye mechanism that would allow him to look excited. The change will allow Dave more freedom to take Gonzo from a one-note gag to a more complex character, ultimately becoming one of the Classic Muppets' most three dimensional creations. Though certainly aided by Jerry Juhl's goal of adding more depth to all the main characters, it's clear that the new design is already helping Dave's concept of the character as he's already starting to adjust the tone of Gonzo's voice, dropping much of the nasal and whiny tones.

"Pigs In Space" debuts in this episode with a slightly different opening than what will appear the rest of the season. Though the basic concept and visual style will remain the same, the most notable difference is the audio. Different sound effects accompany the flying meteors and floating heads and it won't be until the next installment that the "Pigs In Space" music will underscore the intro. The floating heads were also recorded particular to this piece while future openings will use the same footage established in its second episode.

With Pigs In Space, Miss Piggy is given a true star vehicle sketch-wise. Although she still appears in Veterinarian's Hospital, she's more a member of that sketch's ensemble whereas Pigs In Space allows its trio of characters more opportunity to interact as distinct characters in definite situations and conflicts as opposed to just trading jokes.

Of the two other characters, Dr. Strangepork is evolved from the Dr. Nauga character in Sex & Violence during the "Return to Beneath the Planet of the Pigs" sketch. (The puppet was refurbished for The Muppet Show's first season with brown hair and eyebrows and now is changed back into the original white hair and brows.) Link Hogthrob is a completely new character and while Strangepork will be used mainly for the Pigs In Space segments, Link will be seen more throughout the season in a variety of other acts. With Hogthrob, Jim Henson gains a vehicle to play an overly macho and pompously vein character which he reportedly relished since it was in such stark contrast to his own mellow humble personality. The character is both a great foil for Miss Piggy - herself no stranger to ego - and at the same time is strong enough to be a hilarious character on his own.

The interplay between Piggy and Link aids Piggy's overall ascent to stardom since even though her "First Mate" role is subservient to Link's "Captain", it's clear that she possesses a higher intellect. At a time when the feminism and Woman's Rights movement was coming into its own, Pigs In Space allowed Piggy to be more of a strong and aggressive character in the more positive sense of the words. Not only does she seem more logical and more grounded in reality than her buffoon male captain and even the science officer, but just the fact that she's even of a "First Mate" rank to begin with was quite a step forward from many of the shows and movies of the time
that Pigs In Space was parodying. Indeed, plot elements of many of this seasons' installments are based on Piggy's overcoming the gender stereotypes that the other two characters try to project on her.