Superstar Liza Minnelli is this week's guest, playing a lounge singer targeted for murder in a film noir pastiche.
Songs and Sketches
- "Copacabana", sung by Liza Minelli.
- "Great Day", sung by Gonzo and the Muppets.
- UK Spot: "Pass That Peace Pipe", sung by Baskerville, Muppy, Lyle the dog, and Wolfhound.
- "A Quiet Thing", sung by Kermit and Liza.
- "Everything's Coming Up Roses", sung by Liza and the Muppets.
The episode features examples of:
- Bad "Bad Acting": Kermit plays a classical hard-boiled private eye who keeps calling Liza things like "toots" and "sweet lips", which he naturally can't pull off at all.
- Clueless Mystery: The murder culprits, a pair of critics played by Statler and Waldorf, are never shown to even exist before the reveal.
- Continuity Cameo: An inter-segment example, as Fozzie plays his character in the "Bear on Patrol" skits while investigating the murders.
- Dame with a Case: Liza plays this role, being the one who hires Kermit's detective to investigate the murders at the theater.
- Darker and Edgier: The murder mystery setup naturally results in a rather darker tone to the humor than usual, especially Strangepork's dead body, dressed as an angel, being hauled to the ceiling.
- Faceplanting into Food: The Swedish Chef, denying Fozzie's claim that his food has been poisoned, takes a taste of his soup and immediately drops dead into a bowl of it, face first.
- His Name Is...: Used twice, first with Scooter, then with Liza herself. In her case it's a fake-out, though, designed to trick the murderer into revealing himself.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
- At the end of the song "A Quiet Thing," the mood is broken by a dramatic music sting and a corpse falling out of a cabinet. Liza then looks at the camera and says dryly, "Nobody listens to lyrics anymore."
- Kermit's narration keeps mentioning the soundtrack.
- Lethal Chef: A literal example; whatever it was that the Swedish Chef made for lunch, it took out Lew Zealand, Bunsen, a gaggle of penguins, and himself.
- Let Me Get This Straight...: Kermit says this to Scooter after seeing Liza's understudy, who is played by Miss Piggy.Kermit: Uh, let me get this straight. She is Liza O'Shaughnessy's understudy?
Scooter: Oh, uh, they're not exactly the same type.
Kermit: They're not exactly the same species! - Mythology Gag: Kermit wears his trenchcoat from his news reports on Sesame Street.
- Noir Episode: The episode revolves around Liza and the Muppets putting on a film noir murder mystery.
- Private Eye Monologue: Given that it's a Noir Episode, Kermit naturally does a few of these throughout the episode.Kermit: It was a Wednesday evening in July. [as film noir-style trumpet music plays in the background] Somewhere in the city, a lonely trumpet was playing. It was the kind of a New York summer night when you expect to see lily pads growing on Broadway.
- Running Gag: Gonzo trying to start up a reprise of "Great Day" when somebody dies.
- Shout-Out: Liza's character has the last name O'Shaughnessy, in a nod to The Maltese Falcon (1941).
- Tempting Fate: When an entire cafeteria of Muppets die one by one, Fozzie suspects the food. The Swedish Chef insists the food is safe, tastes it, and instantly collapses.
- [The theater box has been converted into a jail cell, and Statler and Waldorf are in striped jumpsuits.]
Statler: How long are we here for?
Waldorf: Twenty years.
Statler: If I'd known that judge was giving us the box, I'd have asked for the chair!
