Famed puppeteer Señor Wences comes to The Muppet Show, and in his honor, Kermit decides to have a change of pace and do a puppet show.
Songs and Sketches
- "Puppet Man", sung by Pinocchio and other puppets.
- Señor Wences performs his classic characters, Johnny and Pedro.
- Veterinarian's Hospital: Pinocchio.
- Bruce Schwartz performs a traditional Japanese ghost story with bunraku puppets.
- The Swedish Chef: Swedish Lump Bread Puppetry: "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"
- UK Spot: Backstage, Beauregard puts on a show with two puppets: one of Mr. Punch and one of a crocodile.
- Fozzie's Comedy Act: Fozzie tries his hand at puppetry with a dancing clown marionette.
- Señor Wences performs with Cecilia Chicken.
This episode has examples of:
- Bare-Handed Puppetry: The Swedish Chef uses his hand as a puppet, with pieces of dough on two of his fingertips for shoes.
- Demonic Possession: Bruce Schwartz performs a story about a young woman getting possessed by a mask.
- I Will Show You X!: While Kermit is watching Beauregard's amateur puppet show, Miss Piggy comes in and is unimpressed. Offended, she asks if Kermit cancelled her act in favour of something violent like that, and Kermit tries to defend puppetry as an art form, calling it "good, aggressive behavior". Miss Piggy replies that she'll show him "aggressive" and "behavior" and hits him with one of her customary karate chops.
- Perverse Puppet: Fozzie decides to do an act with a dancing clown marionette. He's thrilled with the feeling of power that controlling the Clown gives him. The Clown, though, quickly tires of this and pulls Fozzie down by the strings. The next time we see them, Fozzie is the one with the strings and the Clown is the one controlling him, echoing Fozzie's line about the feeling of power.
- Phoney Call: Lew Zealand goes to Señor Wences' dressing room with a message from Kermit: that the phone in the dressing room isn't working. The phone then rings, and Wences starts speaking into it, doing a ventriloquism act. Lew looks confusedly at the phone's disconnected wire, whips out a mallet, and starts smashing the phone.Señor Wences: [into phone] Okay. Yes. One second, yes, yes. Of course. He's here. Lew?
Lew: Hmm?
Señor Wences: I have a message for you.
Lew: For me? Oh, you must be mistaken.
Señor Wences: No mistake at all. It is the phone company. They want you to stop breaking the telephone. Okay?
Lew: Okay.
Señor Wences: S'alright. - Self-Deprecation: When Kermit explains what puppetry is, Gonzo says that "doll wiggling" is a stupid idea and that even he wouldn't do an act like that. He changes his mind after seeing the Clown pull Fozzie down from his perch.
- Swapped Roles: At the closing, Fozzie and the Clown announce their new act: now Fozzie is the marionette, with the Clown pulling his strings.
- [Statler and Waldorf play with hand puppets of their own, humming the theme song. After exchanging looks, they toss their puppets out of the box.]
