Tear Jerker / The Muppet Show

Although the Muppets have been the source of great joy and laughter, there have been some moments that have made viewers' eyes go into raw waterworks.

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• "It Was a Very Good Year": Statler and Waldorf singing about coming to the end of their lives, and they are performed by the two performers the Muppets would lose first.
• In the episode guest-starring Peter Sellers, things have been even crazier than normal in the theater, and Kermit's just about at the end of his rope when he has to go out and explain to the audience why the next act can't go on as planned. As he admits to being at a total loss, the curtains open on a bare stage... cue a particularly heartwrenching rendition of "Bein' Green", and grab the hankies.
  • It's one of the few times we truly see Kermit looking lost and vulnerable. When he starts to explain to the audience why the act can't go on as planned he maintains his professional attitude and even snarks about the situation, but then when he admits he has nothing to go on in their place and the curtain rises to show nothing on stage:
    Kermit: [barely holding it together] You may have noticed that we're not terribly well organized around here... and... and tonight I'm just barely making it. I don't know, sometimes it's just very difficult.
  • In the same episode is Sellers's now-famous "there is no me, I do not exist. There used to be a me, but I had it surgically removed." While Played for Laughs on-set, in reality it was Sellers at his most vulnerable, confessing to one of his biggest mental issues with all the sincerity in the world behind the mask of a joke. It's likely that those who personally knew Sellers well enough found themselves heartbroken by that bit.
• Gonzo's "My Way". Gonzo is preparing to leave the show for a film career in Bombay, India, and sings this as his farewell. It's so sad that even Gonzo breaks down and can't finish. Kermit has to interrupt the show to comfort him. Don't worry, he comes back.
  Kermit: [encouraging] But you're gonna go out and make movies.
  Gonzo: I wanna go there. I just don't wanna leave here.
• Kermit sympathetically halts the show and tells Gonzo he thinks he made a good choice and, not wanting to draw out goodbyes, offers a handshake. Gonzo just hugs him tight.
  Kermit: [sadly, to audience] We've had a little change of plans, I think we better just take a break. [leads Gonzo offstage, patting his back]
• In the Bernadette Peters episode, Robin contemplates running away because no one notices him for being small. Bernadette talks him into sticking around with a lovely rendition of "Just One Person", which is joined in by Kermit, Fozzie, Scooter and the other Muppets. Made all the more emotional thanks to this next piece.
• In the episode with Doug Henning, Fozzie, who's trying to be a magician, shows Robin how he makes an egg disappear under a handkerchief. Robin is amazed, until one of the rabbits following Fozzie around says that the egg is under Fozzie's top hat.
  Robin: [taken aback] It's where?
  Rabbit #1: Under his hat!
  Rabbit #2: Take off your hat!
  All the Rabbits: Come on, take off your hat!
  [Fozzie reluctantly does so, revealing the egg sitting on top of his head. The rabbits all laugh.]
  Robin: [on the verge of tears] It was under his hat! It was only a trick. [Sadly leaves.]
  Fozzie: Would you guys stop blowing my act, please?
  All the Rabbits: Awww. We're sorry, Daddy!
  Fozzie: And I am not your daddy! I'm a bear, not a rabbit!
• In the Judy Collins episode, Scooter's uncle, J.P. Grosse plans to tear the theater down, much to Kermit's dismay. Sometime later, when he tells this to Gonzo, he's been tearfully wiping his eyes which shows how really upset he is about it. It's actually one of the very few if not the only time we've ever seen Kermit the Frog himself actually crying.
• The end of The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson. The Muppets just discover this guy Jim for the first time and decide to put on a tribute show! But... this special was made in 1990. After a series of video testimonials from various stars about how wonderful he was, having a usual wacky show ready to go off, they find letters to Kermit written by children saying how sorry they are...and then they realize that Jim is dead. Just watch, and have tissues ready.
  • Even Statler and Waldorf are in shock as to what happened, wrapping an arm around another to grieve.
    Fozzie: [reading a letter] "I feel very sorry that your best friend Jim died-" [the room goes quiet]
  • After a moment of quiet shock, Fozzie suddenly says "Cancel. Cancel the production number. Cancel everything! I did it all wrong! I mean—I mean, when you read these letters and when you know how much people loved him, we can't do a tribute to him... all we have are silly songs and whoopie cushions!"
  • Robin speaks up, saying "Kermit thought we could. You know, this Jim Henson may be gone, but maybe he's still somewhere inside us, believing in us!" and you can tell by his voice that little Robin is desperately trying to believe his own words. He starts singing the wonderfully moving song "Just One Person" and is slowly joined by Scooter, then Gonzo, then others until the entire Muppet cast is singing about how maybe if others will believe in you, "then maybe even you can believe in you, too."
  • Kermit, now puppeteered by Steve Whitmire, enters in the mist of their "Just One Person" tribute number. And photos of Kermit's previous puppeteer are seen in the background. Add to how, in this scene, Kermit is the only Muppet who already knew that their creator died, and even though he is nowhere near as sad as the others and mistakes their song as them finding the right performance for the special, he requests they "end it with something... silly." It was made clear that the Muppets and puppeteers were not giving up on the joy they brought people, they were not giving Kermit up, and that they would keep doing it all in Jim's memory "because that's the way the boss would want it". Perfect ending.
  • So symbolic of how Jim Henson would be pleased to see Kermit being puppeteered and cheerful.
    • On the same note, a special Sing! Sesame Street Remembers Joe Raposo and His Music was aired to honor the life and death of Joe Raposo—the special was taped in April 1990 and first aired on May 16, the very same day that Jim Henson died. And if that wasn't tragic enough, Jim was featured in the special, paying tribute to his longtime friend and collaborator.
  • During the middle of the special, Ray Charles' cover of "Bein' Green" (as featured on his album Renaissance) plays during a montage of behind-the-scenes moments with Jim Henson, including a clip from Sesame Street of him singing the song with a flock of Muppets. It ends with this picture of Jim surrounded by his Muppets, that slowly zooms in on his face.
• Danny Kaye overhearing Statler and Waldorf talking about what a hack this week's guest is, and telling Scooter "I think I need some cheering up." Thankfully, it turns into a Heartwarming Moment when they realize they were mistaken about who the guest was this week, and tell Danny how much they love him.
• Watching the episode with Zero Mostel is quite a bittersweet experience, as he died before it aired.
• Gonzo's rendition of "Wishing Song" in the Madeline Kahn episode, when he realizes she's not in love with him.
• Yeah, Uncle Deadly's generally a creepy bastard, but it's hard not to sympathize with him once you hear how he became the "Phantom of The Muppet Show": years ago, Deadly was a star in what would become the Muppet Theatre: he received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Hamlet. Then, he prepared for his most challenging role to date: Othello. But, on opening night, he was killed...by the critics. Deadly subsequently vowed never to perform at the theater again, and to prevent anyone else from doing so as well, and so he attempted to drive all the Muppets from the property with the words, "Leave, or be doomed!". While it's portrayed here as an intimidation tactic against Kermit and co., it could also be seen as Deadly pleading with the Muppets to leave the theater and not suffer the same fate as he did.
• Roy Clark's almost eerily poignant version of signature hit "Yesterday, When I Was Young", complete with real (at least in the long shots) wistfully adoring pooch Muppy.
• The Closing Number for the Sylvester Stallone episode when he and the group of Muppets sings a tearjerker tale of "The Bird in the Gilded Cage." The song put themselves and everyone in the audience, including Statler and Waldorf, into tears.
• Say what you will about the heavily sentimental finale of the episode with Linda Ronstadt, but if you weren't trying to keep from vomiting, chances are you were trying hold back tears.
• In one ballroom segment, Gonzo is trying to find a dance partner, and keeps getting turned down by everyone he asks. In response, he sings a mournful rendition of "Won't Somebody Dance With Me". Fortunately, this turns into a Heartwarming Moment when Camilla shows up.
• In the first season, Gonzo performs a rendition of the Bert Williams song, "Nobody", accompanied by Rowlf at the piano. By the end of the song, Rowlf is reduced to tears.
  • It may hit even harder for the poor dog because 13 years earlier, he had sung this same song with Jimmy Dean to cap off his debut appearance on his eponymous show.
• The show's re-imagining of Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" as an anti-hunting song... from the perspective of the innocent woodland critters being hunted, lead by a possum played by Jerry Nelson using his Gobo Fraggle voice. Chances are the three redneck hunters coming in between each verse being goofy were added to prevent viewers from curling up into a ball on the floor and crying, and thankfully they didn't seem to actually be after the animals, as towards the end they laugh and boast amongst themselves about the vehicles they shot.
  The strangers come into our wood
  We'd understand them, if only we could
  But what's the reason they can give
  For not wanting you and me to live?
  • Then there's the way it ends with the animals staring at the viewer and whispering, in unison...
    "Stop!"
• The Muppets' interpretation of Kenny Rogers's "The Gambler" reveals the title character really does end up dying in his sleep.
• A very minor one, but the second Veterinarian's Hospital sketch from the Charles Aznavour episode involves a dead patient. On the one hand, even though it's played for laughs like a typical Veterinarian's Hospital sketch, it's a little grim and almost cringeworthy to watch.
• In the Joan Baez episode, Beauregard is charged with dealing with the studio's rat infestation (in fact one of Rizzo's first speaking appearances), but ends up buttered up by them and becoming their friends. Kermit loses patience with Beauregard and tells him either he gets rid of the rats or Kermit gets rid of him. Beauregard just very sadly and meekly whimpers "Goodbye then" and slinks away. Kermit's reaction makes clear that wasn't the answer he was expecting.
• Robin's song "Halfway Down the Stairs", from a poem by A. A. Milne. It'll strike a chord with anyone who's unsure of their place in life, and Jerry Nelson's performance makes it even more emotional.
• When Rowlf sings "Old Dog Tray", he sings it as a tribute to a deceased friend. Then the other dogs come in, howling along...
• In the episode with Loretta Swit, Kermit loses his temper when he discovers that Miss Piggy has been spreading rumors that the two are secretly married, and gets so angry that he outright fires her. As she packs, she sings "Some of These Days," and while it ends triumphantly, the first verse is genuinely heartbreaking. Frank Oz performs it as if she is on the verge of tears, and seeing the boisterous Piggy so lonely and lost is surprisingly poignant.
• While not quite as sad as some of the other examples, in the Candice Bergen episode, when Fozzie performs a prank on Kermit by dumping flour all over him, Kermit just looks so... crushed for a moment. It makes Miss Piggy's ensuing violent retaliation heroic when she sees Kermit look pretty danged.
• Twiggy's incredibly poignant performance of "In My Life," accompanied by a slideshow of her controversial yet legendary modeling career. It's actually a bit reminiscent of fellow Muppet Show guest Johnny Cash's cover of "Hurt," giving the song a much different context that still fits it perfectly.
• Zoot and Rowlf performing the theme to "Love Story", with Rowlf breaking down in tears at the end.
• The performance of "Time In A Bottle" by a Muppet simply credited as "the Old Scientist" sees what's already a very melancholy song become absolutely devastating as the Old Scientist keeps mixing potion after potion to make himself younger as he sings...only to end up inadvertently reversing it all by the end and becoming even older than he was at the start of the number. Not only does it hammer home the song's message of the importance of fully enjoying the good moments in life as you experience them because you simply can't get them back once they're gone, but the fact that it's performed by Jim Henson makes the experience of watching it even more emotional and the tearjerking factor has only increased with the further losses of the original Muppets team.
• The Madeline Kahn episode hits unexpectedly hard. After overhearing that Madeline Kahn doesn't want to marry him, Gonzo despondently sings "the Wishing Song," in which he wishes he were anybody else. Madeline finds him and consoles him, and Gonzo finishes the song ultimately happy with who he is.

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