We’re going to see Muppets Most Wanted tomorrow and I am far more excited than someone my age should be. I love the Muppets. ADORE them.

For many people, when you say Muppets, they think of Sesame Street, and rightly so – that show has been on the air for 45 years. But the Muppets I adore are from The Muppet Show. And even though they have been toned down a bit since becoming a Disney property I still love them to bits.

The Muppet Show was just ending it’s initial TV run when I was born but I some how managed to catch a lot of the shows as reruns. Some tv station in Virginia must have run them every morning and I (or more likely my Mom) set up the VCR and taped them every day, on SLP, so I had a huge collection of Muppet Shows that I watched over and over and over. It gave me an appreciation for all different kinds of music (guest stars ranged from Opera Singer Beverly Sills to 70s pop singer Leo Sayer to brilliant comedienne Gilda Radner), a twisted sense of humor (torturing Beaker is so wrong yet so right) and how a show can work on so many different levels. The Muppet Show was truly a family show, with something that everyone could appreciate.

I know Jim Henson and Company, and in particular The Muppets, shaped the way I view the world. Over the next week or so I’m going to do little appreciation posts to highlight The Muppets, Jim Henson, and the Henson Company because they can never have enough.

This is one of my favorite songs of ALL TIME and this is the only way I have ever heard it. It’s so melancholy yet beautiful. Even as a child, I felt something with this song, even though the emotions that Paul Williams sings about were not even known to me yet. But did that stop them from running it on The Muppet Show? No, it was a variety show for all ages. I have so many feelings when I listen to this song now. Beautiful.

LOL oh Danny Kaye and Miss Piggy, singing together after their big fight. Kaye makes the mistake of saying that he had met Miss Piggy before, back when she was thin. LOL, yeah. It was numbers like this that introduced me to classic popular music and also taught me that oh so wicked humor I love. Good thing Miss Piggy is made of felt or those karate chops would really leave a mark!

One more for tonight, 70s pop star Leo Sayer, up in a tree, singing a sweet love song. There is really no reason for me to know who Leo Sayer is, his career was done before I was born. But he was a guest star on The Muppet Show so I saw him over and over when I rewatched my tapes. This is another song that I’ve always liked. Another bittersweet melody.

I could go on but I think that’s enough from me for tonight — but what about you? What are some of your favorite Muppet Music Moments?