The Muppets: "Single All The Way"

Premiered December 8, 2015.
(Note:The Muppets was a TV series that aired for sixteen episodes on ABC during the 2015-16 TV season.)

Christmas is approaching and the cast and crew of Up Late With Miss Piggy are busily preparing the live Christmas episode.  Fozzie Bear (Eric Jacobson), who serves as the show's announcer, can't focus because his girlfriend Becky has recently dumped him.  He is supposed to play Santa Claus in the episode, but Fozzie can't stop crying about the break-up.

Miss Piggy's (Jacobson) special guest star Mindy Kaling is being difficult.  Kaling is a terrible singer, but she insists on performing a Christmas song with Piggy.

Sam Eagle (Jacobson), the show's head of Broadcast Standards and Practices, is interested in dating Janice (David Rudman), the show's lead guitarist.  He camps out by the mistletoe for the purpose of "jump-starting" a relationship with Janice.  This does not go the way Sam hopes.

Meanwhile, Yolanda the rat (Julianne Buescher) has rigged the "Secret Santa" gift exchange so that she will get every gift. The previous Christmas, Yolanda was left off the list and received no present.

The star of the show, Miss Piggy, is also having some holiday problems.  She's nervous about attending George Clooney's ugly Christmas sweater party.  Piggy doesn't think her sweater is ugly enough.  She is also upset about being alone during the Christmas season, since she and Kermit the frog (Steve Whitmire) have recently broken up.

In the middle of it all is Kermit the frog (Steve Whitmire), executive producer of Up Late.  He's got to help Fozzie to get in touch with the Christmas spirit, soothe Mindy Kaling's ego and get everyone to work together to make it through the holiday episode.

Shortly before airtime, Kermit learns that Miss Piggy is having an emotional breakdown and is unable to go onstage.  If the star of the show won't go on, they literally have no show to put on the air!

Can Kermit get everyone to pull it together before the live showtime arrives?  Will Yolanda's attempt to rule the gift exchange backfire?

J.A. Morris says:
I watched every episode of this series and generally enjoyed it during its brief run, but I can understand why it was short-lived.  I think the main reasons it didn't last was that the creative team couldn't didn't know how to appeal to kids and adults at the same time (a hallmark of earlier Muppet productions) This often resulted in flat storytelling.

However, "Single All The Way" is a fun episode and it's one of the best episodes of the series.  It's got some entertaining holiday tropes, like a gift exchange gone awry. The "Christmas episode within a Christmas episode" gives it an interesting "meta" quality.  It also touches on more serious topics like loneliness during the holidays, which Miss Piggy and Fozzy are facing.  Mindy Kaling is funny and plays off the Muppets very nicely.

 While it's not as good as earlier Muppet holiday offerings (like Emmett Otter's Jugband Christmas or Muppet Family Christmas), "Single All The Way" ends with a an all-hands-on-deck singalong of "The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year," which reminded me of those classic Muppets holiday offerings.

 "Single All The Way" is recommended to all Muppets fans and it also works as an introductory episode to this series.

J.A. Morris' rating;

3 candy canes.

RigbyMel says:

 

I am always happy for more Muppets content and quite enjoyed "Single All The Way" overall. 

It has a lot going for it in terms of festive fun -  Secret Santa mix ups (Yolande's scheme is diabolical), finding excuses to stand under mistletoe, a bit of humor, a bit of pathos and lots of good cheer.  

Plus, some of the slightly newer secondary characters like Uncle Deadly and Pepe the King Prawn get a chance to shine in this episode as well as others in the rest of this series.

As J.A. Morris mentions above, the writing on "The Muppets" series is a little bit uneven - but I think this is the case with most post-Henson projects with our favorite fuzzy friends.  It does not mean that there's nothing to enjoy here, though!

It's a shame this particular series was never allowed to really get into a flow before being cancelled. 

"Single All The Way" is a nice addition to your Muppet holiday viewing if you feel so inclined. 

RigbyMel's rating:  

3 candy canes. 

Dennis The Menace: "Father's Day for Mr. Wilson"

 
Premiered June 18, 1961. 

It's Father's Day and Dennis Mitchell (Jay North) has spent the day celebrating with his father Henry (Herbert Anderson).  Dennis has given his father a hat as a present and served him his favorite meal, "hot dogs and three kinds of ice cream (which also "just happens" to be Dennis' favorite meal!)."  

That evening, the Mitchells host their neighbors, Mr. George Wilson (Joseph Kearns) and his wife Martha (Sylvia Field) for dinner.  Mr. Wilson is worried about a pending lawsuit involving his dog Fremont.  The pooch bit a neighbor known as "Old Man Hatch" and Wilson fears hew will be forced to pay for Hatch's injuries.  However, Dennis witnessed the biting and says Fremont was kicked by Hatch, which led to the biting.  Mr. Wilson realizes that he'll need Dennis' help to get out of the lawsuit.  

The Mitchells feel bad for Mr. Wilson, who has no children and hasn't experienced the joys of Father's Day.  Dennis decides he will make the following day a special Father's Day for Mr. Wilson.

The boy wakes up Wilson the next morning at the crack of dawn and wishes him a Happy Father's Day. He presents Mr. Wilson with same he gave to his father.

Dennis says he will stay with Mr. Wilson every minute of the day.  They have breakfast together, Dennis gets Wilson a pipe (filled with tobacco...and grass) and gets him the morning paper, ripping it in the process.  

Mr. Wilson wants to dismiss Dennis, but his wife reminds him that Dennis is his key to winning the dog-biting lawsuit.  

Will Mr. Wilson survive his first Father's Day?  Can Dennis help Mr. Wilson win his lawsuit?  

J.A. Morris' says:

Dennis The Menace was a series I watched frequently back when it was featured regularly on Nickelodeon's Nick At Nite block, but this was the first time I'd watched the show in years.

"Father's Day for Mr. Wilson" is a fairly typical episode of Dennis The Menace.  Dennis unintentionally does something that gets under Mr. Wilson's skin and hijinks ensue.  Except in this case, Father's Day sets all the action in motion.  It's basically fun episode, Dennis' Father's Day gestures are sweet and Jay North makes them feel believable.  He genuinely sympathizes with Mr. Wilson and wants him to know how it feels to celebrate Father's Day.  

There is a nice scene where Mr. Wilson reads the "Little Orphan Annie" comic strip to Dennis and provides the barks for Annie's dog Sandy.  It's a nice showcase of Joseph Kearns' talents and he seems to be enjoying himself.  To modern audiences, this scenes might feel sort of "meta," since it features characters adapted from a comic strip reading a comic strip!

I won't spoil the ending of "Father's Day For Mr. Wilson" and tell you what happens with Old Man Hatch's dog-biting lawsuit.  I will say that the Wilsons' dog Fremont is cute, so dog lovers of all ages will probably appreciate that.  

I also enjoyed this episode because, let's face it, there aren't many Father's Day episodes.  This is probably due to the fact that Father's Day takes place in June, when most TV seasons have ended.  This episode actually aired on Father's Day in 1961.  So I'm always happy to discover any Father's Day episodes.  

While it's mostly harmless fun, like most episodes of 1950s/early-60s sitcoms, the storyline isn't particularly deep.

If you've ever been a fan of Dennis Mitchell's adventures in the funny papers or its live action adaptation, you'll enjoy "Father's Day For Mr. Wilson."  

J.A. Morris' rating:

3 Father's Day neckties.

RigbyMel says:

Like J.A. Morris, I was familiar with the Dennis the Menace tv series because of its inclusion in the Nick at Nite programming block back in the mid-1980s.  

"Father's Day for Mr. Wilson" is a cute episode of this rather innocuous sitcom from the late 1950s/early 1960s.     

Both Henry and Mr. Wilson are pretty tolerant (although Mr. Wilson's movtivation is a touch more self-interested)  of Dennis's tender ministrations - including a terrible hat (which at least is a bit different than a necktie, so points to Dennis for creativity!), since they realize that his efforts come from a place of love and admiration.   

Viewers today may find that Joseph Kearns, who played Mr. Wilson, sounds a bit familiar.  This is likely because he also provided the voice for the Doorknob in the 1951 Disney version of Alice in Wonderland. 

This is a sweet episode of a series and an enjoyable (rare) Father's Day TV sitcom episode.  

RigbyMel's rating: 

3 Father's Day neckties. 

227: "Mary's Christmas"

Premiered December 14, 1985.

"This is gonna be the best pageant ever, the first Christmas at the new site!"

-Brenda Jenkins

This edition of "Oscar Takes A Holiday" focuses on actor/director Regina King, who played Brenda Jenkins on 227.  In 2019, King won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for If Beale Street Could Talk.  

It’s Christmas time in Washington, D.C.  Mary Jenkins (Marla Gibbs), and her neighbors in 227 Lexington Place Rose (Alaina Reed-Hall) and Pearl (Helen Martin) have a meeting with their minister Rev. Davis (Ron Richardson). 

He informs them that the corporation that owns the land where the church sits will not renew their lease.  On a more positive note, that same corporation has given the church a new lot that overlooks the Potomac River.  City Hall has given Rev. Davis permission to move the entire church building to the new location. 

Sandra Clark (Jackée Harry), the building’s resident busybody and troublemaker, has “volunteered” Mary’s husband Lester (Hal Williams) to supervise the moving of the church, since Lester owns a construction company.  Other companies would be unable to move the church before Christmas. 

Lester is reluctant to take on such a responsibility, but is pressured to move the church when Rev. Davis and the others literally pray for Lester to move the church!

Lester believes his crew can get the church moved in time for the congregation to perform their annual Nativity pageant.  Mary and Lester's daughter Brenda (Regina King), who is playing a shepherd in the pageant, believes it will be "the best pageant ever."  

Sandra is cast somewhat against type as an angel.

The pageant will be narrated by Santa Claus, played by Lester.  

However, disaster strikes when the church suddenly disappears!  Rev. Davis tells Lester that the church has been stolen!  

Will the church turn up in one piece?  Will the pageant be cancelled?  Will Christmas be ruined?  

J.A. Morris says:

227 was a fun sitcom that I haven't seen in a while and "Mary's Christmas" was a nice way to get reacquainted with the show and its characters.  It's a touching story about a neighborhood congregation working together to create a Christmas miracle.  That's consistent with 227 as a whole, since lots of episodes revolve around friends like Mary, Rose and Pearl helping each other.

Lester would have been well within his rights to walk away from moving the church, since he was forced into it by Sandra, yet he agrees to do so anyway.  The pageant rehearsal scenes are also enjoyable.  I played a shepherd in a Christmas play when I was 12, so "Mary's Christmas" brought back a lot of memories.  

Pearl's grandson Calvin (Curtis Baldwin) plays a "wise" man.

I found it particularly interesting that Santa, played by Lester, narrates the Nativity pageant, which was a nice touch.  This is not something I've seen happen in real life, since secular and religious Christmas traditions are usually kept separate.  

Jackée Harry, as Sandra, gets the bulk of the funny moments in "Mary's Christmas."  Sandra is the cause of consternation in this episode, but Harry was so great in the role (which won her an Emmy) that I never felt too angry at Sandra.  

Some notes about the cast:

Alaina Reed-Hall played Mary's best friend Rose on 227.  Children of the 1970s and 80s will remember Reed from her 12-year run on Sesame Street as Gordon's sister Olivia.  During that time, Reed appeared in the classic special Christmas Eve On Sesame Street.  

Rev. Davis is portrayed by Ron Richardson, who played the minister in two other episodes.  Richardson was primarily a stage actor vocalist and he won a Tony award for his role as Jim in the Broadway musical Big River: The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn.

"Mary's Christmas" is a great Christmas episode that features a solid ensemble cast and a story that will likely remind viewers of Christmas pageants they've been part of, it gets my highest recommendation.  

J.A. Morris' rating:

4 candy canes!

RigbyMel says: 

I remember watching and enjoying 227 when it first aired in the mid-to-late 1980s, but have no memory of this particular holiday episode.    It was nice to rediscover this series that I hadn't thought about much in twenty-some-odd years in researching for this blog post.   It's also enjoyable to revisit old sitcoms and see early work by actors like Regina King who have become better known as their careers progressed -  King's work as Brenda on the series is adorable.  

Regina King (l), with Curtis Baldwin, and Kia Goodwin (who plays Rose's daughter Tiffany in the series)

"Mary's Christmas" is a sweet episode from the show's first season. 

Although the "missing building" situation presented in this particular episode is perhaps not the most realistic, the interactions between the cast members conveys the inherent emotion of the scenario well .   Many of us can relate to families/communities coming together to solve problems -- particularly during the holiday season.   Many of us have also had the experience of being "volun-TOLD" to do something for a community group the way Lester is in this episode.  

J.A. Morris mentions Lester's turn as Santa/pageant narrator above, and although it might be a little unusual, I really like the way Santa ties the secular and religious holiday traditions together here.    

Resident troublemaker Sandra's against-type casting as the pageant's angel is funny and also kind of touching.   She gets quite upset when Mary threatens to snatch her wings.   

Rose and Pearl searching for "room at the inn"

Community Christmas pageants are a staple of holiday programming from A Charlie Brown Christmas onward and this episode of 227's  pageant presentation makes me think of my hometown's long running outdoor Christmas pageant which also features lovingly made sets and costumes and (often) sweet/amusing moments where things don't quite go according to plan. It also sometimes runs into complications with being outside (cold, weather, COIVD (most recently) and even issues having to do with building construction or repair.

I also appreciate that it appears that a real church choir called "The Visionaries" from Heavenly Vision Baptist Church helped to provide music and extra verisimilitude for our fictional sitcom pageant.  

"Mary's Christmas" is ultimately an episode about community and the holiday setting helps to bring everyone together to create the open air event.    It is likely that we will revisit this charming holiday story during future holiday seasons. 

RigbyMel's rating: 

4 candy canes!