10 Greatest Episodes Of The Muppet Show

4. Season 4, Episode 14 (Liza Minnelli)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eek-XeZvHn0 Warning: the above video depicts violence against hulking fuzzy Muppets. Actually, the whole episode is replete with cartoon violence, but fret not: those that are killed off somehow come back to life for the closing act of this murder mystery, with Liza Minnelli playing an actress named...Liza (but with a different last name...), and Kermit as the hard-boiled detective enlisted to help her catch the Muppet that is terrorizing a local stage production. The plot of the show-within-a-show isn't entirely clear, but Liza is rehearsing a rendition of "Copacabana", portraying the Lola to a Mutation's Tony, when a series of murders occur on the set (starting with the director, played by Dr. Strangepork). After the cast discovers the killer (or, killers...as a hint, they are two of the show's toughest critics), Minnelli breaks out in song, performing "Everything's Coming Up Roses" with the cast. The episode moves away from the program's typical variety show format, towards the storytelling form that many of the franchise's films take, with the Muppets as actors bringing a story to life.