In 1978, Alice Cooper was a guest star on The Muppet Show for a special spooky episode. While Halloween has come and gone now, this episode is still full of great gags from the Muppets and Cooper himself. It starts out with an eerie atmosphere when a blue spirit leaves Gonzo’s horn in the opening sequence, and gets spookier from there. Kermit expresses apprehension, saying “Things weren’t this spooky when Julie Andrews did the show.”
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Alice Cooper is described in the episode as “talented but frightening,” which goes without saying. He first appears in the Muppet Show dressing room surrounded by ghouls and goblins. Scooter comes in and claims those aren’t Muppet-brand monsters, and Cooper clarifies that he brought them along. How cool is a guy who goes everywhere with his own entourage of creatures?
The creepy antics continue with a running gag featuring Cooper, Gonzo, Miss Piggy, and Kermit. Cooper offers the Muppets fame and fortune in exchange for their souls. This Faustian reference makes Kermit shudder, and he refuses, ever the sensible frog. Miss Piggy tries it for a while, but decides that it’s just not worth the ultimate sacrifice of her soul. Besides, she’s already a star as it is. Gonzo, however, spends almost the entirety of the episode searching for a pen to sign away his soul with. While searching, he offers his own trades—he offers to sell all his chickens for a pen first, then offers his soul before quickly realizing he has “other plans for that.”
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Alice Cooper Creeped Out The Muppets in His 1978 Appearance on the Show
Alice Cooper also had a band of Muppets on the episode, called The Vile Bunch. While Gonzo is searching for a pen, he offers his chickens to the Vile Bunch drummer, a creature somewhere between a shark, a bird, and a snake. This drummer performs with Cooper on the songs “School’s Out” and “Welcome to My Nightmare” during the episode.
Essentially, this episode was similar to the season one offering with legendary actor Vincent Price. Themes of scary monsters, ghouls, and goblins were plentiful, which fit right in with Alice Cooper’s artistic persona. Eventually, becoming increasingly exasperated with all the weirdness in the episode, Fozzie Bear begs for “one thing nice on this show tonight.” That comes in the form of Robin the Frog performing an uninterrupted rendition of “Over the Rainbow.”
The episode concludes with Gonzo appearing in a flash of light on the stage, utilizing dramatic special effects. He’s holding a paper, and Kermit is afraid that it’s a signed contract with the devil. However, Gonzo assures him it’s only the special effects bill. Paying a bill, however, is something truly scary to Alice Cooper and The Vile Bunch Band, and they shudder in fear.
Featured Image by TV Times via Getty Images
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