From their breakout in the 1970s, the Muppets have been a cultural touchstone for so many.
There's never a bad time to appreciate the ways in which they have continued to impress
and engage an adult audience, despite their appearance as children's fare.
Here are some things you might have missed as a kid.
The original The Muppet Movie is a brilliant and fun origin story that, for the most part,
is timeless.
However, there are some ways in which it is very much a product of its time, such as the
running Hare Krishna joke.
Hare Krishna is a religious movement founded in 1966 and a natural fit for those within
the hippie movement.
In other words, it was the perfect punchline for a 1970s comedy.
The Muppet Movie opens with Kermit the Frog sitting on a log in a swamp, happily playing
his banjo.
He's interrupted by a man, played by Dom DeLuise, frantically paddling a canoe and exclaiming
that he's lost his sense of direction.
Kermit immediately suggests…
“Have you tried Hare Krishna?"
And, thus, the gag begins.
Not long after, Kermit is observing Fozzie Bear's stand-up routine and mutters to himself,
"This guy is lost."
The barkeep behind him says,
"Maybe he should try Hare Krishna."
At this point, Kermit breaks the fourth wall and verbalizes what everyone is thinking.
"Good grief, it's a running gag."
Finally, after driving for hours and hours on their way to make it big in Los Angeles,
Kermit and Fozzie pull over at a run-down church for a well-deserved rest.
The sign outside the church says, "Lost?
Have you tried Reverend Harry Krishna?"
completing the gag and observing the comedic rule of three.
While the adults in the audience would be aware of this movement, it's unlikely that
kids would catch any of the Muppets' religious jokes.
"They don't look like Presbyterians to me."
Ever since they first arrived in the '70s, the Muppets have asked their audience to be
somewhat conversant with the tropes of TV and movies.
And while kids might totally understand that the sketch "Pigs in Space" is a reference
to Star Trek, they're less likely to see the similarities to Lost in Space, especially
if we're talking about modern-day audiences.
However, even kids back in the '70s probably wouldn't get that the character of Dr. Strangepork
is named for the Stanley Kubrick film Dr. Strangelove.
These homages to classic films and TV shows might be lost on younger viewers but they've
continued for decades.
Most recently, the Alien franchise was referenced during a "Pigs in Space" sketch, where Pepe
the King Prawn surprises the crew and pops in for a guest appearance.
"I don't know who you are, buddy, but your stomach is a dump.
You eat like a pig ---.”
Seeing as how the Muppets became popular in the 1970s, it makes sense that references
to rock and hippie culture are baked into many of the characters, most notably the members
of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem.
This ragtag group of musicians includes bassist and singer Floyd Pepper, whose name is a tribute
to the British rock band Pink Floyd, as well as the Beatles' album Sgt.
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
On top of all that, guitarist and singer Janice, with her lethargic, spaced-out voice, drooping
eyelids, and bell-bottom jeans, is a stereotypical stoned flower child.
“Oh wow, wait until I tell the guys in the band."
And during their performance of the song "Can You Picture That?" in The Muppet Movie, the
band helps disguise Kermit and Fozzie's car by painting it in psychedelic rainbow colors
— very typical of them but more perplexing to Kermit.
With their eccentric personalities, the Electric Mayhem surely appeal to kids, but their specific
callback to free love and rock music might have been more obvious to children of the
'70s.
The Muppets have never shied away from joking about the birds and the bees.
Of course, these references were never lewd and always between fully mature frogs, pigs,
chickens and whatever Gonzo is.
One of the few instances of the Muppets overtly spelling things out was during the opening
sequence of an early pilot show, which had a very suggestive title.
Then there's the entire episode of The Muppet Show with Raquel Welch which ramped the sauciness
factor up to 11.
There was a dance number with an eight-legged freak, an intimate serenade with a smitten
Fozzie Bear, and a duet between Welch and Piggy about the power of womanhood.
The episode even includes some implications about Kermit and Piggy's private life.
"Tonight we have an internationally-acclaimed actress, singer, dancer, and one of the sexiest
ladies alive!”
“You get that every night, frog."
Also, one of the Muppets most popular characters, Animal, is a walking, grunting, drumming embodiment
of the id, acting on all his most base needs without consideration or remorse.
He has a penchant for exclaiming "woman!"
any time he sees a member of the opposite sex he finds appealing, and he wastes no time
before chasing them around.
And who can forget Gonzo and his never-ending attraction to chickens?
After many years, it seems that Gonzo has finally settled down and is currently cooped
up in a long-term relationship with Camilla.
The beaky romantics are clearly in love with each other...even though some of their peers
seem to think of them as an odd couple.
"A beautiful thing between a man and woman, but really weird between a blue roommate and
a chicken."
"Whew."
The Muppets have always loved their guest stars, but while some cameos are aimed towards
children, others were purely for grown-ups.
That's especially true when it comes to The Muppet Show, the classic TV series that featured
a new celebrity guest every episode.
While kids back in the day definitely would've appreciated watching Sylvester Stallone or
Mark Hamill, chances are pretty good that they would've been baffled to see Russian
ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev performing Swine Lake with a human-sized pig.
Another unexpected guest was Vincent Price, a classic horror fixture, who allowed his
silliness to mix with his sinister side in one of the show's Halloween specials.
Along these same lines, the Muppets welcomed shock-rocker Alice Cooper, who, oddly enough,
felt like a perfect fit for the show with his larger-than-life personality and flair
for theatrics.
Plus, Rita Moreno, one of the few people to win an Oscar, Emmy, Tony, and Grammy Award,
showed off her voice and perfect comic timing in a musical stand-off with Animal.
However, if kids of the '70s had trouble identifying these stars, you can bet that modern-day children
would be completely baffled when revisiting the show.
But you never know, every so often you meet a really cool kid who would have the perfect
reaction to any of these classic Muppet moments…
"That was awesome!" (laughter)"
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