‘The Muppet Show’s’ Star Wars Episode Is a Campy Reminder of How Popular—and Silly!—the Saga Used to Be

The Muppet Show’s big debut on Disney+ is a big deal for lots of people. Muppet fans are living for this moment, but TV historians should also be equally gagged at the chance to see two seasons of the show that were previously unavailable to watch (even on DVD!). And Disney+ subscribers should be stoked because this is 60 new hours of content to binge between the last few episodes of WandaVision. Even if you have a passing familiarity with Jim Henson’s most famous creations, this should be big news to you—and the modular nature of the show means casual fans can pretty much just watch whichever one you want without worrying about complex continuity. And me? I love the Muppets, no doubt, but I’m here repping for the Star Wars who should also be over the moon of Endor right now.

Finally, for the first time ever, The Muppet Show’s Season 4 Star Wars spectacular is able to watch in an official, remastered capacity. As far as I can tell, this episode has only aired a handful of times on cable since it premiered 41 years ago. Never released on VHS or DVD, the episode only re-aired on Nickelodeon and the short-lived Odyssey Network back in the ’90s. Now here it is on Disney+, and Star Wars fans can watch Mark Hamill impersonate Kermit the Frog to Kermit’s face anytime they want!

Having not seen this episode since it reran on Nickelodeon some 30-ish years ago, watching it on Disney+ was a bizarre little delight. The episode exists in that weird little bubble of time between the first two Star Wars films; Luke’s wearing his new Bespin uniform, but The Empire Strikes Back wouldn’t hit theaters for another 3 months. That’s why there’s a running gag where every Muppet asks Luke who his tailor is, because he’s not wearing a short robe and khakis tucked into knee-high boots.

It’s also worth pointing out that before The Empire Strikes Back happened, everyone just thought Star Wars was generic swashbuckling space action. That’s why Luke rushes in and shouts—completely off-character—”Remember Alderaan!” and “Down with the Empire!” The character-driven intensity of Empire Strikes Back helped move Star Wars away from it’s schlocky sci-fi serial roots and towards something more original. They didn’t know that back then! But whatever—Mark Hamill is clearly having a blast playing Luke and Luke’s cousin Mark. This isn’t in canon, and who cares?!

Of course the best thing of all is seeing C-3PO tap dance—and yeah, that is really Anthony Daniels serving solid gold Fred Astaire while wearing his complete Threepio suit! You love to see it!

And just so y’all know—The Muppet Show’s team-up with Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Peter Mayhew is just the beginning of the saga’s delightfully bizarre relationship with the variety shows of the era. If you think Star Wars is popular now, you should know that it was a full-blown cultural phenomenon in the late 1970s. It was everywhere! The mania reached far and wide, resulting in at least two completely kooky parodies that I’ve discovered. The first comes from the squeaky clean Donny and Marie and co-stars Paul Lynde as an Imperial officer (!!).

And then in Christmas of 1977, none other than Bob Hope got roped into doing a Star Wars parody—with Mark Hamill himself!

And then of course there’s the infamous 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special, a special that Disney+ just needs to bite the laster blast and make available to watch already.

Of all these pop culture artifacts, The Muppet Show’s trip to a galaxy far, far away is far and away the best. Now we can stream it whenever we want! This catchphrase is anachronistic in this context but, whatever: this is the way.

Stream The Muppet Show "Star Wars/Mark Hamill" on Disney+