Episode 202: Rick Moranis

Muppets Tonight
Air Date	September 14, 1997
Written by	Jennifer Barrow, Dick Blasucci, Paul Flaherty, Darin Henry, Jim Lewis, Bernie Keating, Kirk Thatcher, and Patric Verrone
Director	Brian Henson
Prod. no.	207
(TRANSCRIPT)

Rick Moranis desperately wants to fit his musical "A Salute to Late Fifties Crooners, Obscure British Bands, and Bill Withers" into the program; Seymour and Pepe get their own cooking show; and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker create havoc with their Micro Shrink-o-Matic Machine.

Skit Highlights

• The Muppet Odd-Squad
• Lash Holstein: Space Cowdet
• "High Hopes"
• Co-dependence Day: CD4 trailer
• Boarshead Revisited: Apple Butter (UK spot)
• Hey, What Smells So Good? It's Time to Cook with Seymour and Pepe!
• "A Salute to Late Fifties Crooners, Obscure British Bands, and Bill Withers"

Episode

Picture	Description
	In the cold open, Clifford is on the phone with his girlfriend, trying to explain why he can't come home due to Rick Moranis being on the show. Pepe and Seymour, dressed in elaborate costumes, interrupt to showcase their new act idea where Pepe holds a cigar and Seymour is supposed to whip it away. A group of Devo Muppets pop up and sing "Whip It." Seymour's whip sends Pepe flying out the window. Pepe reappears dazed and Seymour realizes the act still needs work.
	"Muppets Tonight Theme"
	Clifford takes to the stage to open the show with guest Rick Moranis, highlighting his family film roles. Dr. Phil van Neuter interrupts to mention Little Shop of Horrors, which Clifford dismisses as not a family film. Clifford then shows a clip of Rick's early Muppet TV role as "Little Ricky Cool" alongside Andy and Randy Pig on "The Muppet Odd Squad" with Clifford, Kermit, and Spamela.
	Backstage, Bunsen and Beaker ask Clifford if Rick can help fix the Micro-Shrink-o-Matic, a faulty shrink machine which shrinks only Beaker's head. Clifford mentions that Rick is walking his dog, a Whippet (which prompts the Devo Muppets to pop-up with the running gag, singing "Whippet").
	"Lash Holstein: Space Cowdet," a parody of Flash Gordon. In the sketch, narrated by the Cow Announcer, Lash Holstein fights against Moo-ing the Merciless and his henchman over the hand of Dorothy Bovine.
	Statler and Waldorf, watching the show poolside, joke about how there's nothing better to do—until they're joined by two women, leading them to happily ditch the TV.
	Rick enters the commissary and asks Pepe and Seymour for advice on choosing a sweater for his medley performance. Rick suggests they host a cooking show, offering to be their first guest. He tries to inspire them with a song about perseverance by singing "High Hopes," but Seymour accidentally squashes a musical ant, interrupting the performance.
	A trailer for Co-Dependence Day in which the alien Meepzorp enters therapy with Mr. President and a therapist for all the devastation he brought down on Earth's major cities.
	Backstage, Clifford is on the phone with his girlfriend again, assuring her that he'll be home soon. Meanwhile, Rick Moranis marvels at the massive fruit basket in his dressing room and Bunsen contemplates how to fix Beaker's shrunken head.
	The conclusion of "Lash Holstein: Space Cowdet."
	In "Boarshead Revisited" (UK spot), Howard Tubman has been devouring his jars of apple butter at a tremendous pace. When Carter enters, Howard announces that he's only just realized how enormously fat he is, and demands that the butler hide the last jar and not tell him where it is regardless of how much he begs. Carter conceals the jar as requested, but Howard immediately changes his mind and asks for it. The butler holds to his vow and refuses to share the location, so Howard decides he'll simply tear the room apart to find it—and has Carter do just that for him. When the room is destroyed, Howard offers Carter "his first day off in forty years" to blab, and Carter finally reveals that the apple butter is taped to Howard's back. Unfortunately, he decides to take his day off right away, and Howard is left literally spinning in circles to try to recover the snack.
	Rick does vocal warmups in the green room when Kermit informs him that his planned medley has been canceled in favor of Pepe and Seymour's cooking show. Upset, Rick tries to handle the situation by summoning his agent and lawyer.
	Pepe and Seymour host "Hey What Smells... So Good? It's Time to Cook with Seymour and Pepe." The duo accidentally cooked up a Bread Monster, while Rick Moranis attempts to perform his medley "A Salute to Late Fifties Crooners, Obscure British Bands, and Bill Withers." The Bread Monster wrecks havoc on the set. Bunsen and Beaker arrive with their shrinking machine but accidentally enlarge Pepe instead of shrinking the bread. Rick eventually steps in, adjusts the shrinking machine correctly, and shrinks everyone, including the bread. After the chaos, he attempts to restart his medley as the show ends.
	Rick Moranis thanks Clifford for the experience and hands him a gift box with the four shrunken Muppets—Pepe, Seymour, Bunsen, and Beaker—peeking out. The credits roll, with outtakes from "Codependence Day" and "Lash Holstein."

Notes

• Clifford mentions a list of family films that Rick Moranis is known for, to which Dr. Phil van Neuter adds Little Shop of Horrors. Clifford corrects him by saying that Little Shop of Horrors isn't a family film. However, Clifford included Parenthood in his own list, a film rated PG-13 by the MPAA for its sexually explicit content; Little Shop of Horrors is also rated PG-13.
• The Shrink-o-Matic Machine was a reference to Moranis' film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.
• A clip of Great Moments in Elvis History from episode 101 is playing on the monitors in the commissary.
• Posters of "Cleopigtra" and "The Pigseidon Adventure" are seen in the commissary.

Performers

Bill Barretta - Pepe, Howard Tubman, and The Cow Announcer

Kevin Clash - Clifford, Carter, and Bart

Brian Henson - Seymour, Dr. Phil Van Neuter, and Nigel

Dave Goelz - Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Randy Pig, Waldorf, Morty, and Gary Cahuenga

Jerry Nelson - Statler, Moo-Ing, Phil, and Mr. President

Steve Whitmire - Kermit the Frog, Beaker, Rizzo the Rat, Andy Pig, Meepzorp, Lash Holstein, and Farm person

Leslie Carrara-Rudolph - Spamela Hamderson, Dorothy BoVine, Pullover sweater, and Muppets Tonight floor manager

Brad Abrell

Len Levitt

Steven Ritz-Barr

Joe Selph

Cast

Muppets:

Seymour, Pepe the King Prawn, Clifford, Kermit the Frog, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, Nigel (Muppets Tonight), Statler and Waldorf, Zippety Zap, Andy and Randy Pig, Lash Holstein, Moo-ing the Merciless, Dorothy Bovine, Meepzorp, Mr. President, Bread Monster, The Cow Announcer, Phil, Morty, Anthony, Devo Muppets, Eugene, Co-Dependence Day therapist, Bart (Muppets Tonight), Muppets Tonight floor manager, Pullover sweater, Farm person, Carter, Howard Tubman, Spamela Hamderson

Background Muppets:

J.P. Grosse, Gary Cahuenga, Rizzo the Rat

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