The Muppet Show
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“Puns are the lowest and most groveling contour of wit.”—John Dryden
“It’s my new act! Gonzo fiddles while George Burns!” “I like that banter. It’s a pleasure to hear something older than I am.”—Gonzo The Superlative and George Burns
Wordplay is essential to The Muppet Show ’s sense of humor. It drives recurring like Veterinarian’s Asylum and At The Dance and forms the bedrock of Statler And Waldorf’s heckling. It’s an old-fashioned comedic disposition that sits well with Jim Henson’s vision for his characters’ breakout TV conveyance: Brushed off for years as being too weird and unsophisticated for primetime, The Muppet Show dressed (sometimes in fact) Kermit The Frog and company in the rags of outdated, populist entertainments like vaudeville and music lecture-room.
Source: A.V. Club New York