Wayne and Wanda





Wayne and Wanda are a singing duo who performed regularly during the first season of The Muppet Show, often introduced by Sam the Eagle, who approved of their "wholesome, uplifting, and decent" act but was constantly frustrated by their inability to get past the first verse of any song. While their sketches began as mellow and classy, they always ended in disaster, seemingly foretold by the title of their chosen song.

This treacly act, consisting of love songs often from musicals and operettas, was reminiscent of Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald. Wayne and Wanda even went so far as to tackle "Indian Love Call" (which Eddy and MacDonald had performed in Rose-Marie) in episode 106.

The characters first appeared in the unreleased pilot version of episode 101. In the middle of an extended version of "The Muppet Show Theme," Kermit introduced a clip of them singing "You Made Me Love You," even though neither the song nor the performers were featured in the pilot itself. Wanda made her first official appearance in the "At the Dance" segment in the same episode, where she danced with Mahna Mahna in both the pilot and broadcast versions.

Wayne and Wanda, as a pair, were properly introduced in a rare backstage appearance in episode 102, in which they complained that their act had been cut and badmouthed guest star Connie Stevens until they realized that she was eavesdropping on their conversation. Their first onstage act was "Stormy Weather" in episode 103.

The pair, who had been featured in a majority of the first season episodes, were cut entirely from the second season, due in part to the departure of Wanda's performer, Eren Ozker, and in part to the promotion of Jerry Juhl to head writer, who shifted the show's focus from running gags to character-based comedy. As a result, Wayne and Wanda, who had rarely appeared backstage during the first season and consequently never developed as individual characters, were cut from the show's regular line-up.

Wayne, however, was brought back as an individual performer in the third season, singing solo numbers like "My Wild Irish Rose" and "Dog Walk," and appearing as the hero in series of Muppet Melodrama sketches in which he attempted to save Miss Piggy from Uncle Deadly's dastardly schemes. The Wanda puppet, with different hair and attire, continued to be used as a Whatnot in "At the Dance" segments, as well as a background puppet throughout the next four years of The Muppet Show.

In episode 406, Wanda (now played by Kathryn Mullen) returned to the show and rejoined Wayne. The pair gave Kermit such a guilt trip for having fired them that he rehired them on the spot. Once they started singing, however, Kermit remembered why he'd fired them in the first place and once again dispensed with their services. Although Wayne appeared once more on the show's fifth season, this would be Wanda's last appearance until the 1980s, when she appeared in the background of Muppets Studios Presents: You're the Director, a View-Master video game.

Of late, Wayne and Wanda made an appearance of sorts in The Muppets Big Book of Crafts as a pair of finger puppets designed and built by April Asher. They have also been featured in BOOM! Studios' comic books, most notably performing "When the Lusitania Went Down" (with the usual introduction by Sam the Eagle and disastrously premature ending) in issue #1 of The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson and "Mighty Like a Rose" in issue #3 of Family Reunion. Unlike most other "musical numbers" featured in this printed title, these two numbers are actually songs in the public domain (much in the style of the songs Wayne and Wanda performed on The Muppet Show) as opposed to original poems by Roger Langridge. In the Pigs in Space comic, Rizzo the Rat suggests an idea: "Wayne and Wanda Night Fever". Most recently, the duo appeared in the feature film The Muppets. They were mainly background characters, but they get a few seconds of fame when they are caught kissing when the electricity to the theater has been restored after Tex Richman turns it off.

Wayne

 * The Muppet Show
 * "The Muppet Show Theme" (Seasons 1 - 5)
 * Episode 101: Juliet Prowse Pilot ("You Made Me Love You")
 * Episode 102: Connie Stevens
 * Episode 103: Joel Grey ("Willkommen," "Stormy Weather," "Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Disappearing Clues," closing])
 * Episode 104: Ruth Buzzi (closing)
 * Episode 114: Sandy Duncan ("Try to Remember")
 * Episode 115: Candice Bergen ("Friends")
 * Episode 120: Valerie Harper ("Broadway Baby")
 * Episode 122: Ethel Merman ("There's No Business Like Show Business")
 * Episode 124: Mummenschanz ("The Blue Danube")
 * Episode 301: Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge ("My Wild Irish Rose")
 * Episode 304: Gilda Radner (Muppet Melodrama)
 * Episode 305: Pearl Bailey
 * Episode 306: Jean Stapleton (Muppet Melodrama)
 * Episode 310: Marisa Berenson
 * Episode 312: James Coco ("Catch a Falling Star")
 * Episode 316: Danny Kaye ("Jogging")
 * Episode 317: Spike Milligan ("Dog Walk")
 * Episode 320: Sylvester Stallone
 * Episode 406: Linda Lavin
 * Episode 509: Debbie Harry
 * The Muppet Movie ("The Rainbow Connection" Finale)
 * The Muppet Show Theme Music Video
 * The Muppets (performed by David Rudman)

Wanda

 * The Muppet Show
 * "The Muppet Show Theme" (Seasons 1 - 5)
 * Episode 101: Juliet Prowse Pilot ("You Made Me Love You"
 * Episode 101: Juliet Prowse (At the Dance)
 * Episode 102: Connie Stevens
 * Episode 103: Joel Grey ("Willkommen," closing)
 * Episode 105: Rita Moreno (closing)
 * Episode 106: Jim Nabors (closing)
 * Episode 107: Florence Henderson
 * Episode 108: Paul Williams (closing)
 * Episode 111: Lena Horne ("Sing," closing)
 * Episode 120: Valerie Harper ("Broadway Baby")
 * Episode 121: Twiggy
 * Episode 122: Ethel Merman ("There's No Business Like Show Business")
 * Episode 124: Mummenschanz ("The Blue Danube")
 * Episode 406: Linda Lavin
 * The Muppet Movie ("The Rainbow Connection" Finale)
 * The Muppets Take Manhattan (wedding finale)
 * The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
 * Muppets Studios Presents: You're the Director VHS game
 * The Muppet Show Theme Music Video
 * The Muppets (performed by Matt Vogel puppetry and Alice Dinnean-Vernon voice)

Book appearances

 * The Muppets Big Book of Crafts
 * Muppet Robin Hood - issue #2
 * The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson
 * issue #1 ("When the Lusitania Went Down")
 * issue #3 ("The Perils of Piggy", Wayne only)
 * ''The Muppet Show Comic Book: Family Reunion
 * issue #3 ("Mighty Like a Rose")