Episode 522: Buddy Rich

	The Muppet Show
Guest	Buddy Rich
Production	August 14-16, 1980
Premiere	UK: February 15, 1981; NYC: May 18, 1981
	(TRANSCRIPT)

Thanks to Gonzo's air-conditioned mildew collection, the power goes out in the theater, and Beauregard almost electrocutes himself trying to fix it. Half of the acts have to perform in the dark, until Dr. Bunsen Honeydew hooks up a generator that runs on Beaker-power. Beaker runs on a huge wheel to generate power, and when he gets tired, Bunsen helps to motivate him by releasing an angry tiger onto the wheel.

Songs/Sketches[]

"Good Day Sunshine" / "Dancing in the Dark".
Muppet News Flash: "Blackout"
"You Mustn't Feel Discouraged"
Veterinarian's Hospital
UK Spot: "A Transport of Delight"
The Swedish Chef
Animal and Buddy's drum battle

Episode guide[]

Picture	Description
	Buddy enters the theater, and notices the lights flickering. Pops informs him there's a problem with the electricity.
	The Muppet Show Theme: When Gonzo blows his trumpet, a long, blue, furry arm wearing a boxing gloves punches him in the side of the head.
	Kermit is confused as the lights go on and off.
	For the opening number, Fozzie leads the cast in singing "Good Day Sunshine", but when there's a blackout, they switch to "Dancing in the Dark".
	Statler and Waldorf wear mining helmets in their box. Statler: "You think this is better than their usual show?" Waldorf: "Of course not. Can't hold a candle to it."
	Beauregard tries to fix the fuse box, but fails. Kermit finds out that Gonzo's air conditioning (for his mildew collection) is the cause of the power outage.
	Muppet News Flash: The Newsman requests a bigger candle which is provided by Crazy Harry. Naturally, it's no candle, it's a stick of TNT.
	Kermit and Buddy react as the lights go on and off in the dressing room. Kermit asks Buddy to do a drum solo, and Buddy takes his sticks and starts drumming everything in sight.
	Buddy continues tapping on everything in his path on his way out the dressing room, down the stairs, and finally to the stage. Among those in his path include a ladder, a telephone, a chandelier, Dr. Bunsen's head and Beaker's helmet. Buddy: "When I play a theatre, I play the theatre." Buddy finally drums his way to the stage, but once he sits down at the drum set, the lights go off.
	Scooter thinks he has found a solution to the power problem: screwing a lightbulb into Beauregard's mouth.
	Beauregard enters Buddy's dressing room, feeling down. Buddy leads him in a duet of "You Mustn't Feel Discouraged".
	Veterinarian's Hospital: While all the lights are out, Dr. Bob tries to operate on one of the electricians who tried to fix the lighting problem in the theater and got a shock.
	UK Spot: A group of British Whatnots sing "A Transport of Delight" while riding a double-decker bus.
	Dr. Bunsen Honeydew shows Kermit his giant, "portable" "Beaker-powered" generator, which works like a hamster wheel -- with Beaker as the hamster.
	In the dressing room, Miss Piggy attempts to give Buddy a karate lesson, but sees that he is already advanced.
	Backstage, the Swedish Chef wears eyeglasses when going onstage, right as the power goes out again. Bunsen puts the generator into overdrive by letting an angry tiger into the generator to make Beaker run faster.
	The Swedish Chef makes "Lighter Than Air Soufflé". When it rises and floats away, the Chef shoots it down with a bow and arrow, and it comes down a deflated "Frisbee Soufflé."
	Buddy meets Animal, led by Floyd on a chain.
	Animal and Buddy have a drum battle onstage -- and Animal, ever the sore loser, ends up throwing a bass drum at Buddy's head.
	At the closing, Buddy feels relieved that it wasn't a piano battle.