JIM HENSON HOUR, THE: "MUPPETELEVISION" AND "THE THREE RAVENS" (TV)
Summary
One in this series of hour-long programs hosted by Jim Henson, which includes special presentations featuring an assortment of live-action Muppets and creatures. This “MuppeTelevision” episode’s theme revolves around food. Solid Foam takes up residence in Kermit’s control room, and he struggles to accommodate them while still running the station, including trying to secure lunch for the lot of them. Other highlights include: “The Food Chain Song”; a sketch about where eggplants come from, featuring “Sheldon, the All-Knowledgeable Grocery Stock Boy”; a food review program hosted by Link Hogthrob, who is disgusted to find that the café where he is eating is staffed by rats and cockroaches; an advertisement for a CD of food-related parody songs; an episode of “Hurtingsomething” (a parody of “Thirtysomething”) featuring a married couple of monsters working out their relationship problems while feasting on human beings; an interruption by “Gorilla Television” to protest the mind-controlling nature of television advertisements, demonstrated via a hostage; a feud between the Swedish Chef and Jacques Roach; and Solid Foam performing the closing number “You and Me.” “The Storyteller” features the story “The Three Ravens,” adapted from an early German folk tale. It begins when a queen dies, leaving the king and his three sons and one daughter beside themselves in grief. An evil witch decides to take advantage of the situation and uses her magic to charm the king by assuming the face of his deceased wife. The king decides to marry her, much to the resentment of the children. The witch considers them rivals and torments them with her magic until the king, realizing something is wrong, shows his children a secret lodge in the middle of the forest, accessible only by following a magic thread. They intend to keep this place secret as a means of hiding from the witch. However, the witch devises terrible spells to exercise her wrath upon the children and manages to steal the king’s magic thread, allowing her access to the lodge. She gives the three boys “gifts” in the form of three shirts she sewed herself, and uses them in conjunction with a terrible curse to transform them into ravens. The princess manages to escape, and the king is desperate to find his children, much to the witch’s ire. Eventually the princess, exhausted, collapses, and when she wakes the three ravens seem to speak to her, claiming that she can undo the curse by refraining from speaking to anyone for three years, three months, three weeks, and three days. She agrees and retreats into the forest to become a hermit. However, one day a prince stumbles across her and befriends her, despite her being unable to speak to him. They fall in love and he decides to bring her back to his home and marry her. However, she is horrified to find that the prince’s stepmother is none other than the witch herself; the witch has already killed her father and moved on to another king. The witch schemes to rid herself of the princess once and for all. Despite this, the princess and prince are happily married and soon give birth to a son. However, the princess one morning wakes to find her baby is gone, and to express her pain she goes out one night and digs a hole in the ground to scream into. The witch preys on the prince, raising suspicions that the princess may have killed the infant herself. Eventually the prince and princess have another child, who is also kidnapped. The prince grows more suspicious and confides in his stepmother, who continues to encourage his suspicions. When the couple has a third child he offers to take the child to a safer place, but the princess refuses. That night they stay up together to watch over the child, but in the morning find that it is gone and the bed is covered in dirt. The princess is accused of being a witch and is sentenced to be burned at the stake. She is taken up on the final day of her period of silence, which cannot be ended until midday. The witch emerges to light the fire herself, but she is attacked by the ravens, who cause her to accidentally immolate herself. The princess finally speaks and her brothers are restored to human form. They take her down from the stake and her children are returned to her as well; the witch threw them down a well, but the ravens managed to care for them. The princess is returned to her prince, where all is restored to normal, with one exception: she spoke three minutes too early, leaving her youngest brother still sporting a raven’s wing. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: November 30, 1989
- RUNNING TIME: 1:00:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:64289
- GENRE: Music/Variety; Drama, fantasy/science fiction
- SUBJECT HEADING: Music/Variety; Drama, fantasy/science fiction
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- For "MuppeTelevision"
- Lawrence S. Mirkin … Producer
- Jerry Juhl … Co-Producer, Writer
- Martin G. Baker … Co-Producer
- Ritamarie Peruggi … Associate Producer
- Kirk Thatcher … Associate Producer
- Peter Harris … Director
- Jim Henson … Created by
- Tim Burns … Writer
- Barbara Samuels … Writer
- Mark Saltzman … Writer
- Bill Prady … Writer
- Chris Langham … Writer
- Phil Balsam … Music by
- Dennis Lee … Music by
- Jim Henson … Host, Muppet Performer
- Fran Brill … Muppet Performer
- Rob Mills … Muppet Performer
- Kevin Clash … Muppet Performer
- Dave Goelz … Muppet Performer
- Steve Whitmire … Muppet Performer
- Camille Bonora … Muppet Performer
- Jerry Nelson … Muppet Performer
- Dan Redican … Muppet Performer
- Rob James … Cast
- Gordon Robertson … Cast
- Sandra Shamas … Cast
- Bob Stutt … Cast
- For "The Storyteller"
- Duncan Kenworthy … Producer
- Paul Weiland … Director
- Jim Henson … Created by
- Anthony Minghella … Writer
- Rachel Portman … Music by
- John Hurt … Cast, The Storyteller
- Miranda Richardson … Cast, Witch
- Jonathan Pryce … Cast, King
- Joely Richardson … Cast, Princess
- Robert Hines … Cast, Prince
- Richard Butler … Cast, Second King
- Alexander Crockatt … Cast, Brother 1
- Charlie Condou … Cast, Brother 2
- Jeremy Stuart … Cast, Brother 3
- Brian Henson … Voice, Storyteller's Dog