Episode 520: Wally Boag

In honor of vaudeville-influenced guest star Wally Boag, the Muppets salute vaudeville, with a balloon animal act, a bagpipe player and a hypnotist. Wally performs acts he made famous at the Golden Horseshoe Revue at Disneyland, including the Pecos Bill teeth-spitting sketch.
==Songs/Sketches==
* The Flying Zucchini Brothers' human cannonball act
* Lottie Lemon and her Singing Wig sing "Just Squeeze Me"
* Wally Boag makes balloon animals
* Miss Piggy and Foo-Foo's dog act
* UK Spot: The Leprechaun Brothers sing "Danny Boy"
* Wally plays the bagpipes
* "The Ying Tong Song"
* Dr. Salamander hypnotizes Pops
* Annie Sue sings "Pecos Bill" with Wally
==Episode==
Picture	Description
 	Cold Open: Pops greets Wally in Reception and says he hasn't seen him since he was the doorman at a theatre in Pittsburgh. When Wally says he doesn't remember him, Pops is disappointed he won't get to return him the 10 bucks he owed him. "Oh, that Pops!," replies Wally, who gladly accepts the note.
 	"The Muppet Show Theme": Gonzo starts to blow his trumpet, but Kermit cuts in with his own trumpet, blowing Gonzo out of the "O".
 	The Flying Zucchini Brothers -- Luigi (Dave Goelz), Marco (Frank Oz), Lorenzo (Jerry Nelson), Giuseppe (Richard Hunt), and Heathcliff (Steve Whitmire) -- perform their human cannonball act. The brothers are fired into the air and never come back down.
 	Lottie Lemon and her Singing Wig sing "Just Squeeze Me". They only make it through a couple lines when the Zucchini Brothers land on their collective head.
 	Kermit announces that Wally Boag opened the Golden Horseshoe Revue in Disneyland on July 17, 1955 (according to the Guinness Book of World Records), and has done over 32,000 performances since then. Wally follows with a balloon act that he presents as a psychiatric practice, with various balloon creations representing states of mind. He explains that he'd like to make more balloon animals, but looks in his carpet bag to find that a lot of his balloons have gone missing. Gonzo, Scooter, Fozzie Bear, Beauregard, Janice, Rowlf, and Rizzo enter the stage wearing dozens of colorful balloon creations.
 	Kermit announces Miss Piggy and Foo-Foo's act as their answer to Lassie. On stage, Rowlf accompanies the pair on piano as Piggy attempts to lead Foo-Foo in a variety of tricks. Foo-Foo doesn't always cooperate, providing Rowlf with plenty of chances to get in digs at her ability to perform. The act is cut short by the appearance of Gaffer, who unites Rowlf and Foo-Foo in a chase of the feline.
 	UK Spot: The Leprechaun Brothers -- "three gifted singers who have all kissed the Blarney Stone" -- sing "Danny Boy" until the sadness of the song makes them all break out in tears. Statler and Waldorf comment that it marks another popular expression gone down the drain: "the luck of the Irish."
 	Wally does the Highland Fling with a Muppet bagpipe given to him from his great-grandfather. Dubbed a McBag Bird, the instrument is afixed with a balloon that inflates when it's played. Wally plays a song he calls "The Girl Next Door Lived a Life of a Dog So I Called Her (R)over" which features various melodies including "Frère Jacques" and "Three Blind Mice". The Muppet Orchestra joins him in the end for a brief rendition of "Old Folks at Home". As he leaves the stage, a Muppet bagpipe shouts cat-calls at Wally's McBag Bird.
 	Whatnots sing "The Ying Tong Song" which Kermit describes as "a very special lullaby in gibberish".
 	Wally lets Pops know he's going out back for some fresh air if anyone needs him. Pops says he can watch the door while he's away; he's going to watch the show.
 	The astounding Dr. Salamander, hypnotist and newt, puts Pops in a trance (which isn't hard, because he's asleep anyway). Pops floats to the ceiling, but then doesn't hear Dr. Salamander's command to wake up. The hypnotist shrugs, "Never levitate the hard-of-hearing."
 	Backstage, Scooter says slamming the door always wakes Pops up. Wally re-enters, asking if he's on yet, slamming the door on his way in. Pops crashes to the floor at the top of the stairs, as Wally comments, "Now, that looks like the end of an act."
 	Annie Sue & others sing "Pecos Bill" to Wally Boag, playing Pecos Bill, reprising his role from the Disneyland shows. His act consists of gun-toting, tooth-spitting, and rolling tobacco into a cigarette (he eats it rather than smoking it). Rowlf plays piano while Statler and Waldorf spray seltzer water at Wally from their box seats.
 	Saying goodnight, Kermit offers to pay Wally's dental bill, but he says he grows his teeth back quickly (proceeding to spit more of them on the audience). To demonstrate to Kermit how he does that, Wally whacks Rizzo on the head, sending teeth flying out of the rat's mouth. Statler and Waldorf say that Wally Boag is a millionaire; he got his money from The Tooth Fairy.
==Notes==
*From the Muppet Show Fan Club newsletter, Vol. 2, No. 6 (1980): "Wally Boag recorded a Muppet Show recently and was much loved -- definitely a performer's performer and a frog's performer, too. He's done over 32,000 performances in the Golden Horseshoe Revue in Disneyland, and is consequently in the Guinness Book of World Records. Jim Henson saw him 15 or 20 years ago and has loved him ever since. It was a great joy to have him on the show."
==Edits==
*Disney+: "The Ying Tong Song" is cut.
==Cast==
Muppets:
:Kermit the Frog, Scooter, Pops, The Flying Zucchini Brothers, Lottie Lemon and her Singing Wig, Statler and Waldorf, Miss Piggy, Foo-Foo, Rowlf, Dr. Salamander, Annie Sue, Gaffer, Whatnots, Animal, Beaker, The Swedish Chef, McBag Bird, Bagpipe
Background Muppets:
:Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Janice, Beauregard, Rizzo the Rat, Lips, Floyd Pepper, Trumpet Girl, Zoot, Afghan Hound, Baby Bear, Pink Frackle, Wolfhound, Frog
==Performers==
:Jim Henson as Kermit the Frog, Rowlf, Waldorf and the Swedish Chef
:Frank Oz as Miss Piggy, Animal, Fozzie Bear, and Marco
:Jerry Nelson as Pops, Bagpipe, Whatnots and Lorenzo
:Richard Hunt as Scooter, Beaker, Statler, Zucchini Brother and Giuseppi
:Dave Goelz as Dr. Salamander, Gonzo, and Luigi
:Steve Whitmire as Foo-Foo and Heathcliff
:Louise Gold as Annie Sue, Whatnot and Lottie Lemon
:Kathy Mullen as Gaffer and Lottie Lemon's Singing Wig
==Gallery==
File:Boag01.jpg
File:Boag03.jpg
File:Boag04.jpg
File:Boag02.jpg
==Sources==
__NOWYSIWYG__
520