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Wayne and Wanda
PERFORMER Richard Hunt Wayne
  Eren Ozker Wanda
DEBUT 1976
DESIGN Michael K. Frith[1] designer, Wayne
  Rollie Krewson builder, Wayne
104-7
124 paper moon

The typical result of a Wayne and Wanda routine. This particular example, a rendition of "It's Only a Paper Moon," would be the last sketch they performed together on The Muppet Show.

TMS406

Wayne and Wanda reunite with Kermit in episode 406 of The Muppet Show.

Muppets2011Trailer01-1920 09

Wayne and Wanda in The Muppets, inside...

TheMuppets-(2011)-Finale-Link&Julius&Thog&Wanda&Wayne

...and outside The Muppet Theatre.

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. They 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".

The duo made return appearances in the film The Muppets, and its sequel Muppets Most Wanted. They were mainly background characters in both films, but in the former, they get a few seconds of fame when they are caught kissing when the theatre's electricity is restored after Tex Richman turns it off.

They later made appearances in The Muppets Take the Bowl and The Muppets Take the O2 (with Wanda performed by Julianne Buescher and Wayne performed by David Rudman), singing "Send in the Clowns" and "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" with typically disastrous results.

Sketches[]

The Muppet Show Season 1

Picture Song / Episode Description
Stormy Weather
"Stormy Weather"
Episode 103
Wayne and Wanda get rained on.
Song.rowrowrow
"Row, Row, Row"
Episode 104
Sam says that Wayne and Wanda have really rehearsed this song, and sure enough, they make it past the first verse. They sit in a rowboat in cardboard water, but as they begin the first chorus, they sink.
Waynewandagoody edited
"Goody Goody"
Episode 105
Wayne accidentally knocks Wanda down.
106-16
"Indian Love Call"
Episode 106
In response to Wanda's making the Indian love call, an Indian shows up.
WWyoudo
"You Do Something to Me"
Episode 108
Wanda sings while Wayne attempts to saw her in half.
WWIGetaKickOutofYou
"I Get a Kick Out of You"
Episode 110
Wanda keeps upstaging Wayne, so he kicks her. (This is one of the few times that their failure was their own fault.)
112wayneandwanda
"Autumn Leaves"
Episode 112
Too many leaves fall on them.
113 trees
"Trees"
Episode 113
A tree falls on Wayne.
Gorgonwanda
"Some Enchanted Evening"
Episode 116
Gorgon Heap mistakenly thinks that Wayne said he may eat a stranger.
Illknow
"I'll Know"
Episode 117
Wayne chases after a girl who walks on-stage (making Wanda jealous).
119-9
"Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered"
Episode 119
Wanda's head turns into that of Blue Frackle.
Onaclearday
"On a Clear Day (You Can See Forever)"
Episode 120
Their song gets interrupted by factory smoke.
Letitsnowww
"Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!"
Episode 121
Snow falls on the indoor set.
Papermoonww
"It's Only a Paper Moon"
Episode 124
A paper moon on the set falls on Wayne.
WayneWandaDancingDark
"Dancing in the Dark"
The Best of the Muppets
All of the lights go out in the ballroom. (Gonzo and Zelda Rose appear in the background.)

The Muppet Show Comic Book

Picture Song / Comic Description
Liberty-wayne-wanda
"When the Lusitania Went Down"
The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson, issue #1
The Lusitania sinks with Wayne and a redheaded Wanda on it, and a fallen prop bird's wing looks like a menacing shark's fin in New York Harbor.
WayneWanda-FamilyReunion
"Mighty Like a Rose"
Family Reunion, issue #3
Wayne and Wanda sing to a monster in a baby carriage, until it kicks Wayne beyond the heavens.

The monster reappears later in the comic book, once again in its baby carriage, in a Pigs in Space sketch, in which its guardianship seems to have transferred to Captain Link Hogthrob.

The Muppets Take the Bowl / 02

Picture Song Description
Bowl-Clowns
"Send in the Clowns" Sam the Eagle tries to counterbalance the nonsense seen so far with a song from Wayne and Wanda. The duo sing "Send in the Clowns," when they reach the end of the verse and a group of monsters dressed as clowns chase them off the stage.
Bowl-Dock
"(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" Sam introduces another song by Wayne and Wanda, "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay." The two don't make it far into the song before a shark swims through and eats them.

Filmography[]

TheMuppets-(2011)-Wayne&Wanda-Kiss

Wayne and Wanda kiss in The Muppets.

TakeO2-Dock

Wayne and Wanda live at The Muppets Take the O2 in 2018.

Waynewanda-crafts

Wayne and Wanda finger puppets in The Muppets Big Book of Crafts

WayneWanda-NewShot

Wayne[]

Wanda[]

Book appearances[]

See also[]

Sources[]

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