William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare's bust in The Muppet Christmas Carol.

Miss Piggy and Kermit portray Titania and Bottom from A Midsummer Night's Dream, photographed for a 1982 calendar.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was the Elizabethan playwright and poet behind such enduring works as Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, Julius Caesar, and Hamlet. The latter in particular has often been spoofed or referenced by the Muppets. Shakespeare himself was caricatured as one of the Schoolroom Busts in The Muppet Christmas Carol.

References

The Muppet Show

• In the At the Dance sketch in episode 101, Miss Piggy asks her male pig dancing partner if she prefers Shakespeare to Bacon. Naturally, he prefers anything to bacon.

• The Panel Discussions for episode 107 of The Muppet Show looks to pose the question, "Was William Shakespeare, in fact, Bacon?"

• The Muppet Show episode 213's Veterinarian's Hospital pays tribute to Shakespeare with various puns on the writer and his famous plays. Statler is offended at the lack of respect, claiming to be a student of Shakespeare. Waldorf quips that he was a student with Shakespeare.

• In episode 219 of The Muppet Show, Peter Sellers recites a soliloquy from Richard the Third for Kermit, whilst -- and at the same time -- playing tuned chickens in his dressing room.

• "In a major feat of death-defying intellectualism never seen before," Gonzo recites excerpts from Act 1, scene 1 of The Merchant of Venice while suspended by his nose from a feather boa nine feet in the air as seen in episode 222 of The Muppet Show.

• A William Shakespeare appears in episode 323 at the summoning of Sam the Eagle.

• When Spike Milligan assists Sam the Eagle in episode 317 of The Muppet Show, Sam becomes so frustrated that he wishes they got Lawrence Olivier instead. Milligan uses the quip to play against Olivier's popular recurring role as Hamlet and quotes Shakespeare as an example of how Olivier, a Brit, only speaks as clearly as he does so that Americans can understand him.

Sesame Street

• Several other Monsterpiece Theater sketches have parodied Shakespeare plays, including "The Taming of the Shoe", "The Monsters of Venice" and "Much Ado About Nothing".

• Gladys the Cow paraphrases The Merchant of Venice in Episode 1056 after Gordon refers to her as "just a cow": "Hath not a cow eyes? Hath not a cow ears? Hath not a cow horns? If you prick us, do we not draw blood? If you milk us, do we not moo?"

• When Baby Bear can't find Alan to make him some porridge in Episode 4119, he shouts out "My kingdom for some porridge!" This is a paraphrase of the oft-quoted line from Richard III, "A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!"

Other

• In The Great Santa Claus Switch, Cosmo Scam says to Lothar, "Et tu, Lothar?," a reference to Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar.

• In The Muppet Show Diary 1979, to celebrate Shakespeare's birthday (listed as April 23 along with his date of death, although the date is disputed), Link Hogthrob appears as Hamlet.

• Kermit and Miss Piggy portrayed Titania and Bottom from A Midsummer Night's Dream in The Miss Piggy Calendar 1982.