14 Things That Didn't Take As Long As Putting "The Muppet Show" Season 4 On DVD

The waiting is the hardest part. It's been 7 years since "The Muppet Show: Season 3" was released on DVD, and the final two season are no where in sight. Here are 14 things that didn't take as long as the wait for season 4.

The long wait...

"The Muppet Show" ran for five successful seasons (from 1976 to 1981). Muppet fans rejoiced when Disney announced they were releasing season box sets of the show on DVD. After the first three season of "The Muppet Show" were released on DVD in 2005, 2007 and 2008, fans were eager to get the next two seasons to finish off their collections. Disney originally announced plans in 2009 to release the the fourth season sometime in 2010, however its release was later pushed back.

It has been 7 years since the third season was released (May 20, 2008) and the fans are still waiting! Many claim that music rights, legal clearances and cooperate marketing strategies has delayed the set, but Disney has yet to give a reason why the final two seasons remain in the vault.

While fans continue to wait to finish their collections, here are some things that didn't take as long to accomplish.

1. Releasing all five seasons of "Fraggle Rock" on DVD

Jim Henson's other beloved puppet show, "Fraggle Rock," received season-by-season box set releases from the Jim Henson Company. The "Complete First Season" box set was released in September 2005 (just one month after the first season of "The Muppet Show" was released on DVD). However the final season of the five-season HBO show was released on DVD by the end of 2009. Not only has the complete series been released on DVD, but it has been re-issued several times since by other distributors! The series has also been made available for digital download on iTunes and streaming on platforms such as Hulu and Netflix. Meanwhile, Muppet fans continue to wait for the final two season of "The Muppet Show" to be made available. *sigh*

2. Releasing all 12 seasons of "Murder, She Wrote" on DVD

"Murder, She Wrote" ran for 12 seasons and produced more than 264 episodes. That's significantly more than than the 120 episodes of "The Muppet Show." The first season was released on DVD in March 2005... and the final season was in store before the end of 2010. It took Universal Studios Home Entertainment just a little over 5 years to release all 12 seasons of "Murder, She Wrote"... meanwhile Muppet fans have been waiting 7 years for Disney to release the final two seasons of "The Muppet Show".

3. The entire run of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" on TV

Now, this is a story all about how my DVD collection got flipped-turned upside down... Will Smith's sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" debuted on September 10, 1990. After six successful seasons on NBC, the final episode aired on May 20, 1996. The entire run of the show was shorter than the wait since season 3 of "The Muppet Show" on DVD. To add insult to injury, "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" continues to lives on in syndication, airing practically every day somewhere on TV... yet "The Muppet Show" is no where to be seen.

4. The Original Star Wars Trilogy

Blasting into our galaxy and defining a generation, "Star Wars" debuted in movie theaters on May 25, 1977. Fans had to wait years for the conclusion of the story after the cliff-hanger in 1980's "The Empire Stikes Back" (was Darth Vader really Luke's father?!?), but finally the final chapter of the original trilogy, "Return of the Jedi," was released in theaters in May 1983. Star Wars fans had to wait 6 years to see Luke Skywalker defeat the Empire and bring balance to the Force... but that's nothing compared to the wait Muppet fans have had to endure to see the episode of "The Muppet Show" where the Star Wars crew hijacks the Swinetrek and face Dearth Nadir.

5. The Presidency of Barack Obama

Muppet fans were already 8 months into their wait for the fourth season of "The Muppet Show" when Barack Obama assumed the office of the Presidency on January 20, 2009. Not to get too political here, but not a single season of "The Muppet Show" has been released on DVD during his Presidency. Thanks, Obama!

6. The Lewis and Clark Expedition

The Lewis and Clark Expedition was the first American expedition to cross the United States, departing from the Mississippi River in May 1804 and making their way westward through the continental divide to the Pacific coast. These men were able to traverse an entire convenient, map their journey, conduct scientific research, establish trade with local Indian tribes, and return to report their findings to President Jefferson in less time that it has taken for Disney to put out the next season of "The Muppet Show" on DVD.

7. Counting to 220-million

If you started counting non-stop, at the rate of one number per second, at the exact moment that the third season of "The Muppet Show" was released on DVD, you would have already past 220,000,000... and still counting.

8. The life of a guinea pig

The average lifespan of a guinea pig is 7 years. So any Muppet-loving guinea pigs who bought the first three seasons of "The Muppet Show" on DVD when they came out, have probably died waiting for the final two seas sets.

9. Justin Bieber's entire career

It may hard to remember a time before Bieber-fever... but there was and it was Muppet-mania. Back before the Bieb's arrived, Disney was releasing "The Muppet Show" on DVD and all was right with the world. Justin exploded onto the music scene in 2008 when the then-14-year-old started singing for Usher and signed his first record contract. Justin sang "Never Say Never"... yet it feels like we're never going to see the final season of "The Muppet Show" on DVD.

10. World War II

World War II was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's nations It was the most widespread war in history, Although the global powers were able to negotiate peace in less time than it's taking Disney to negotiate music rights, legal clearances, and distribution deals for the remaining "The Muppet Show" DVD sets.

11. The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln

The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln lasted from March 4, 1861 until April 15, 1865. Lincoln accomplished a lot in his 1,503 days in office... although fans have been been working to emancipate the final season of "The Muppet Show" for over 2,500 days with no avail. As Lincoln said: "a house divided against itself cannot stand"... likewise, a DVD collection divided cannot stand... help us complete our collection, Disney!

12. Light reaching the closest Earth-like planet

In 2013, Ravi Kopparapu of Penn State University concluded that about half of all red dwarf stars should have Earth-sized planets within the habitable zone. He also concluded that the average distance from Earth to reaching one of these planets would be between 6.5 and 7 light-years. That means that the light from a Muppet fan's first viewing of their "Muppet Show: Season 3" DVDs would be reaching any extraterrestrial life that is out there right about now. Perhaps in 7 years when they learn that seasons 4 and 5 aren't coming, it will cause them to finally make contact with us.

13. The ministry of Jesus Christ

In the Christian gospels, the ministry of Jesus Christ begins with his baptism near the river Jordan, and ends in Jerusalem, following the Last Supper with his disciples. It lasted 3 to 3 ½ years (based on tying events with other established historical dates). Jesus was able to change the world in just 3 years (a far shorter time than the 7 years Disney needs to release season 4 of "The Muppet Show" on DVD). Jesus was known for performing miracles... which is what it might take to get the final two seasons of "The Muppet Show" out on DVD.

14. Putting a man on the moon

We can put a man on the moon, but we can't get all five seasons of "The Muppet Show" on DVD?!? President John F. Kennedy's national goal of "landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth" by the end of the 1960s, gained popular support with his famous "we choose to go to the moon" speech, which the President delivered on September 12, 1962. Kennedy's goal was accomplished on the Apollo 11 mission when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed their Lunar Module on July 20, 1969 and walked on the lunar surface. In less than 7 years, we put a man on the moon (not because it was easy, but because it was hard). Yet it's taken Disney over a decade to release the entire run of "The Muppet Show" on DVD (the first season set was announced over 10 years ago!).

We're still waiting...

Even Walter Agrees!

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