A song about a road-weary gambler asking for a cigarette and slug of whiskey in a train car doesn’t exactly scream children’s programming, but in 1979, Kenny Rogers combined the two when he performed “The Gambler” on The Muppet Show. The musical segment was a testament to how different kid-friendly television looked in the late 1970s compared to today.
Videos by American Songwriter
Children’s show characters puffing on cigarettes might seem outlandish by today’s standards, but some fans argued that they never understood the emotional complexity of Rogers’ career-defining hit until they watched the country star sitting in a train car with three disturbingly humanistic Muppets.
Kenny Rogers Performs “The Gambler” On ‘The Muppet Show’
Kenny Rogers released “The Gambler” as the title track to his November 1978 record to tremendous critical acclaim. The song performed incredibly well on both the country and pop charts, garnering Rogers a Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 1980. The tremendous success of Rogers’ version of songwriter Don Schlitz’s composition even spurred a five-part series of Western films starring Rogers as, of course, a gambler from the old Wild West. Amid the promotional run for the hit single, Rogers appeared on The Muppet Show in November 1979.
Part of Rogers’ appearance on The Muppet Show included a musical segment where the country singer and three other muppets with wrinkled, human-like faces sat in a train car and sang the song together. The muppets notably had human hands, no doubt to make holding on to their cigarettes easier. Rogers bobs along to the beat, sometimes appearing as though he’s looking away from the muppets so he doesn’t break character. (Looking at the muppets now, we can’t say we blame him for having to stifle a laugh.)
For as odd as the Muppets’ humanoid puppets looked, the visual illustration of the song’s narrative helped young audiences gain a deeper understanding of the song, which isn’t exactly the most kid-friendly. “When I was a young kid, we all heard “The Gambler” on the radio but didn’t pay much attention to the words,” one YouTube user commented. “When I saw this on TV, I understood what the song was about. Thank you, Jim Henson.” Another added, “I saw this show when I was a kid, and those lyrics stick in my head as a reminder how you could deal with some of the situations in life.”
A Prime Example Of Children’s Programming In The ‘70s
At the end of “The Gambler,” the old man who offers his poker-centric life advice about knowing when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em in exchange for some booze and a smoke falls asleep in the train car and presumably dies. When he finished speakin’ he turned back toward the window, crushed out his cigarette, and faded off to sleep. Somewhere in the darkness, the gambler, he broke even. But in his final words, I found an ace that I could keep.
In Rogers’ appearance on The Muppet Show, the puppet who falls asleep against the window “transforms” into a see-through apparition, dancing between the country singer and its fellow puppets as it interjected responses to the song’s iconic chorus. Indeed, children’s television in the late 1970s was a different beast compared to the Blueys and Bubble Guppies of today.
Photo by David Redfern/Redferns
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.