For as weirdly fail as many episodes of that show were, I have liked the messages shown in that one. Now I’ll have to try and find it again to see if it actually good, or if my naivety in youth made it seem nice.

The freak show died because freaks became medicalised – rather than being seen as acts of God or proof of the wonders of nature, they began to be seen as sick people who needed treatment and institutionalisation rather than being displayed for entertainment, entertainment also being bad. But for many freaks it was a profitable and even respectable occupation which gave them social status beyond what they could achieve in the straight world, meeting the famous and the powerful and so on.

While conjoined twins and the like are still relatively common, very few are left in their birth state. If only one twin can be ‘saved’ the other will be sacrificed, the idea being that the chance for one of them to lead a ‘normal’ life is the best choice for all concerned. Parents are advised that if not separated the children will both die, but that’s not always the case. Which brings up questions about what is normal and why it is so important to us, that we will choose to kill children rather than allow them to grow up being different.

A bit late in this, but no, you weren’t the only one who thought of that song. :) I even thought specifically of the Muppet Show sketch you included, too.