MuppetZine : An Interview with Jim Lewis As part of the Muppets Tonight writing staff , Jim Lewis is used to chaos and pressure . So he felt right at home when he was asked to participate in a MuppetZine interview . . . " You were one of the writers on The Jim Henson Hour . Was that the first Henson show you worked on ? How did you get involved with writing for the Muppets ? " Actually , I was not on the writing staff of The Jim Henson Hour . I did , however , co - write ( with Bill Prady ) " Miss Piggy ' s Hollywood , " a half - hour special that aired as part of JHH . That was the first time I ' d written for the Muppets for network TV . Before that , I wrote Muppet home videos , speeches , T - shirt copy , you - name - it . . . " How did I get involved with writing for the Muppets ? " Well , I started out as editor of " Muppet Magazine , " where I wrote for the Muppets in print , and learned to think like they think . Then I tried my hand at a few home videos ( " Hey , You ' re As Funny As Fozzie Bear ! " , " Neat Stuff , " etc . ) , and the next thing I knew I was writing you - name - its . " Muppets Tonight does more than just update The Muppet Show ; it also changes the setting from an old - fashioned vaudeville show to a combination variety / sketch show and late - night talk show . Why did you decide to give the show the structure it has ? Did the premise of the show change during preproduction ? " We decided on this structure because it ' s so flexible . You can tell backstage stories , but still present on - stage Muppet craziness . Structurally , it ' s very close to The Muppet Show - it ' s a show about putting on a show ( and it ' s the show that ' s being put on ) . The switch from vaudeville to television was simply a way to update the context . Making it a television station allows us to present pieces and hit comedic targets that would have seemed out of place in a vaudeville theater . As for changes during preproduction : No , the basic premise didn ' t change , but the balance of on - stage versus backstage changed , and continues to change . We ' re still looking for the perfect mix . We came close in several of the shows from the first season . ( And thank goodness , we ' ll get a chance to get it right with a second season ! ) " Some of the writers who are working on the show haven ' t worked with the Muppets before . Did it take them a while to be able to write Muppet - style ? Is there a Muppet sensibility that they needed to adapt to ? " We all know there ' s a Muppet sensibility ( or is that nonsensibility ? ) . But if you watch enough of The Muppet Show and the movies , you can pick up on it pretty quick . All of the writers are very funny folks and quick studies , so there wasn ' t much problem with them adapting to Muppet style . Oh , sure , every once and awhile , I ' ll say to my fellow writers , " Well , Beaker really wouldn ' t do that . " But then they smack me around , and we move on to the next sketch . " Why did you decide to cast Clifford as the host instead of Kermit ? " It gives Muppets Tonight a different feel from The Muppet Show . We all hold The Muppet Show in such veneration that we didn ' t want to seem to be repeating ourselves completely . Plus , we believe that Clifford is a fine , funny character with a lot of potential , and this is a chance to develop that potential . That said , I think you ' ll be seeing more of Kermit during the second season . So hang in there , Kermit fans . ( And who isn ' t ! ? ) " How do you strike a balance between using the new characters and the familiar old characters ? " Oh , if only there were some formula for striking a balance . We do our best to mix them all in together . The familiar characters are great because everyone knows and likes them . But we - - the writers and the performers - - want to create new characters and give them a chance to grow . It ' s a chance to stretch , to try something different , and maybe to come up with a new character that everyone loves . The other factor in this is availability . As you know , a performer is the character and no one else performs that character . So , when Frank Oz is away directing a movie , he can ' t be performing Fozzie , Miss Piggy , etcetera . He ' s been very generous with his time ( and promises to do so in the future ) , but sometimes we must work around his characters . " Which of the new characters do you think are working best ? Who ' s the most fun to write for ? " The show is a work in progress . I think it ' s too early to pass judgment on which characters are working best and which aren ' t working . We ' re all working as hard as we can to make it all work together . That said , I love Bobo , Johnny Fiama and Sal , Andy and Randy Pig . Figuring out who exactly they are and how they all fit into the Muppet family is the puzzle we ' re trying to solve . " How much input do the puppeteers have in creating the characters ? To what extent is the show a collaboration between the writers and the performers ? " It is a collaboration to the maximum , ultimate , total and 110 percent extent . As with the Muppets themselves , the process is usually chaotic , but the results can sometimes be nonsensically sublime . That ' s the way it has always been with the Muppets . Characters come from both the performers and the writers . And while the writers can create situations and dialogue and assorted shtick , it ' s the performers who bring the character to life and take it to the next level . " A lot of the humor on the show is very directly aimed at the adults in the audience - - " NYPD Green , " " Match Game , " Bobo ' s pass at Cindy Crawford . . . it ' s pretty amazing what you seem to be getting away with in what is ostensibly a kid ' s show . Do you wonder what people are going to make of all this ? " We don ' t think of it as " ostensibly a kid ' s show . " ( And I think if you asked those who created The Muppet Show , they will tell you the same about that production ) . Like all of our work , it ' s for a family audience . And some of the jokes are aimed at the older members of the family , but never at the expense of being offensive to younger members of the family . We are very careful about this . People come to the Muppets with certain expectations , and we don ' t ever want to disappoint them . But , especially in these days and times , we need to stretch so that we aren ' t just a show for kids . " You guys don ' t seem to like musical numbers as much as the producers of the original show did . In fact , it seems like you cut away for a joke about two bars into most of the songs . Have you decided to downplay the music ? " We love music . And there ' s lots more in the first season shows that have yet to air , and I ' m sure there will be more in the second season . What we realize is that , since the original show , there ' s been this music video onslaught that ' s changed the way people look at musical numbers . So we have to figure out fresh ways to do music that are simultaneously lilting , funny , and , at times , poignant . " One thing that seems to be missing from the show is strong new female characters . You ' ve introduced a whole bunch of male characters , but the only new female is Spamela , who hasn ' t had a very meaty role so far , if you ' ll excuse the expression . " We ' re trying . Honest . We are very aware of this deficiency and our rewriters and performers and experts of every stripe are working on this situation . In our defense , remember that every female Muppet necessarily falls in the shadow of Miss Piggy . And as we all know , that ' s one BIG shadow . ( She ' s gonna kill me when she reads this ! ) " Now that you ' ve finished the first thirteen episodes , what have you learned about putting the show together ? Has anything changed over the season ? " As I said earlier , the whole process is all about finding the right balance between backstage and on - stage , and finding out who these characters and what ' s the perfect mix . It takes time , and I believe we ' re getting better as we go along . ( For instance , we really appreciate the feedback we get on the newsgroups . They help us to identify what ' s working for everyone who ' s watching . ) " Can you tell us anything about what we ' ll look forward to when the show comes back in the fall ? " Honestly ? Truthfully ? I can ' t . More Kermit , probably . And more viewers , hopefully . " Anything else I haven ' t asked about that you want to talk about ? " Yes , you neglected to ask about my son , Danny , who is 11 months old as of this writing , and the cutest child on the face of the Earth if I say so myself . Would you like to see a picture ? . . . No , really , it ' s no problem ! I have some right here . . . Don ' t go away ! I ' m not finished . . .