The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson aired on CBS on November 21 , 1990 . This one - hour special , " a tribute to a man and his imagination , " celebrates the life and career of Jim Henson . The retrospective includes appearances by celebrity guests , a variety of clips from Henson ' s television and film work , and candid , behind - the - scenes footage of Henson working with his creative team . As the program begins , Fozzie Bear receives a postcard from Kermit the Frog , who asks him to prepare a lavish production number in tribute to Henson . But Fozzie and the other Muppets don ' t know who Henson is , and feel ill - equipped to give him a fitting tribute . Carol Burnett , John Denver , Ray Charles , Steven Spielberg , Harry Belafonte , and Henson ' s friend and close collaborator , Frank Oz , offer via film their impressions of Henson and reminisce about working with him and the characters that he invented , which helps the Muppets to learn more about him . Topics discussed include Henson ' s collaboration with the Children ' s Television Workshop on " Sesame Street " ; the universal message of Kermit ' s theme song , " Bein ' Green " ; the grand scope of Henson ' s imagination , innovations , and artistry , evident in his design of various " ; " his concern for world issues ; and the international appeal of " Sesame Street " and " Fraggle Rock " . A short biographical film includes home movies of Henson in his youth ; clips of early versions of the Muppets on the local Washington , D . C . , television series Sam and Friends and on a Wilkins Coffee commercial ; and excerpts from Henson ' s experimental film , " Time Piece " , which received an Oscar nomination in 1965 . Clips feature Burnett , John Cleese , Charles Durning , John Hurt , Dabney Coleman , Ted Koppel interviewing Kermit on " " , and other performers with the Muppets . Toward the conclusion of the program , while they are finally ready for the Jim Henson tribute production number which includes a Dixieland band , a tap dancing whoopee cushion ( and his wife , Joy Buzzer ) , Vikings and marching accountants , Fozzie finds a stack of letters addressed to Kermit from Henson ' s fans . While reading one of the letters , the Muppets are shocked and upset to learn that Henson has died . The sentiments expressed in the letters help the Muppets to realize the importance of Henson and his work . A discouraged Fozzie decides to cancel the production number , saying that " when you know how much people loved him , " they can ' t do a proper tribute to Jim . Robin encourages him saying that maybe Jim is still " inside us , believing in us , " and sings " Just One Person " to prove it . The others gradually join in ( as well as various Fraggles and " Sesame Street " Muppets ) for the finale . Afterwards , Kermit ( now performed by Steve Whitmire ) finally appears to congratulate them on a job well done , saying that he knew the others could do the tribute for Jim . He then asks if they have " something silly " to end it with , and Fozzie shouts exuberantly for them to cue the production number . As the Muppets dance around , Kermit thanks the viewers for being with them for their very special tribute and they ' ll be seeing them soon for more Muppet stuff because " That ' s the way the boss would want it . " Finale . Background performers in the final number include Duncan Kenworthy and Craig Shemin operating Statler and Waldorf respectively . Also in the back row with them were Cheryl Henson and Bill Prady . Characters : Awards . The script received a Writer ' s Guild of America award in 1992 . The awards ceremony also included its own tribute to Jim Henson . David Gumpel and Girish Bhargava won an Emmy Award in 1991 for " Outstanding Editing for a Miniseries or Special ( Multi - Camera Production ) . "