Here Come the Puppets!

Here Come the Puppets! is a special taped for PBS during the 1980 World Puppetry Festival, airing on January 4, 1981, hosted by Jim Henson and Kermit the Frog. 
The special begins with Fozzie and Kermit talking about being puppets. The camera cuts to Kermit (in his reporter outfit), who announces the show outside the White House. He introduces "our special guest stars Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop, Kukla and Oliver J. Dragon, and the strange and motley group that call ourselves the Muppets." Outside the festival hall, Kermit then introduces someone who has been very close to him, Jim Henson, who talks about the history of puppetry and provides voice-over commentary for most of the performances.
The other Muppet selections include:
* "Java"
* A sketch with Kermit and Miss Piggy, who speaks condescendingly of puppets playing with "little dolls"
* Oscar the Grouch sings "I Love Trash" as Bruno rollerskates
At the end of the special, Oscar and Bruno are joined by Sweetums, The Bossmen, some Muppet Birds, Doglion Beast, Mean Mama, Fletcher Bird, Betsy Bird and many other assorted large Muppets as Sweetums brings out Jim Henson, Frank Oz, and Caroll Spinney.
Other puppetry performances included Bil Baird, Sergei Obraztsov, Poppa Manteo's Sicilian Marionettes (from NYC), Albrecht Roser, Bruce Schwartz, "Ring of the Nibbelung" staged by Frank Ballard (then Puppet Arts head at the University of Connecticut), Hungary's Állami Bábszínház (with Pál Elekes and Hugó Gruber), and a Punch and Judy show. Henson introduces an audio excerpt of Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy (shown on display at the Smithsonian Institution), while other historic puppets include Kermit's "old friend" Guignol (late 19th century France) and puppets from a 1931 opera of Oedipus Rex.
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==Credits==
*Producer: Jerry Hughes
*Writer: Stephen Dick
*Directors: Bob Walsh, David E. Gerber, Carol Moore-Ede
*For Henson Associates, Inc.: Nancy Bielen
==Notes==
*Footage from Kermit and Fozzie's opening sketch appeared in the documentary The World of Jim Henson.
*Several of the featured puppeteers received full episode showcases on Jim Henson's series The World of Puppetry, which had a similar format with Henson hosting, interviewing the puppeteers, and supplying voice-over.
*TV promos for the festival featured Statler and Waldorf.
==External links==
*Puppeteers of America - Once in a Lifetime – The 1980 World Puppetry Festival by Nancy Staub
==See also==
* Here Come the Muppets
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Category:Muppet Specials
Category:Puppetry