The Muppet Show - Show News, Reviews, Recaps and Photos - TV.com EDIT After the success of Sesame Street in 1969, Muppet creator Jim Henson wanted to have a chance at his own series. In 1974, Henson shot a Muppet special called The Muppets' Valentine Show, which would later become a precursor for The Muppet Show. The special starred famous muppet, Kermit the Frog, with a cast of new muppets including: George the Janitor, Droop the Anteater, Crazy Donald (later named Crazy Harry), Brewsters the oldtimer, Mildred the goose, and Rufus (later named Muppy). Many of these characters were used during the first season of The Muppet Show, and quickly faded away to background characters. The special featured actress Mia Farrow, who taught the muppets about love, and that everyone loves something. Afterwards in 1975, Henson shot the failed pilot for the Muppet Show: Sex and Violence. Amazingly, Kermit the Frog was not in the pilot at all! Instead, the host was wimpy, Nigel, who Jim Henson wrote out of the show soon afterwards.

After about a year, the muppet team went to the United Kingdom and were given the green light for the Muppet Show. The show became one of the top syndicated comedies of all time! The show featured a new group of Muppet characters including: Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Scooter, Beauregard, Rowlf the Dog, and The Electric Mayhem. Each show featured a celebrity guest star, who were either personal friends of Henson, or his manager. The Muppet Show lasted for 5 years, and 120 episodes, two spin offs, and several movies. Theme Song: It's time to play the music It's time to light the lights It's time to meet the Muppets On the Muppet Show tonight It's time to put on makeup It's time to dress up right It's time to raise the curtain On the Muppet Show tonight Why do we always come here I guess we'll never know It's like a kind of torture To have to watch the show And now lets get things started Why don't you get things started It's time to get things started On the most sensational Inspirational Celebrational Muppetational This is what we call the Muppet Show!

Characters Kermit the Frog Originally from "Sam & Friends" (1955), then later Sesame Street (1969), Kermit is the host of The Muppet Show. Miss Piggy Self-centered, yet very persuasive. Wants to marry Kermit. Fozzie Bear Furry, fuzzy, funny, fabulous, free-willing, fast, and frantic....he's Fozzie Bear. The Great Gonzo A "whatever". Scooter the Go-Fer Kermit's stage assistant. Rizzo the Rat Gonzo's sidekick. A rat with rat-itude. Rowlf the Dog Originally from The Jimmy Dean Show, Rowlf is a piano playing dog, and the first muppet to become a national star. Statler and Waldorf The two old-timers who sat in the balcony. Doctor Bunsen Honeydew The Muppet Show's scientist. Beeker Meep Meep Meep's meep. Beauregard: The Muppet Show's slow-witted janitor. Pops: Greeted the guests at the begining. The Swedish Chef Bork bork bork. The Eletric Mayhem The Muppet Show's band including: Dr.

Teeth (lead vocalist and piano player), Sgt. Floyd Pepper (Bass, and Janice's boyfriend), Janice (guitarist, Floyd's girlfriend), Zoot (sax is his act), Lips (trumpet player), and Animal (HE WANT TO BAT DRUM!) First Telecast: September 27, 1976 Last Telecast: June 8, 1981 Episodes: 120 color episodes Spin-Offs: Muppet Babies and Muppets Tonight! Spin Offs: * Muppet Babies was Jim Henson's first animated series. The show featured familiar Muppet faces, only as babies. New characters included Nanny (the nanny of the nursery), and Skeeter (Scooter's twin sister). * Muppets Tonight! was basically a modern remake of The Muppet Show, featuring celebrity guest stars who at the peak of perfection at the time.

New characters included: Pepe (the king prawn, okay?), Clifford (the cool hippie muppet)and Johnny Fiami and Sal Movies * The Muppet Movie (1979) * The Great Muppet Caper (1981) * The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984) * The Muppet Christmas Carol (1993) * Muppet Treasure Island (1996) * Muppets From Space (1999) * Kermit's Swamp Years (2002) * It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002) * The Muppets' Wonderful Wizard of Oz (2005)moreless The Muppet Show | Muppet Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Season One Cast (plus Jim Henson, between Blue Frackle and George the Janitor). Gonzo as he appeared at the end of the opening theme (seasons 2-5) A Muppet News Flash segment The Muppet Show is a half-hour variety show in which Kermit the Frog and the Muppets put on a weekly musical/comedy revue at the Muppet Theater .

Unfortunately for them, things never quite go according to plan, for the Muppets or their weekly guest stars. While Kermit had been featured extensively in other programs in the past, this show marked the introduction of a large, varied cast, including the hapless comedian Fozzie Bear , the diva superstar Miss Piggy , the lunatic daredevil artiste Gonzo , the wild drummer Animal , the unintelligible Swedish Chef , Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker of Muppet Labs , and many others. Their performances consistently fail to entertain the old curmudgeons Statler and Waldorf , who provide a running commentary of wise-cracks. The action in each episode was balanced between the on-stage acts and the frantic activity backstage (one of the very few exceptions is episode 110 , in which almost all sketches and skits are depicted on stage). The concept was reminiscent of old-time radio shows like The Jack Benny Program , where the star struggled to put on a weekly show amidst personal problems and an often uncooperative cast.

Contents See Muppet Show characters Kermit the Frog serves as the host of The Muppet Show, and was also the director and general overseer of the performances, assisted by Scooter , the gofer who only got his job because his uncle, J. P. Grosse , owned the theater. The show's orchestra was conducted by Nigel , and musical acts ranged from solo musicians such as Rowlf the Dog , to the show's main rock and roll band, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem . Because it was a puppet show, The Muppet Show had the advantage of being able to include an endless array of characters with only a small number of performers. Aside from the aforementioned characters, recurring figures included self-appointed censor Sam the Eagle , who tried to make the show more cultural; Camilla the Chicken , Gonzo's girlfriend; Robin the Frog , Kermit's nephew; and Link Hogthrob , the captain of the Swinetrek in the " Pigs in Space " skits, among others.

Certain characters from the early years of the show, like Hilda and George the Janitor , fell by the wayside, while newer characters were introduced, such as Beauregard the stagehand and the boomerang fish-throwing Lew Zealand . One of the few minor characters who became a major player after the series ended was Rizzo the Rat . In addition, the generic Whatnots and a wide array of animals, vegetables, and minerals filled out the chorus. Most of the Muppets appeared in both backstage scenes and onstage sketches and songs. For example, while Beaker was primarily Bunsen's assistant, he also frequently helped Beauregard with his backstage duties. Although Janice was The Electric Mayhem's guitar player, she also appeared as a nurse in Veterinarian's Hospital . Many characters with backstage jobs also appeared on-stage quite frequently, in group numbers and " At the Dance " sketches. However, some characters were pigeonholed into their own sketches, such as The Newsman of Muppet News Flash and Louis Kazagger of Muppet Sports . The Muppet Show featured a mix of established Muppets and new characters.

Some major characters from previous productions (Kermit, Rowlf) remained prominent, while others (Nigel, Thog ) were relegated to background or supporting status. Some minor characters from previous productions (Gonzo, Miss Piggy) became stars. Sketches and Set Pieces Muppet Labs sketch from episode 504 Pigs in Space meets Veterinarian's Hospital in episode 423 Some of the more popular comedic bits from the show include: At the Dance - A group of Muppets (some regulars, some not) dance to ballroom music while cracking puns and one-liners. Muppet Labs - Dr. Bunsen Honeydew pushed the cutting edge of science with his bizarre inventions, which somehow inevitably caused horrible things to happen to his assistant, Beaker . Muppet News Flash - The Newsman would report breaking news happening in the Muppet Theater or elsewhere in the Muppet universe. Unfortunately for him, he would often find the story invading right into the Muppet newsroom, usually to his own personal pain.

(For example, a report on the stock market indicating that "beef fell dramatically" causes a cow to fall from out of nowhere onto the Newsman's head.) Pigs in Space - An ostensible space opera along the lines of Star Trek , the skits followed a hapless porcine crew attempting to successfully interact with alien life, or sometimes just keep the ship running. They would usually fail at both. Veterinarian's Hospital - Dr. Bob (actually Rowlf) operated on a variety of strange patients while cracking corny jokes with Nurse Piggy and Nurse Janice. Swedish Chef - a cooking show parody where the unnamed chef, who spoke a form of gibberish with the occasional understandable word thrown in, attempts to make a meal, usually with disastrous and messy results. Guest Stars For a complete list of guest stars, see Muppet Show Guest Stars . For a complete list of episodes, see Muppet Show Episodes . In keeping with the TV variety show format, each episode showcased a celebrity guest star or duo, who were the only humans to appear on the show.

As noted in Jim Henson: The Works , "From Jim 's point of view, this would help provide a bridge between the Muppet world and the audience. From ITC 's point of view, it would make the show easier to promote." [1] In the first season, Kermit introduced them at the start of the theme song and in a lyric after a joke by Fozzie. From the second season onward, the guest was invariably introduced in the cold open. During the first season, their involvement was limited primarily to the on-stage performances, showcases for the guest's comedic or musical skills. They also regularly participated in comedic blackouts , talk spots, and panel discussions . As early as the first season, the fighting Rita Moreno and the eerie Vincent Price gave a special tone to the episode they appeared in. As the series wore on, the guests became more and more crucial, becoming involved in the backstage plots (Gonzo falling in love with Madeline Kahn , James Coco helping Kermit to improve the numbers), expressing dissatisfaction with the show ( John Cleese , Jaye P. Morgan ), or as featured performers in elaborate "theme" stories.

One of the more extreme examples came in the final season, with episode 507 , as guest star Glenda Jackson reveals herself to be a ruthless pirate and commandeers the theater. The guest roster included a range of performers, from familiar film and television personalities and stage theater veterans to ballet dancers, country singers, rock stars, experimental pantomime artists , and even a ventriloquist or two . The majority of the guest stars during the first season were either personal friends of the production team (for example, first season head writer Jack Burns ' former comedy partner Avery Schreiber was a guest), or a client of Jim Henson's agent, Bernie Brillstein . By the second season, the show started to attract more celebrities, and eventually celebrities were asking to appear on the show. Whenever a star was booked to appear on the show, they would be asked if there were any characters who they wanted to work with. Most of them wanted to work with either Kermit or Miss Piggy.

[2] Some of the more memorable guest star moments include the following: Rita Moreno's performance of " Fever ", backed by Animal on drums; Rudolf Nureyev dancing with a pig ballerina ; Harry Belafonte singing " Turn the World Around ", accompanied by African Masks ; Alice Cooper singing " School's Out " with the monsters near a haunted castle; John Cleese being forced into a closing number; Gene Kelly giving Kermit a dance lesson; and Raquel Welch performing a song-and-dance number with a giant spider. In addition to showcasing the guests' familiar skills or "shticks," stars occasionally performed against type, such as Nureyev tap dancing to " Top Hat, White Tie and Tails " or screen tough guy James Coburn focusing on zen meditation and calmness. Some episodes played on the guest's established "star texts" as specific characters, such as Christopher Reeve's Superman and Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman . Roger Moore's appearance played ironically off of his James Bond persona, as Moore preferred to do the whimsical " Talk to the Animals " over any spy heroics.

Occasionally, the guest's alter-egos even appeared directly, such as Peter Sellers as Inspector Jacques Clouseau , Gilda Radner as Emily Litella, or Carol Burnett's janitor character. The most elaborate example, however, came in episode 417 , as the stars of Star Wars appeared as themselves, continuing their space opera dramatics, while Luke Skywalker's portrayer Mark Hamill also appeared briefly as himself, introduced as Luke's "cousin." Guest star Rita Moreno won an Emmy Award for her appearance on the show, while Bernadette Peters and Peter Sellers were also nominated for their work. Format The Muppet Show had a number of short segments and musical acts, along with backstage scenes which usually made up the show's plots. While the plots often occurred backstage, with a random variety of sketches thrown in, there were also many themed shows , especially in the last season. Such themes included a horror-themed show (when horror stars Vincent Price or Alice Cooper appeared on the show), an evening of Paul Simon songs (when Paul Simon guest starred), a salute to vaudeville (when Wally Boag guest starred), and even an all-puppet show (when Señor Wences was the guest).

Most episodes featuring country music evoked a Western or rural theme. Beginning in the third season, four episodes departed from the norm and utilized a "book" format, as the cast presented a long-form play ( Robin Hood , a murder mystery , Alice in Wonderland , and 1001 Arabian Nights ). Due to shorter commercial breaks in the United Kingdom, an extra two-minute sketch was also included in the UK broadcasts, normally shown after the middle commercial break and never featuring the guest stars. Regular elements during the first season included "At the Dance" and the Talk Spots. These two sketches were featured less often in subsequent seasons. Another common recurring sketch in the first season were Fozzie Bear's monologues , which were later replaced by more elaborate acts ( ventriloquism , for example), or dropped entirely. In one of Brian Henson's introductions to The Muppet Show filmed for the Odyssey Network , he talks about the show's laugh track.

“ The audience for some reason always thought that the show was shot live which always astounded me because if you watch The Muppet Show, every shot is a special effect, there's a little trick going on everywhere and it took a lot of time and a lot of effort to pull that together. Of course the real audience for The Muppet Show as you see in the show is a bunch of Muppet monsters and various creatures. ” The question of an audience also came up during an interview with Jim Henson : “ The way the show was taped, we would block and tape, which means that each piece of material would take anywhere from half an hour to several hours to tape, so it's a long, slow process. You can't really work in front of an audience that way. I mean, when we had Raquel Welch in the studio, we had a good 150 guys from neighboring studios, but it wasn't an official audience. ” He then addressed the use of a laugh-track: “ Because of the form we had decided to choose to do the show, that we were doing what amounts to a little vaudeville show in front of an audience on a little stage with a backstage.

So having chosen that as a premise, we decided to sweeten the shows and, as I look at some of the early shows, I'm really embarrassed by them. The sweetening got better later on, but it's always a difficult thing to do well, and to create the reality of the audience laughing. I did one special dry - without any laugh track - looked at it, and then tried it adding a laugh track to it, and it's unfortunate, but it makes the show funnier. ” The laugh-track was even addressed within the show, such as in the episode guest starring Ruth Buzzi . During the show's Talk Spot , Kermit cracks a joke and mentions that it is "up to the laugh track" whether it's funny or not. At the end of episode 320 , Kermit comments "You've been a wonderful laugh track!" In the At the Dance segment of episode 507 , a pirate shouts ship directions to a crew: "Keelhaul the writers! Hoist the laugh track!" Series Evolution The performers and their characters. The Muppet Show crew. In the recording studio.

Lew Grade (left) with Jim Henson (middle) and crew at the final recording at ATV Studios, Elstree. Jack Burns was the head writer during the first season and most of the humor during that season was gag-based. Many recurring sketches, including At the Dance, Veterinarian's Hospital, The Talking Houses, Blackouts, and Fozzie's Monologues, focused heavily on jokes. After the first season, the talking houses and blackouts were dropped, while At the Dance and Fozzie's monologues were both featured less often, or tied to a specific gimmick or theme. Many of the backstage plots during the first season also revolved around running gags, such as episode 115 , with Fozzie subjecting Kermit to an endless stream of puns. After the first season, Jack Burns stepped down and Jerry Juhl took over as head writer. When Jerry Juhl became the head writer, the show became more character-based. Later episodes focused more on the backstage plots than the on-stage sketches. Some examples include episode 502 , where Kermit fired Miss Piggy, and episode 515 , where Gonzo turned the show into a dance marathon.

The "book" format episodes often collapsed stage antics and backstage plot. Other changes include the opening theme song . The lyrics have stayed the same but what happens during the beginning has changed at least three times. Behind the Scenes While Jim Henson had been pleased with the success of Sesame Street , that show had branded the Muppets as a "kids' act." Henson was interested in creating a show that would provide entertainment across all age groups. Henson auditioned his characters and his concept for the show many times to the major television networks, even filming a pitch reel for CBS. By 1973, ABC had ordered two prospective pilots for a potential series: The Muppets Valentine Show and The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence . ABC ultimately passed on producing a half-hour show. Initially, Henson and company resisted producing the program in syndication, as they feared that the show would be underfunded. However, a British syndicator named Lord Lew Grade brought a proposal to the Henson Company, with an assurance that the show would have the money for the production values it needed. The show first hit the air waves in September, 1976.

While it became a hit internationally almost immediately, the show struggled in the ratings its first year in America. In the second year of the show, with the format and the characters finding their groove, and such big-name stars as Bob Hope , Madeline Kahn , John Cleese , Steve Martin , Elton John and others appearing, the show became a success in America as well. [2] The show was subsequently dubbed in several languages and broadcast all over the world, which eventually led Time magazine to declare The Muppet Show "the most popular television entertainment on earth." The show ran for five years and 120 episodes. It finally went off the air not due to a lack of popularity, but as a result of Henson's desire to move on to bigger projects, such as The Dark Crystal , that would require the full energy and resources of his company . Production wrapped on the The Muppet Show on Friday, August, 22, 1980. While the show never returned with new episodes, the Muppets from the program have appeared in numerous TV specials and movies, and The Muppet Show Live was presented for MuppetFest in 2001.

Popularity The popularity of the series led to many Muppet specials, movies, albums, and merchandise, both during and after the show's run. The show was popular not only in North America and the United Kingdom, but all over the world, so there have been many Muppet products that were not available for sale in the U.S. and/or U.K. During the show's run there were a number of toys produced, including hand puppets and plush toys released by Fisher Price . There were many Muppet Show albums featuring songs from the show, and a number of compilation albums featuring material from the first albums have been released since the show ended. During the show's run (as well as the first few years after production ended), a collection of Muppet Show annuals were released once a year in the UK. The Muppet Show also had its own fan club , which included four newsletters per year. There were also a few games as well as a book that illustrated and transcribed material from the show. The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper were the first attempts to adapt the characters to cinema, released during the show's original run, and other movies and specials followed.

In 2002 , The Muppet Show celebrated its 25th anniversary, with action figures , collectible busts , a 25th anniversary album , a set of trading cards, and more. More recently, The Muppet Show format was adapted into a series of comic books from BOOM! Studios . In the UK, The Muppet Show made Channel 4's list of the 100 greatest kids' all-time shows, ranking at number 2. [3] Airdates United Kingdom The first country to air the series was England as produced by ATV for the ITV networks. At the time, there was no complete networking of the independent networks, and as such the different regional channels did not all air the show on the same day or time. Not all regions aired every episode -- for example, LWT (London Weekend Television, the franchise that covered the Greater London and Home Counties areas during the weekends) only aired 23 of the 24 episodes recorded as part of the first series.

The first region to air the show was the ATV/Midlands region on Sunday September 5, 1976, beginning with the Joel Grey episode (NB: For the purposes of this article, the Midlands region airdates will be referred to throughout, unless otherwise specified). 16 episodes aired consecutively between September and December 1976, before the show took a one week break over Christmas, resuming in the new year for another five weeks. Over the next two months (February to March), however, a series of re-runs (as well as a compilation edition) were aired; the final three episodes, featuring guest stars Ethel Merman , Connie Stevens and Vincent Price eventually screened in April 1977. The second season debuted on Friday September 30, 1977, beginning with the George Burns episode. Although 24 episodes were recorded as part of the second recording block, 30 episodes ended up being screened between September 1977 and April 1978. This consisted of the 24 episodes from the second recording block plus six episodes from the third recording block.

It would appear that this was the case in other regions, as LWT also aired 30 episodes. Most episode guides, however, do not include the last six episodes (featuring guest stars Roy Clark , Leo Sayer , Gilda Radner , Pearl Bailey , Jean Stapleton and Loretta Lynn ) as part of Season Two but instead as part of Season Three. The third season debuted on Friday November 17, 1978, beginning with the Raquel Welch episode, and consisted of the remaining 18 episodes recorded as part of the third recording block, concluding on Friday March 9, 1979, with the Lynn Redgrave episode. The season only ran for 17 weeks as the Danny Kaye episode was broadcast on Christmas Day 1978, three days after the broadcast of the Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge episode. In August 1979, Union members of the Independent Networks went on strike over a pay rise dispute and for 10 straight weeks there was a complete blackout in all the regions. The dispute was resolved in late October 1979 but unfortunately no television listings for the regional networks were printed until the following week.

This has caused some confusion with regards to the airdates for the fourth season, and most guides only list 23 episodes having aired as opposed to the 24 recorded. Programming on ATV resumed on Monday October 29, 1979; the fourth series of the Muppet Show began that night as the first programming after the news, starting with the Dudley Moore episode (the only one that is not mentioned in some guides). The series only ran for 23 weeks as the remaining episodes aired in their usual Friday night slot, beginning with the Crystal Gayle episode on November 2, 1979 and concluding with the Diana Ross episode on April 4, 1980. The fifth season debuted on Sunday October 5, 1980, beginning with the Roger Moore episode and concluding on Sunday March 15, 1981, with the Shirley Bassey episode. Reruns Reruns of The Muppet Show aired in syndication for many years, eventually moving to the TNT cable station from 1988 to 1992. From 1994 to 1995, reruns began airing on the Nickelodeon cable station instead.

In 1999, the reruns moved to the partly Henson-owned Odyssey Channel . When Odyssey became Hallmark Channel , the Henson shows were taken off the schedule. Reruns still sometimes air in countries outside of the United States, though, often packaged with the MuppetTelevision segments of The Jim Henson Hour (retitled The Jim Henson Show), and episodes of Muppets Tonight . Disney Channel UK picked up the original series from 2005 until 2007. The BBC shown 45 of the 120 edited (without UK skits) episodes from 8th February 1986 to 7th October 1987 . [4] Trivia Videotapes of The Muppet Show were sent to scientists manning the McMurdo Station in Antarctica. [5] In a 1979 episode of Sesame Street, Telly Monster names TV programs that start with the letter M . Listed among them is The Muppet Show. In 2005, the show ranked 2nd place in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Kid's TV Shows vote.

Video releases In the '80s and '90s, compilation videos featuring the most memorable sketches and songs from The Muppet Show were released by Playhouse Video . These compilations featured many sketches, including UK Spots , with new wraparounds of the Muppet characters. During the late '80s a video label in Argentina called Ledafilms released at least 3 volumes with full length Spanish dubbed episodes of The Muppet Show entitled En El Show De Los Muppets (Literally: In The Show Of The Muppets) and Muppet Show Special. These are the earliest known commercially-available release of episodes outside of the Playhouse compilations, it wasn't until in 1994, Jim Henson Video released two episodes on video Monster Laughs with Vincent Price . This was the first release although not complete original English Language episodes. In 2000, Time-Life began offering several of the most famous and popular episodes of The Muppet Show in their complete form on video (allowing American viewers to see an extra two minutes of footage that previously had only been available to UK audiences). The episodes were initially released on VHS, and then re-released on DVD.

These were also sold in stores under the Columbia Tristar Video label. In August 2005, Buena Vista Home Entertainment (a Disney imprint) released a DVD set of The Muppet Show: Season One . The 24 first season episodes were complete, except in a few instances where music rights proved prohibitive, resulting in a few musical numbers being deleted from the show. A second set, The Muppet Show: Season Two , followed in 2007, featuring uncut episodes. A third set, The Muppet Show: Season Three , was released in 2008. In episode 85 of the MuppetCast , The Muppets Studio general manager Lylle Breier confirmed that Disney is currently getting legal clearances for music on the remaining seasons. Other issues for the hold-up include the fact that backing tracks were wiped, according to Martin G. Baker [6] . There is no official release date for the next season. Sweet! I came really close to doing a season 5 episode this week, but the MMW promotion machine and other real life things have kept me bu...

2014-02-12T22:47:39Z Just a reminder that anyone can write the guide from the episodes on YouTube and I can get clean screenshots later. I keep meaning to conti... 2014-06-12T17:16:14Z The Muppet Show (TV Series 1976–1981) - IMDb IMDb 17 January 2017 4:34 PM, UTC NEWS There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error Kermit the Frog and his friends struggle to put on a weekly variety show. Creator: There's no show today, almost; the theater is turned into a dance marathon hosted by Gonzo. 8.8 Danny Kaye finds his gig on the show rather discouraging considering Statler and Waldorf are sitting outside rather than see the guest star. 8.6 In honor of guest star Vincent Price, the show is filled with monsters, ghosts, vampires and spooky sketches.

Meanwhile, a three-headed monster tries to audition for Kermit. 8.6 Florence Henderson, 'The Brady Bunch' Actress, Dead at 82 25 November 2016 6:10 AM, -08:00 | Rollingstone.com a list of 31 titles created 02 Jan 2013 a list of 48 titles created 24 Sep 2014 a list of 22 titles created 07 Jan 2016 a list of 22 titles created 11 months ago a list of 42 titles created 2 months ago Title: The Muppet Show (1976–1981) 8.5/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Won 4 Primetime Emmys. Another 8 wins & 25 nominations. See more awards » Videos Sesame Street (TV Series 1969) Animation | Comedy | Family On a special inner city street, the inhabitants, both human and puppet, teach preschool subjects with comedy, cartoons, games and songs.

Stars: Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Caroll Spinney Kermit the Frog , Clifford and friends struggle to put on a weekly TV variety show. Stars: Dave Goelz, Kevin Clash, Jerry Nelson Kermit and his new found friends trek across America to find success in Hollywood, but a frog-legs merchant is after Kermit. Director: James Frawley A curious young hand puppet named Oobi encourages logical thinking. Along with his little sister Uma, best friend Kako and grandfather Grampu, Oobi discovers the outside world in a new way each day. Stars: Tim Lagasse, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Noel MacNeal The adventures of the various inhabitants of an underground civilization. Stars: Karen Prell, Gerard Parkes, Kathryn Mullen Kermit and his friends go to New York to get their musical on Broadway only to find it's a more difficult task than they anticipated. Director: Frank Oz Kermit, Gonzo and Fozzie are reporters who travel to Britain to interview a rich victim of jewel thieves and help her along with her secretary, Miss Piggy. Director: Jim Henson Gonzo is contacted by his alien family through his breakfast cereal.

He is kidnapped and it's up to Kermit and the gang to rescue Gonzo and help reunite him with his long-lost family. Director: Tim Hill A Muppet fanatic with some help from his two human compatriots must regroup the Muppet gang to stop an avaricious oil mogul from taking down one of their precious life-longing treasures. Director: James Bobin The Muppets' twist on the classic tale. Director: Brian Henson While on a grand world tour, The Muppets find themselves wrapped into an European jewel-heist caper headed by a Kermit the Frog look-alike and his dastardly sidekick. Director: James Bobin The Muppets Valentine show was the first of the two specials for The Muppet Show. Valentine on ABC in 1974. Director: Jim Henson Edit Storyline Kermit the Frog is the manager of a cabaret-style theatre house, which invariably has more drama behind the stage than on it. He has to contend with wannabe-comedian bears, the smothering advances of Miss Piggy , crabby regular theatre patrons, homicidal chefs, livestock, not to mention making the weekly guest star feel welcome.

Written by Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au> 29 January 1976 (USA) See more » Also Known As: Die Muppet Show See more » Filming Locations: Did You Know? Trivia In February 2003, Disney purchased The Jim Henson Workshop. The deal includes characters such as Fozzie Bear and Dave Goelz , as well as the Bear in the Big Blue House (1997) franchise. Sesame Street characters such as Big Bird and Elmo are not included in the acquisition, as they are owned separately by the Sesame Workshop. See more » Quotes Statler : What have you got for an opening act this time? A Chinese gorilla dancing ballet? Kermit : Cancel the opening number. Chinese Gorilla: Dong day do dai dai do... Steve Whitmire and Dave Goelz 's gags in the end credits vary. See more » Connections This show is not only BRILLIANT, it's GENIUS! 24 February 2004 | by Cini34 (Mainframe) – See all my reviews The Muppet Show is, by far, one of the best constructed variety shows out there.

Plus, it has all our favorite Muppet characters, and seriously, who can go wrong with the Muppets? This show is a perfect blend of song and dance, Muppet and guest star interaction, and just plain fun for the whole family. The humor in the show offers the perfect mix of adult jokes and gags that fly right over the heads of children, and laughs that both child and adult can enjoy. Jim Henson truly created a masterpiece with this show, not to mention his popular films and other spin-off shows. The Muppet Show also offers a wonderful glimpse of many of the stars of yesteryear (the mid- to late-1970s), many of whom still survive today. This show definitely needs to be picked up by one of the networks for syndication because, although it seems somewhat dated at times (not much, though, really) it's genuine entertainment value could boost any network's ratings. Deservedly so, I've given The Muppet Show a rating of 10 stars out of 10! 10 of 12 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes Muppets Facts: 19 Things You (Probably) Don't Know About Jim Henson's Creations | Moviefone Muppets Facts: 19 Things You (Probably) Don't Know About Jim Henson's Creations by Jonny Black It's been decades since visionary Jim Henson first created the Muppets, yet today his lovable creations are as popular as ever. But for as much time as the Muppets have spent in the spotlight, there's still a lot you don't know about Henson's clever creations. From the first national Muppet "star" to the materials that created the Kermit prototype, here are 19 things you probably don't know about The Muppets. 1. Jim Henson created The Muppets in 1955, making them nearly 60 years old! 2. Henson coined the term "Muppet," but it is not a combination of the words "marionette" and "puppet" -- a belief that was once supported by Henson himself . Rather, it has been reported that Henson just liked the sound of the word. 3.

A key factor for the Muppets success is that Henson's realization that TV would allow him to put the puppets front and center, while still hiding the puppeteers. With the camera focused on the muppets, the camera operators could easily keep the puppeteers out of the frame. 4. Kermit was originally a lizard-like creature, and made several television appearances in that guise. Kermit became Kermit the Frog shortly before " Sesame Street " began. 5. Kermit the Frog is the most famous Muppet creation, and Henson performed Kermit until his death in May 1990. Since Henson's passing, Steve Whitmore has played Kermit. 6. The Muppets first appeared on the live-action/puppet television show "Sam and Friends," which aired on a local Washington D.C. channel from 1955 to 1961. Not surprisingly, the show was created by Henson and his eventual wife, Jane. 7. The Muppets rose to fame after appearing on "Sesame Street" in 1969, coinciding with the educational show's debut that Henson helped design. 8.

The Muppets are usually created from various types of foam and then covered with fur, fleece, or other felt-like material to give them their colorful appearance. 9. Puppeteers take up to a year to slowly develop their Muppet's personality traits and voice, and will often even be "test-driven" by other puppeteers to find the perfect human-Muppet match. 10. Henson died the weekend he was reportedly going to sell The Muppets and his entire company to Disney for approximately $150 million. 11. It wasn't until 2004 that Disney eventually purchased the rights to The Muppets. 12. In 2006, Kermit the Frog was credited as the author of the self-help guide "Before You Leap: A Frog's Eye View of Life's Greatest Lessons" -- an "autobiography" written from the perspective of the Muppet himself. 13. The first Kermit was made from Henson's mother's old coat, and two halves of a ping-pong ball were used for his eyes. 14.

Disney extensively re-branded the Muppet franchise beginning in 2008 in anticipation of "The Muppets," a reboot from Jason Segel that was met with critical and commercial success. 15. Rowlf the Dog, one of the original Muppets, was actually the first Muppet to appear regularly on network television. Rowlf was featured as Jimmy Dean 's sidekick on "The Jimmy Dean Show" in the 1960s. 16. Upon Henson's death, Rowlf the Dog went into (partial) retirement as a tribute to his creator. As a memorial, Rowlf can be seen in " Muppet Treasure Island " (1996) and " Muppets from Space " (1999), and purposefully has no speaking parts. It was only in 2011's "The Muppets" that Rowlf spoke again. 17. Muppets creator Jim Henson was originally offered the role of Yoda for " Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back ," but he declined and suggested fellow puppeteer and actor Frank Oz. 18.

Henson reportedly based his early Muppet designs on drawings in "Pogo," a comic strip by Walt Kelly. 19. A Muppet named Harry the Hipster appeared opposite Kermit in "Sam and Friends." Word is still out on whether or not he was the first hipster. Editor's Note: Oops. Although the origin of word "muppet" has been debated over the years, multiple reliable sources state that it is not a combination of the words "marionette" and "puppet." We've changed the information in Fact No. 2 to reflect that. Did Miss Piggy appear on Sesame Street? | Muppet Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Did Miss Piggy appear on Sesame Street? 31,246pages on Big Bird makes a guest appearance on The Muppet Show Despite misconceptions and rumors to the contrary, Miss Piggy has never appeared on Sesame Street . While Kermit the Frog is well-known for his many appearances on Sesame Street, Miss Piggy (and her Muppet Show co-stars Fozzie Bear , Gonzo , Bunsen & Beaker , Animal , and others) have not appeared on the long-running PBS children's television series.

Although Miss Piggy never appeared on Sesame Street, she has shared the screen with some of the Sesame Street Muppets - including in episode 318 of The Muppet Show , A Muppet Family Christmas , I Love Liberty , Night of 100 Stars , Free to Be... a Family , The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson , and other Henson productions . Sesame Street paid tribute to Miss Piggy with a framed photo of the character displayed on the wall in a sketch about dental hygiene and in an old west sketch. In a Sesame Street News Flash featuring Old MacDonald , Kermit is caught speaking to a pig before he knows that he's on the air saying "Hey, you know you remind me of somebody. I just can't figure out who..." ( YouTube ) Kermit the Frog is the only Muppet Show character to make any substantial appearance on Sesame Street. Rowlf the Dog made a brief cameo appearance in Jim Henson's " Nine Song " and several unnamed monsters and other characters from early Muppet productions, including Beautiful Day Monster , appeared during the first season of Sesame Street.

Sesame Street dental hygiene sketch Sesame Street old west sketch A Short Look At The Muppet's Long History - Neatorama Neatorama • 2 I don’t know about you guys, but I have loved The Muppets since I was in diapers and I can’t wait to see the new Muppet movie that's coming out today. But as long as we’re celebrating The Muppets’ return to the big screen, we may as well celebrate their original rise to the small screen. So for all the fans out there, here’s a little history and general trivia info on the greatest puppet team ever created. Inspiring the Classics We’ve talked about Jim Henson’s show Sam and Friends , where Kermit originated, before, but that wasn’t Jim Henson’s first experience working with puppets. It actually started all the way back in 1954 when Henson was still attending high school. He was quite ambitious because before he graduated, he already was creating puppets for a Saturday morning kid’s show called The Junior Morning Show featured on WTOP-TV. Interestingly, Jim didn’t really intend to work on puppets for a career.

He actually originally went to the University of Maryland, College Park, to become a commercial artist. But when he was only a freshman, he was asked to create a five-minute long puppet show for WRC-TV named Sam and Friends. The show ended up playing a huge role in the inspiration for The Muppets and featured a prototype version of Kermit the Frog. Image Via zhurnaly [Flickr] ( Video Link ) Well, Sam was a puppet that looked like a human and his friends were a variety of other human puppets, a few weird monstery creatures, a snake and a lizard that eventually morphed into the world’s most famous frog. The show started out just featuring the puppets lip-synching to popular songs, but as the show started gaining popularity, they started writing real sketches, many of which involved featured spoofs of popular TV shows. One of the best-known sketches involved Kermit nibbling on something that looked like a worm, but eventually turned into the tongue or nose of the character Big V, a giant monster, who would eventually eat him. Near the end of the show’s run, Esskay Meats started showing ads at the end of the show, which would feature characters from Sam and Friends.

While the show was best known for introducing Kermit to the world, it also played a huge role in letting Henson perfect his puppetry techniques that would eventually change the way puppets were shown on television forever. One of his biggest innovations was setting up the camera shots so the people operating the puppets would not be seen on screen. He also made the puppets more flexible than puppets previously seen on television so they could express a wider array of emotions on screen. Making It Big ( Video Link ) Humorously, after leaving school and the financially successful show, Henson still doubted that he would be able to make a career out of puppetry. Fortunately, like many recent graduates, he took a trip to Europe, where he could think about his future. While there, he spoke with a number of professional puppeteers who believed their work was a true art form. This sealed his interest in the field and ensured the success of the Muppets in the future. Throughout the next decade, Jim focused all of his efforts on puppeteering. He appeared as a guest on a number of talk shows, including The Ed Sullivan Show, and created a number of commercials, a few of which led to the body styles and voices of future Muppet characters.

He also made a number of short, experimental films, one of which was even nominated for an Oscar (that's it above). In 1963, Jim and his new wife moved to New York City, where they formed Muppets, Inc. When his wife quit working on the puppets so she could raise their children, Henson hired Jerry Juhl and Frank Oz, who both played crucial roles in the development of The Muppets. Henson’s first big break occurred in 1966, when he started working on Sesame Street for PBS, which would finally give his Muppets a national audience. While the show was a massive success and Jim loved the idea of an educational show for children that was actually fun to watch, he was determined that the Muppets shouldn’t be pigeonholed as children’s characters. In 1974, he left the show and headed to London to start working on his dream creation The Muppet Show. ( Video Link ) The first episode of The Muppet Show (above) premiered in September 1976.

While kids enjoyed watching characters they recognized from Sesame Street, most of the jokes were written for adults, who enjoyed the slapstick plot lines and big name guest stars. Throughout the series’ six year-long run, over one hundred guest stars appeared on the show and no celebrity ever appeared twice on the show. In the beginning of the series, each star would receive a Muppet modeled after them as a parting gift, but because this practice was costly and time consuming, this policy was changed and characters based on stars were only created if they were intended to be used in the show. Life After The Muppet Show After the show finished its run, the characters went on to star in a number of popular movies featuring the characters interacting with humans in real life settings and an animated series called The Muppet Babies. In 1989, Henson made another TV show, called The Jim Henson Hour, which featured many of his most famous characters, but the show was cancelled after only one season due to low ratings. As it turned out, the show probably would have been cancelled soon after anyway, because Jim passed away in May of 1990.

I know we’ve shown some videos of his memorial here before, but just in case you haven’t seen this touching, beautiful and depressing display, here it is (have some tissues handy): ( Video Link ) Fortunately, Jim’s legacy continued to thrive after his passing and The Muppet Show was revived as Muppets Tonight in 1996, bringing the characters a whole new generation of fans. New movies also continued to be created and the characters made a number of movie and television appearances throughout the years as well. Disney bought the rights to The Muppets in 2004 (although they do not own the rights to Sesame Street characters or Fraggles) and helped push the characters back into the public eye, starting with a number of popular web shows, particularly the award winning series Statler and Waldorf: From the Balcony. The company also opened a new attraction at their California Adventure park titled Muppet*Vision 3D, which features many of the show’s favorite characters attempting to put on a big new show that keeps going terribly wrong.

The characters have only gone up in popularity since then, appearing on a postage stamp and earning their own wing at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta (set to open next year). Fox is also in talks with Disney about making a new Muppets show, and, of course, there is the new movie coming out today as well. Image Via Express Monorail [Flickr] Fun Character Trivia The Muppets wouldn’t be The Muppets if it weren’t for the individual characters, of course. So now that you know all about the history of the show, it’s time to take a look at some of the characters themselves. Kermit the Frog was the first Muppet, originally created in 1955 for Sam and Friends. He was first made from a turquoise woman’s coat that Jim’s mother had tossed in the trash. When he was adapted for Sesame Street, he was given his trademark collar to help hide the seam that attached his neck to his head. Kermit has reached #25 on the Billboard music charts with his hit song “The Rainbow Connection.

Miss Piggy was only supposed to be a minor character on The Muppet show, but her obsession with Kermit and delusional view of herself quickly made her one of the central characters in the show. Animal has appeared in all of the Muppet movies and is undoubtedly the most famous member of the Electric Mayhem, making him the only one from the band to regularly appear on The Muppet Babies, where he was voiced by Howie Mandel. In 1998, he was named the official mascot of the U.S. Ski Team in that year’s Winter Olympics. Fozzie Bear was named for Faz Fazakas, who created the mechanism that allowed him to wiggle his ears. Fozzie’s jokes often include Jewish humor because he was origianally performed by Frank Oz, who is Jewish. Gonzo the Great was originally called a “whatever” or a “weirdo” when it came to his species, but in Muppets from Space, it was revealed that he is actually an alien from a distant planet. Of course, that doesn’t make his love for Camilla the Chicken any less strange.

Rowlf the Dog was originally created for a 1962 Purina commercial, but his career really took off when he started regularly performing on The Jimmy Dean Show. Because Jimmy Dean did so much to help promote The Muppets, Henson even offered him a cut of his profits, but Dean refused, explaining that Jim did all the work and thus, deserved all the credit. In a 1966 IBM film, Rowlf lists his full name as Rowlf Cameron Swayze. Image Via cmpalmer [Flickr] Obviously in the almost sixty years since Jim Henson started creating Muppets, a lot has happened, so I can’t cover it all here. That being said do any of you have any favorite Muppet stories I may have left out here? Also are you guys excited about the new movie?

Question: In which TV series did the Muppets first appear?
Answer: Sesame Street.