The Muppet Show (1976)
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Peter Harris — Director
Episodes 24
Tales of the Tinkerdee
This unaired pilot, produced by Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl, was shot in Atlanta in the summer of 1962. The pilot featured Kermit the Frog, Taminella Grinderfall and King Goshposh, characters who would all reappear a few years later in the Tales From Muppetland TV specials.
Read MoreThe Muppets on Puppets
The Muppets on Puppets aired on NET in 1968, as part of the Adventure in the Arts anthology series. In this one-hour special, Jim Henson -- with the help of Muppet character Rowlf the Dog -- explains the art of puppetry, from building to performance. Henson describes the various kinds of puppets; demonstrates how to operate a hand puppet; and provides a brief history of puppet development and performance throughout the world, beginning with the influence of the character Punch from the Punch and Judy shows of the 1800s. Jerry Juhl and Frank Oz demonstrate how other kinds of puppets work, such as the string puppet or marionette, the Javan rod puppet, the finger puppet, and the Sicilian puppet.
Read MoreHey, Cinderella!
Cinderella lives with her wicked stepmother (as everyone who ever read the fairy tale knows), but what part of the story is never told is how Cinderella's fairy godmother had help from monsters, a prince pretending to be a gardener, and none other than Kermit the Frog.
Read MoreThe Great Santa Claus Switch
The show, narrated by Ed Sullivan, begins at the North Pole with Santa Claus and his elves getting ready for another Christmas. However, Cosmo Scam has hatched a plan to kidnap Santa and take his place. As part of the plan, Cosmo plans to abduct Santa's elves (one at a time) and replace them with his evil henchmen.
Read MoreTales From Muppetland: The Frog Prince
Enchanted by an evil witch, a beautiful princess is forced to speak only in nonsense phrases. One day, she finds a small frog who can understand what she says. The frog claims to really be a prince, also enchanted by an evil witch. Together they must try to break their spells.
Read MoreTales from Muppetland: The Muppet Musicians of Bremen
Four mistreated farm animals seek refuge as a band of traveling musicians in this musical tale narrated by Kermit the Frog.
Read MorePilot: The Muppets Valentine Show
The Muppets Valentine show was the first of two pilots for The Muppet Show. Valentine aired on ABC in 1974. Though the second pilot, The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence would be a closer prototype of the series, Valentine laid the groundwork with some characters, the idea of having a guest star, appealing to both adults and children, and the format of putting on a show with "behind the scenes" mayhem.
Read MorePilot: Sex and Violence
In this half-hour variety special, the Muppets parody the proliferation of sex and violence on television. Nigel, Sam the Eagle, and hippie guitarist Floyd prepare for a Pageant based on the Seven Deadly Sins.
Read MoreRita Moreno
Fozzie Bear becomes embroiled in a running gag involving the backstage phone. Throughout the episode, Rita parodies her combative image. She battles with several Muppets, including Miss Piggy, a Full-Bodied Muppet, and Animal, who's backing her on drums in her closing number, "Fever."
Read MoreSandy Duncan
Fozzie performs Gags Beasley's famous "banana sketch," which everyone has heard of except Kermit. When Kermit asks Sandy and Fozzie to tell him what it is, they laugh too hard to explain it.
Read MoreJim Nabors
A young kid named Scooter applies for a job as a go-fer. When Kermit remarks that he doesn't even look like a gopher, Scooter explains that he'll go-fer coffee, he'll go-fer sandwiches, he'll go-fer anything. Kermit says he doesn't have the money to hire him, until Scooter mentions that his uncle owns the theater.
Read MoreRuth Buzzi
Scooter's uncle sends a mechanical, wind-up TV show host, an exact duplicate of Kermit. The robot harasses Kermit and flirts with Miss Piggy.
Read MorePaul Williams
Scooter talks Fozzie into doing "the telephone pole bit," and Fozzie practices dutifully until he finds out what the bit is: Fozzie dresses up as a public telephone, and Scooter asks what his name is. "Mike Oznowiczki," Fozzie says, and Scooter exclaims, "Oh, so you're the telephone Pole!"
Read MoreFlorence Henderson
The Muppet Theatre is plagued by a variety of pig-related problems, both onstage and off. First, The Bouncing Borsalino Brothers flub their act and crash through the stage floor. Backstage, Miss Piggy throws herself at an uninterested Kermit and then jealously interrupts his onstage Talk Spot, physically threatening guest star Florence Henderson, whom she thinks is horning in on her frog. The feud continues in the Panel Discussion as Florence throws pig slurs around.
Read MorePeter Ustinov
Kermit becomes jealous when Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Hilda and Scooter rave about Peter Ustinov. At the end, Peter admits that he's jealous of Kermit; he's always wanted to be a frog.
Read MoreLena Horne
Kermit cuts Miss Piggy's scheduled song so she won't look foolish following Lena Horne. He tells her that "there are singers and there are singers," making her think that he doesn't want her to show up Lena.
Read MoreHarvey Korman
Embarrassed about being the "token person" on the show, Harvey is dressed up as a giant chicken.
Read MoreCandice Bergen
Fozzie brings a series of deliveries to Kermit, pestering the frog with lousy gags.
Read MoreBen Vereen
Fozzie gets stuck in a magician's trick cabinet. The cabinet is dragged onstage so that he can perform his act -- and at the end of the act, two pig stagehands tip the box over so he can take a bow. Crazy Harry, who makes frequent appearances (and frequent explosions) during the show, blows up the cage before the end of the show so that Fozzie can escape.
Read MoreCharles Aznavour
When he's unable to get a spot on the show, Gonzo asks Scooter to be his manager. Scooter advises Gonzo to do a rock act, banging on a large rock with a mallet. Later, Gonzo tries his hand at female impersonation, wearing a dress and a blonde wig. Scooter gives up managing when Gonzo eats his contract.
Read MorePhyllis Diller
Aging wardrobe woman Hilda puts on a wig and makeup to try to make herself look younger. She is spotlighted in a backstage plot for the first and last time.
Read MoreAvery Schreiber
To make Kermit jealous, Miss Piggy instructs Scooter to tell him that Avery is in love with her. Kermit finds out that it's all a trick, and Piggy karate-chops everybody.
Read MoreTwiggy
Kermit is skeptical when everyone backstage is terrorized by "the Phantom of the Muppet Show." There turns out to be one, though -- Uncle Deadly, a monster-actor who performed in the theater years ago. After being panned by the critics, he vowed never to perform there again, and not to let anyone else perform either. He warns the Muppets, "Leave or be doomed!"
Read MoreValerie Harper
This is one of only a few Muppet Show episodes that open the show after the theme song with some kind of offstage scene. There's also a couple of scenes with the guest star in her dressing room conversing with Muppets instead of onstage in the Talk Spot. In last week's "At The Dance", Boppity danced in drag with another monster. This week Boppity appears as normal but his partner is in drag. In both instances, he ends up headless.
Read MoreMummenschanz
Miss Piggy is repulsed when Gonzo tells her that he loves her. Kermit tries to help by asking Piggy if she would like to go to dinner -- and when she accepts, he fixes her up with Gonzo. Everybody gets karate-chopped.
Read MoreJuliet Prowse
Muppy, the favorite pet of The Muppet Theatre owner J. P. Grosse, becomes a prima donna when Kermit reluctantly allows him to do a musical number with Scooter. Muppy even gets his own dressing room and star billing, but Kermit draws the line when the dog asks to change the show's title to The Muppy Show. When Muppy locks himself in his dressing room and refuses to perform, Scooter does the number with Fozzie instead.
Read MoreKaye Ballard
Tired of the "embarrassingly square" theme song, bass player Floyd Pepper informs Kermit that he and the rest of the orchestra pit (except Rowlf) are quitting. Kermit says their conductor Nigel will write a new theme, but Floyd refuses: "He wrote the first one, man." Floyd performs his idea for a new theme, a dreadful Zappa-esque piece called "Fugue for Frog." Kermit won't use it and refuses that Floyd submits to Kaye Ballard a petition about the theme song, so the band leaves. The closing theme is performed solo by Rowlf on the piano.
Read MoreBruce Forsyth
Fozzie Bear has a plan to get back at Statler and Waldorf when he does his act, but is crushed when he's replaced by Bruce Forsyth. Fozzie throws some nasty jokes and, for the first (and last) time, leaves the two old codgers speechless. Then Fozzie and Bruce end up performing together, and sing "Side by Side." A duck appears frequently in the sketches and skits.
Read MoreEthel Merman
Fozzie's agent, Irving Bizarre, negotiates Fozzie's contract with Kermit. Kermit ends up offering Fozzie ten times as much money; unfortunately, Fozzie made nothing before. "Yeah, and don't forget," Irving says, "I get ten percent of that."
Read MoreConnie Stevens
When Fozzie overhears Hilda, Kermit, and Scooter talking about getting rid of "that bear," he thinks they're talking about him, only to find out later it's actually Gonzo's teddy bear that everyone is badmouthing.
Read MoreVincent Price
In honor of guest star Vincent Price, the show is filled with monsters, ghosts, bats, vampires and spooky situations. A three-headed monster auditions for the show: "We sing!" "No, we dance!" "No, we tell jokes!"
Read MoreEmmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas
A poor otter family risks everything for the chance to win the cash prize of a talent contest for Christmas.
Read MoreOf Muppets and Men
This made-for-TV documentary treats Muppet fans to a behind-the-scenes look at the making of their favorite program, The Muppet Show. Includes interviews with creators Jim Henson, Frank Oz, and the rest of the crew of the series, as both themselves and as their Muppet characters, who share their experiences from working on the set, as well as discuss the special efforts that went into bringing each episode to life.
Read MoreThe Muppets Go To the Movies
The Muppets Go to the Movies aired on ABC on May 20, 1981 to help promote The Great Muppet Caper. The special was taped between March 9 and 17, 1981.
In this one-hour special, Lily Tomlin and Dudley Moore join the Muppets in a tribute to film classics.
Kermit the Frog hosts the program, which begins with an all-cast rendition of "Hey a Movie!" from The Great Muppet Caper.
Read MoreThe Fantastic Miss Piggy Show
The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show is a one-hour television special starring the glamorous Miss Piggy, which aired on ABC on September 17, 1982. Miss Piggy hosts her own variety show, with special guests John Ritter, George Hamilton, and Andy Kaufman (as "Tony Clifton").
Under the direction of Kermit the Frog, the Muppets work in the studio control room and, amidst chaos, manage to keep the show on the air. Throughout the show, a romantic triangle develops among Miss Piggy, Ritter (who is smitten with the pig) and Hamilton (who is deeply uncomfortable with the star's romantic inclinations).
Read MoreThe Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years is a 1986 one-hour special that aired on CBS starring Jim Henson's Muppets.
Read MoreThe Tale of the Bunny Picnic
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A Muppet Family Christmas
When Fozzie and the Muppet Show gang drop in unexpectedly on Fozzie's mother, she is forced to cancel her winter vacation plans and entertain them all. Soon the Sesame Street gang comes by as carolers, and then Kermit and his nephew Robin discover a Fraggle Rock hole in the basement. A snow storm blows in, stranding everyone at the house, except for Miss Piggy, who arrives just in time for all the Muppets to celebrate Christmas together.
Read MoreThe Muppets at Walt Disney World
Filmed right after the merger between Disney and Jim Henson productions, the Muppet's are featured heading to the greatest place on earth, Walt Disney World. Kermit and Robin take the gang to the swamp for a vacation in Califorina. It is the annual Bug Fry and it's a journey to the roots again for Kermit and Robin. However, the rest of the cast is less than excited about being in a stinking bog. When it is mentioned that they can see the fireworks from Disney, everyone is excited and wants to go to the park instead of being at the bug fry. Kermit says the'll take a short peak and be right back. As the Muppets accidentally break into the park, security tries to round them all up as they visit all of the parks. Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Disney/MGM. Finally, after being round back up, they get a chance to meet the one and only Mickey Mouse and show a huge musical number at the end.
Read MoreThe Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson
Jim Henson's classic Muppets put on a tribute to their creator, but also ponder the question: Who was he? To help them figure that out are some of Jim's human friends, as well as some rare clips from the Henson legacy.
Read MoreSeason 1 Promo Gag Reel
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The Original Muppet Pitch Reel
The presentation by Jim Henson that started it all
Read MoreThe Muppets On The Muppets
Kermit, Gonzo, Rizzo, Animal and some special guest pals sit down for these personal, revealing interviews.
Read MoreA Company of Players
An intimate look behind the scenes with the puppeteers.
Read MoreWeezer & The Muppets "Keep Fishin'"
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Studio DC hosted by Dylan Sprouse, Cole Sprouse and Miley Cyrus
With songs, dancing and backstage antics, The Muppets and Disney Channel's biggest stars team up for another fun variety show.
Read More