A variety show still revered for its absurdist, slapstick humor, it debuted 50 years ago. It starred an irreverent group of characters made of foam and fleece.
Long afterwards”The Muppet Show”‘s original 120-episode run ended in 1981, the legend and legacy of Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo and other creations created by puppeteer and TV producer Jim Henson have continued to grow. Thanks to the Muppets film franchise and the wonders of YouTube, the crazy gang continues to delight and expand its fan base.
Like one scholar of popular cultureI believe the Muppets government… which started in the 1950shas helped shape global culture, including educational television. Along the way, the dolls and the people who bring them to life have earned billions in revenue.
Johnny Carson interviews Muppet creator Jim Henson, Kermit and other Muppets on the “Tonight Show” in 1975, prior to one of an early “The Muppet Show” pilot.
Kermit’s origin story
Muppets, a portmanteau of marionette and marionette, first appeared on TV in the Washington, D.C. area in 1955, when Henson created a short sketch show called “Sam and friends’with his future wife, Jane Nebel.
Their colorful cast of puppets, including one lizard-like character named Kermitsang parody songs and performed comedy skits.
Henson’s creations soon appeared on other TV shows, including “Today” and late-night shows. Rowlf the Dog appeared in Canadian dog food commercials before joining “The Jimmy Dean Show’ as the host’s sidekick.
After that show ended, Rowlf and Dean appeared on the ‘Ed Sullivan Show’, where Kermit had appeared on and off since 1961.
Rowlf the Dog and Jimmy Dean repeat their skit on the ‘Ed Sullivan Show’ in 1967.
From ‘Sesame Street’ to ‘SNL’
While Rowlf and Kermit were making the rounds on variety shows, journalist Joan Ganz Cooney and psychologist Lloyd Morrisett were creating a new educational program. They invited Henson to provide a Muppet ensemble for the show.
Henson waived his performance fee to retain the rights to the characters that represent the most famous residents of ‘Sesame Street.” The likes of Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster, and Big Bird were joined by Kermit, who was identified as a frog by the time the show premiered in 1969.
When “Sesame Street” became a hit, Henson worried that his Muppets would be characterized as children’s entertainment. Another groundbreaking show aimed at young adults gave him a chance to avoid that.
The debut of “Saturday Night Live” on NBC in 1975 – when the show “Saturday evening” – contained a segment called “The country of Gorch”, in which Henson’s grotesque creatures drank, smoked and made crude jokes.
“The Land of Gorch” segments ended after the first season of “Saturday Night Live.”
The first season of “Saturday Night Live” featured “Land of Gorch” sketches featuring creatures that Jim Henson created to entertain adults.
Miss Piggy gets her close-up
“The Muppet Show” was years in the making. ABC eventually aired two TV specials in 1974 and 1975 which were intended as pilots for a US-produced ‘Muppet Show’.
After no American network picked up his idiosyncratic series, Henson teamed up British entertainment entrepreneur Lew Grade to produce a series for ATV, a British network, featuring Kermit and other Muppets. The new ensemble consisted of Fozzie Bear, Animal and Mrs. Piggy – Muppets, originally performed by a frequent Henson collaborator Frank Oz.
“The Muppet Show” parodied variety shows on which Henson had appeared. The connections he made along the way paid off: Many celebrities he met on the sets of those shows guest-starred on “The Muppet Show,” including everyone from Rita Moreno and Lena Horne to Joan Baez and Johnny Cash.
‘The Muppet Show’, which was performed and recorded in a studio near Londondebuted on September 5, 1976, in Great Britainbefore airing in syndication in the United States on stations such as WCBS in New York.
As the show’s opening and closing theme songs changed over time, they maintained a Vaudeville atmosphere despite the house band’s preference for rock and jazz.
The Muppets appeared on the big screen
“The Muppet Show” was a hit, attracting a worldwide audience of more than 200 million people. It won many prizesincluding one Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Variety or Music Series – for which it defeated “Saturday Night Live” in 1978.
While his TV show was on the air, Henson worked on the franchise’s first film, “The Muppet Movie.” The road film, released in 1979, was again a hit: it earned more than US$76 million at the box office.
“The Muppet Movie” received two Academy Award nominations for its music, including Best Song for “Rainbow connection.” It won a Grammy for best album for children.
The next two films, “The great Muppet hairdresser”, which premiered in 1981, and “The Muppets take Manhattan”, released in 1984, also received Oscar nominations for their music.
As “The Muppet Movie” begins, Statler and Waldorf tell a security guard about their tricky plans.
‘Fraggle Rock’ and the Disney deal
The cast of ‘The Muppet Show’ and the three films took a break from Hollywood while Henson focused on ‘Fragile Rock”, a children’s TV show that aired on HBO from 1983-1987.
Like Henson’s other productions, “Fraggle Rock” featured absurdist humor, but the puppets are not considered part of the standard Muppets gang. This co-production between Henson, Canadian Broadcast Corporation and British producers was aimed at the international market.
The rapidly conglomerating media industry led Henson to consider business partnerships to aid in his goal of further expanding the Muppet media universe.
In August 1989, he negotiated a deal with Disney’s Michael Eisner, who announced an agreement in principle at Disney-MGM Studios to acquire The Muppets, with Henson maintaining ownership of the Sesame Street characters.
The announcement also included plans to open Muppet-themed attractions at Disney parks.
But less than a year later, on May 16, 1990, Henson has passed away by a rare and serious bacterial infection. He was 53.
At the end of “Fraggle Rock,” the characters look for new gigs.
Of Muppets and mergers
Henson’s death led to the The collapse of the Disney deal. But the company did license The Muppets to Disney, which ‘The Muppet Christmas Carol” in 1992 and “Muppet Treasure Island” in 1996 with Jim Henson Productions, which was then run by Jim’s son, Brian Henson.
In 2000, the Henson family sold the Muppet properties to a German media company EM.TV & Merchandising AG for $680 million. That company ran into financial problems shortly afterwards and subsequently sold the Sesame Street characters Sesame Workshop for $180 million in late 2000. The Jim Henson Company bought back the remaining Muppet properties in 2003 for $84 million.
In 2004, Disney has finally acquired The Muppets and most of the media library associated with the characters.
Disney continued to produce Muppet content, including “The Muppet’s Wizard of Oz” in 2005. Its biggest success came with the 2011 film “The Muppets,” which sold more than $165 million at the box office and won the Oscar for Best Original Song “Human or Muppet.”
“Most wanted Muppets”, released in 2014, earned an additional $80 million worldwide, bringing total worldwide box office revenues to more than $458 million for eight theatrical Muppets films.
The ‘Muppet Show’ continues
The Muppets continue to expand their offerings fandom across generations and genres by performing at live concerts and appear in several series and films.
Due to these many hits and incidental bombs, and the Jim Henson Company’s workforce is changingthe Muppets have adapted to changes in technology and tastes that have made this possible for them remain relevant Unpleasant new generations.
That cast of characters made of felt and foam continues to entertain fans of all ages. While many people remain nostalgic about “The Muppet Show,” two previous attempts to reboot the show proven short-lived.
But when Disney is “The Muppet Show” anniversary special on February 4, 2026, maybe more people will get hooked if Disney wants to reboot the series
‘The Muppet Show’ returns – for at least one episode – on February 4, 2026.
Jared Bahir BrowseAssistant Professor of Critical Sports Studies, University of Colorado Boulder
This article is republished from The conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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