The Muppet Show

The Muppet Show is a comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975, respectively. While neither episode was moved forward as a series and other networks in the United States rejected Henson’s proposals, British producer Lew Grade expressed interest in the project and agreed to co-produce The Muppet Show for ATV. Five seasons, totalling 120 episodes, were broadcast on ATV and other ITV franchises in the UK and in first-run syndication in the US from 1976 to 1981. The programme was filmed at Elstree Studios, England.

The Muppet Show is presented as a variety show, featuring recurring sketches and musical numbers interspersed with plotlines taking place behind the show. Within its context, Kermit the Frog acts as showrunner and host of the show, who tries to maintain control of the overwhelming antics of the other Muppet characters, as well as appease the rotating slate of guest stars. The Muppet Show is also known for its uniquely designed characters, burlesque nature, physical slapstick, sometimes absurdist humor, and parodies. As The Muppet Show became popular, many celebrities were eager to perform with the Muppets on television and in film.

The cast of performers over the course of the series consisted of Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Fran Brill, Eren Ozker, Louise Gold, Kathryn Mullen, Karen Prell, Brian Muehl, Bob Payne, and John Lovelady. Many of the performers also worked on Sesame Street, whose characters made sporadic appearances on The Muppet Show. Jerry Juhl and Jack Burns were two of the head writers. The music was performed by Jack Parnell and his orchestra.

Since its debut in 1969, Sesame Street had given Jim Henson's Muppet characters exposure; however, Henson began to perceive that he was becoming typecast as a children's entertainer. Subsequently, he began conceiving a programme for a more adult demographic. Two television specials, The Muppets Valentine Show (1974) and The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence (1975), were produced for ABC and are considered pilots for The Muppet Show. Neither of the two specials was ordered to series. However, the prime-time access rule was recently enacted, shifting the 7:30 to 8 pm ET slot from the networks to their affiliates. CBS became interested in Henson's series proposals and express intent to broadcast it weekly on its owned and operated stations. According to the original pitch reel, the programme was originally to have the involvement of George Schlatter.

Lew Grade, proprietor of the British commercial station ATV, was familiar with puppet television programmes, having underwrote the various works of Gerry Anderson; Grade offered a deal to Henson that would result in the latter’s programme being produced at the ATV studios in Elstree, England. ATV, as part of the ITV network, would broadcast the programme to other ITV stations in the United Kingdom, and its distribution arm, ITC Entertainment, would handle international broadcasts. Henson set aside his misgivings about syndication and accepted.

Cast

Image	Character	USA	Mex	Mex(2)	Jap	Bra	Bra(2)	Mex(1993)	Arg	Mex(Disney+)	Ger	Ger(2)	Fra	Ita	Spa	Spa(1999)	Ita(2007)
	Kermit the Frog	Jim Henson	José María Iglesias		Yasuo Yamada	Nelson Batista	Orlando Viggiani	Raúl Aldana	Hernán Chiozza	LuisLeonardo Suárez	Horst Gentzen		Roger Carel	Willy Moser	José MartínezBlanco	Juan Antonio Arroyo	Mino Caprio
	Miss Piggy	Frank Oz	Gloria Rocha			Isaura Gomes	Nair Silva	Héctor Lee	María Mendiry	Mario Filio	Marianne Wischmann		Micheline Dax	Isa Di Marzio	Selica Torcal	Javier GarcíaSáenz	Roberto DelGiudice
		RichardHunt												RobertoDelGiudice
	Fozzie the Bear	Frank Oz	Álvaro Tarcicio			Muíbo Cury	MárioJorge Montini	Moisés Palacios	Dany de Álzaga	Arturo Mercado Jr.	Bruno W. Pantel		Francis Lax	Gino Pagnani		José Padilla	Massimo Giuliani
	Gonzo	Dave Goelz	SantiagoGil	Alfonso Obregón	Kazuo Kumakura	Márcio Simões	JoséCarlos Guerra	Ernesto Lezama	Ariel Abadi	Edgar de Marte	Werner Abrolat		Gérard Hernandez	Franco Latini	Javier Dotú	Iván Muelas	Angelo Nicotra
			Héctor Lee			HamiltonRicardo
	Scooter	Richard Hunt	Jaime Vega		Shinsuke Chikaichi	Orlando Viggiani	Francisco José	Raúl Aldana	Diego Brizzi	Gerardo Becker	Christina Hoeltel	Eberhard Storeck	Francis Lax	Franco Latini	José Carabias	Iván Muelas	Fabrizio Manfredi
	Rowlf the Dog	Jim Henson	Juan Domingo Méndez		Ichirô Nagai	José Soares		Arturo Mercado	Fabio Salvador	Mario Arvizu	Michael Rüth		Gérard Hernandez	Giancarlo Padoan		Miguel Ángel Montero
	Animal	Frank Oz	Jorge Arvizu	Héctor Lee		Gastão Malta		Héctor Lee		Héctor Lee	Harald Baerow		Gérard Hernandez			Juan FernándezMejías
	Dr. Teeth	Jim Henson				Muíbo Cury		Francisco Colmenero		Humberto Vélez	PaulFriedrichs	Manfred Lichtenfeld	Francis Lax
											Heini Göbel
	Floyd Pepper	Jerry Nelson	Héctor Lee			José Soares	Nelson Machado	Herman López		Dan Frausto	Paul Lasner		GérardHernandez	Franco Latini
													Pierre Tisserand
	Janice	Eren Özker	Gloria Rocha			Isaura Gomes		Arturo Mercado	Karin Zavala	Arturo Mercado	Helen von Münchhofen		Michelin Dax
		RichardHunt
	Zoot	Dave Goelz			Banjō Ginga	Osmiro Campos	Marcelo Pissardini			César Filio	Harald Baerow		Gérard Hernandez	Franco Latini
	Dr.Bunsen Honeydew	Dave Goelz	Carlos David Ortigosa			Raymundo Duprat		Herman López		Daniel Abundis			Roger Carel	Elio Pandolfi			Francesco Vairano
	Beaker	Richard Hunt									Eberhard Storeck			Franco Latini
	Robin the Frog	Jerry Nelson						Arturo Mercado			Eberhard Storeck		Pierre Tisserand	Franco Latini		Iván Muelas
	Sam the Eagle	Frank Oz	Jorge Arvizu	Álvaro Tarcicio	Goro Naya	Guilherme Briggs	Garcia Neto	Luis Puente	Ricardo Alanís	Sebastián Llapur	Wolf Ackva		Francis Lax	Vittorio Di Prima		Fernando Hernández	Michele Kalamera
			EduardoAlcaraz
	Statler	Richard Hunt	Juan Domingo Méndez			Carlos Campanile	Marcelo Pissardini	Francisco Colmenero	Alberto Satur	Francisco Colmenero	Manfred Lichtenfeld		Pierre Tornade	Mario Milita	Benajmín Domingo	Eduardo Moreno	Giancarlo Padoan
														Elio Pandolfi
	Waldorf	Jim Henson	Héctor Lee			Mário Vilela		Arturo Mercado	Alejandro Outeyral	Arturo Mercado	Walter Reichelt		Gérard Hernandez	Franco Latini	JoséLuis Baltanás	Julio Sanchidrián	Valerio Ruggeri
														Mario Milita
	The SwedishChef	Jim Henson	Carlos David Ortigosa		Junpei Takiguchi			Francisco Colmenero		Francisco Colmenero	Eberhard Storeck		Roger Carel	Franco Latini