The Newsman



The Newsman is the weary, bespectacled Muppet News Flash anchor on The Muppet Show, debuting in the second episode. The Newsman always tried to deliver the news with accuracy, but was visibly flummoxed on camera by the day's latest bizarre story or interview. Interviews were a more common part of the News Flash in its first season, where the interviewees were portrayed by the show's guest star. From the second season onward, he suffered from a nasty streak of bad luck that usually culminated in some person or object - somehow related to the day's story - falling on his head.

For example, a plea to return missing library books results in a pile of books falling on the Newsman from seemingly out of nowhere, and a stock market report that beef is falling causes a cow to plummet upon his person. One Muppet Show episode had random objects falling on another Muppet, which causes Kermit to question what is happening, as "things are only supposed to fall on the Newsman!"

One would think the solution would be to give up the news after so many mishaps (but that would obviously end the sketches), but due to either dedication to his craft or a limited sense of self-preservation, the Newsman keeps plugging along.

Apart from his Muppet Show berth, the veteran journalist has presented breaking news bulletins in The Great Muppet Caper, A Muppet Family Christmas, and The Jim Henson Hour (as well as non-news related cameos in The Muppet Movie, The Muppets Take Manhattan and as an audience background character in Muppets Tonight). In The Muppets Take Manhattan, the Newsman is among the guests at Miss Piggy and Kermit's wedding. He tells Sam the Eagle they must wait for the bride and groom to arrive.

More recently, he surfaced in the video games Muppets Inside and Muppet Party Cruise, in The Muppet Show Live at MuppetFest, and on Muppets TV. His most recent appearances include The Muppet Show Comic Book, the Bohemian Rhapsody music video, and new News Flash segments on Muppets.com.

In a picture from the set of The Muppets (2011), he appears in a scene with Scooter, Kathy Griffin, and Billy Crystal.

Additional names

 * In the scripts for season one of The Muppet Show, the character was called Muppet Reporter. It was changed to the Newsman in season two.


 * In The Muppet Show Annual 1977, he is called "The Muppet News Reporter."


 * In some merchandise, such as the Palisades Toys action figure of the Newsman, he is called Muppet Newsman.


 * In Muppet Party Cruise, he is listed as Muppet Newscaster.

Casting History

 * Jim Henson - from The Muppet Show (1976) to The Jim Henson Hour (1989)
 * Jerry Nelson - Muppets Inside CD-ROM (1996)
 * Brian Henson - The Muppet Show Live (2001), Muppet Party Cruise (2003)
 * Steve Whitmire - Muppets.com (2008) to Present

Book appearances

 * The Muppet Show Book (1978)
 * The Comic Muppet Book (1979)
 * Robin Hood (1980)
 * Muppets at Sea (1980)
 * The Muppet Show Comic Book (2009)
 * Muppet Robin Hood (2009)
 * The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson (2009)
 * The Muppet Show Comic Book: Pigs in Space (2009)