The Muppet Show



Pilot episodes: The Muppet Valentine Show (1974), The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence (1975)

Plot description
This half-hour variety show focused on the attempts of Kermit the Frog and his friends to put on a weekly musical/comedy revue. Unfortunately for them, things never go quite according to plan, resulting in the wise-cracking commentary on the proceedings by two old crumedgeons named Statler and Waldorf.

While Kermit had been featured extensively in other programs in the past, this show marked the introduction of such now-famous characters as Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, The Great Gonzo, Animal, Sgt. Floyd Pepper, and Bunsen and Beaker, among many others.

Behind the Scenes
While Jim Henson had been pleased with the success of Sesame Street, that show had unfortunately branded the Muppets as strictly a "kids' act." Henson wanted to create (and ultimately did create) a show that was to the '70s what The Simpsons are to today - a show that can provide entertainment across all age groups.

Henson auditioned his characters and his concept for the show many times to the networks, even filming a CBS pitch reel. Finally, ABC allowed two prospective pilots to be filmed: The Muppets Valentine Show and The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence. ABC finally 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 in September of 1976. While a huge 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, George Burns, Madeline Kahn, John Cleese, Steve Martin, Elton John, Edgar Bergen and others appearing, the show became a huge success in America as well.

The show would run in different languages all over the world, eventually leading Time Magazine to dub it "the most popular television entertainment on earth."

The show ran for five years and 120 episodes. The show finally went off the air not due to a lack of popularity, but due to Henson's desire to move on to bigger projects, such as The Dark Crystal, that would require the full energy and resources of the Company.

While the show never returned with new episodes, the Muppets from this program have appeared in numerous TV-specials and movies, and The Muppet Show Live was presented for MuppetFest in 2001.

Reruns
Reruns for The Muppet Show aired in syndication for many years, eventually moving to the TNT cable station in the early '90s. In 1994, reruns began airing on the Nickelodeon cable station instead. Later, the reruns moved to the partly Henson-owned Odyssey Channel.

At some point, the aired number of reruns was cut from 120 to approximately 60 or so of the episodes.

Since Odyssey stopped airing the reruns, The Muppet Show hasn't returned to American TV.

Reruns still sometimes air in other countries, though, often packaged with the MuppetTelevision segments of The Jim Henson Hour (here re-dubbed The Jim Henson Show) and episodes of Muppets Tonight as well.

Video releases
In the '80s and '90s, compilation videos featuring the most memorable sketches and songs from The Muppet Show were released.

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, then on DVD due to the popularity of the sales. (These same episodes were also eventually sold in stores under the Columbia-TriStar Video label.)

In August of 2005, Buena Vista Home Entertainment (a Disney imprint) released the entire run of Season 1 episodes of The Muppet Show on DVD. The episodes were complete, except in a few instances where music rights proved prohibitive, resulting in a few musical numbers being deleted from the show.

Buena Vista plans a release of The Muppet Show Season 2 on DVD in 2006.