Little Muppet Monsters



Little Muppet Monsters was a short-lived Saturday morning TV show, which aired only two episodes on CBS in 1985. The first season of Muppet Babies did very well in the ratings, so CBS decided to expand the series from a half-hour to an hour, pairing Muppet Babies with Little Muppet Monsters. They called the hour-long package Muppets, Babies and Monsters.

The show was anchored by three young Muppet monsters: Tug (Richard Hunt), Boo (David Rudman) and Molly (Camille Bonora).

Storyboard director Scott Shaw discussed the show in MuppetZine issue #3 (Winter 1993). "The concept of this second half-hour was neither simple nor particularly well-developed," he said. "A trio of new (live-action) Muppet Monster Kids, working from the basement of the adult Muppets' home, create their own television station which broadcasts only to the TV sets in the house upstairs. Their 'shows' were such regular segments as "Pigs in Space", "Kermit and Fozzie, Private Eyes", "Animal's Exercises" and "Fozzie's Comedy Class", among others.

"Although eighteen episodes were produced, only two of them ever aired; Henson Associates and CBS agreed that the concept had never been properly thought out and just wasn't up to Henson's high standards. To Jim's credit, it was his idea to pull the show from the Saturday morning lineup.

"I've always felt that the juxtapositioning of live-action and animated Muppets invited an unfavorable comparison, to which the cartoon version inevitably suffered; the puppetry was just too good. The combination of Muppet babies, adults and kid monsters was very disorienting. Also, due to a lack of development time, the concept -- and therefore, the writing and designs -- never quite jelled.

"The now-vacant second half-hour was filled with repeats of the first season's Muppet Babies episodes, and the ratings stayed strong."

The two episodes have never been re-run, making this a very rare item for Muppet video collectors.

The three monster kids were also seen briefly in the special The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years, which was broadcast in January, 1986. The special was shot before the decision was made to take Monsters off the air, so the show cheerfully plugged the Muppets' latest production -- even though that production had been cancelled four months earlier.

The characters were designed by Michael Frith. Tug was built by Ed Christie, Molly by Joann Green, and Boo by Jan Rosenthal.

Episode Listing

 * "In the Beginning" - 9/14/1985
 * "Space Cowboys" - 9/21/1985
 * "The Great Boodini" - Unaired
 * "Hi, Mars" - Unaired
 * "Monster Measles" - Unaired
 * "Gonzo's Talent Hunt" - Unaired
 * "Can't Stop the Music" - Unaired
 * "Boo Monster Ace Reporter" - Unaired
 * "Feels Like Rain" - Unaired
 * "Foo-Foo Phooey" - Unaired
 * "Penguin for a Day" - Unaired
 * "Gunko" - Unaired
 * "Mail-Order Guest" - Unaired
 * "Episode 14 (Title Unknown)" - Unaired
 * "Episode 15 (Title Unknown)" - Unaired
 * "Episode 16 (Title Unknown)" - Unaired
 * "Episode 17 (Title Unknown)" - Unaired
 * "Episode 18 (Title Unknown)" - Unaired