Pigs in Space

Pigs in Space is a recurring sketch from The Muppet Show, featuring the exploits of Captain Link Hogthrob, First Mate Piggy, and Dr. Julius Strangepork leading a crew of pigs aboard the Swinetrek. The sketch, in concept, is essentially a parody of Star Trek, Lost in Space and other space operas of the 1960s and 70s.

During its first year, Pigs in Space began with an introduction featuring the crew's commanding roster. Each introduction, narrated by Jerry Nelson as the Announcer, used several different humorous adjectives to describe the characters by name. This was dropped starting with the third season.

The popularity of Pigs in Space won the sketch a spot on the second Muppet Show cast album released in 1978. The script for the skit used in episode 205 was re-recorded in the studio by the performers. That same year, the events of the sketch from episode 209 were translated to the pages of The Muppet Show Book, as illustrated by Tudor Banus.

The height of pop-culture awareness for the crew of the Swinetrek occurred in 1981. As part of NASA's morning wake-up call tradition, by which the crew of the space shuttle are awakened with stirring music, familiar song lyrics, or comedy routines in order to boost morale and encourage camaraderie between the astronauts and their mission control colleagues, the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia, part of the STS-2 mission, were greeted by Pigs in Space on two consecutive mornings. Specially recorded by the Muppet performers for this occasion, two separate comedy routines were heard, one on the morning of November 13, and another on November 14, where it followed a rendition of "Columbia, Gem of the Ocean" by a flight directorate band. Outside of The Muppet Show, animated Pigs in Space segments were featured on Little Muppet Monsters. Later, on Muppets Tonight, the sketch was revived as Pigs in Space: Deep Dish Nine (The Next Generation of Pigs in Space), a parody of the many Star Trek spinoffs, including Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

A few items of dedicated Pigs in Space merchandise have been produced. In 1978, Scandecor's line of Muppet Show posters included a Pigs in Space poster, with Piggy, Hogthrob and Strangepork striking a dramatic pose in front of a field of stars. 1983 was a big year for Pigs in Space merchandise, with the release of a storybook, an Atari 2600 game, and a "Flip Flopper" toy of Piggy inside the Swinetrek. The Muppets Tonight version got its own storybook in 1997, Pigs in Space: Journey to the Planet Za. In 2003, Palisades Toys produced action figures of Link Hogthrob and Dr. Strangepork, plus a Swinetrek Playset with a First Mate Piggy figure. Sideshow Collectibles produced a Link Hogthrob bust in 2004.