Chip

PERFORMER	Gord Robertson 1989
	Dave Goelz 2015-present
DEBUT	1989
DESIGN	John Stephenson, Michael Frith designers
	Tim Miller builder

Chip the IT guy for Up Late with Miss Piggy.

Chip among fellow obscure Muppets in The Muppets pitch.

Chip's eyes have a unique blinking mechanism

Gorilla Television

Chip is a nerdy technician who appeared in 1989's The Jim Henson Hour and 2015's The Muppets.

Chip originally worked for Gorilla Television, the pirate broadcasting operation seen in the MuppeTelevision segments of The Jim Henson Hour and was performed by Gord Robertson. The Gorilla crew despised popular television entertainment, including that of the Muppets, so they tried to seize control of the show and broadcast their own material instead. Chip's Gorilla Television cohorts were Zondra and Ubu.

Chip has an egg-shaped head, a protruding set of upper teeth and large eyes with shutter-style blinking pupils. He wears red-framed spectacles and a plaid jacket. In his early appearances he often wore an "ALF for President" button on the lapel, referencing NBC's other prime-time puppet show of the time.

In addition to The Jim Henson Hour, Chip made silent background appearances in Muppets Tonight, Muppets from Space, It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, and The Muppets' Wizard of Oz.

After a ten year absence from the Muppets (in which he earned a degree in Synergistic Informational Technology & Modern Dance), Chip appeared in a network pitch for ABC (now played by Dave Goelz). He appears alongside fellow "obscure Muppets" asking if they will be included (and struggling to remember what Muppet production he's from).

The pilot sold The Muppets as a series where Chip works in IT for Up Late with Miss Piggy. In the series, Chip struggles with social boundaries, having read a number of e-mail exchanges between Gonzo and his online match Debbie, for example ("Bear Left Then Bear Write"). "Going, Going, Gonzo" establishes that his life-long dream is to spread joy by tap-dancing across the world. In "Single All the Way", he describes his experience with synesthesia to Sam, explaining that he discovered he could sometimes see numbers as colors since he was yellow and a half years old. In "A Tail of Two Piggies", it's revealed that he was born with a tail. Having been removed, he keeps it on his necklace so he can be reincarnated.

Chip reappeared in The Muppets Take the Bowl, once again in a parade of obscure Muppets. Scooter, recognizing him from the former ABC series, gave him a shout-out. He also appeared in The Muppets Take the O2, where he gave a two-minute warning to the audience before the intermission was over.

Chip appeared during the opening of The Disney Family Singalong: Volume II, singing "The Muppet Show Theme" with the other Muppets. He also appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden singing "With a Little Help from My Friends" with James Corden, his band and the other Muppets.

Chip appears in the episodes "Sleep Mode" and "The I.T. Factor" on Muppets Now, but his face can be glimpsed before, starting with the premiere episode, as an app icon on Scooter's shared computer screen.

Filmography

• The Jim Henson Hour
  • Episode 105: First Show
  • Episode 112: Food
• Muppets Tonight
  • Episode 102: Garth Brooks (nonspeaking role)
  • Episode 105: Cindy Crawford (nonspeaking role)
  • Episode 107: Sandra Bullock (nonspeaking role)
  • Episode 108: Jason Alexander (nonspeaking role)
  • Episode 109: Whoopi Goldberg (nonspeaking role)
  • Episode 110: Martin Short (nonspeaking role)
  • Episode 201: The Artist Formerly Known as Prince (nonspeaking role)
  • Episode 203: Heather Locklear (nonspeaking role)
  • Episode 204: Pierce Brosnan (nonspeaking role)
• Muppets From Space (nonspeaking role)
• It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (nonspeaking role)
• The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (nonspeaking role)
• The Muppets
  • Presentation Pilot
  • Episode 101: Pig Girls Don't Cry (nonspeaking role)
  • Episode 102: Hostile Makeover (nonspeaking role)
  • Episode 103: Bear Left Then Bear Write
  • Episode 104: Pig Out
  • Episode 105: Walk the Swine
  • Episode 106: The Ex-Factor
  • Episode 107: Pig's in a Blackout
  • Episode 108: Too Hot to Handler
  • Episode 109: Going, Going, Gonzo
  • Episode 110: Single All the Way
  • Episode 111: Swine Song (nonspeaking role)
  • Episode 112: A Tail of Two Piggies
  • Episode 113: Got Silk? (nonspeaking role)
  • Episode 114: Little Green Lie
  • Episode 116: Because... Love (nonspeaking role)
• We Day 2016
• The Muppets Take the Bowl
• The Muppets Take the O2
• The Disney Family Singalong: Volume II
• The Late Late Show with James Corden - June 26, 2020
• Muppets Now
  • Episode 104: Sleep Mode
  • Episode 105: The I.T. Factor

Notes

• The original sketch for Chip (pictured below) came from Michael Frith. He is a caricature of Muppet writer (and Frith colleague) Bill Prady, a nod to Prady's earlier career as a computer programmer.

• In the audio commentary on the DVD release of Muppets from Space, Gonzo and Rizzo refer to Chip as "Lester Zidwango."

• Before assuming the character for the 2015 series, Dave Goelz had previously performed Chip in a small role in the "Tales from the Vet" sketch in Muppets Tonight episode 201, at one point showing Clarissa "a photograph of [his] kitty" and becoming a frequent victim of Mulch's shoving.

sketch by Michael Frith

Prady, c. 1987

See also

• Chip and Dip
• Chip (Plaza Sésamo)