Premiere | September 14, 1985 |
Finale | September 28, 1985 |
Network | CBS |
Seasons | 1 |
Episodes | 3 aired, 18 made |
Jim Henson's Little Muppet Monsters was a 1985 Saturday morning TV show which aired only three episodes on CBS, with as many as 15 episodes going unaired.[1] The first season of Muppet Babies did very well in the ratings, so CBS decided to expand the series from half an hour to an hour-long block, pairing Muppet Babies with Little Muppet Monsters to make an hour-long package (with its own intro) called Muppets, Babies and Monsters.
The show was anchored by three young Muppet monsters, Tug, Boo, and Molly, living with Muppet rats, penguins and other characters. Muppet Show characters such as Scooter, Kermit, Janice, and Floyd appeared in cameos. The Electric Mayhem were featured in both intros watching the show on television, as they excitedly bounced about on a living room sofa. Miss Piggy also appears in the intro.
Muppet segments included "Fozzie's Comedy Corner," with Fozzie discussing issues related to old jokes, illustrated through animation of a baby chicken, and Gonzo presenting a cavalcade of weirdness, using silent film footage. Each episode also featured an original Muppet song.
Recurring animated segments included "Pigs in Space," "Kermit the Frog, Private Eye" (as introduced by the puppet Kermit, with Fozzie and Miss Piggy), "Muppet Sports Shorts" starring Animal, and Muppet Labs with Bunsen and Beaker. Gonzo would also have appeared in animated segments.
The show was split at about 50% animation and 50% puppetry, with appearances by Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo and others being shot in London, and the rest in New York. The puppet segments from three unaired episodes were leaked to the internet in 2015.
Storyboard director Scott Shaw discussed the show in MuppetZine issue #3 (Winter 1993):
A major factor that contributed to the show's cancellation was the fact that Marvel Productions had trouble delivering the animation on time. Marvel "blew it," as series writer and puppeteer Kathryn Mullen remembered in 2013, and there were no completed shows to fill the extra half hour: "So they [CBS] put another Muppet Babies on, two episodes back-to-back, the viewership shot up, and they said, 'Forget Little Muppet Monsters.'" As for the unaired episodes, "We never finished them. The puppet wrap-arounds were done, but they never put the animation in."[2]
Even after Little Muppet Monsters was cancelled, an instrumental version of its opening theme was used in the Muppet Babies end credits from 1985 onward.
Episodes
- "In the Beginning" - 9/14/1985
- "Space Cowboys" - 9/21/1985
- "The Great Boodini" - 9/28/1985
- "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
Puppet Cast
- Richard Hunt as Tug Monster, Scooter, and Janice
- David Rudman as Boo Monster
- Camille Bonora as Molly Monster
- With
- Pam Arciero (penguin), James J. Kroupa (Nicky Napoleon), Cheryl Blaylock (cow and alien), Martin P. Robinson (rat, Walrus, and cow), Michael Earl Davis (penguin), Noel MacNeal (rat, cow, Magic Book)
- And
- Jim Henson as Kermit the Frog and Dr. Teeth
- Kathryn Mullen as Rat
- Frank Oz as Fozzie Bear, Animal and Miss Piggy
- Jerry Nelson as Floyd Pepper
- Dave Goelz as Gonzo
Voice Cast
- Frank Welker as Kermit, Chicken Crossing the Road, and others
- Hal Rayle as Miss Piggy, Gonzo, and Animal
- Greg Berg as Fozzie Bear and Dr. Julius Strangepork
- Bob Bergen as Link Hogthrob and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew
- Richard Hunt as "Muppet Sports Shorts" Narrator and Beaker
Crew
- Producers: Bob Richardson, Hank Saroyan
- Creative Producer and Conceptual Designer: Michael K. Frith
- Executive Producers: Margaret Loesch, Lee Gunther, Diana Birkenfield
- Associate Producers: Adam Bleibtrau, John Gibbs, Ritamarie Peruggi
- Writers: David Babcock, Sarah Durkee, Chris Grabenstein, Bradley Kesden, Steve Morgenstern, Kathryn Mullen, Julia Murray
- Animation Writing Consultants: Chuck Lorre, Barry O'Brien, Jack Mendelsohn, Bob Smith
- Story Editors: Rick Merwin, Hank Saroyan
- Performance Director: Richard Hunt
- Director: Terry Maskell
- Creative Consultant: Andrew Wilk
- Voice Director: Hank Saroyan
- Supervising animation directors: Terrence Lennon, Ray Lee
- Production Design: Victor Di Napoli
- Muppets by: Edward G. Christie, Larry Jameson, Joanne Green, Will Morrison, Jan Rosenthal, Rollin Krewson, Robert Flanagan
- Set Dressing: Richard Termine, Karl Soderstrom
- Score Composer/Conductor: Robert J. Walsh
- Songs: Michael Carney, Michael Carroll, Joe Carroll, Christopher Cerf, Sarah Durkee, Kevin Joy
- Music Coordinators: Don McGinnis, Joe Carroll
- Music Consultant: Christopher Cerf
Merchandise
Henson archivist Karen Falk spoke about the series' licensing campaign:
According to the Henson newsletter, Toy Fair 1986 would have seen the launch of plush by Hasbro, board games and puzzles by Milton Bradley, puzzles by Playskool, costumes by Ben Cooper, stickers by Diamond Toy, balloons by Balloon Concepts, boys and girls sportwear by Allison Mfg., greeting cards by Hallmark, belts by Lee Belts, pajamas by PCA Apparel, and party supplies and gift wrap by Beach Producers. The show was not on the air long enough for this to occur. A Playskool puzzle drawn by Guy Gilchrist was produced in very limited quantities.[3]
Unaired Episodes
- Puppet segments from the unaired episodes "Foo-Foo Phooey," "Gunko" and "Gonzo's Talent Hunt" were leaked to the internet in 2015. These are incomplete but run 31 minutes in total. Songs are "Pooch on the Loose," "Gunko" and "Together." Some Fozzie and Kermit segments are missing. While a scene between Tug and Kermit is missing on the tape, it's known that Tug and Kermit did film together during the series. (Although in the first episode, Tug visits Kermit without interacting onscreen.)
- The episode "Foo-Foo Phooey" featured a "Frog Scouts" segment. This may have been animated, as the cartoon model sheet for Gonzo shows him wearing a scoutmaster uniform (and crash helmet).
- In CBS' 1985 Saturday morning preview special (All-Star Rock 'N' Wrestling Saturday Spectacular), Pee Wee Herman and Rowdy Roddy Piper introduced a scene with Piggy, Kermit and Gonzo from an unaired episode. Other clips shown were from slightly different edits of scenes. A different take of the penguins, and a different take of Gonzo saying "see what I mean?"
- In a newspaper article, the unaired song "Gunko" is credited to "James Carroll." (Possibly Joe Carroll?)[4]
- Steve Morgenstern wrote the episodes "Gunko," "Foo-Foo Phooey" and "Gonzo's Talent Hunt," while Sarah Durkee wrote the episode "Feels Like Rain." This included the song "It's Not Gonna Rain" by Durkee and Chris Cerf.
Notes
- 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 series aired as the hourlong "Muppets, Babies and Monsters," with one set of credits. Each hour began with a different, short clip from the upcoming Muppet Babies or Muppet Monsters episode before the "Muppets, Babies and Monsters" titles. Episode 1 showed a clip of Tug Monster welcoming us to the show. Episode 2 showed Baby Kermit as "Indiana Frog." Episode 3 showed The Big Bad Wolf interrupting Snow White (Skeeter).
- The opening and closing titles to episode 3 ("Muppets, Babies and Monsters" and "Little Muppet Monsters") are slightly different from the opening and closing titles to episode 1, incorporating some different clips. Episode 2's opening titles match episode 1 (closing titles unknown).
- Tug Monster appears briefly in the introduction to The Muppets at Walt Disney World, mauling Michael Eisner. All three monsters were reused multiple times in Mopatop's Shop.
- The penguin band are known as "Nicky Napoleon and his Emperor Penguins."
- Posters for Pigs in Space, The Great Muppet Caper, The Muppet Movie and other Muppet productions appear on the set walls.
- Gonzo's segment in the first episode "In the Beginning" features clips from the 1923 Snub Pollard silent comedy film "It's a Gift."
- Footage from "Kermit the Frog: Private Eye" in the MB&M opening sequence is photographed differently than in the final show.
- The final episode of Muppet Babies, aired in 1990, reused some animation from "Little Muppet Monsters" episode 2. Due to that, you can hear Jim Henson voice Kermit for a single line. Henson passed away earlier that year.
- An early concept for the show was titled "Muppet Monster Television", which was to have featured adult monsters and have Floyd Pepper and Janice serve as guest hosts.[5]