The Cosby Show

Template:Talk

Several Muppets from The Jim Henson Hour made a guest appearance on an episode of The Cosby Show entitled "Cliff's Nightmare," which aired on January 11, 1990. The episode Muppet portions of the episode were filmed in April 1989.

Plot Outline

After Cliff eats a sandwich that disagrees with him, he experiences many bizzare things, such as the food in the refrigerator literally talking back to him, Leon trying to con Cliff into buying a "hall pass" at his own hospital, and Digit trying to operate on him!

In addition to the JHH characters, Gonzo, Sweetums and Statler appear in the episode, and several obscure Muppet monsters make cameo appearances here, including Doglion and Luncheon Counter Monster.

The disagreeable sandwich (a sausage & peppers sub) was designed & built by Ed Christie.

Production

Because Jim Henson himself was too busy with The Jim Henson Hour to perform in this episode, Cosby plays a dual role as an old man who makes wisecracks with Statler in the balcony. The absence of Waldorf gave rise to the still commonly-believed rumor that Jim was dead when this episode was filmed.

The episode was originally produced as part of the fifth season (production code episode #0526); the Muppet crew filmed their segments in April 1989 towards the end of season 5. NBC hoped to use the episode as a kind of cross-promotion for The Jim Henson Hour, which was also on NBC at the time. However the episode was held over and did not air until part way through season 6 of the Cosby Show (9-months after the original filming). When the episode aired in January 1990 (and was re-numbered to fit it's airing place as episode #0614). It has been speculated that the episode may not have been totally completed in 1989 (or may have just been reworked to match the show's continuity) after the Muppet segments were filmed. This is due to the fact that the character Olivia appears in a scene (her character did not appear until season 6) and in a scene Clair makes reference to Cliff's dream about the pregnant men (which occurred in a sixth season episode). However since the Muppet characters only interacted with Cliff it is possible that the other scenes were filmed later as the episode was reworked or completed.

After Jim Henson's death in May 1990 (5-months after the episode first aired), the producers decided to dedicate the episode to Jim's memory. The episode was re-aired in August 1990 as a tribute to Jim and a note appears in the syndicated versions.

Notes

During the Muppet portion of Cliff's dream, Gonzo announces that Cliff will be making the first delivery of a Koozbanian ever seen on television, however Kermit the Frog already did a televised news report about a Koozbanian birth on The Muppet Show back in 1976.

Puppeteers

• Fran Brill as Pink Boppity, Patina, and Tomato
• Kevin Clash as the Hypocritic Oaf, Beautiful Day Monster, Luncheon Counter Monster, Leon, and Pineapple
• Dave Goelz as Gonzo and Digit
• Richard Hunt as Statler, Boppity, and Sandwich
• Noel MacNeal as Cheese
• Jim Martin as Doglion and Cauliflower
• David Rudman as Sweetums and Boo Monster
• Steve Whitmire as Scallions

Credits

• Teleplay by John Markus & Carmen Finestra & Gary Kott
• Story by Bill Prady, Jim Lewis
• Starring Bill Cosby (Cliff Huxtable)
• Narrated by Wallace Shawn (Jeffrey Engels)