The Muppets Go Hollywood

The Muppets Go Hollywood aired on CBS on May 16, 1979.

In this one-hour special, Kermit the Frog throws a glamorous party at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub to celebrate the premiere of the Muppets' first feature film, The Muppet Movie. Hosts Dick van Dyke and Rita Moreno interview the wide array of celebrities and Muppets who attend the event. Gary Owens serves as off-camera announcer, and appears on-screen to introduce Miss Piggy.

Highlights include the following:

• The Muppets and their guests arrive in limousines.
• The Muppet Monsters sing and dance in a production number of "Hooray for Hollywood".
• Rita conducts a poolside interview with Miss Piggy.
• The Peter Matz Orchestra plays "How High the Moon," featuring a solo by Zoot on saxophone.
• Miss Piggy arrives on a chaise carried by four bronzed bodybuilders, and sings "Baby Face".
• Johnny Mathis sings "Never Before, Never Again", with piano accompaniment by Rowlf the Dog.
• Dick serenades Miss Piggy with "You Oughta Be in Pictures".
• Lyricist Paul Williams and composer Kenny Ascher perform "The Rainbow Connection".
• Rita does a Carmen Miranda dance routine, backed by the Mutations.

Celebrity guests include: Steve Allen, Loni Anderson, Burt Bacharach, Anne Bancroft, Candice Bergen, Mel Brooks, LeVar Burton, Red Buttons, Ruth Buzzi, James Coburn, Dom DeLuise, Phyllis Diller, Charles Durning, Peter Falk, John Forsythe, Don Knotts, Cheryl Ladd, Liberace, Ethel Merman, Donny Most, Richard Mulligan, Vincent Price, Carl Reiner, Christopher Reeve, Jean Stapleton, Robert Stack, Charlene Tilton, Raquel Welch.

Trivia

• Steve Whitmire makes a cameo appearance. He can be seen sitting in the foreground during the scene between Sam the Eagle and Dick van Dyke.

• Jim Henson also makes an appearance.

• The Muppets Go Hollywood, translated into the local language, was also used as the title for the dubs of The Muppet Movie in Mexico and Italy.

Credits

Executive Producer: Martin Starger

Producer: Jim Henson

Coproducer: David Lazer

Director: Stan Harris

Writers: Jerry Juhl and Don Hinkley

Creative Consultant: Frank Oz

Muppet Performers: Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Kathryn Mullen

• Muppet Characters

Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo the Great, Animal, Dr. Teeth, Floyd Pepper, Janice, Zoot, Rowlf, Scooter, Statler, Waldorf, Swedish Chef, Sam the Eagle, Sweetums, Timmy Monster, Doglion, Mean Mama, the Mutations, Fletcher Bird, Gawky Bird, Bossman, Pigs