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, to the strains of "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World," and proceeds to sing "Baby Face," backed by the pigs.
• 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 cameos include: Steve Allen, Loni Anderson, Burt Bacharach, Anne Bancroft, Candice Bergen, Mel Brooks, LeVar Burton, Gary Busey, Red Buttons, Ruth Buzzi, James Coburn, Dom DeLuise, Phyllis Diller, Charles Durning, Peter Falk, John Forsythe, Don Knotts, Cheryl Ladd, Liberace, Robert Mandan, Jayne Meadows, Ethel Merman, Donny Most, Richard Mulligan, Donna Pescow, Vincent Price, Carl Reiner, Christopher Reeve, Gary Sandy, Robert Stack, Jean Stapleton, Maureen Stapleton, 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

• Guest Stars: Dick Van Dyke, Rita Moreno
• Special Guest Star: Johnny Mathis
• Special Guest Appearances: Paul Williams, Kenny Ascher
• Executive Producer: Martin Starger
• Producer:' Jim Henson
• Co-producer: 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
• Music Arranged and Conducted by: Peter Matz
• Choreographer: Anita Mann
• Muppet Characters: Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Animal, Dr. Teeth, Floyd Pepper, Janice, Zoot, Rowlf, Scooter, Statler and Waldorf, The Swedish Chef, Sam the Eagle, Sweetums, Timmy Monster, Doglion, Mean Mama, The Mutations, Link Hogthrob, Beauregard, Fletcher Bird, Gawky Bird, Bossman, Pigs

Video releases

• Films Incorporated released a copy on VHS for educational outlets in 1988.