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Scott and Fozzie on The Jim Henson Hour
Willard Scott speaking at the Henson statue dedication, 2003.
Willard Scott caricature puppet.
Willard Scott (b. 1934) is a well-known weatherman on The Today Show.
Scott got his start at WRC-TV, the local NBC affiliate in Washington DC, where he worked with a young Jim Henson. In 1955, Scott hosted Afternoon (later Afternoon with Inga), which featured early appearances by Jim and the Sam and Friends puppets.
In Scott's 1982 autobiography, The Joy of Living, he recalls working with "an innovative bunch of puppets created by a guy named Jim Henson. They were called the Muppets... I worked with a bald-headed Muppet with a big nose, named Sam, sort of the way Fran Allison worked on Kukla, Fran, and Ollie. Then there was the frog named Kermit. I used to do a commercial for a local peanut butter called Schindler's. He'd open his mouth, I'd give him a big spoonful, and he'd go 'ahh'."
Scott also made the first television appearance as Ronald McDonald in 1963, for a local McDonald's franchise in DC.
In 1989, Scott appeared on The Jim Henson Hour episode 103, teaching Fozzie Bear how to report the weather.
The 1991 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade broadcast on NBC was hosted by Scott. When the Kermit balloon appeared, he mentioned that they "go way back, and he'll always be my favorite frog in the whole world".
Scott contributed a "Brown Sugar Pound Cake" recipe for Miss Piggy's 1996 cookbook, In the Kitchen with Miss Piggy.
On September 24, 2003, Scott spoke at the dedication ceremony for the Jim Henson and Kermit statue at the University of Maryland, College Park.
References
- Scott was spoofed as weatherman Millard Hog in Episode 2540 of Sesame Street, which took on the format of a morning show.
- Willard Scott was one of the five personalities from The Today Show who were caricatured for the 2008 The Muppets Take Over Today segment of the program. The Muppet Willard (performed by Tyler Bunch) presented the birthdays of four centenarian Whatnots, live from Washington DC. Later in DC, the real Scott recalled working with Kermit on the Schindler's peanut butter ads.