Created by Jim Henson
Show ran from 1976 to 1981
Troupe of puppets
Appealed to children and adults
Muppet Theater- on stage sketches
and songs, backstage antics
Kermit the Frog- producer/host of
Muppet Theater
Had task of keeping guests and
Muppets happy
Fending off Miss Piggy’s advances
Fozzie Bear- lovable, inept comic,
Kermit’s second banana
Miss Piggy- glamorous starlet,
Kermit’s would-be love interest
Gonzo the Great- buzzard like
creature with obsession with
chickens
Rowlf- piano playing dog
Statler and Waldorf- two hecklers
The Electric Mayhem- ultra cool
house band
Scooter- Kermit’s gofer- his uncle
owned the theater
Jim Henson formed a partnership
with Frank Oz
Created pairs of Miss Piggy and
Kermit, Ernie and Bert (on Sesame
Street), Kermit and Fozzie Bear
Swedish Chef- Henson’s voice, Oz’s
hands
Original Kermit was made out of a
green coat discarded by Jim
Henson’s mother, and old ping
pong balls for eyes
Muppets were made from foam
rubber and soft materials so they
would seem more realistic
Henson pioneered use of the
camera frame as a sort of stage
“muppeteers” were out of sight by
simply holding the muppets above
their heads and filming the
suspended muppets from the
“waist” up
Human guests would stand on
platforms or muppeteers would
work from pits similar to those
used by orchestras to ensure the
illusion was not broken
Henson investigated all relevant
new technologies to keep this
illusion going
Remote control, partially
motorized muppets and some
degree of CGI animation is now
used to allow muppets to do things
impossible for normal puppets
Henson had also worked on
Sesame Street- starting in 1969
Currently one of the longest
running programs in television
history
The Muppet Show- filmed in
England (American television
rejected his ideas)
Appealed to parents and children
watching
Kermit interviewed massive stars-
Diana Ross, Christopher Reeve,
Johnny Cash, Elton John, John
Cleese, Alice Cooper, Roger Moore,
John Cleese, Harry Belafonte, Dizzy
Gillespie, Lynn Redgrave, Julie
Andrews, George Burns, Steve
Martin, both Candice and Edgar
Bergen, Sylvester Stallone,
Liberace, etc
Jim Henson- gave message of
tolerance, love and friendship
Kermit even has a Hollywood star