The Greatest TV Show of All Time

A Tribute to Jim Hensen and The Muppets

People today talk about being in the “Golden Age of Television,” and how when they tick off their favorite shows of all time almost all of them began in the last 15 years. Recency bias aside, there have been a lot of truly great shows in that time frame, mostly dark and relating to anti-heros or counterculture themes.

Well, pull up a chair kiddos. In the way, way back, and the long long ago, there was this cheery, funny, charming, comedy variety show (do people today even understand what a variety show even is?) starring a bunch of cartoonish furball puppets with personality, wit, cleverness that appealed to everyone. It poked fun at current culture, had iconic celebrity guests, made hundreds of self-referential jokes at itself and could make adults laugh as often as it could their four year olds. Yes, I’m talking about The Muppets and The Muppet Show.

It’s time to play the music

It’s time to light the lights

It’s time to meet the Muppets

On the Muppet Show Tonight

The muppets were the brainchild of creative genius Jim Hensen and first debuted in 1955 on a short form syndicated series “Sam and Friends.” Following some appearances on talk shows, they began making regular appearances on the PBS children’s show “Sesame Street” in 1969. When ABC executives realized that The Muppets’ appeal transcended sex, race and culture, they worked on a television show that could be syndicated worldwide featuring the loveable characters. In 1976, “The Muppet Show” first aired in primetime and over the course of its five year run would receive four Emmy Awards and over 21 nominations.

It’s time to put on makeup

It’s time to dress up right

It’s time to raise the curtain

On the Muppet Show Tonight.

The structure of the show was very simple. It was a variety showcase featuring a weekly guest host. However, the show would feature the Muppets in various skits and get backstage for humorous bits about how the show was barely held together and routinely facing production hurdles. The muppet characters are a who’s who of tropes and caricatures of people working on a variety show:

• The star of the show, Kermit the Frog, is the loveable host working diligently and against the wind at pulling off the production of the show as he deals with one issue after another.

• The female lead is the porkine Miss Piggy, a diva of the nth degree, and star of many of the skits, at odds with every other character around her and always chasing the affections of Kermit.

• Kermit’s best friend is Fozzy Bear, a vaudevillian huckster who dishes out cheesy one line jokes that would make your dad groan. He occassionally does some stand-up skits until he literally gets hooked off the stage.

• Helping Kermit with the production is Scooter, an ambitous, optimistic stage hand who’s go-getter attitude usually gets way ahead of where the show is.

• Gonzo the Great is a stuntman in the vein of Evel Knieval demonstrating what happens when everything goes wrong, with an affinity for chickens.

• The house band, “Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem” is a collection of misfits modeled after regular musicians. There’s the eponymous Teeth, a Grateful Dead fever dream come to life. The drummer, Animal, John Bonham in red. Zoot, a beatnik saxophonist. Rolf, a dog on the keys. Bandmates Janice and Floyd Pepper on the guitars who fill out the band.

Then there are the usual humorous skits.

• Muppet Labs, a regular feature hosted by Professor Honeydew and lab assistant Beaker demonstrating breakthroughs in science that always seem to go wrong.

• Muppet News, a “Breaking News” segment featuring a straight arrow news reporter usually describing something ridiculous.

• Editorials by Sam the Eagle, a nationalistic Republican-esque bird who would be a devotee of Nixon, always being upstaged by the hippie Muppets all around him.

• Veteranarian’s Hospital, a soapy General Hospital knock-off featuring pigs as doctors hamming it up on the screen.

• Pigs in Space, a Star Trek rip-off featuring Miss Piggy and a real ham of a William Shatner wannabe.

• And we occassionally see Waldorf and Statler, two cynical old hecklers from the balcony croning on about what a terrible show they are watching.

Why do we always come here?

I guess we’ll never know

It’s like a kind of torture

To have to watch the show. [cue drum solo]

But what truly made the Muppet Show magical was watching these famous guest stars, some at the height of their fame, interacting with the Muppets and making fun of their entire personas. It’s where many growing up in the ‘70s and early ‘80s first became acquainted with the likes of John Cleese, Elton John, Roger Moore, George Burns, Gene Kelly, Alice Cooper, Debbie Harry, Christopher Reeve, Harry Belafonte, Mark Hamill, Vincent Price, Dizzy Gillespie, Don Knots and others, not as their famous onscreen characters, but as the wonderful entertainers they all were.

It’s time to get get things started

On the most sensational

Inspirational,

Celebrational,

Muppetational,

THIS. IS. WHAT. WE. CALL. THE. MUPPET SHOWWW!!!!!!!!

For a brief period there, they made everyone, regardless of their background, culture, or travails of the day believe that a frog could talk, a bear could make us laugh, and whatever Gonzo was could fall in love with a chicken. It was a charming, beautiful show that in today’s era of cynicism and negativity just doesn’t seem to fit.

But that doesn’t mean we don’t remember it, or cherish the thought that there was once a time and a show like The Muppet Show.

PurpleAmerica’s Cultural Corner

People don’t remember nowadays how many great pieces there were on the Muppet Show. Here are but a few.

Who could forget Alice Cooper singing “Welcome to My Nightmare” on a Halloween episode that was one of the best episodes of the show ever.

Or Doug Henning performing Harry Houdini’s famed trick, Metamorphisis?

Or Gene Kelly singing “Singing in the Rain.”¹

Roger Moore singing “If I Could Talk to the Animals” as he evades detection and bombs as 007.

Elton John doing the “Crocodile Rock” in a swamp.

Harry Belafonte singing Day-O.

But for my money the single best performance on the Muppet Show was done by Debbie Harry, at the very aboslute APEX of her fame as the lead singer of Blondie, singing “The Rainbow Connection” with Kermit. (She also did a great version of “Call Me” on the show).

PurpleAmerica’s Obscure Fact of the Day

There’ve been some relatively ho-hum reboots of it a few years back. Not nearly as memorable or popular. Still, it had it’s moments. Like for instance, Dave Grohl getting into a drum battle with Animal.

or Prince’s appearance where he does Delirious and Let’s Go Crazy briefly.

PurpleAmerica’s Final Word on the Subject

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Footnotes and Fun Stuff

1. Originally, Kelly agreed to do the Muppet Show so long as he was not obligated to sing it. When he saw what Jim Hensen and the Muppet Show had in mind, he relented and charmingly gave one of the best performances of it ever.