{"id":7058523,"date":"2026-09-06T23:35:44","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T23:35:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/aerospace\/kermit-the-frog-was-just-trying-to-put-on-a-variety-show-fifty-years-later-the-muppets-are-some-of-the-biggest-stars-in-television-history\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T23:35:44","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T23:35:44","slug":"kermit-the-frog-was-just-trying-to-put-on-a-variety-show-fifty-years-later-the-muppets-are-some-of-the-biggest-stars-in-television-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7058523","title":{"rendered":"Kermit the Frog Was Just Trying to Put on a Variety Show. Fifty Years Later, the Muppets Are Some of the Biggest Stars in Television History"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The first episode of Jim Henson\u2019s \u201cThe Muppet Show\u201d premiered in the United Kingdom on September 5, 1976. Enthusiasm for the eclectic ensemble has endured ever since<\/h2>\n
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\n \"Ellen\n <\/div>\n
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Ellen Wexler<\/a><\/p>\n

| Writer and Special Projects Editor<\/span><\/p>\n

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Kermit the Frog and\u00a0Miss Mousey in “The Muppets Valentine Show”
\n Walt Disney Archives<\/span>
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The curtain opens on a Muppet named Gonzo<\/a>, framed by a ladder and a ghost light. The scruffy blue creature has decided to leave \u201cThe Muppet Show<\/a>\u201d to become a movie star, and this is his farewell act. As he performs a wistful rendition of \u201cMy Way,\u201d<\/a> his voice begins to falter. He\u2019s sad to leave his friends behind\u2014so sad that the host, Kermit the Frog<\/a>, cuts the number short.<\/p>\n

After the segment aired, viewers told Dave Goelz<\/a>, the human who performs Gonzo, that they\u2019d been moved to tears. Their reaction surprised the puppeteer, who had been nervous about making an emotional moment land. \u201cI was really uncomfortable doing it,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was the kind of thing I joined puppetry to avoid.\u201d He knew he could make audiences laugh, but making them cry? That was new.<\/p>\n

Goelz has been bringing Gonzo to life for half a century, and fans frequently tell him that the show\u2019s \u201cresident weird person<\/a>\u201d gave them permission to be different. He had never tried to project that message. But in retrospect, he can see that he\u2019d been seeking a similar sort of permission. \u201cI was trying to prove that I<\/em> was okay,\u201d he says. \u201cI was trying to become a proficient performer\u2014and in life in general, I was trying to feel better about myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Gonzo and Rizzo in\u00a0The Muppet Christmas Carol<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a9 The Muppets Studio<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As he developed new characters, such as Dr. Bunsen Honeydew<\/a>, he would start by identifying a flaw within himself. \u201cI would isolate it and amplify it, and then try to make it lovable,\u201d he says. \u201cBecause it was the Muppets. We had to be lovable.\u201d<\/p>\n

And audiences did love them. The series debuted in September 1976, and less than two years later, the New York Times<\/em><\/a> was calling it \u201cpossibly the most popular contemporary television program in the world.\u201d These days, fans gather each year<\/a> to celebrate show creator Jim Henson<\/a>\u2019s birthday, performers regularly appear<\/a> at fan events, and Muppets memorabilia sells for impressive sums<\/a> at auction. Last year\u2019s commencement speaker<\/a> at the University of Maryland, Henson\u2019s alma mater, was none other than Kermit.<\/p>\n

The Muppet universe is vast, and today\u2019s audiences are familiar with its characters and conventions through decades of film and television. But it all came together on \u201cThe Muppet Show,\u201d which turns 50 this year. Unlike in later adventures, the characters weren\u2019t trying to thwart jewel thieves<\/a> or break out of a Siberian gulag<\/a> or reunite with their space-alien relatives<\/a>. Their goal was far more complicated: putting on a successful variety show.<\/p>\n

Meet the Muppets<\/h2>\n
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Jim Henson and the Muppets in 1980<\/p>\n

Michael Ochs Archives \/ Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In every episode, Kermit, the soft-spoken showrunner, is charged with wrangling the chaotic crew\u2014much like Henson wrangled his creative team.<\/p>\n

In the studio, the puppeteer struck a balance between painstaking craftsmanship and unrestrained glee. Everyone worked hard to make him laugh. \u201cI don\u2019t resent the long work time,\u201d he wrote in his journal. \u201cI think much of the world has the wrong idea of working. It\u2019s one of the good things in life.\u201d His peers routinely described his sets as the best creative environment they\u2019d ever experienced.<\/p>\n

I heard about this atmosphere from my grandparents, two songwriters who worked on counting segments<\/a> for \u201cSesame Street<\/a>\u201d in the early 1970s. A few years later, my grandfather served as the music coordinator for the first \u201cMuppet Show\u201d pilot. \u201cI have been going through this lovely experience in my mind for days,\u201d he wrote to Henson shortly after filming wrapped in 1973. \u201cI have never enjoyed my work as much as I did on this show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Henson\u2019s television career began in 1954, when a station in Washington, D.C. recruited<\/a> \u201cyoungsters 12 to 14 years of age who can manipulate marionettes.\u201d Technically, he fit neither criterion. He was 17, and puppets had never been his primary interest. \u201cJim wasn\u2019t one of these guys who loved puppets from an early age,\u201d says Brian Jay Jones<\/a>, Henson\u2019s biographer<\/a>. \u201cHe wanted to be on TV.\u201d After studying puppetry books from the library, he got the gig.<\/p>\n

The show ended after a few weeks, but Henson was soon performing on another local station with puppets he\u2019d made himself. He also enrolled in a puppetry class at the University of Maryland, where he was particularly impressed by one of his classmates, an art education major named Jane Nebel. Nearly five years later, they would tie the knot. But long before he asked for her hand in marriage, he asked for her help at work.<\/p>\n

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Quick fact: What is a Muppet?<\/p>\n