Summary
- The Muppet Show, created by Jim Henson, was a groundbreaking and popular variety show that reached millions worldwide.
- Initially rejected by American networks, the show found success with British media mogul, Lord Lew Grade, who took a risk in prime-time syndication.
- The Muppet Show's success paved the way for Henson's other projects, like Sesame Street, and solidified The Muppets' place in pop culture history.
The Muppet Show, the iconic variety show featuring Kermit the Frog (Jim Henson) and his madcap Muppet friends, is one of television's most enduring and popular programs. From its debut in 1976, The Muppet Show wasn't like other shows, with its titular characters freed from the conventional, with Time suggesting that Kermit, and by extension, the Muppet collective, "frees a part of our own natures so absurd and defenseless that we would never let a human actor hold it in his hands."
At its peak in 1978, The Muppet Show reached 235 million people in over 106 countries, making it one of the most popular TV shows in the world, and you don't reach that level of popularity by appealing only to kids. In its assessment of the show, Time claimed it was both “the only adult show on television” and “give or take Saturday Night Live, the funniest show on television” (ironically, The Muppets were key in getting SNL started). The Muppet Show is so ingrained in North American pop culture that it's almost impossible to imagine that it got its start anywhere other than the good ol' US of A—only it didn't. The Muppet Show exists because a Briton saw its potential, and brought it over to the U.K.
- Main Genre
- Comedy
- Seasons
- 5
'The Muppet Show' Started on the Street
The genesis of The Muppet Show begins in the 1950s, when, according to Slate, Henson's Muppets first appeared in ads, where a crude, early version of Kermit threatened to shoot you if you didn't try Wilkins coffee. Cookie Monster (Frank Oz) was created for General Foods, and the virtues of Purina were pitched by Rowlf the Dog (Henson). In 1955, he was given his own show, Sam and Friends, a five-minute per episode sketch comedy series that aired on weeknights as a lead-in to The Tonight Show on a local NBC affiliate. It was fine, but what the ambitious, innovative Henson really wanted was a half-hour variety show, but he seemed to be the only one who believed in it. Brian Jay Jones, author of Jim Henson: The Biography, states in the previously cited Slate article, "Nobody really thought that puppets could stand on their own for half an hour on TV... This was something really controversial and groundbreaking."
Then, Jon Stone came calling; he was brought in to produce and direct an educational series aimed at preschoolers called Sesame Street. During the planning of the show, Stone made it clear that if they wanted puppets, he wanted Henson, saying, "If we can't get Henson, then we just won't have puppets." They agreed, but Henson wouldn't sign on unless his conditions were met, which included all the rights to The Muppets remaining with Henson, and any merchandising revenue from the characters being split 50-50 with the Children's Television Workshop.
Once on board, Henson brought in a team that included Caroll Spinney and Frank Oz to bring the characters he'd created to life, with the likes of Grover, Oscar the Grouch, Big Bird, along with old friends, Kermit and Cookie Monster. The show and its puppet stars were a hit, which was both a blessing and a curse for Henson. On the one hand, his Muppets were at last getting national attention, but on the other, it was a kid's show, and, as such, he had become a children's puppeteer. For a creative talent who had only used his Muppets in more adult-oriented fare, "children's puppeteer" was not the tag he wanted to be stuck with.
The Unwanted 'The Muppet Show' Finds a Friend From Across the Pond
Image via ATV
Image via ATV
Image via ATV
Image via ATV
Image via ATV
Henson kept pitching his Muppet variety show to networks and finally found an ear with Michael Eisner, who was the national programming director for ABC at the time. Per the previously cited Slate article, Eisner gave Henson the okay to provide a pilot, which resulted in the January 30, 1974, premiere of The Muppets Valentine Show, which featured Mia Farrow alongside Henson's Muppets. The response was poor, so Eisner approved a second pilot for ABC, which Henson had named The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence. It, too, didn't fare well, and ABC didn't move forward with the show, and neither did the other networks. Henson had been rejected by every American network, and an ill-fated collaboration with Lorne Michael's SNL didn't help matters.
However, salvation would arrive in the form of a cigar-loving man from London who saw The Muppet Show's potential, a Jewish Russian who rose up from his East End poverty-stricken life to become a media mogul and producer: Lord Lew Grade. Anita Land, Grade's niece, recalls her uncle's willingness to give Henson a chance: “The Muppet Show was a huge risk. There hadn’t been anything like it before, but Uncle Lew took a punt, and it became his pet project.” Grade, who had The Muppets on his radar since 1955, approached Henson in 1975. As Land puts it, “Jim Henson and Frank Oz got on with Uncle Lew like a house on fire. The Muppets appealed to him on every level–it was transatlantic, it was for families, it was funny."
Taking a Risk on 'The Muppet Show' Paid off Tremendously
Grade was taking a risk with The Muppet Show, but so was Henson. According to Salon, instead of a network, Grade had proposed "prime-time syndication," a new concept at the time, which meant that nothing was guaranteed. Prime-time syndication is, for lack of a better example, like free agency. The show is produced independently, in this case Grade's ATV, but where a network will put the series to air on all of their affiliates, and individual stations would have the option to pick it up. Henson agreed, and left the details to his agent, Bernie Brillstein.
Brillstein, on behalf of Henson, insisted on a firm number from ATV on the budget, and after going back and forth for a time, they settled on $3 million for the first season, one of the most expensive half-hour series at the time for syndicated programs, as per the previously cited Salon article. At 24 episodes a season, that afforded Henson $125,000 per episode, but Grade had a condition, himself: Henson had to film The Muppet Show at ATV Studios in Elstree, Hertfordshire, right outside of London. Without consulting Henson, Brillstein enthusiastically signed the deal, and it was official: Henson finally had his Muppet variety show.
When Brillstein called Henson, he immediately shouted, "We finally did it!" Henson didn't ask about the money, the conditions, or the finer details; he simply said, "I love you." Stations from around the world picked up the show-within-a-show that is The Muppet Show, and the risk that American networks were unwilling to take paid off in dividends far greater than Henson, Brillstein, or Grade could have ever possibly imagined. The rest, as they say, is history. For his part, Henson didn't throw the American networks under the bus, but did get some playful revenge on the cast and crew of SNL that made a living hell for Henson and his gang back stateside, sending a postcard to the cast and crew. Under block letters, the postcard asked, "Where are the mucking fuppets?," along with a note that read, "Dear Gang. We're having a wonderful time here in England. We're doing our own show, and it's a big hit."
The Muppet Show is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.