The wonderful children’s show Sesame Street, also starring Henson’s Muppets, had been broadcast since late 1969. For Henson, its success was a mixed blessing, as network executives began to see the Muppets strictly as children’s entertainment. The Muppet Show proved that Henson’s innovative puppets could appeal equally to children and adults. Its setting, Muppet Theater, allowed onstage sketches and songs as well as backstage antics. Except for Kermit the Frog, a Sesame Street favorite, The Muppet Show featured an entirely new cast of Muppets: Fozzie Bear, the lovably inept comic and Kermit’s second banana; Miss Piggy, a glamorous, Rubenesque starlet and Kermit’s would- be love interest; Gonzo the Great, a buzzardlike creature with a chicken fetish; Rowlf, the imperturbable piano-playing dog; Statler and Waldorf, two geriatric hecklers; The Electric Mayhem, the ultracool house band; and Scooter, hired as Kermit’s gofer because his uncle owned the theater. The show also featured countless other Muppets, from a 12-inch rat named Rizzo to a seven-foot monster named Sweetums.

But Kermit was undeniably the glue that held these lunatics together. As producer/host of Muppet Theater, Kermit had the considerable task of keeping guests and Muppets happy, fending off Miss Piggy’s advances, bolstering Fozzie’s confidence after another joke fell flat, and tolerating Gonzo’s bizarre stunts. As performed by Henson, Kermit was the lone sane creature in the asylum, the viewers’ bridge to world of The Muppet Show, a small, green Everyman (Everyfrog) just trying to do his job in the midst of gleeful craziness.

The partnership between Henson and Frank Oz produced such puppet pairs as Miss Piggy and Kermit, Sesame Street’s Ernie and Bert, and Kermit and Fozzie Bear. The two also teamed up for the Swedish Chef, a Muppet with Henson’s voice and Oz’s hands, with hilarious results. Oz’s nasal boom was a perfect counterpoint to Henson’s gentle voice, and the two performers complemented each other well. Other Muppet Show puppeteers included Richard Hunt (Sweetums, Scooter, Statler, and Beaker), Dave Goelz (Gonzo and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew), Jerry Nelson (Floyd Pepper and Lew Zealand), and Steve Whitmire (Rizzo the Rat).

Both backstage and onstage, lunacy ruled at Muppet Theater. Memorable sketches included pig Vikings pillaging towns while singing the Village People’s “In the Navy,” one creature devouring another while singing “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” and the great ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev in a pas de deux with a human-size lady pig.

Often, the guest stars were the perfect catalyst for Muppet nuttiness. The frequently starstruck Miss Piggy swooned at guest Christopher Reeve’s every move; in another episode, she locked Kermit in a trunk because guest Linda Ronstadt showed too much interest in the little green host. Guest Gene Kelly thought he had been invited just to watch the show; he stayed backstage chatting with the rats until Kermit finally convinced him to perform “Singin’ in the Rain” on a near-perfect replica of the film’s street set. Victor Borge and Rowlf the Dog played a piano duet. Diva Beverly Sills gave Gonzo a lesson in the fine art of balancing a spoon on one’s nose.

During the first season, writes Christopher Finch in his book Jim Henson: The Works, guest stars were mostly personal friends of Henson or his manager, Bernie Brillstein. But by the third season, popular performers were practically lining up to appear with the beloved puppets. The Muppet Show’s guest roster reads like a “Who’s Who” of late 1970s performers, most notably Roger Moore, John Cleese, Harry Belafonte, Dizzy Gillespie, Lynn Redgrave, Diana Ross, Alice Cooper, Julie Andrews, George Burns, Joel Grey, Steve Martin, Ruth Buzzi, and both Candice and Edgar Bergen.

The Muppets’ TV history starts long before Sesame Street. From 1955 to 1961, Henson’s Sam and Friends, a five-minute live show, aired twice nightly on WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. Sam and Friends afforded Kermit’s debut; it also featured several Muppets that did not make the cut for The Muppet Show. In 1961, the Muppets began making regular guest appearances on the National Broadcasting Company’s (NBC’s) Today. The following year, Rowlf made his debut in a Purina dog food commercial; in 1963, the affable canine began regular appearances on The Jimmy Dean Show. The Muppets also made regular appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show from 1966 to 1971. In 1975, the year Henson formed an agreement with Lord Lew Grade to produce 24 episodes of The Muppet Show, Henson also created an entirely new set of Muppets that were featured on Saturday Night Live in its first season.

During The Muppet Show’s heyday in 1979, The Muppet Movie was released in the United States, beginning the Muppets’ transition from TV to film. Several movies featured The Muppet Show cast, including The Great Muppet Caper, The Muppets Take Manhattan, The Muppets’ Christmas Carol, and The Muppets’ Treasure Island. Henson also produced several other TV shows featuring the Muppets after The Muppet Show ended: Fraggle Rock, focusing on an underground community of fun-loving Fraggles, hardworking Doozers, and odious Gorgs; The Storyteller, which aired only in England; Muppet Babies, a children’s cartoon featuring baby versions of The Muppet Show’s cast; and several other short-lived productions.

On May 16, 1990, Jim Henson died suddenly after a short illness. He was 54 years old. The Jim Henson Company continues to produce Muppet-related projects for film, television, and the stage. Frank Oz has enjoyed a notable career as a film director, while Kermit, Miss Piggy, and other Muppet characters regularly appear on talk shows and other television programs as well as in films.