Gene Shalit was one of American television's most recognizable personalities — instantly identifiable by his wild hair, handlebar mustache, vibrant bowties, and an endless appetite for wordplay. For nearly four decades, he served as the beloved film and arts critic on The Today Show, while also lending his voice to publications like TV Guide, The New York Times, and Cosmopolitan.
It's no surprise that the Muppets crossed paths with Shalit more than once over the years, both celebrating and lovingly poking fun at the iconic critic.
The connection goes back to April 3, 1974, when Ernie and Bert made a guest appearance on The Today Show. In classic Muppet fashion, Bert showed up dressed to look uncannily like Shalit himself. Three years later, Shalit hosted the PBS special Sesame Street at Night?
Shalit was spoofed in 1976's The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence as a film critic, performed by Jerry Nelson, who turns into a pig.
In 1980, Shalit sat down with Jim Henson for an interview about a quirky piece of television history: a set of pipes that Henson, Frank Oz, Don Sahlin, and Jerry Juhl had painted backstage while waiting to perform on The Jack Paar Program. During the interview, Shalit quipped that the pipes deserved a place in a museum. In 2010, those very pipes were added to the public tour of 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
The fun continued in 1983, when Muppet Magazine featured Shalit in its "Great Muppet Look-Alike Contest," pairing him with none other than the Swedish Chef.
And in 1996, he made a deliciously unexpected contribution to In the Kitchen with Miss Piggy, submitting his very own "Movie Crumb Cake" recipe to the diva's cookbook.
Gene Shalit's relationship with the Muppets was as warm, witty, and wonderfully bizarre as the man himself.
