More sad news as Muppet Show guest Jaye P. Morgan has died.
Born Mary Margaret Morgan, she gained fame for her 1950s hit "That's All I Want from You," as well as judging on The Gong Show.
In 1956, she had her own show, The Jaye P. Morgan Show, and made guest appearances on other variety shows including The Jackie Gleason Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, and The Jack Benny Program.
She guest starred in the second season of The Muppet Show where she performed "Tweedle Dee" and "That Old Black Magic."
Her other credits as herself include appearances on The Odd Couple, The Dating Game (as a celebrity contestant), and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
You can read more about Jaye P. Morgan at Variety.
Couldn't make it to D23 this weekend, well fret not as some of the "exclusive" Muppet Show 50th Anniversary merchandise is now available at the Disney Store!
The line includes a replica of Scooter's jacket, T-shirt, a cardigan with plush
While Kermit declares, ''It's not easy being green,'' it's certainly easy to wear this green jacket created to mark the 50th anniversary of The Muppet Show. The classic bomber styling in green satin features the show's memorable logo with Kermit embroidered on the back. An anniversary appliqué on the front chest and contrast yellow piping makes this jacket even more ''Sensational, inspirational, celebrational, Muppetational!''
This Muppet Show t-shirt always has your back. And your front! Hang out with Kermit, Miss Piggy and the cast of the show that's celebrating its 50th anniversary. This vintage-inspired tee commemorates all the laughs, music and memorable characters.
Friends have to knit together. The Muppets are celebrating their 50th anniversary and there's no better way to keep them close than with this novel cardigan. Kermit and Beeker plush are attached to the front while embroidered appliqué patches of Miss Piggy and Fozzie adorn the sleeves. Fans of the popular puppets will love adding this bold and colorful ombre knit sweater to their wardrobe.
It's time to get things started. It's time to dress-up right. It's time to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of The Muppet Show tonight! Give a hand to the inspirational, Muppetational stars of the show – Kermit and Miss Piggy – on a limited edition, golden mini jumbo pin with commemorative logo and window display box. Yay!
Wake up – it's showtime! Set the stage for a sensational, Muppetational day with this collectible mug and matching coaster set featuring Scooter, one of six sets, each sold separately, celebrating the 50th Anniversary of The Muppet Show. Collect all six!
The other mugs haven't been released yet, but as you can see the rest of the set includes, Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Rowlf, and Sam Eagle.
Just in time to celebrate The Muppet Show's 50th Anniversary myspleen user bun39 uploaded the original version of show's first episode to the internet archive.
Check it out below with remastered audio by myspleen user Disney Ashman Demos.
Did you catch all the differences? Thankfully, the same users noted all the changes from the original version to the one that aired.
From The Muppet Wiki, "Episode 101: Juliet Prowse":
Episodes 101 and 102 of The Muppet Show were both shot as pilots in late January 1976, several months before regular production of the show began in May of that year. These pilots were never aired, and the episodes were reworked during the regular production window, but the final versions were among the last of the first season to air in certain international markets, such as France and Germany.
When the episodes were reworked, several sketches were abbreviated or cut entirely, and new footage was taped. All material featuring the guest stars, however, was shot during the initial production window, although on several occasions, different takes were used in the final versions of the episode from those used in the pilots.
Changes made to "The Muppet Show Theme"
Different takes were used for several shots, including Kermit's opening introduction and the kickline of chorus girls.
There is a second shot of Zoot and Crazy Harry in the orchestra after the chorus girls' verse. The first frame of this shot is also shown between the shots of Animal and Rowlf in episode 103.
Aside from Blue Frackle, the chorus boys in the kickline were different and included Snake Frackle; an orange-wigged, rock star pig; and a different Whatnot creature. They also sang "You'll see the strangest creatures on The Muppet Show tonight" instead of "It's time to raise the curtain on The Muppet Show tonight."
A third kickline immediately following the chorus boys' consisted of croaking frogs and clucking chickens, and was punctuated by T.R., who introduced "our leader, Kermit the Frog!"
A clip of Wayne and Wanda singing "You Made Me Love You" was introduced by Kermit as an example of the show's offerings. Although the pair's act was not featured in either version of the episode (a silent Wanda appeared with Mahna Mahna "At the Dance"), their performance in the theme ended as abruptly as any of their future duets would.
The female chorus make a cameo appearance performing an extra kickline.
The joke Fozzie told during the opening theme was different in the pilot. This one, about the panhandler who needed a bite, was told to completion. During this scene, Fozzie is "eyebrowless."
Juliet sang "It's very nice to be here, I'm pleased to say hello" instead of appearing with the Green Gazelles in the cutaway shot after Kermit introduces her. It was the only singing she recorded for The Muppet Show.
Songs and Sketches
The most dramatic change made to episode 101 was the addition of the backstage plot involving Muppy and Scooter. "Simon Smith and His Amazing Dancing Bear" was also the only onstage act to appear in the final version of the episode that was not shot for the pilot.
Two acts were cut completely from the pilot, Fozzie's monologue and Animal's drum solo. Also cut were Kermit's 'introduction' and a brief exchange between Fozzie, Rowlf, and the bartender in the "Cowboy Time" sketch; a conversation between Hilda and Fozzie; an appearance by Mahna Mahna, who pops out from behind Juliet Prowse to shout his trademark line after Kermit talks to her backstage; and an interstitial with Statler and Waldorf.
Several sketches, while they remained essentially unchanged in both versions, used different takes from the original shoot, including Juliet's backstage conversation with Kermit, their Talk Spot, and "You and I and George."
A rare addition between the pilot and broadcast version was a line during the Muppet Glee-Club sketch where the members comment about Kermit's baton-waving.
Another addition occurs during Kermit's introduction of "Flight of the Bumblebee." Gonzo is seen coming out from the stage's left wings. A similar shot is used in episode 111, in which Gonzo comes out in the wings from stage right.
What a great way to celebrate The Muppet Show's 50th Anniversary. Thanks bun39 and Disney Ashman Demos!
Sad news as veteran Creature Shop sculptor Lyle Conway has died.
Conway began his career at the Henson Company in the Muppet Workshop on The Muppet Show.
He was later asked design the creatures and be the fabrication supervisor on The Dark Crystal sculpting many Skeksis, Urskeks, and Aughra.
On Dreamchild he oversaw the entire shop making sure The Mad Hatter, March Hare, and Lewis Carrol's other creatures looked as close as possible to the book's descriptions and illustrations. After Dreamchild, he freelanced for other films and returned to The Creature Shop to work on Where the Wild Thigs Are.
"Designer Lyle Conway, having followed The Dark Crystal with work on the film Return to Oz, was tapped by Jim to oversee the shop for Dreamchild. Conway’s experience paid off and the build exploited everything he and the team had learned, using it in a much more efficient fashion. The budget was tight and, as Conway described, it “…turned out to be one fourth the work [of The Dark Crystal] at ten times the speed. We had 14 weeks to build everything, which is no time at all for us, and I think we stayed that much fresher as a result.” The film opened in summer 1985 to generally positive reviews, particularly for Coral Browne’s performance as Alice, and the writers made much of the creatures from Jim’s shop. The review in The Guardian noted, “The realization by Jim Henson and his team of the fabled creatures of Lewis Carroll’s imagination is beguilingly original.”
A few of Conway's non-Creature Shop work included 1988's The Blob and Return to Oz, in which he not only worked on the creatures, but also performed the voice and face of the Gump. His most notable post-Henson credit was on Frank Oz's Little Shop of Horrors designing Audrey II in each different phase, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects.
Last night Jimmy Kimmel welcomed Kermit the Frog to promote the upcoming The Muppet Show special.
Kermit talks about coming back to television with “The Muppet Show” on ABC and Disney+, guest hosting for Johnny Carson, vacationing on Magic Johnson’s yacht, meeting Kaley Cuoco backstage, working with Seth Rogen, what he would do if he hadn’t gotten into show business, having a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and advice he would give to young people trying to make it in Hollywood.
We even get a brand new clip from the special! Check it out below:
Be sure to watch The Muppet Show 50th Anniversary special on Disney+ and ABC Feb 4th!
Join me as I take a deep dive into The Muppet Show's 50th anniversary trailer. We'll look at all the hidden references, characters, jokes, and even a few mistakes!
From blink-and-you’ll-miss-them references to beloved characters popping up, we’ll break down every joke, Easter egg, and callback packed into this trailer.
I’ll also point out a few curious mistakes you might not have noticed—because even the Muppets aren’t immune to a little chaos.
Be sure to check out more videos on our Youtube channel and watch The Muppet Show 50th Anniversary special on Disney+ and ABC Feb 4th!
As you probably know, Disney aired the trailer for the The Muppet Show 50th Anniversary Special New Year's Eve during Dick Clark's New Year's Rocking with Ryan Seacrest.
BUT, what you may not have noticed was all the easter eggs it contained.So join us as we deconstruct the trailer scene by scene to reveal all the good, and the bad, we uncovered.
First, if you HAVEN'T seen the trailer, watch it in high-def below:
Now, let's go through it. As you can see Rowlf's eyes look a little cross-eyed, jut like they were at his recent appearance at The Game Awards.
This is probably a new Rowlf puppet and hopefully they'll adjust his pupils for further productions.
The curtain rises... with Janice in the orchestra pit?
Janice is not supposed to be in the orchestra pit. As we'll see soon, she appears in the arches and now she's in two places at once!
Next, we have the large monsters coming through the arches. Sweetums, Thog, and The Mutations and now joined by Doglion instead of Timmy.
Speaking of Thog, it's great that they rebuilt him to fit through the arches unlike in 2011's The Muppets, however - it's a bit jarring to see his fur flap around and not look like all one piece of shaggy fur.
We get our first look at one of the skits, presumably featuring guest star Sabrina Carpenter in a bar room brawl throwing Blue Frackle around (more on him later).
If you look closely, in the background is Paul Revere!
In the next shot we see Miss Piggy barging into Carpenter's dressing room. It looks similar to how it looked on the original show, with new framed cards and pictures on the wall.
Now we come to The Muppet Show arches, and quite possibly the most controversial part of the trailer.
I say controversial because it's so iconic, and yet also has the most changes of anything else seen in the trailer.
For starters there are only 4 rows, as opposed to the original's 5. (More info on the original lineup here.
This means characters have be rearranged or removed entirely. A similar thing happened with the arches in 2011's feature film The Muppets where there were only4 rows and they even left a few arches empty.
This arrangement doesn't put Kermit in the center and feels squished. I'm not sure why the 5th row couldn't have been preserved.
In the new new arrangement, the top row consists of Hilda (making her first appearance since the first season of the original series), Pops, Robin, Uncle Deadly, Baskerville, Pepe, Beautiful Day Monster, Bobo, Beaker, Howard Tubman, Crazy Harry, Marvin Suggs, Wanda, Wayne, and Lew Zealand.
Hilda is an all new rebuild and looks pretty good from the brief clip we see.
Not having Beaker in the original arches was an odd omission that I'm glad was corrected both this and in the 2011 version.
Row 2 features the male koozebainian, Bean Bunny (making his first appearance since 2009), Dr. Strangepork, The Swedish Chef, Sam Eagle, a whatnot (similar to the one used in 2011), a rebuilt George the Janitor, a rebuilt Boppity - Blue Frackle, Link Hogthrob, a rebuilt Gloat -Green Frackle, and Beauregard.
Bean looks great, but George's nose seems a bit too light and doesn't have enough difference to the rest of his face.
George in The Muppet Valentines Show
2026 George
The rebuilt Gloat (the Green Frackle) looks like his face might be more condensed and Boppity (the Blue Frackle) seems to now have a wider body.
Row 3 has Rizzo, The Newsman, Dr. Teeth, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, and Mahna Mahna.
No major change here except the replacement of two chickens on the ends with Rizzo and Mahna Mahna.
Row 4 has the female Koozebanian, Mildred, a rebuilt Zelda Rose, Janice, rebuilt female whatnot, Camilla, and a rebuilt Miss Mousey.
Similar to George, Zelda Rose's nose seems to light and doesn't contrast enough from her face.
Zelda Rose on The Muppet Show
Rebuilt Dancer Whatnot
Last we have a rebuilt Miss Mousey who hasn't been seen since 1986. No real complaint here except that her hat seems a bit more floppy then before.
After the arches we see Miss Piggy backstage on the stairwell wearing an outfit strikingly similar to the ones used for Fisher-Price's dress-up doll.
We then see another shot from the bar sketch, this time with Sabrina Carpenter smashing a bear bottle over J.D. Frackle's head.
Beau breaks some sort of contraption off the wall.
There a nice dynamic shot of Zoot and Lips, presumably from The Electric Mayhem's number. It's great to see a shot like this as most of The Muppet Show featured still camera shots.
Executive Producer Seth Rogan makes an appearance suggesting we may see other cameos as well.
We then see the title and air date.
But that's not all. The thumbnail for the video features a shot of The Swedish Chef, Uncle Deadly, Scooter, Mildred, Miss Piggy, Kermit, a pink armadillo, and Marvin Suggs backstage not seen in the trailer itself.
Be sure to watch The Muppet Show 50th Anniversary special on Disney+ and ABC Feb 4th where we'll get to see all the new puppets, performers and Muppet theater in action.
