"The Muppets": characters, outstanding episodes, photos

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"The Muppets": characters, outstanding episodes, photos
"The Muppets": characters, outstanding episodes, photos

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The Muppets is a humorous puppet show based on characters from the children's educational show Sesame Street, with some new characters, more adult humor and a satirical direction to the sketches. In this article, you can find photos and names of the characters in The Muppet Show.

What is The Muppets?

Poster "Muppet Show"
Poster "Muppet Show"

"The Muppets" is Jim Henson's family television show featuring The Muppets, parodying variety shows that were very popular in the US and UK in the 70s. The characters of The Muppet Show are monsters invented by Henson, anthropomorphic animals and little men controlled by a puppeteer. Most of the main characters (such as the show's protagonist, Kermit the Frog) first appeared in Jim Henson's children's educational show Sesame Street, but other characters more suited to the new format have been added.

History of Creation

Jim Henson -American puppeteer and maker of puppets, as well as director, screenwriter, actor, and producer. In 1969, he created the iconic children's show "Sesame Street", which is one of the longest running, most popular and significant in the entire history of world television to this day. However, Henson really wanted to make a show that not only children, but also teenagers, and their parents, and even grandparents can watch. Thus he came to create The Muppets. Pictured below is Jim Henson surrounded by The Muppet Show characters.

Jim Henson and his characters from The Muppets
Jim Henson and his characters from The Muppets

The first releases of the "adult" Muppets were two independent stories in 1974 and 1975, but US television producers refused to broadcast them, let alone pay for the creation of a permanent program. Help came from the UK - the commercial television channel ATV and its head Lew Grade did not consider puppet television to be exclusively a children's privilege, and therefore offered Henson to release the show on their channel, and even on an ongoing basis. From the UK, the program spread around the world, quickly becoming ultra-popular and much loved. American producers could only bite their elbows, realizing what a jackpot they had missed.

Lew Grade and Fozzie Bear
Lew Grade and Fozzie Bear

The first issue of The Muppets was released on September 27, 1976, after which five seasons were created, including more than a hundred half-hour episodes. On March 15, 1981, the final episode of the show took place. During this time, the transmission receivedfour Emmys and was nominated for 17 more, as well as three BAFTAs and one Grammy, Peabody, Golden Camera and Golden Rose awards each.

As invited celebrities at different times, the show was attended by such stars as Rudolf Nureyev, Elton John, Diana Ross, Roger Moore in the image of Jame Bond and Mark Hamill in the image of Luke Skywalker, as well as Charles Aznavour, Julie Andrews, Sylvester Stallone, Twiggy, Liza Minnelli, Alice Cooper and more.

Some famous guests of The Muppet Show
Some famous guests of The Muppet Show

The main characters of The Muppet Show

The story is about life and work in a variety theater directed by Kermit the Frog. The main ones are those Muppets who appear in all issues (with rare exceptions), meet with guest stars and are necessary for the plot. Below are the main characters of The Muppet Show with pictures and brief characteristics.

1. Kermit the Frog is the protagonist and de facto leader of all Muppets. Pragmatic and a bit nervous, he appeared in absolutely every episode of The Muppet Show, as well as Sesame Street and even Jim Henson's debut puppet show Sam and Friends. The role of Kermit was always voiced by Henson himself.

Kermit the Frog
Kermit the Frog

2. Miss Piggy is an eccentric and temperamental pig, "diva" and superstar of the Muppets. The puppeteer and voice of Piggy was the second person after Henson- Frank Oz.

Miss Piggy
Miss Piggy

3. Fozzie Bear is another Frank Oz character. A naive and clumsy stand-up comedian.

4. Gonzo is a pigeon-like character on The Muppets created and performed by Dave Goltz. Gonzo is an extraordinary artist, performing dangerous stunts, invariably ending with a single note, which he himself performs on the trumpet.

5. Rolf the Dog is a Jim Henson character who first appeared in a Purina dog food commercial and later used in The Muppets. Unlike the others, Rolf is virtually devoid of human features, almost never wears clothes, and has a reserved and self-deprecating sense of humor.

Fozzy, Gonzo and Rolf
Fozzy, Gonzo and Rolf

6. Scooter is a humanoid character who is a stage manager and the theater owner's nephew. Incarnated by Richard Hunt based on himself in his younger years.

7. Pepe the king prawn is a cunning and sassy character of clear Hispanic origin. He was embodied and voiced by Bill Barretta.

8. Rizzo the Rat is sly and sarcastic, personifying the typical New Yorker. He became one of the main characters in the fourth season and was embodied by Stevie Whitmeier.

Scooter, Pepe and Rizzo
Scooter, Pepe and Rizzo

9. Animal - the character of Frank Oz, a typical muppet monster - carnivorous, primal wild and always hungry. He is the drummer for several Muppet rock bands.

Muppet named Animal
Muppet named Animal

Sub-characters

The Muppet Show features a hugethe number of characters playing episodic or supporting roles.

Minor characters
Minor characters

Among them are analytical scientist Dr. Bunsen and his assistant Bicker, blue Eagle Sam (a parody of Uncle Sam), Swedish Chef, members of the rock band "Dr. Teese and Electrochaos", grumbling old spectators Statler and Waldorf and many others.

Best episodes

The most popular episodes of The Muppet Show are those with guest stars. The so-called "Cold Opening" was a short clip in which a guest appeared surrounded by Muppets. Each of these "discoveries" appeared before the show's intro.

Also, short musical numbers with the participation of the group "Doctor Teese and Electrochaos" became very popular with the audience. Once these heroes even appeared on the cover of the main music magazine Rolling Stone.

Image
Image

Further destiny

Even during the release of The Muppets, the characters appeared in two feature films - The Muppets (1979) and The Big Puppet Trip (1981). After the end of the show, about ten different full-length films featuring the Muppets were released, the last premiered in 2014. After the death of Jim Henson, they decided to resurrect the program, giving it the format of a more modern "Saturday Night Show" and adding many new characters. The show was called "The Muppets" and was released from 1996 to 1998, but could not win the same success asoriginal.

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