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Muppets Tonight

Muppets Tonight is an American live-action/puppet family-oriented comedy television series, created by Jim Henson Productions and featuring The Muppets. The series ran for two seasons between March 1996 to February 1998, originally airing on ABC, before later being aired and rerun on the Disney Channel. The show was a continuation of The Muppet Show, with Kermit the Frog and the Muppets running their own television channel and studio,[2] only to request one of their own to run a new show to fill in a timeslot in their channel's scheduling.

Muppets Tonight

Comedy

Jim Henson Productions

The Muppets
by Jim Henson

Greg V. Fera
Brian Henson
Tom Trbovich
Gary Halvorson

Richard Gibbs

2

22 (list of episodes)

Hollywood Center Studios
Hollywood, California

22–24 minutes

Jim Henson Productions

ABC[1]

March 8 (1996-03-08) –
July 14, 1996 (1996-07-14)

Disney Channel[1]

September 13, 1997 (1997-09-13) –
February 8, 1998 (1998-02-08)

The series brought back several notable Muppet characters from The Muppet Show while introducing several new ones to the program, and made notable parodies of television programs ranging from game shows, chat shows, and educational entertainment. Each episode featured one principal guest star, but a number of episodes also featured additional guest stars; one episode featured a cameo from Leonard Nimoy.[3] Muppets Tonight received mixed reviews from critics, while its lead character, Clifford, was disliked for the minor change made for the program.

Format[edit]

The premise of Muppets Tonight was that Clifford was the host of a variety/talk show on KMUP.[4] The show stuck closely to The Muppet Show format of various skits (mostly featuring the show's human guest star) interspersed with some sort of crisis occurring backstage.[5]

(performed by Kevin Clash) – Host of the show. Although he had visible eyes in this series instead of his previous sunglasses, he went back to wearing sunglasses for all of his appearances after Muppets Tonight ended. At the MuppetFest convention in 2001, Clash revealed that he disliked the visible eyes and he preferred Clifford wearing his sunglasses, refusing to perform the character again unless he was wearing them.[6]

Clifford

(performed by Steve Whitmire) – Producer of the show

Kermit the Frog

Animal (performed by Frank Oz)

Zoot (performed by )

Dave Goelz

Beauregard (performed by Dave Goelz) – of KMUP

Janitor

Bean Bunny (performed by Steve Whitmire)

Behemoth (performed by ) – Ernst Stavros Grouper's assistant

Bill Barretta

Dr. (performed by Dave Goelz) – The scientist and inventor from Muppet Labs who shows off his inventions on the show

Bunsen Honeydew

(performed by Steve Whitmire) – Dr. Bunsen Honeydew's assistant

Beaker

(performed by Jerry Nelson) – Appears in a "Bay of Pigswatch" sketch as the lifeguard inspector as seen in the Pierce Brosnan episode

Dr. Julius Strangepork

Clueless Morgan (performed by Bill Barretta) – A who previously appeared in Muppet Treasure Island (1996); appears in the "At the Bar" sketch co-owning a bar with Polly Lobster, who also previously appeared in Muppet Treasure Island

goat

The Elvises (performed by Brian Henson, Jerry Nelson, and Bill Barretta) – A group of Muppets resembling that star in "Great Moments in Elvis History"

Elvis Presley

Eugene (performed by Steve Whitmire) – A who serves as Nigel's assistant

mink

George the Janitor (performed by Steve Whitmire) – of KMUP

Janitor

(performed by Dave Goelz) – Does his stunt shows on the show

Gonzo

(performed by Frank Oz)

Fozzie Bear

J.P. Grosse (performed by Kevin Clash) – The owner of the Muppet Theater who makes cameos as a crew member. In the episode, he appears in "The Tubmans of Porksmith" as Howard Tubman's doctor (performed by Allan Trautman)

Sandra Bullock

(performed by Frank Oz)

Miss Piggy

Mulch (performed by Kevin Clash) – Dr. Phil van Neuter's assistant (shown in minor parts in earlier Muppet projects); in one sketch, it is revealed that he has a sister named Composta Heap to whom Dr. Phil van Neuter is engaged

Polly Lobster (performed by Kevin Clash) – A lobster who previously appeared in Muppet Treasure Island; appears in the "At the Bar" sketch co-owning a bar with Clueless Morgan

(performed by Steve Whitmire) – Production assistant of the show

Rizzo the Rat

(performed by Bill Barretta) – Makes some appearances playing pianos in some acts

Rowlf the Dog

(performed by Frank Oz) – Hosts "The Eagle's Nest"

Sam the Eagle

(performed by Steve Whitmire and Dave Goelz) – Miss Piggy's moronic nephews who work backstage(usually causing problems) and appear in the sketch "Bay Of Pigswatch"

Andy and Randy Pig

(performed by Jerry Nelson and Dave Goelz) – Usually seen heckling the show from an unnamed retirement home (season 2 has them traveling to different areas while watching the show)

Statler and Waldorf

(performed by John Henson)

Sweetums

Bay of Pigswatch – A parody of starring David Hoggselhoff as Champ Schwimmer, Spamela Hamderson as Spamela, and Andy and Randy Pig as Donnie and Art C. Shell where they work as lifeguards at a beach. with Guest Stars Miss Piggy And Dr Julius Strangepork.

Baywatch

Carl the Big Mean... – Sketches which involve Carl doing an act, which usually ends up incorporating him eating someone or something, e.g., biting the head off a ventriloquist's puppet, predicting someone would be eaten, and eating him, as a psychic.

E-I-E-I-O R – In a parody of , it features Fozzie Bear working at a hospital where the doctors and patients pass around humor; Fozzie is assisted by Dr. Pain, Ernst Stavro Grouper, and an Afghan Hound.

ER

Great Moments in Elvis History – In a parody of , the moments in history are reenacted by a bunch of Muppet versions of Elvis Presley.

Great Moments in History

Pigs In Space: Deep Dish Nine – In a sequel to "Pigs in Space", Miss Piggy is featured on the new Swinetrek with a different crew. The title is a spoof of .

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Screen Tests – A bunch of screen tests that featured the Muppets auditioning in a movie that featured the guest stars of the episodes it was featured in.

Tales from the Vet – In a parody of , Dr. Phil van Neuter tells scary stories revolving around animals.

Tales from the Crypt

The Eagle's Nest – Sam the Eagle talks about politics and other issues with Andy and Randy Pig as his recurring guests.

The Johnny Fiama Show – A talk show hosted by Johnny Fiama.

NYPD Green - A parody of NYPD Blue, where crimes are investigated by Kermit as Detective Amphibowicz, at least when the network censor's not interrupting.

The Real World Muppets – A spoof of that follows Clifford, Rizzo the Rat, Bobo the Bear, Bill the Bubble Guy, and Darci living together in one house.

The Real World

Thor: God of Thunder – Deals with Thor doing every day mundane tasks.

police chief

Among the regular sketches are:

Series run[edit]

The show ran from 1996 to 1998. There were 22 episodes produced in two batches. 13 episodes were ordered by ABC, though only ten of them were run in the 1995–96 TV season. The program was then purchased by the Disney Channel, which led a further 8 episodes and aired these along with the three episodes ABC did not air, in the 1997–98 season. One of the nine newly produced episodes was a clip show compilation culled from the earlier episodes.


In the United Kingdom only the first thirteen episodes of the show were transmitted. BBC1 screened the first 11 episodes at 7pm on Friday evenings from 6 September[7] – 15 November 1996[8][9] with the last two going on 30th[10] and 31st[10] December at Lunchtimes. Sky One picked up the series in late December 1996 and continued to repeat episodes until Spring 1999. The BBC repeated 10 episodes in late August 1999.[11]


In Ireland the show was broadcast on TG4, eventually being dubbed into Irish Gaelic.


In Canada, the show originally aired on CBC, and later moved to Family Channel in conjunction with Disney Channel's airings.

Reception[edit]

The reception from critics was mixed.[5][12]

at IMDb

Muppets Tonight