History Series / TheMuppetShow

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: The Swedish Chef has a live duck[[note]]for the same value of "live" as any of the puppet characters[[/note]] and announces he plans on making pressed duck by using a clothes iron on it. The duck runs away, then runs the other direction, picks up the iron in its beak, drops it on the Swedish Chef's head, and then flies away laughing.

* ClamshellsAsMouths: In the Creator/MadelineKahn episode, Gonzo's crazy act of the week is Eric the Yodeling Clam, whose shell opens and shuts as he yodels.
* ClipShow: Not in the original run, but in TheEighties the ''Jim Henson's Muppet Home Video'' series of ten VHS tapes were clip shows linked by newly-shot material with the regular characters. Notably many of the U.K. spots were included (thus making their U.S. debuts), as well as at least two Season One musical numbers ("All of Me" and "You've Got a Friend", the latter being the finale from the Vincent Price episode) that would not appear on the Season One DVD set due to music rights issues. Similar compilations appeared in TheNineties.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}:
** Most of the cast, really, but Gonzo manages to stand out.
** Among the guest stars, Glenda Jackson is convinced she's a pirate, and her madness proves strong enough to apparently ''warp reality'', turning the theatre into an actual pirate ship.
* ComedicSociopathy: A good portion of the humor. For example, The RunningGag of the Music/KennyRogers episode is Kermit repeatedly getting injured in hilarious ways.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: When Fozzie chooses not to go on one night, Kermit informs the audience, who applaud in celebration. Somehow Fozzie gets the idea that this means that they actually want him on stage.
* TheComicallySerious: Sam the Eagle.
* ComicallyWordyContract: Played with this in the episode featuring Music/AliceCooper. Cooper is trying to get various people to sign a DealWithTheDevil. It doesn't work out well. Gonzo eventually materializes in a puff of smoke, holding a very long scroll. Kermit asks him if it's the contract with the Devil.
---> '''Gonzo''': Worse! It's the bill from special effects!

* CharacterisationClickMoment:
** At the show's inception, Fozzie Bear's personality was ill-defined, coming off as a bit of a pathetic {{Jerkass}} whose constant failures came off as more as sad than funny. However, it was with the "Good grief, the comedian's a bear!" routine from Episode 110 (Harvey Korman) that Fozzie's role was established as a hapless and sympathetic comedian who took his art very seriously and often looked to his friends for their assistance or approval.
** Like many Muppets, Gonzo started life in several one-off appearances before the show, and even in its first season was characterised somewhat differently, being a more pathetic frustrated failing actor. The bizarreness of Gonzo's performances had been established from the first episode however, and his performer Dave Goelz eventually came to the conclusion he worked better more zany and upbeat, redesigning his puppet to be more expressive and less somber looking in time for Season Two. Goelz credited Episode 204 (the Rich Little episode) as being a particularly key moment he solidified his CloudCuckooLander personality due to ad libbing his now iconic attraction to chickens in one sketch.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Hilda the seamstress and George the janitor are almost completely absent after the first season despite having prominent supporting roles during that era. While George would make cameos in the opening sequences and had sporadic cameos in later productions, Hilda was almost completely dropped due to her performer leaving the show.
* CirclingVultures: Before performing the famous "Telephone Pole Bit", Fozzie tells Scooter that "we are gonna die" (meaning the skit is going to bomb), and as Scooter asks what makes him think that, the camera focuses on two vultures looking down on them.

* CatchPhrase: Several:
** Beaker's meeping.
** Sam the Eagle: "You are all ''weirdos!''"
** And Statler and Waldorf's heckle-laugh: '''[[SignatureLaugh "DOOOHOHOHOHOHO!"]]'''
* CelebrityParadox: Played for laughs in the 'stars of Franchise/StarWars' episode, as per CelebrityStar below. Luke Skywalker and his actor each made several appearances in the episode, but never appeared on screen together. The end of the episode, however, reveals that Mark Hamill and Luke Skywalker are in fact separate people.
* CelebrityStar: Straight ''and'' subverted -- one episode featured a member of the production staff, writer Chris Langham, as the "guest". Langham, however, had to fill in for Creator/RichardPryor.
** Another spoof of sorts came when Peter Sellers guest starred. Kermit says that backstage, Sellers is free to be himself and not a character, but Sellers says he cannot do so: "There used to be a me, but I had it surgically removed." Sellers helped the writers create this skit because he simply ''wasn't'' willing to be himself, and it became one of his most famous quotes. In the "15 seconds to curtain" opening bit, he appears in character as [[Franchise/ThePinkPanther Inspector Clouseau]]. In RealLife, of course, this was Sellers' [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0352520/ particular neurosis]] - making it HarsherInHindsight.
** The episode featuring "the stars of ''Franchise/StarWars''" [[IAmNotSpock introduced Mark Hamill and his 'cousin' Luke Skywalker separately]]. The former had to admit that the latter upstaged him.
*** Initially a subversion, as the original "guest star" of the Hamill episode was a Muppet named [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal Angus MacGonagle, the Argyle Gargoyle, whose talent was gargling Gershwin ("Gorgeously!")]]. Then the ''Star Wars'' cast bursts into his dressing room and Scooter decides they would be ''much'' better guest stars, so [=MacGonagle=] is tossed out. He later storms onto the stage, arguing his case with Kermit, who remains unimpressed. Later, though, [=MacGonagle=] sneaks back on stage to do his act -- with Mark Hamill joining in. Kermit finally has to resort to siccing Animal on the gargoyle.
** There was also the time Señor Wences guest starred. He was a puppeteer himself, so Kermit decides to do something "new": a puppet show.
** Several of the guest stars tried shamelessly to out-Muppet Franchise/TheMuppets -- like Spike Milligan, John Cleese and Peter Sellers -- with results that were indeed highly awesome.
** "When the show first started, the producers would call upon friends in the entertainment business. However, about half-way through the second season when Rudolf Nureyev appeared, his appearance gave the show so much positive publicity, that other celebrities came to the producers instead of the other way around." (from Wikipedia). Nureyev had seen the show whilst staying in London and liked it so much he actually called them up and asked if he could appear.

* CastOfSnowflakes
* TheCatCameBack: The trope-naming song was featured as a sketch in the Linda Ronstadt episode.

** Kermit: "Heigh-ho, everyone!", "YAAAAAAAY!", "Will you get outta here?", "Sheesh!", "Uh, yeah."
** Fozzie: "Wocka wocka!", "Hiya hiya hiya!", "AAAHHH! Fun-nee!"
** Scooter: "Fifteen seconds to curtain!"
** Swedish Chef: "Bork Bork Bork!"
** Miss Piggy's ''HI-YAAH!'', "Kissy, Kissy" and "Watch it, ''frog''!"

** Gonzo originally was a rather pathetic nebbish and had a crush on Ms. Piggy. He soon gained a whole lot of confidence and a girlfriend in Camilla the chicken.

* LetsSeeYouDoBetter: The Hal Linden episode had Statler and Waldorf run the show themselves while Kermit and Fozzie watch from the balcony.
-->'''Kermit:''' Y'know, I don't miss me at all.

* BreakoutCharacter: Miss Piggy. Her role during the first season was mostly Kermit's AbhorrentAdmirer. By the second season, Piggy's diva qualities had emerged. Pretty soon, she was being featured on just as much promotional material and merchandise as Kermit (and maybe even more than the frog, given all of her appearances on magazines and whatnot).
** Lew Zealand was originally only meant to appear in one episode, but quickly became a regular after that.
* BrickJoke: When John Cleese reads his contract to Kermit, he points out the term of his contracts say he works with "the frog, the bear, and the ugly, disgusting one who catches cannonballs" (Gonzo, who did that in the scene before this). Later, when Gonzo goes to John for help, he asks which one he is and Gonzo says "I'm the ugly, disgusting one who catches cannonballs."
* BulletDancing: In the Roy Rogers episode, Statler gets Waldorf bullet dancing, and Waldorf starts doing ballet. When they try it the other way around, all that happens is Statler gets a bullet in his foot.
* TheBusCameBack: Wayne and Wanda, a musical duo whose songs would always devolve into chaos, vanished after the first season, but returned in a fourth season episode, revealing that Kermit fired them and were now under hard times. Kermit, feeling guilty, and unable to remember why he fired them, agreed to rehire them. As soon as they started singing though, Kermit remembered why he fired them in the first place (they were terrible), and promptly ''re''fired them again. They do return, however, as background characters in ''Film/TheMuppets2011''.
* ButtMonkey:
** Beaker, in the Muppet Labs sketches from the second season on, existed to have horrible things happen to him -- though on occasion, he managed to get revenge. Often overlapped with TheWoobie because many fans couldn't help but laugh and feel sorry for him. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAtBki0PsC0 This compilation]] is probably the epitome of his Butt Monkey-dom.
** Wayne and Wanda are the most pretentious of the acts (which is why Sam loves them), and as such, something horrible always ruins their performance.
* CannotTellAJoke: In ''Sex and Violence'', UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington on Mount Rushmore is depicted like this.
* CaptainErsatz: Lewis Kazagger is a [[Series/MondayNightFootball Howard Cosell]] parody.
* CaptiveAudience: Statler and Waldorf.
* CarnivoreConfusion: A frequent problem encountered by the Swedish Chef, whose main courses tended to walk into his kitchen on their own four feet. Memorably lampshaded when he tried to cook Big Bird, and later when he tried to make frog's legs with Kermit's nephew Robin. In fact, sometimes it even gets into Herbivore Confusion.
* CartoonBomb: These were common on the show. Such occurrences include:
** A Swedish Chef skit where he's trying to open up a coconut. Immediately afterward, Statler [[Main/LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this episode's repeated usage of bombs.
--->'''Statler:''' Now, wait just a minute! That's the second time tonight they've used a bomb joke!\\
''(Waldorf picks up a bomb, which blows up)''\\
'''Waldorf:''' [[RuleOfThree Three's the charm!]]
** One randomly appears in Peter Sellers' dressing room as he's trying remember what Queen Victoria looked like.

* BigOlUnibrow: Alan Arkin sports one after drinking some Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde formula.
* BigShutUp: In the Diana Ross episode, Beaker is singing "Feelings" but the Muppets have been dealing with a very aggressive audience that night (they only wanted to see Diana), and proceed to start booing as Beaker sings, which scares him enough into stopping his song. Finally, Animal, who's on drums, has had enough and shouts, "QUIET!!!" It works... for a time.
* BirthdayEpisode: The Linda Lavin episode is to celebrate Kermit's birthday, but at the end he admits they have the wrong day. His real birthday is four months later.

* BlackComedyAnimalCruelty: The show has Marvin Suggs and his Muppaphone, little sentient balls of fluff that Marvin "plays" like a xylophone. At least one guest star found it appalling, and more often than not Marvin [[LaserGuidedKarma got his comeuppance]], like when he played "Witch Doctor" and a real witch doctor turns him into one of his Muppaphone creatures.
* BrandishmentBluff: Subverted - in a cowboy sketch, Fozzie has "a loaded pickle". It goes off.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Miss Piggy hates Annie Sue, so she naturally jumps at the chance to replace the girl when she has a case of stage fright just before a Muppets Melodrama sketch. Kermit lets Piggy go on, then tells the stagehands to tie Piggy to some railroad tracks, since that's what the sketch entails.
* BigEater: Miss Piggy, Animal and several of the monsters (especially Luncheon Counter Monster, Mean Mama, Behemoth and Gorgon Heap).

* AccessoryWearingCartoonAnimal: Kermit usually wears nothing but his collar, and will cover himself up if it's taken off. There are a few exceptions though:
** He wears clothes a lot in the earlier seasons, usually during the discussion panels sketches.
** When they do an underwater performance of Music/TheBeatles' "Octopus's Garden", he wears a bathing cap.

* BarefootCartoonAnimal: Animal, who usually only wore a front-open T-shirt and tattered pants. Other regular characters in this group (though not always seen as such on camera) include Dr. Bob (played by Rowlf) from "Veterinarian's Hospital", Sweetums the ogre, Uncle Deadly (a blue reptilian-like creature that wore tattered Victorian-style morning dress with spats) and Beauregard the janitor. Kermit and Fozzie have also had a few stage costumes that applied this trope as well.

* AttractiveBentGender: In one Muppet Labs sketch, the latest experiment-gone-wrong gives Beaker long, curly hair -- and Bunsen suddenly finds him "hauntingly attractive". Downplayed, since Beaker's hair seems to be the only thing that changes.
* AudienceParticipationSong: "Play a Simple Melody", in the Jean Stapleton episode.
* AwardShow: The Phyllis George episode has the show throwing an awards show for ''itself''.
* AwkwardPoetryReading: The first season had two episodes where Rowlf tried to read poems he'd written, but something would always happen to disrupt the reading.
* TheBackstageSketch: The show would frequently feature sketches backstage where the "talent" would propose new acts, the guest stars would bicker with Kermit over the things they were being asked to do, and zany things went on in the name of pushing the show forward. These would often be intertwined to create a plotline.
* BadlyBatteredBabysitter: Anyone foolish enough to look after Bobby Benson's Baby Band who isn't Bobby himself. They attack Fozzie after less than two minutes in his company, and ransack Miss Piggy's dressing room. How exactly Bobby keeps them in line is... unclear.
* BaitAndSwitch: In the Roger Miller episode, a weird disease causes the cast to one-by-one transform into chickens. When Statler and Waldorf appear for the stinger at the end of the credits, will they also be transformed? [[spoiler:Yes -- but not into chickens.]]
* BananaPeel: In the James Coco episode, James attempts to liven up the Swedish Chef's act with a chorus line of dancers, which keep interrupting the Chef's attempts to prepare a banana split. The Chef retaliates by dropping a banana peel in their path, making them all fall down.
* BankruptcyBarrel:
** Statler and Waldorf are shown wearing barrels in TheStinger of the Crystal Gayle episode, presumably because the prairie dogs stole their long underwear.
** Tony Randall's episode has a pair of raccoons in barrels show up to demand the return of their fur coats, which have been taken by Randall to use in the next musical number.

* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: The Swedish Chef, who speaks mock-Swedish. There were several episodes between his introduction and TheReveal that he wasn't speaking real Swedish InUniverse. Guest star, Creator/JeanStapleton reveals this as she also speaks mock-Swedish. (She took a correspondence course.)
** Apparently, to actual Swedes he sounds ''Norwegian''. They're generally not offended; they just don't see what's supposed to be so funny.
** NeverHeardThatOneBefore comes to mind.
** There's also the Jonathan Winters episode, which concludes with ''everyone'' speaking Swedish.

* WidgetSeries

** The second big example is [[Recap/TheMuppetShowS4E12 the Phyllis George episode]], during which Scooter sings a song listing off every single guest to have been on the show... and he lists several whose episodes hadn't been aired yet, and most puzzlingly, he mentions Señor Wences, who wouldn't be on the show until the next season, and the picture they use isn't of Wences but of Charles Aznavour from behind.
* AnswersToTheNameOfGod: In the Roger Moore episode, the Newsman reads a news story about a black-and-yellow striped mackerel getting elected king. At first, he thinks it's a prank (especially since he had also read a story about a spy ring attempting to sneak ridiculous stories into the news), but then one of the guards in the theater escorts the new king into the news room:
-->'''[[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep The Newsman]]:''' ''[amazed]'' Holy mackerel!\\
'''King:''' No, "Your Highness" will do.
* AnvilOnHead: As part of the ''Muppet News Flash'' sketches, as the newsman tries to deliver the news of the day, he suffered from a nasty streak of bad luck that usually culminated in some person or object, somehow related to the day's story, falling on his head.
* TheArtifact: The pilot episodes (with guests Juliet Prowse and Connie Stevens, which were later re-worked) had a longer theme song. The song had a spot for the guest star to sing a line: "It's very nice to be here/I'm pleased to say hello," which would be the rhyme for "The Muppet Show". These lines were removed from the song for the actual series, making the "Muppet Show" lyric seem a touch out of place.
* ArtistAndTheBand:
** The show's main band is Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, led by '''Dr. Teeth''' on keyboard.
** A recurring act is a band made up of elderly people called Geri and the Atrics (a pun on "geriatric").
* AscendedExtra: Miss Piggy was just one of about a dozen pigs intended to appear in a choral number early in the first season. But her voice and attitude amused the crew so much that they kept bringing her back. Several years later, Rizzo the Rat became a major character in much the same way.

* AffablyEvil: Alice Cooper may terrify the Muppets, and is trying to get them to sign up for a DealWithTheDevil, but he's tremendously polite the whole way through, never actually pushes them into anything, and when the only Muppet to take him up on his offer demands he take it back, does so.
* AllAsiansWearConicalStrawHats: Including the Muppets representing Japan in the Spike Milligan-hosted "Salute to All Nations" episode.
* AllDrummersAreAnimals: Literally. According to legend, Animal was based upon [[Music/TheWho Keith Moon]].
* TheAllegedHouse: There was a sketch where a lazy redneck was reciting a poem called "Life Sure Gets Tee-jus, Don't It?" Apparently unwilling or unable to work, he was poor to the point where he was out of food, had no presentable clothes, and his house was in terrible disrepair. In his own words: "Tin[[note]] the house on the set didn't actually have a tin roof at all, just a wooden one that looked like it was badly put together...make of that what you will[[/note]] roof leaks, chimney leans..." His house literally fell apart at the end of the sketch.
* AllForNothing:
** In one episode, Fozzie spends the entire show bugging Kermit to put him on-stage because his mother is in the audience, even replacing Miss Piggy for "Pigs in Space", only to find out at the end of the episode [[spoiler:she fell asleep at some point, rendering all his actions pointless.]]
** One "Pigs in Space" sketch has Miss Piggy and Link fighting over who gets to be the first pig to set foot on Koozbane, and therefore get the fame and glory, with Link managing to knock himself out leaving the ship, only for Piggy to reveal the camera's broken anyhow.
* AlmostFamousName:
** Inverted in one episode where Kermit initially believes the guest star is an act called Lesley & Warren, and then is presented with the trio of Les, Lee & Warren, but is pleasantly surprised to discover that it's actually the similarly named but more famous actor-singer-dancer Creator/LesleyAnnWarren.
** In the Lynn Redgrave episode, which is devoted to a musical about Myth/RobinHood, the "author of tonight's drama" is introduced in a backstage scene as William Shakespeare -- not ''the'' Creator/WilliamShakespeare, just ''a'' William Shakespeare.
* AlmostKiss: Kermit and guest star Lynn Redgrave, in character as Robin Hood and Maid Marian, sing a beautiful love duet, and are about to kiss when Piggy invents a blatant excuse to come on stage and interrupt.
* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: Let's see, an orange stagehand, a lime-green MadScientist, a dark green keyboard player, a teal sax player, a [[StealthPun pink Floyd...]]
* AnachronicOrder: Since there is nearly no continuity to keep track of from episode to episode, you'd think it would be impossible to get them out of order. Nevertheless, the [=DVDs=] have a few episodes with Scooter in it ''before'' the one in which he is hired.
** This is because the episodes were aired in a very different order from which they were filmed; the DVD puts the episodes in order of production instead of when they were filmed (the production order actually is different from the taping order) or broadcast.
** There are two big examples of this: the first being the Jim Nabors episode, episode six, which acts as Scooter's introduction to the series... despite him having been in three episodes prior to this. The second big example is the Phyllis George episode, during which Scooter sings a song listing off every single guest to have been on the show... and he lists several whose episodes hadn't been aired yet and most puzzlingly he mentions Señor Wences who wouldn't be on the show until the next season and the picture they use isn't of Wences but of Charles Aznavour from behind.
* AndIMustScream: This show actually manages to play even ''this'' trope for laughs:
** Three AdventurerArchaeologist muppets find a hidden chamber in an Egyptian tomb in one sketch while singing "Night and Day", and the sarcophaguses and mummies inside the chamber take over the song. At first, the archaeologists are terrified, until one of them notices that the sarcophaguses and mummies seem glad to see the archaeologists, and one of the sarcophaguses confirms it: "When you've been stood up for 4000 years, you're glad to see ''anybody''!"
** In the Tony Randall episode, Tony accidentally turns Miss Piggy [[TakenForGranite to stone]]. Unlike other examples of this trope, you can still hear Miss Piggy grunting and moaning, meaning that even though she can't move or speak, she's still very aware of her surroundings. This is especially evident when Floyd takes advantage of the fact that she can't do anything by taking potshots at her expense.

->''"It's time to play the music,\\
It's time to light the lights,\\

On the Muppet Show tonight!"''

Creator/{{ABC}} aired a pair of {{pilot}} specials, ''The Muppets Valentine Show'' (1974) and ''The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence'' (1975), but when all the US networks rejected their ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_uf7P-Krho frankly awesome]]) pitch for a weekly series, Henson and co. instead finagled a distribution deal with Britain's Creator/ITCEntertainment, under the auspices of Lord Lew Grade. As it happened Grade very well knew what puppets could do on TV, considering he'd financed Creator/GerryAnderson's classic UsefulNotes/{{Supermarionation}} series like ''Series/{{Thunderbirds}}''. Eventually American network Creator/{{CBS}}, or rather their owned-and-operated station group, joined up once it was clear the Muppets were also a sure bet.

-->''"It's time to put on makeup,\\
It's time to dress up right,\\

On the Muppet Show tonight!"''

Cheerful, cool-headed Kermit the Frog was the emcee-slash-production manager-slash-[[OnlySaneMan eye of the storm]] for this truly 'far out' all-puppet VarietyShow. The setting was a tiny rundown downtown theatre and the tone was deliberately reminiscent of old-style {{vaudeville}}, where anything could happen and usually did. Other major members of the troupe included diva Miss Piggy, comedian Fozzie Bear, piano-playing Rowlf the Dog, daredevil performance artist Gonzo the Great, and Scooter the eager "[[{{Pun}} go-fer]]".

-->''"To introduce our guest star\\
That's what I'm here to do;\\

To introduce to you:"''

A different human entertainer was featured as each episode's SpecialGuest, and the show's cachet quickly became such that they were frequently A-list talent--often uniquely so (ballet legend Rudolf Nureyev, anyone?). Each week, technical flubs, talent crises, rampaging egos and financial issues (when the pigs weren't rebelling, or angry clones weren't on the loose, or the ''Franchise/StarWars'' cast wasn't rampaging through in search of Chewbacca) would bring the show teetering to the brink of disaster; each week, [[TheShowMustGoOn the show somehow managed to go on]].

Recurring sketches included ''Veterinarian's Hospital'', starring Rowlf ("the continuing stoooooooory of a quack who's gone to the dogs"); ''Pigs in Space'' ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin yep, pretty much]]); ''Muppet Labs'', with Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his perpetually terrified assistant Beaker ("Now your family can be protected from the heartbreak of gorilla invasion!"); cooking segments with the game-but-goofy Swedish Chef; and the disaster-prone ''Muppet News Flash''. Keyboard-playing Doctor Teeth and his Electric Mayhem -- laid-back bassist and singer Floyd Pepper, groovy guitarist Janice, silent saxophonist Zoot and drummer Animal -- were the house band. And sitting high above it all in the balcony, in prime position to volley insults, were [[SourSupporter codger hecklers]] JustForFun/StatlerAndWaldorf:

-->''"Why do we always come here?\\
I guess we'll never know!\\

To have to watch this show!"''

-->''"Our show tonight will feature\\
Some stuff that goes like this:"''

The concept was brought back and updated in 1989, with the "Muppet Television" segments of ''Series/TheJimHensonHour'', which moved the show from a theatre to a TV station. A second short-lived revival in 1996, ''Series/MuppetsTonight'', with the Muppet team using an entire television network's headquarters for their ShowWithinAShow instead of a single studio.

The show was revived in the form of a ComicBookAdaptation, ''ComicBook/TheMuppetShowComicBook'', and a [[https://www.youtube.com/user/MuppetsStudio Youtube channel]].

-->''"But now, let's get things started!\\
(Audience: Why don't you get things started?)\\

On the most sensational,\\

This is what we call the Muppet Show!!"''\\
''([[CouchGag Gonzo plays something on his trumpet]]. HilarityEnsues, usually)''

* AbhorrentAdmirer: The first season finale guest starring Mummenschanz began Gonzo's unrequited infatuation with Miss Piggy, which would last through all incarnations of the show afterward, even the original iteration of ''WesternAnimation/{{Muppet Babies|1984}}''.
* AbominableAuditorium: The Muppet Theater of The Muppet Show is often portrayed as as a Non-Functional venue, especially given the wacky hijinks of Gonzo, Lew Zealand, Crazy Harry and others. At one point, J.P. Grosse refuses to have the place demolished as he believes that it'll probably fall apart on its own sooner or later - only for the floor to collapse under him!
* AccentuateTheNegative: InUniverse, Statler and Waldorf take great pleasure in mocking anything and everyone except the SpecialGuest, and even those are by no means immune (just ask Milton Berle). The only other thing the old gentlemen seem to enjoy unabashedly is when they perform old vaudeville-era song-and-dance numbers.

* AccessoryWearingCartoonAnimal: Kermit usually wears nothing but his collar, and will cover himself up if it's taken off.

** Kermit wears clothes a lot in the earlier seasons, usually during the discussion panels sketches.
** Also Fozzie, who only wears a hat and a necktie.
* AcquiredSituationalNarcissism: Deconstructed. After getting a movie contract in Bombay, Gonzo seems to become pompous about his upcoming stardom. In his final act however, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone the weight of him leaving everyone on the show finally sinks in]] and he [[BreakTheHaughty breaks down sobbing on stage]]. [[spoiler:Just as well as it turns out they'd contacted the wrong guy.]]
* ActorAllusion:
** Jokes would frequently be made during episodes that referenced their guest stars' careers. For example, when Milton Berle appeared in season 2, the teaser was an exaggerated version of the RunningGag from his 1950s Creator/{{NBC}} series in which someone would yell "''Make-up!''" before hitting him with a big powder puff. Meanwhile, his altercation with Statler and Waldorf in his first appearance on stage is a nod to the debt of influence owed by the characters to the character of Sidney Spritzer, who regularly heckled Berle from a theatre box on his 1960s ABC series.
** During the joust scene in the Pearl Bailey episode, Gonzo yells to his steed (a cow), "Run Louise, run!" The cow was puppeteered by Louise Gold.
** Two in the "At the Dance" sketch in the ''Sex and Violence'' pilot: Rowlf casually mentions his stint on Jimmy Dean's show, but no one remembers him anymore. Kermit also says this to his partner: "I might be able to get you a job on [[Series/SesameStreet an educational show for kids]]."
** Carol Burnett's snarking about how Julie Andrews didn't have such a miserable time guesting on the show is a reference to the two women's lifelong friendship.
** At the end of the Roger Miller episode, Roger reveals that he knows all about cluckitis (the disease that temporarily turns you into a chicken) because he had it once. Six years earlier he had voiced the singing rooster Alan-a-Dale in Disney's ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood1973'' – maybe that was when he had it.
** Christopher Reeve's episode is rife with jokes about his role as Superman, such as being able to change in a phone booth, having super strength, and leaving "faster than a speeding bullet".

-->'''Kermit:''' [[SigningOffCatchphrase Thank you, everybody and we'll see you all next time on]] ''"[[SigningOffCatchphrase The Muppet Show!]]"''

* ThisBananaIsArmed: One sketch features Fozzie as an Old West-style criminal whose entire arsenal consists of fruits and vegetables.
-->'''Fozzie:''' I-I'm sorry, I didn't know the pickles were loaded!

* NotSoAboveItAll: As it turns out, putting Bert from Sesame Street into a tuxedo with top hat and cane and putting him on stage will lead to him singing (In this case, Some Enchanted Evening from SouthPacific). Then he realises what he did, and deflatedly asks Ernie to take him home.

* OldFashionedRowboatDate: The setting of a Wayne and Wanda sketch, wherein the two sing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat". It's one of few of their sketches that make it to the chorus... and then the boat springs a leak.

%%* TalkingAnimal (Administrivia/ZeroContextExample)

* RockersSmashGuitars: After Gonzo plays some bad music for guest star Paul Simon, Paul says that he'll only play Gonzo's songs from now on on the guitar he's holding. He then breaks it.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: The Swedish Chef has a live duck[[note]]For the same value of "live" as any of the puppet characters[[/note]] and announces he plans on making Pressed Duck by using a clothes iron on it. The duck runs away, then runs the other direction, picks up the iron in its beak, and drops it on the Swedish Chef's head, then flies away laughing.
** Statler and Waldorf both decide to leave when they hear that Danny Kaye was the special guest, and spend most of the episode in an alley behind the theatre. Turns out they heard wrong, and thought the guest was Manny Kaye, a supposedly really bad entertainer, and they were huge Danny Kaye fans.
* SecondEpisodeIntroduction: Although Scooter appeared in the first two recorded episodes of the series, he was not introduced to viewers until the second broadcast episode[[note]](the sixth to be recorded)[[/note]], guest starring Jim Nabors.

* SelfDeprecation: Endless jabs at the quality of the show:
-->'''Luke Skywalker:''' Listen, pal, we're on a mission. There's no way we're gonna be involved in some third-rate variety show!\\
'''Kermit:''' ''[deeply wounded]'' ''Second''-rate variety show!
** Statler and Waldorf ''exist'' for this, in-show.
* ShamefulShrinking: Guest star Madeline Kahn is in a park talking about how beautiful everything is, when a monster comes and starts destroying whatever she mentions as being beautiful. She turns to the monster and tells him how horrible he is... and how that makes him beautiful, and as she goes on how beautiful his horribleness is, the monster shrinks down to the size of a crochet ball. She tells the audience how "[[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath sometimes you have to talk your problems down to size]]" before hitting the monster away with her umbrella.
* ShirtlessScene: Played entirely straight in a long scene featuring Rudolf Nureyev wearing nothing but a towel.
* ShockinglyExpensiveBill: Gonzo holds a piece of paper that Kermit thinks is Alice Cooper's [[DealWithTheDevil contract]], but turns out to be something worse: a huge bill detailing the cost of the special effects used in the episode.

* ShootOutTheLock: During the "Put Another Log on the Fire" number, Candice Bergen dramatically leaves her husband by using his double-barrelled shotgun to blow the cabin door off its hinges.

** The John Cleese episode, perhaps inevitably, includes a bit where he winds up shouting about [[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus an ex-parrot]].

* OnlySaneMan:
** Kermit, and at times even he was [[WildTake just hanging on]] by his metaphorical fingernails.
--->'''Lesley Ann Warren:''' You know, Kermit, I thought you were the ''one'' person on this show who wasn't crazy.\\
'''Kermit:''' ''Me'', not crazy? I hired the others!
** Rowlf might be closer to the sane line than Kermit. He's certainly calmer.
* OnSecondThought: In the Roger Moore episode, Kermit calls Vikings the worst humans ever. The Swedish Chef angrily comes out and whacks Kermit with a frying pan. Kermit apologizes and calls the Vikings gentle, quaint, fun-loving old charmers.
* OutOfCharacterMoment:
** Kermit is surprisingly mean to Piggy during the Teresa Brewer episode, making all kinds of snide remarks about her weight.
** Statler and Waldorf sing along to "Turn the World Around" at the end of the Harry Belafonte episode, rather than their snide, sarcastic heckling.
* OutSick: In one episode, Kermit is sick and Fozzie fills in badly.
* OrphanedPunchline:
** "...but the wallpaper is delicious!"
** The ''Sex and Violence'' pilot has Statler telling Waldorf one of these. "...And so the waiter says, 'Excuse me, but you're dancing with my umbrella!'"
* OverlyNarrowSuperlative: Kermit introduces the show in one episode as "the number one show hosted by a frog".
* PainfulRhyme: In the "Robin Hood" episode; Scooter, doing exposition in the role of Alan-a-Dale, rhymes "in sooth" with "living fast and looth", prompting a complaint from Fozzie.
-->'''Scooter:''' Don't ask me. I'm usually the gofer around here.

* PaperThinDisguise:
** In the "Robin Hood" episode, Robin Hood's disguise for the archery contest is a pair of NerdGlasses and a bright red false beard. Apart from that, he's wearing the same outfit he wears in every other scene.
** Any disguise that Gonzo inevitably wears will be this, as it's usually some kind of mask that has to make room for his [[GagNose distinctly shaped nose.]] In fact, it usually doesn't "make room" for his nose so much as ''fully incorporate'' his nose into the mask (his [[Franchise/StarWars Dearth Nadir]] costume being a prime example).
** Kermit the Pig in Cloris Leachman's episode still looks like a pig despite being otherwise a dead ringer for Kermit, right down to being green. Cloris ''nearly'' sees through it, until Mr. the Pig proves his frogness by saying "ribbit". [[spoiler:Since Cloris is the one who saves the theatre, apparently she did see through the disguise after all.]]
** Fozzie infiltrating "PIGS! IN! SPACE!" as Ms. Piggy consists of him borrowing her costume and putting on a blonde wig, and peppering his statements with "''mon capitan''". Since he's dealing with Link Hogthrob, this works. Link thinks Piggy just hasn't shaved. In fact, it works a little too well, since Link tries to kiss "her".
** In the Mac Davis episode, Bunsen wears disguises to hide himself from the many Beaker clones(ItMakesSenseInContext). His first disguise is a trench coat, hat, and special glasses with a fake nose and mustache attached, which fools Kermit, who didn't think he looked like Bunsen, and at the end, [[spoiler:Bunsen is dressed as Beaker, whom both Kermit and the various Beaker's don't recognize as Bunsen, while Mac does notice he's wearing a disguise. His costume is just a red-haired wig, fake eyes and nose, otherwise it looks like Bunsen.]]
** One of Fozzie's attempts to hide from Milton Berle invovles wearing a disguise, which consists of glasses and a beard. Scooter at first appears to be fooled, until he admits that it looks like Fozzie in disguise.
* ParachutePetticoat

* PetHeir: In the Milton Berle episode, a Muppet News Flash describes the will of Mary Crandall, which has been bitterly contested by her son Charles and her cat Cuteypie. The court has ruled in favor of the son, who consequently inherited the estate... which consisted of 10,000 rubber mice.
* PianoDrop: Happens in the Muppet News Flash sketch on the Jaye P. Morgan episode. Here, the Newsman reports that a charter flight carrying the London Symphony Orchestra was forced to jettison some of the musical instruments -- including, apparently, a piano that falls on his desk.
* PieInTheFace: Kermit and ''especially'' Fozzie were the usual targets, but guest stars were not immune.
-->'''Creator/SandyDuncan:''' ''[to a depressed-looking Behemoth]'' You mustn't look so sad. Oh, I know that you may appear to be on the outside ugly, but inside, I'll bet that you are as beautiful as a morning sunrise!\\
''[Behemoth pies Sandy]''\\
'''Sandy:''' On the other hand... ''[laughs as she attacks Behemoth with the pie remnants on her face]''
* PillowPregnancy: In one sketch, Piggy sings a song called "Waiting at the Church" dressed as a heavily pregnant bride. Once the song ends, there's this exchange.
-->'''Kermit:''' Now will you take that silly pillow out from under your dress?\\
'''Piggy:''' I like it!
* {{Pirate}}: Notably portrayed by John Cleese and Glenda Jackson in their respective episodes.
* APirate400YearsTooLate:
** One "Pigs In Space" sketch had John Cleese attacking the Swinetrek as a pirate -- of the swashbuckler variety. Link Hogthrob informs him that he's a few centuries out of place, which leads to an argument between John and his parrot.
-->'''Link:''' This is the ''Swinetrek'', bound for the other side of the universe! ''You're'' supposed to be on an ocean someplace!\\
'''Parrot:''' ''See'' I ''told'' you so!
** Guest Glenda Jackson reveals herself to be a pirate and takes over the show, which has somehow turned into a ship.
* PirateParrot: Assisting Cleese ([[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus "Do you want to be an ex-parrot?"]]) and Jackson; it may even have been the same parrot on both occasions. And a near miss in the episode guest-starring Gilda Radner; she plans to do a duet from ''Theatre/ThePiratesOfPenzance'' with a talking parrot, but there's [[http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/File:Gildaradner.jpg a slight misunderstanding]].
* PlotBasedVoiceCancellation: The one time Fozzie tells a guaranteed hilarious joke, it's the episode at the railway station, and the joke is drowned out by a passing train.
* PokemonSpeak: The lead singer of the "Mahna Mahna" song is a muppet named Mahna Mahna.
* PoliceAreUseless: The entirety of the "Bear on Patrol" sketches. Well, when you've only got two cops, one of whom is Fozzie and the other is Link Hogthrob, failure is pretty much the only option available.
* PoorCommunicationKills: During the Swedish Chef skit for the Dyan Cannon show, Piggy loses her beloved Foo Foo. She asks the Swedish Chef where her dog went, and the Chef -- who has ''just'' finished plopping hot dogs into a pot of boiling water -- responds, "De doggies en de pottie!" (In 30-odd years since, who else has put one over on Piggy without getting knocked into next week?)
* PowderKegCrowd: The Diana Ross episode is about the audience full of Muppets who keep angrily booing everything off stage unless it's Diana performing.

** "PIIIIIGS. IIIIIN. SPAAAAAAAACE!"

* PunnyName: Fleet Scribbler, a play on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleet_Street Fleet Street]].
* ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud: In the "Robin Hood" episode, Fozzie's idea of cavorting involves literally dancing around saying "Cavort, cavort, cavort, cavort..."

* ReedRichardsIsUseless: In the Tony Randall episode, Miss Piggy turns into a stone statue. During Pigs in Space, Strangepork talks about a way to turn stone into pigs, Link pulls a lever and it causes Piggy to turn back to normal, and Link ends up turning her back by reversing it. Sure, it's not often one would need to turn somebody back to normal after turning to stone, but it is impressive that something that should just be a set piece actually works like it's said to.
* RepeatAfterMe: In the Loretta Swit episode, Miss Piggy is fired, so the Veterinarian's Hospital sketch starts with just two actors.
-->'''Dr. Bob:''' Say, isn't somebody missing?\\
'''Janice:''' Okay, "Isn't somebody missing?"
* TheReveal: During the closing credits of the ''Sex and Violence'' pilot, the camera pulls back to reveal Henson, Oz and the other Muppeteers performing the characters during the chaotic scene.
* {{Revival}}: ''Series/TheJimHensonHour'', ''Series/MuppetsTonight''.

* RooflessRenovation: The theater gets one of these in the Gladys Knight episode.
* RougeAnglesOfSatin: See PirateParrot, above.
* RuleOfThree: In the Steve Martin episode, a girl Muppet tries singing on stage, but gets dragged off by a vaudeville hook each time. On the third, we learn the identity of her abductor, and it's Ms. Piggy, determined to be the only girl on the stage.

** Muppets and guest stars alike would often throw an {{aside glance}} and comment "Cute. Cute joke." whenever they're somewhat amused with whatever just happened. Mostly contained to the first season.
** In the Elton John episode, the Swedish Chef ends up angrily chasing a chicken around. TheStinger has Statler and Waldorf complain they hate running gags, just so the running gag happens again, with the Swedish Chef and chicken ending up in their booth.
** Dudley Moore's crazed, robotic music machine, which managed to work its way into virtually ''every single sketch''.

** After a scene in which Juliet Prowse dances and then artfully fades out of view:
--->'''Waldorf:''' Hey, she just vanished! How did she do that?\\
'''Statler:''' Probably like this! ''[takes a deep breath and fades out]''\\
'''Waldorf:''' Yep, that's probably how she did it!
** When Scooter shows up backstage with a large wooden crate:
--->'''Kermit:''' Scooter, what is this?\\
'''Scooter:''' It's a crate, chief!\\
[...]\\
'''Kermit:''' May I ask you what is in it?\\
'''Scooter:''' Sure, go ahead!\\
'''Kermit:''' ''What is in it?''

* OutOfContextEavesdropping: In the Connie Stevens episode, Fozzie thinks people want him gone when they describe hating a bear. But they were really talking about Gonzo's teddy bear.

* {{Improv}}: Throughout the Joel Grey episode, Fozzie works on a "jokes on request" act that annoys the crew. He even gets a joke out of their silent treatment. When it's time for him to demonstrate his act for the audience, however, he struggles on the word "amoeba", and Statler and Waldorf (who suggested the word in the first place) relentlessly start calling him a fake. Fozzie manages to make a successful joke out of it[[note]]"Two amoeba walk out of a bar. One amoeba says to the other, 'Say, is that the sun or the moon?' And the other amoeba says, 'I don't know, I don't live around here.'"[[/note]], and everyone loves it, though Statler and Waldorf admit they don't know what an amoeba is either.

* FaintInShock:
** In the Ruth Buzzi episode, Miss Piggy faints after knocking out Kermit and then seeing a robot Kermit standing right there. Fortunately, there's a squishy frog to break her fall.
** Kermit faints in the John Cleese episode, after nearly being hit by two heavy weights falling from the rafters.

* FriendlyTickleTorture: The Ruth Buzzi episode ends with a few of the Muppets tickling her.

* HostileShowTakeover:
** In the Ruth Buzzi episode, Scooter brings in a wind-up robot Kermit which tries to replace him.
** When Glenda Jackson guests, she becomes a pirate and hijacks the theater as if it were a ship.

* MirrorRoutine: In the Ruth Buzzi episode, Kermit goes to check his appearance in a mirror, and is initially unaware that his 'reflection' is actually his mechanical duplicate (which looks exactly like him from the front) mimicking his movements.

* RepetitiveAudioGlitch: During the closing announcement at the end of the Ruth Buzzi episode, Kermit mixes up a couple of words and then starts repeating them over and over with the same inflection, leading to the reveal that it's not the real Kermit but the mechanical duplicate who has been trying to steal his job all episode.

* RobotMe: In the Ruth Buzzi episode, Scooter unveils a wind-up mechanical TV host, which looks exactly like Kermit (apart from the huge winding key in its back). It repeatedly attempts to replace Kermit as the show's host -- and in Miss Piggy's affections.

** Lampshaded in the Rita Moreno episode with a series of backstage phone calls:
--->'''Kermit:''' Is there no end to this running gag?!
--->([[RunningGagged cue Animal tearing the phone off the wall]])

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: When Scooter arrives in the Jim Nabors episode and announces that he's the troupe's new gofer, Kermit, used to being surrounded by frogs and pigs and chickens, initially thinks he's claiming to be a gopher.

* CurrencyCuisine: In the Jim Nabors episode, at the end of the song "Money", Dr. Teeth pulls a lever on his keyboard, causing it to spew dollar bills which he begins to consume. He is later shown wiping his mouth as he heads backstage.

* {{Feghoot}}: In the Jim Nabors episode, two dog Muppets, Rowlf and Baskerville, sing a song telling a melancholy tale that turns out to be building up to a pun on the phrase "dog eat dog".

* GoofyPrintUnderwear: When Jim Nabors sings "Gone With the Wind", the wind gets stronger and stronger, eventually blowing his trousers off and leaving him in polka dot boxers.

** In the Jim Nabors episode, Statler makes a joke about Jim being a good neighbor that gets a disgruntled reaction from Waldorf.

* SideBet: The stinger at the end of the Jim Nabors episode reveals that Statler and Waldorf have a running bet about whether the Muppets will get all the way through the show without some disaster befalling them.