History Series / TheMuppetShow

* {{Expy}}: Beauregard the Janitor is virtually the exact same character as Wendell the Porcupine from ''Literature/EmmetOttersJugBandChristmas'', just a different creature.

* BlackComedyAnimalCruelty: Marvin Suggs and his Muppaphone, little sentient balls of fluff that Marvin "plays" like a xylophone. At least one guest star finds it appalling, and more often than not Marvin [[LaserGuidedKarma gets his comeuppance]], like when he plays "Witch Doctor" and a real witch doctor turns him into one of his Muppaphone creatures.

** 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 (Music/DizzyGillespie, Creator/LizaMinnelli, Anne Murray, Music/AndyWilliams), and most puzzlingly, he mentions Señor Wences, who [[Recap/TheMuppetShowS5E8 wouldn't be on the show until the next season]], and the picture they use isn't of Wences but of Music/CharlesAznavour from behind.

** 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 (Music/DizzyGillespie, Creator/LizaMinnelli, Creator/AnneMurray, Creator/AndyWilliams), and most puzzlingly, he mentions Creator/SenorWences, who [[Recap/TheMuppetShowS5E8 wouldn't be on the show until the next season]], and the picture they use isn't of Wences but of Music/CharlesAznavour from behind.

** 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 [[Recap/TheMuppetShowS5E8 wouldn't be on the show until the next season]], and the picture they use isn't of Wences but of Music/CharlesAznavour from behind.

The show became so popular that in at least one U.S. market, two stations broadcast different episodes in back-to-back time slots. The show was never actually cancelled; instead, Henson and company decided to end it so that they could work on films, ''Film/TheMuppetMovie'' in particular.

[[caption-width-right:350:''"It's The Muppet Show, with our very special guest star, [Guest Star]! YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!"'']]

[[caption-width-right:350:''"It's The Muppet Show, with our very special guest star, [Celebrity]! YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!"'']]

[[caption-width-right:350:''"Ladies and gentlemen, it's the Muppet Show! YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!"'']]

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness

** One character that needed a lot of development then was Fozzie; the producers used as [[ButtMonkey a bad comedian]] who is rather obnoxious and is treated rather cruelly in the early stories. However, the seeds of what would make him a great character in later seasons showed in episode 10 with the "[[http://youtu.be/eH2coWVi9Vg Good Grief, the Comedian's a Bear]]" sketch when you see him struggle to set up a joke with Kermit and is both hilarious and charming with his innocent goofs and his determination to make it work.

** Eren Ozker and John Lovelady were performers in the first season. Ozker left after that, while Lovelady scaled back his involvement to building puppets before he himself left.

** In a brief bit in the Spike Milligan episode, a tap-dancer's conversation with Kermit comes to an abrupt end when the Swedish Chef rushes up and attacks him because his tapping has collapsed the Chef's soufflé. [[SeriousBusiness Leading Spain and Sweden to declare war on each other.]]

* EndOfSeriesAwareness: In the Gene Kelly episode, Scooter reads a prophecy that the world is about to come to a end. The "Pigs in Space" sketch even references the end of the universe. They decide it's not really the end because it was translated wrong, but it was still the end of their run.

%%* CaptainErsatz: Lewis Kazagger is a [[Series/MondayNightFootball Howard Cosell]] parody. (Administrivia/ZeroContextExample; this doesn't mean anything to someone who doesn't know who Howard Cosell is)

* DemotedToExtra: Rowlf. As head-writer Jerry Juhl pointed out, Rowlf was mostly consigned to being used in musical numbers and skits, almost completely absent from backstage CharacterDevelopment. It's not that they didn't like the character, it's that Jim was busy performing Kermit, yet didn't want Rowlf recast. As a result, ideas Juhl had for developing relationships between Rowlf and Fozzie, Rowlf and Piggy, etc., never came to fruition.

** Hilda, the sweet, [[CoolOldLady grandmotherly]] wardrobe mistress was resigned as to the background after the first season, as her performer left the show.

** ''The Muppet Valentine Show'' and ''Sex and Violence'' were hosted by now-obscure Muppets (Wally and Nigel respectively) instead of Kermit. And at the end of the latter, [[spoiler:the camera pulls back to show the Muppeteers running around]].
** Also Miss Piggy in the early episodes was almost unrecognizable.
*** On a related note, in the first season, Miss Piggy was alternately played by both Frank Oz and Richard Hunt, the latter would usually portray her when the former had to play a more prominent character like Fozzie or George the Janitor. This is made even more peculiar in the first episode, in which the final sketch had Oz doing Piggy's speaking voice, and Hunt singing for her.
** 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. This was reflected in his first-season puppet, which was [[PropRecycling recycled]] from a TV special, was a bit ratty-looking, and had [[PerpetualFrowner a permanent frown on his face]]. It was rebuilt for the second season, and his base appearance was in place.

* CouchGag: Many, the most famous being Gonzo's gong (Season 1) or trumpet note (Seasons 2-5) at the end of the theme song. Others are: Statler and Waldorf's opening (Season 2) and closing (entire run) comments, Fozzie telling a joke during the title sequence (Season 1), the "15 seconds to curtain" reveal of the guest star (Seasons 2-4), Pops the doorman greeting the host (Season 5).

-->'''Doctor Bob:''' Say, isn't somebody missing?
-->'''Nurse Janice:''' Okay, isn't somebody missing?

-->""Doctor Bob:"" Say, isn't somebody missing?
-->""Nurse Janice:"" Okay, isn't somebody missing?

-->"Doctor Bob:" Say, isn't somebody missing?
-->"Nurse Janice:" Okay, isn't somebody missing?

''The Muppet Show'' was produced for worldwide weekly syndication from 1976 to 1981. The series was videotaped at the [[UsefulNotes/HomeCounties Elstree]] studios of ITC's sister company ATV (where sequences for ''Franchise/StarWars'' and ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' were also filmed; the studios are currently home to ''Series/EastEnders''). The choreography for the human guests was created by Gillian Lynne, who later went on to design all the ballet sequences in Creator/AndrewLloydWebber's stage production of ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera''.

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 that the Muppets were also a sure bet.

* ObviousBeta: In-universe, any of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew's inventions.

[[folder:Tropes 0-M]]

* VarietyShow: Duh.

* IAmNotSpock: As far as the show is concerned, Christopher Reeve ''is'' Film/{{Superman}}. He doesn't seem to mind, though. (It comes in handy when an angered Miss Piggy tries her famous pig-fu on him.)[[invoked]]

* QuackDoctor: Played with. "Veterinarian's Hospital" is described by the announcer as "the continuing stoooooooory of a quack who's gone to the dogs". It's not clear if Rowlf really is a quack, but he's a terrible doctor regardless—he swaps jokes with Nurse Piggy and Nurse Janice instead of making any real effort to heal his patients.

* QuackDoctor: Played with. One recurring segment is "Veterinarian's Hospital", described by the announcer as "the continuing stoooooooory of a quack who's gone to the dogs". ([[{{Pun}} The doctor is played by Rowlf]].) It's not clear if he really is a quack, but he's a terrible doctor regardless—he swaps jokes with Nurse Piggy and Nurse Janice instead of making any real effort to heal his patients.

* QuackDoctor: One segment is "Veterinarian's Hospital", described as the story of a quack who's gone to the dogs ( [[{{pun}} the doctor is Rolf]]). It's not clear if he really is a quack, but he's a terrible doctor regardless.

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

[[folder:Tropes A-M]]

* TwoForOneShow: The show is evenly split between the variety acts of the eponymous shows and the backstage story, with the two affecting each other.