Take a good look at the backstage area each time a new scene opens in it- the sports team logo sticker on the bulletin board, the bust to the left of the bulletin board, the clocks on the wall, and the photograph next to the wise man change in each new scene. Although you can see that the Muppet folks were trying, on a whole, the pilot is not as good as the real Muppet Show would eventually be. Perhaps the best parts are the birds with rather familiar-sounding calls, and the running gag involving Nigel setting up a pageant for the deadliest of the seven deadly sins. (“Do we have room in the pageant for an eighth deadly sin…wearing funny pants to a funeral?”) Take a good look during the end credits- Jim Henson (in Muppet form) is seen playing banjo with the Electric Mayhem, and there is a rather revealing camera pull-back while the credits roll.
Fiftieth anniversary? I could’ve sworn KtF hasn’t been around that long, but this press release confirms the big 5-0. I could’ve sworn he came into existence with Sesame Street in the late 60’s, but apparently I am wrong. Does anyone have any info of what KtF did before that?
In addition to what the link says, I once found a claim in a book on Chicago that Kermit was used in the late 50’s/early 60’s in advertising for Krahm’s (sp?) Dairy.
While I’m delighted to learn about the little green guy’s background, what the heck is this info doing on http://encyclopedia.laborlawtalk.com ? Does cartoonnetwork have a link to the life story of Samuel Gompers or George Meany?
I was old enough to watch the show when it first came out, and I remember that there was some concern about having all-new muppets for the show. That was (IIRC - and it’s been a l-o-n-g time) the primary reason for restoring Kermit as the host; he would be the ‘link’ between the new muppets on The Muppet Show and the familiar muppets of Sesame Street.
That’s undoubtably also why Bert & Ernie appear in a sketch in one of the early shows.
It’s funny in retrospect, considering how iconic all the characters have become in our culture.
