Henson Rarities - The Muppet Show Pilots

There are pop culture obsessions that run throughout the entirety of my life. Doctor Who and Star Wars have become obvious enough round these here parts but the other one that I mention on here less frequently is Mr Jim Henson. I cannot remember a time when I didn't love the Muppets. My dinner used to be served to me on a laminated Muppet placemat (a different one to The Brother’s to avoid arguments, naturally). My school lunches were carried around in my Muppet Show lunchbox with matching flask, complete with Kermit The Frog images. Muppet toys, Muppet albums (The Muppet Show Album and The Muppet Movie Soundtrack on vinyl - both still owned), Muppet books - they were just always there.

The love never died as I got older but the interest shifted to behind the scenes as much as in front of them - to the craft and artistry, the puppeteers who helped create these worlds out of felt and latex along with Jim Henson. Like any true obsessive with delusions of creativity, I sought out anything and everything Muppet related to be able to see the evolution from those initial thoughts, ideas and sketches into the fully fledged creations that they would later become.

So, we’re going to take a look at some of the lesser known corners of Jim Henson’s universes and see what else he tried (with varying degrees of success). 

The Muppet Show Pilots
Jim Henson tried a couple of times to get The Muppet Show off the ground. Given the success of Sesame Street as an entertainer and educator of children, the assumption was that he would create something else solely for children. Henson was keen not to get pigeonholed as “just for kids” and wanted to prove that puppetry could provide a prime-time family experience, not just something for the kids.

The Muppets Valentine Show
His first attempt was this show for ABC in 1974. The format isn’t there yet - there’s not Muppet Theatre (the special takes place in a house) and, while Kermit does appear, he’s not the host - that honour falls to a more humanoid host character called Wally who is struggling with writer’s block throughout the special. Elements that are recognisably Muppet Show-esque are the presence of a guest star throughout, the use of sketches to highlight different characters along with the guest and the presence of the main Muppet performers (Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt) albeit not necessarily playing their most famous creations yet.

The Muppet Show: Sex And Violence
With this pilot attempt (again for ABC but in 1975), Henson is getting closer to the format but it’s still not quite there. It’s set in a theatre and pings back and forth between backstage shenanigans and onstage lunacy but there’s still a vital ingredient missing. Once again, that missing ingredient is Kermit as the focal point holding it all together. Here we have Nigel (who would later feature in the titles of every episode as the conductor in the orchestra pit) but Nigel is wimpy and whiny without having that sense of just barely holding it all together under pressure that Kermit has.

Both are fascinating from an evolutionary perspective as you can see the beginnings of what was to be the behemoth that would become the Muppet Show (which would, by its later seasons, have Hollywood stars queueing up to appear on it) but the elements aren’t all there. It was Lord Lew Grade and ATV over here in the UK who finally took a chance on The Muppets and the rest is history...