The Muppet Show is a live-action/puppet television series that was created by Jim Henson and produced by ITC Entertainment and Henson Associates. It premiered on 5 September 1976 and ended on 23 May 1981, with a total of 120 episodes over the course of 5 seasons.
The rights to the series are currently owned by The Muppets Studio (a division of The Walt Disney Company), having been acquired from The Jim Henson Company in February 2004.
The 120 episodes were produced in the UK between 1976 and 1980; two pilot episodes were also produced, one in 1974 and the other in 1975. The UK broadcasts featured extra scenes that were not seen on US TV.[1] There is no set broadcast order for the episodes, as they were shown in varying order in different regions.[1] For the Season One DVD box set that was released in 2005, Buena Vista Home Entertainment placed the episodes in the order in which they were produced, rather than aired, for this reason.[1] Due to the sequence in which the episodes are organized on DVD disc 1, Scooter is part of the backstage staff before his first appearance (Jim Nabors episode).[2] The set also includes the longer UK versions of each of the episodes,[1] though six song sequences were cut from the set because of licensing issues. It is common for television executives to insist on an edit of video release rather than pay money to the owners of the copyright of songs.[citation needed] Examples include the Vincent Price episode, the closing number of which, "You've Got a Friend", is cut on The Muppet Show: Season One DVD; it is available uncut and in English on the German DVD.
The tables below list episodes based on their initial airing dates, for the United Kingdom, except for the two pilots. Thus they may not necessarily be the order in which episodes were shown in all regions.
The Muppet Show was released for streaming on Disney+ on 19 February 2021.[3][4] However, two episodes featuring guests Brooke Shields and Chris Langham are omitted from the streaming service, the former due to music licensing issues, and the latter possibly due to the actor's child pornography arrest. In several European countries, the episode featuring John Denver is omitted as well.[5][6]
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