Muppets Tonight!

Television series
Original title	Muppets Tonight!
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Year (s)	1996-1998
length	25 minutes
Episodes	22 in 2 seasons
genre	Show, comedy
First broadcast	March 8, 1996 - February 8, 1998 on ABC , Disney Channel

Muppets Tonight! is a follow-up to the Muppet Show produced in the 1990s . It was developed by Jim Henson's son Brian Henson and Frank Oz . 22 episodes were produced from the show. In Germany, RTL showed the program from March 22, 1998.

content

While the Muppet Show was a variety show , Muppets was Tonight! a late night show . Due to the deaths of Jim Henson and Richard Hunt, many of the puppets they played were removed or placed in the background. So Kermit became a kind of producer behind the scenes, and the show host was the new character Clifford. As with the previous show, there was at least one star guest in every show, and several in some.

Waldorf and Statler did not comment on the event from the audience, but from the living room or other places where they were watching the show with a mini TV.

New characters

Clifford: a purple doll who happened to become a presenter. When no one wanted to volunteer for the moderator and everyone ran out, Clifford phoned his girlfriend. Since he was the only one remaining, Kermit appointed him the moderator. He's a casual guy who says whatever happens, it's good to have fun. An older Clifford doll can be seen briefly in Kermit and Miss Piggy's music video She drives me crazy .

Rizzo the Rat: first appeared in the movie The Muppets Conquer Manhattan . At Muppets Tonight! he is Clifford's assistant.

Johnny Fiama: A pop singer, a parody of famous singers like Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett. In an episode that featured Tony Bennett, Johnny said he was a fan of his and was allowed to sing a duet with him in the finale. Johnny is always accompanied by his bodyguard, the monkey Sal, who calls him his best friend, but who sometimes suffers from Johnny's selfishness.

Bobo the Bear: Joined the third episode, works in the anteroom of the studio at the reception as a security worker and does not let anyone in who is not on the guest list.

Andy and Randy: Miss Piggy's nephews, who often act clumsily and rashly.

Seymour the elephant: actually works as an elevator operator, but sometimes also appears as a singer and actor. Together with his friend Pepe, the Schrimp (Pepe the Prawn), they want to be comedians, are not accepted by the audience because their jokes are not understood or not accepted as funny. In the second season they had a cafeteria next to the studio, in which the star guests also stayed in between.

Production and publication

The series was produced by Jim Henson Productions from 1996 to 1998 and directed by John Blanchard.

The following guest stars appeared, among others:

The series aired in two seasons between March 8, 1996 and February 8, 1998. The first ten episodes were shown on ABC in 1996 , the other 12 on Disney Channel in 1997/98. BBC1 aired the series in the UK. Translations into Finnish, Portuguese and French also followed.

Web links

Muppets Tonight! in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Duckpedia - Disney encyclopedia
Muppet Wiki