Miss Piggy is one of the central characters on The Muppet Show. She is a force of nature who developed from a one-joke running gag into a complex, three-dimensional character.

Miss Piggy is a prima-donna pig who is absolutely convinced that she's destined for stardom, and nothing is going to stand in her way. Her public face is the soul of feminine charm, but she can fly into a violent rage whenever she thinks she's insulted or thwarted. Kermit the Frog has learned this all too well; when she isn't smothering him in kisses, she's sending him flying through the air with a karate-chop.

Fozzie Bear is The Muppet Show's resident comedian. He's an orange-brown, fuzzy Muppet bear who tells bad jokes, usually punctuated with his catchphrase, "Wocka wocka wocka!" He also often says "AaaAAAAaaah" when he tells the jokes, which somewhat serves the same purpose as "Wocka wocka." Fozzie is also best friends with Kermit, although they occasionally have differences of opinion.

During the first season of The Muppet Show, Fozzie's monologues usually consisted of Fozzie telling simple setup/punchline jokes, while being heckled by his mother's old friends, Statler and Waldorf. After the first season, most of his monologues relied on gimmicks such as telling jokes on roller skates. A common schtick in many episodes is that Fozzie would attempt to imitate the guest star's most famous act to attempt to emulate their success, only to comically fail completely at the attempt. For instance, Edgar Bergen inspired him to try ventriloquism while stage magician Doug Henning inadvertently convinced Fozzie to try his hand at being a magician. Fozzie also told a joke during the opening sequence of every episode during the first season.

In Jim Henson: The Works, Christopher Finch wrote: "One of the biggest problems [with the first season] was with Fozzie Bear. Fozzie was crucial to The Muppet Show because he was conceived as Frank Oz's main character, and the success of the show would depend to a significant degree on Frank having the opportunity to display the full range of his virtuoso performance and comedic skills.

"It was logical to have a comedian as a primary character on The Muppet Show, particularly once the Muppet Theater had been established as its basic setting. And given the spirit of the Muppets, it was almost inevitable that he would be a bad comedian. The problem with Fozzie was that his bad jokes and failure to win over an audience provoked more embarrassment than sympathy. For instance in episode 122, Fozzie gets so fed up with the heckling that he demands everyone but true Fozzie fans leave the auditorium. As a result, the seats are left completely empty; even Fozzie's own cousin leaves; Fozzie departs the stage almost in tears.

"Jerry Juhl and Frank Oz gradually transformed Fozzie by building up the positive aspects of his personality. They allowed his perpetual optimism to offset his onstage failures until he became a more rounded character. Fozzie's virtues ultimately made his ineptness acceptable -- and even endearing. So successful was this metamorphosis that he became one of the most popular of all the Muppets."

As Brian Henson notes in a generic Muppet Show introduction, "Fozzie is always telling terrible jokes, but he's just trying so hard you've got to love him."

Animal first appeared in the 1975 pilot, The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, chained up in a basement cell when he wasn't onstage performing with The Electric Mayhem. He later became a main character on The Muppet Show, and his unrestrained style has made him popular with young people for decades.

Animal is a crazed drummer with three styles of music -- loud, louder, and deafening. He speaks in a guttural shout, often repeating a few simple phrases, such as "BEAT DRUMS! BEAT DRUMS!" or "WO-MAN!" In relatively calmer moods, he is capable of more coherent conversation, but these instances are infrequent.

Frank Oz says that he had his character down to five words: Sex, sleep, food, drums and pain.[2] Occasionally, two of those essentials, food and drums, are interchangeable. In The Muppet Movie, Dr. Teeth had to remind Animal to beat, and not eat, his drums. In The Muppet Show episode 110, when asked by Kermit if he preferred drumming to food, Animal replied that drums are food, and started eating his drum kit.

Animal's family life is generally non-existent, and outside of the band, the Muppet Show troupe, and women in general, he has no other relationships. A significant exception is depicted in the book The Case of the Missing Mother, which reveals the existence of Animal's mother, LaVerne. LaVerne is also a drummer, and it's implied that percussion skills are a family trait.

The Swedish Chef is the incomprehensible preparer of foodstuffs from The Muppet Show. A rather literal variation of the Live-Hand Muppet concept, the Swedish Chef is a humanoid character, with human hands rather than gloves. On The Muppet Show, Frank Oz performed the character's hands. The chef first appeared in The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence in 1975, with Chinese subtitles for his dialogue, and Richard Hunt performing the hands. Only in poser puppets used specifically for photo shoots does the Swedish Chef have standard Muppet hands.

According to Brian Henson in one of his introductions for The Muppet Show, "Jim Henson had this tape that he used to play which was "How to Speak Mock Swedish". And he used to drive to work and I used to ride with him a lot. And he would drive to work trying to make a chicken sandwich in Mock Swedish or make a turkey casserole in Mock Swedish. It was the most ridiculous thing you had ever seen. And people at traffic lights used to stop and sort of look at him a little crazy. But that was the roots of the character that would eventually become the Swedish Chef."

Nearly all Swedish Chef sketches begin with him in a kitchen, waving some utensils while singing his signature song in a trademark mock Swedish, a semi-comprehensible gibberish which parodies the characteristic vowel sounds of Swedish. The opening song usually sounds something like: "Yorn desh born, der ritt de gitt der gue, Orn desh, dee born desh, de umn børk! børk! børk!" but in fact changes subtly in every episode. The last line of the song is always "Børk! Børk! Børk!" and is punctuated by the Chef throwing the utensils over his shoulder to crash into the crockery behind him. (Although the letter "ø" does not exist in Swedish — it is a Danish/Norwegian letter whose Swedish equivalent is "ö" - the Chef's trademark word is nearly universally spelled as "Børk.") However, in The Muppets at Walt Disney World, his closing line is "Ole!"

After this introduction, the Chef continues to speak gibberish while preparing a particular recipe. His commentary is spiced with the occasional English word to clue the viewer in to what he is attempting. These clues are necessary as he frequently uses unorthodox culinary equipment (firearms, tennis rackets, etc.) to prepare his dishes. The sketch typically degenerates into a slapstick finale, and he often winds up in pitched battle with his ingredients, from Lobster Banditos to a Japanese Cake. The Swedish Chef has also appeared, at least briefly, in every Muppet film to date. He was put in charge of running the film projector in The Muppet Movie and Muppet*Vision 3D. In A Muppet Family Christmas, he attempts to cook the Christmas turkey, then sets his sights on Big Bird instead.

The Swedish Chef's popularity led to his own cereal, Cröonchy Stars, in 1988. Commercials for the product featured the Chef, up to his usual antics. In the 1990s, the Swedish Chef appeared regularly on Donna's Day starting in the second season.

In Episode 316, Danny Kaye, portraying the chef's uncle in a sketch, claims that the Swedish Chef's first name was Tom. However, since Kaye was not a blood relative in reality, this information may be considered apocryphal.

Dr. Bunsen Honeydew is the resident scientist on The Muppet Show, and host of the Muppet Labs sketches. In season one of The Muppet Show he worked alone, but in season two, his assistant Beaker was added to the show. Bunsen is always eager to show off his latest scientific discovery, but his excitement about progress tends to render him short-sighted. Beaker usually ends up being harmed by Dr. Honeydew's inventions. Bunsen Honeydew's name comes from the scientific instrument called the Bunsen burner, and the shape of his head, which looks like a honeydew melon.

Bunsen's inventions have included a gorilla detector, exploding clothes, edible paper clips, a banana sharpener, hair-growing tonic, and a machine that can turn gold into cottage cheese.

He has appeared in every Muppet movie, often with a large role contributing to the film's plot. In The Muppet Movie, Kermit the Frog meets Bunsen and Beaker in an old ghost town, where Honeydew shows off his latest invention, "Insta-Grow Pills," which can temporarily make things grow bigger. In The Muppet Christmas Carol, Bunsen and Beaker portray charity workers. In Muppets from Space, Bunsen invents a number of devices for the Muppets to use when they rescue Gonzo.

In a 2004 Internet poll sponsored by the BBC and the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Beaker and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew were voted Britain's favorite cinematic scientists. They beat Star Trek's Mr. Spock, their closest rival, by a margin of 2 to 1 and won 33 percent of the 43,000 votes cast.

Beaker is the hapless assistant of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew. He made his first appearance in Muppet Labs sketches in the second season of The Muppet Show.

Prior to Beaker's debut, Dr. Honeydew appeared in Muppet Labs segments by himself, but the timid assistant added a new level of comedy to the sketches. Dr. Honeydew's experiments and inventions always seem to go awry, and Beaker is their perpetual victim. He has been shrunk, cloned, deflated, turned invisible, and blown up, but he always comes back for more.

Beaker normally communicates through a series of high-pitched "mee-mee-mee" noises. (In books and merchandise, it's often spelled as "Meep".) In some of his earlier appearances, Beaker's language sounded more like that of someone who was too terrified to get any real words out of his mouth. His "meeping" language began in episode 219. He did manage to muster "Bye Bye" in the Banana Sharpener Muppet Labs segment. In The Muppet Movie, his words were the closest they ever got to being real words, as his line "Sadly temporary" (echoing Bunsen) was quite clear, as well as his line "Make-up ready!" and his "Radiant Wonderfulness" line form The Muppets' Wizard of Oz. He re-used the "Sadly temporary" line in Muppets from Space.

One key element to Beaker's development was that, unlike Bunsen, who was rarely seen outside the Labs, Beaker took more of an involvement in the show. He was often seen backstage, and had cameo bits in other numbers and sketches. He also served as an assistant stagehand to Beauregard, as well as an assistant video DJ to Dr. Teeth on the compilation video "Rock Music".

Beaker does a mean Little Richard impression and knows how to beatbox, as seen in Muppets Tonight.

On The Muppet Show, Beaker has sung "Feelings" and, accompanied by The Swedish Chef and Animal, "Danny Boy."

On a few occasions, such as in The Great Muppet Caper and The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show, his eyes have lit up when he got electrocuted.

Some of Beaker's more memorable roles in the specials have been in The Muppets Go To the Movies, in which Beaker plays the role of "The Angel of Death" in a foreign film, and in The Muppets at Walt Disney World, where he gets a bucket stuck on his head throughout the special.

In a 2004 Internet poll sponsored by the BBC and the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Beaker and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew were voted Britain's favorite cinematic scientists. They beat Star Trek's Mr. Spock, their closest rival, by a margin of 2 to 1 and won 33 percent of the 43,000 votes cast.

In July of 2008, Beaker appeared in an online Youtube.com video -- "Ode to Joy." The video is a response to the popular Youtube video BachBachBach, and can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpcUxwpOQ_A

Kermit the Frog, arguably Jim Henson's most famous Muppet creation, was the star and host of The Muppet Show, played a significant role on Sesame Street, and served as the logo of the Jim Henson Company. He continues to star in Muppet movies and make numerous TV appearances.

Kermit grew up with thousands of siblings, and has talked occasionally about other members of his family. His childhood adventures were chronicled in Kermit's Swamp Years. Robin is Kermit's nephew.

Miss Piggy insists that she and Kermit got married in The Muppets Take Manhattan and that they're very happy. Kermit disagrees, claiming that it was just a movie and that in real life, they have a "professional relationship". [1]

Kermit's most well-known catchphrase is "Hi-ho, Kermit the Frog here!" He typically introduced acts on The Muppet Show by waving his arms wildly and shouting "Yaaaay!" (a technique he learned from his old acting coach, Mr. Dawson).

Kermit has been credited as the writer of three books: For Every Child, A Better World; One Frog Can Make a Difference; and Before You Leap.

Gonzo, formally known as "The Great Gonzo" or "Gonzo the Great," is The Muppet Show's daredevil performance artist. He's an odd looking, unclassifiable alien creature, with blue fur, bug eyes and a long crooked nose. He takes pride in his uniqueness, and he enjoys everything that he does -- no matter how painful or ill-advised it may be.

The concept of Gonzo, as a character who performs terrible acts but considers them artistic, was devised by Jerry Juhl. As Dave Goelz recalled, he might have been forgotten were it not for Jack Burns, the show's original head writer, who during an early meeting suggested "Like he does these crazy acts like eating a tire to 'Flight of the Bumblebee!" So in the first episode, Gonzo did exactly that, and the character grew from there. Burns also coined the character's name.

Scooter serves as a "gofer" backstage on The Muppet Show, and appeared from the first produced episode through the end of the series. Possessing glasses with eyes embedded in the lens and generally wearing a green track jacket, Scooter is a vaguely humanoid character of unknown heritage (as cited in Of Muppets and Men, when pressed about his family, he explained that his mother was a parrot but he didn't know about his father). Although occasionally seen in production numbers, his primary role lay in the backstage plots. From the second season through the fourth season, Scooter appeared in the opening to greet the guest star with a brisk "15 seconds to curtain." (For the final season, Pops handled the guest star greeting).

Hired by Kermit the Frog as a general aide and to "go fer" things like coffee and sandwiches, Scooter holds on to his position through a combination of efficiency and nepotism. The latter lies in the fact that Scooter's uncle, J.P. Grosse, owns The Muppet Theater, a fact which served as a running gag, particularly during the first season. Although he had been around since the first (production) episode, Scooter's proper introduction, including his hiring and the reference to his family connections, occurs in Episode 106.

Sam the Eagle is an American eagle, who feels his species and role as national symbol have placed certain responsibilities upon his shoulders. He has taken it upon himself to promote and protect wholesome American morals and values, and he works behind the scenes of The Muppet Show as self-appointed censor and advocate of cultural, educational acts.

Sam is appalled by the nonsense that passes for entertainment on the series, and does his best to keep things in check, even though his pleas for an end to madness are usually ignored. As noted in the first issue of The Muppet Show Fan Club newsletter, Sam's overpowering burden is to act as the "moral center" of The Muppet Show. He would, in fact, like to concern himself with the morals of the entire world, but "regrets that it takes all his time and energy just to keep up with The Muppet Show."

Rizzo the Rat was created by Steve Whitmire after he took a fascination to a bunch of old rat puppets made from bottles by Don Sahlin for The Muppet Musicians of Bremen. Whitmire made costumes for Rizzo, and the Muppet Show Fan Club newsletter (vol. 2, no. 4, 1980) claimed that "It is Rizzo's greatest ambition to wear a different costume every time he appears in a shot! Watch out for this well-dressed rodent -- he has every intention of succeeding. Rat on, Rizzo!"

Rizzo first appeared in episode 418 of The Muppet Show, as one of a group of rats following Christopher Reeve around backstage.[1] He can be seen mugging and reacting to practically every line of dialogue. His first known mention by name on-screen was by Kermit in episode 422. He remained a scene-stealing background figure through the final season, occasionally performing with Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem.

He had a minor role in The Great Muppet Caper and a larger supporting part in The Muppets Take Manhattan, but his "big break" occurred when Jerry Juhl paired him with Gonzo to narrate The Muppet Christmas Carol. He has since become one of the principal Muppet characters, also starring in Muppet Treasure Island, Muppets from Space, Muppets Tonight, and The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (appearing in the latter as the Mayor of Munchkinland).

Since The Muppet Christmas Carol, Rizzo and Gonzo have been best pals. However, that wasn't their first pairing together. They had previously interracted in The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson, and appeared in a sketch together on Good Morning America, broadcast March 10, 1992. Rizzo and Pepe the King Prawn also seem to have a strong friendship in Muppets From Space.

In the 1999 book Muppets From Space: The Making of Muppet Movie Magic, Whitmire said:

[Playing Rizzo] was tough at first. I was much more inhibited about the performance because I wasn't sure who he was or what I should do with him. Plus, they wanted him to be a sarcastic sort of New York character. I'm from Atlanta, you know? I mean, I didn't know anything about a sarcastic New York character, so I sort of had to grow into him.


Rizzo is named after Ratso Rizzo, a character from Midnight Cowboy protrayed by Dustin Hoffman. This name was suggested by Frank Oz.[2]

The Newsman would report breaking news happening in the Muppet Theater or elsewhere in the Muppet universe. Unfortunately for him, he would often find the story invading right into the Muppet newsroom, usually to his own personal pain. (For example, a report on the stock market indicating that "beef fell rapidly" causes a cow to fall from out of nowhere onto the Newsman's head.)

Statler and Waldorf share the stage left balcony box in the Muppet Theater, and the two delight in heckling every aspect of The Muppet Show. Statler and Waldorf are especially unforgiving to Fozzie Bear. However, it is revealed in A Muppet Family Christmas that the two critics were friends with Fozzie's mother, Emily Bear. They always have the last word, with a final comment at the end of each episode.

Statler and Waldorf first appeared as a pair in the 1975 pilot The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence.

On the first season of Muppets Tonight, Statler and Waldorf are seen watching the show from the living room of what appears to be a retirement home. In the second season, they watch the show on a portable television from various locations, including a golf course and a ski lift.

In The Muppet Christmas Carol, they play the ghosts of Scrooge's business partners, Jacob and Robert Marley. In Muppet Treasure Island, Statler and Waldorf are the Figurehead of the Hispaniola. In The Muppets' Wizard of Oz, they appear as the Kalidah Critics, strange beasts who shout insults at anyone attempting to cross a treacherous bridge.

Statler & Waldorf were most recently seen starring as themselves in a bi-weekly feature, Statler and Waldorf: From the Balcony, on the website Movies.com. The feature has the duo wisecracking about upcoming and just-released movies.


Waldorf is the one with the pug-like face, mustache, and whiter hair. In almost all productions, Statler appears on the audience's right and Waldorf on the left.


* Statler and Waldorf were named after two New York City hotels -- the Statler Hotel (which was renamed the Hotel Pennsylvania in 1992), and the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Waldorf's wife, Astoria, completes the set.
* Early in The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years, Statler claims Waldorf has had a pacemaker for over 30 years.

Lew Zealand’s act involves boomerang fish. He throws them away and they come back to him. He has appeared in all of the Muppet movies except Kermit's Swamp Years.

Lew's first appearance was in episode 310 of The Muppet Show, where his timely boomerang fish throwing saved Kermit from being tricked into a real marriage during Miss Piggy's "wedding sketch."

Lew Zealand was meant to only appear in one episode, and he was made from a Whatnot. However, after that, a more permanent puppet was built and Lew Zealand became a regular character.[1]

Aside from his boomerang fish act, Lew supplied the Muppets with paper towels in The Great Muppet Caper, played one of the merry men in the Muppets production of Robin Hood, and told Leslie Uggams how to be a great boomerang fish thrower.

Rowlf the Dog was the first Muppet to reach national stardom as a cast member of The Jimmy Dean Show from 1963 to 1966. He later went on to serve as the resident piano player on The Muppet Show, also playing the silly surgeon Dr. Bob on the recurring sketch "Veterinarian's Hospital".

Rowlf first appeared in 1962 in a series of Purina Dog Chow commercials. He was paired with Baskerville the Hound in a series of ads which aired from 1962 to 1963. Rowlf also appeared in an ad for Esskay Meats during the same time period.

Rowlf was the first Muppet built by Don Sahlin. Unlike most of the early Muppets, he was designed as a live-hand Muppet; he was also one of the first non-abstract Muppet characters, built to resemble a dog. According to Henson's original notes, other names considered for the character were Barkley, Woofington, Baskerville, Barkus, Howlington, Waggington and Beowolf. Jim Henson designed three different dogs, one of which became the design for Rowlf, and another of which became the design for Baskerville.

Rowlf rose to stardom as Jimmy Dean's sidekick on The Jimmy Dean Show. The show ran from 1963 until 1966. Rowlf the Dog was a regular on the show, and was billed as Jimmy's "ol' buddy." Between seven and ten minutes of every show were devoted to a spot with Rowlf and Dean. Many of the comedy sketches ended with the two singing a duet together. Rowlf's tenure on The Jimmy Dean Show allowed Jim Henson to develop the character over a period of time.

Rowlf continued to star on variety shows, hosting Our Place and appearing in several episodes of The Mike Douglas Show. He also hosted the 1968 special Muppets On Puppets.

Rowlf appeared in the 1965 Wilson's Meats Meeting Film, as an example of the Muppets' exposure ("I'm the Muppets' big lovable shaggy dog Rowlf, from ABC's The Jimmy Dean Show!"). He did a similar thing by "stopping by to say 'Howdy'" in the 1966 La Choy Chow Mein Presentation Reel.

He also appeared in the Sesame Street pitch reel, explaining the concept and production process to a wary Kermit, as both characters were the most familiar Muppets at the time. He also appeared in Sesame Street's first season, making a cameo appearance in the "Song of Nine."

Rowlf appeared in brief celebrity cameo-esque roles in the two Muppet Show pilots, The Muppets Valentine Show and Sex and Violence.

When The Muppet Show debuted, Rowlf was a part of the cast. Rowlf was assigned the role of resident pianist (abandoning his ukulele skills from The Jimmy Dean Show). At the piano, Rowlf would often perform classical music, and sing solos or duets. Rowlf also performed in the pit orchestra and sometimes sat in with the Electric Mayhem. Despite Rowlf's established fame among American audiences, a majority of his musical numbers were not seen in the US, as the sketches and songs starring Rowlf dominated the list of UK Spots.

Apart from displaying his musical talents, Rowlf continued his comedic style from The Jimmy Dean Show with his customary puns and gags – most notably as Dr. Bob, "the quack who has gone to the dogs," in Veterinarian's Hospital, or with a female partner in the recurring At the Dance segments. During the first season, Rowlf also appeared in two Poetry segments. Rowlf would occasionally take on other character roles in the on-stage productions - including Sherlock Holmes and a Western bar piano player. Whether in featured roles or non-speaking cameos, Rowlf appeared in 89 of the 120 episodes of The Muppet Show.

Due to Rowlf's musical skill, it is sometimes incorrectly assumed that he was a part-time member of The Electric Mayhem Band. Although Rowlf played in the orchestra and back-up on several numbers with musicians in the Mayhem band, Rowlf only accompanied the Electric Mayhem three times: in episode 424, in episode 513 and at Fozziwig's Christmas party in The Muppet Christmas Carol. In fact, when the Electric Mayhem walked out over the apparent lameness of The Muppet Show theme song in episode 123, Rowlf was the only musician left. As a result, Rowlf had to play the closing theme single handedly.

In 1985, Rowlf hosted two hour-long video compilations of The Muppet Show. In Rowlf's Rhapsodies with the Muppets, Rowlf sat at his piano and presented a compilation of his best numbers and other songs from The Muppet Show. In Country Music with the Muppets, Rowlf rented a barn and hosted his own country music program while showing clips from the show.