The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson

Context & Trivia

This one-hour musical special, aired on CBS on November 21, 1990, was a tribute to Muppet creator Jim Henson, who had died six months earlier. It marked Steve Whitmire's first official onscreen performance as Kermit the Frog, a role he was handpicked to inherit from Jim Henson himself. The special's plot mirrors the real-life feelings of Henson's puppeteers who had to continue performing the characters without their creative leader. The program features characters from "The Muppet Show," "Fraggle Rock," and "Sesame Street," including Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Animal, Robin the Frog, Scooter, Janice, Beaker, Lew Zealand, Rizzo the Rat, Bean Bunny, Clifford, Elmo, Big Bird, Bert, Grover, Cookie Monster, Mokey Fraggle, and Grundgetta. The set for the special was designed to resemble a studio, combining elements of "The Muppet Show's" backstage with the Muppet Central set from "The Jim Henson Hour," including numerous television monitors displaying behind-the-scenes footage from Henson's various works. This special is also notable as one of the last productions in which Richard Hunt performed Scooter and Janice before his death in 1992.