Jim Henson’s Original Muppet Show Pitch

I’m not sure who first posted this video today, but I discovered it through Liquid Squid and the Muppets subreddit. Regardless of who shared it first, it’d be a travesty for us here at Geekscape to not also share it with you guys!

Now for people in their 20’s/30’s it’s hard to even imagine that there was a time where Jim Henson couldn’t just say ‘I want to do this’ and people would hand him money, felt and cameras. But in the 70’s Henson was seen as only marketable to small children. He had a dream of making the Muppets a household name that was accessible to all ages. Thus the Muppet Show was born. This was the pitch video he sent out.

There is so much that works in this video. The patriotic music, the increasing excitement of the host, the fourth wall breaking. Regardless CBS (among other studios) turned the project down. It wasn’t until Lew Grade (head of British Commercial Station ATV) offered Henson money to make the project a reality and giving us the Muppet Show we know and love today!