It's Time To Get Things Started

The Muppet Show was a new breed of weekly variety show which featured Jim Henson's muppets interacting with live guests.

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A muppet is a cross between a marionette and a puppet.

The Muppet Show first aired in 1976, but muppet history goes back as far as 1955. "Sam and Friends" was a five-minute, live show which aired twice a night on WRC-TV, Washington, D.C. Kermit The Frog, the muppet host of The Muppet Show, made his debut on "Sam and Friends."

First season guest stars were mostly friends of Henson, but by the third season performers were lined up to make an appearance including Candice Bergen, Phyllis Diller, Vincent Price, Ethel Merman, Florence Henderson, Jim Nabors, Steve Martin, John Cleese, Dom Deluise, George Burns, Milton Berle, Don Knotts, Liberace, Alice Cooper, Harry Belafonte, John Denver, Arlo Guthrie, Johnny Cash, and Paul Simon.

The Muppet Show's success also spawned the films "The Muppet Movie" (1979), "The Great Muppet Caper" (1981), "The Muppets Take Manhattan" (1984), "Muppet Christmas Carol" (1992), "Muppet Treasure Island" (1996), and "Muppets From Space" (1999).

Henson had made a deal with the Walt Disney corporation in 1989 to sell his company, Jim Henson Productions. However, Henson died from pneumonia in 1990. Subsequently, the deal fell through.