MUPPETS: There’s Kermit, Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, Rowlf the Dog, Gonzo, Scooter, Animal and so many more. This year marks the 70th anniversary of The Muppets.
The celebration started Aug. 23 and will last for 70 weeks, highlighted a Muppet each week on social media with #TheMuppets70
The first one highlighted was Rowlf the Dog. “Did you know that before he was pitching puns and crooning tunes, Rowlf starred in a series of dog chow commercials? It’s the doggone truth!”
Do you know how many Muppets there are? Including Sesame Street, The Muppet Show and Fraggle Rock, there have been more than 3,500.
How many can you remember? The crusty old curmudgeons Statler and Waldorf were some of our favorites, along with “scientists” Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant Beaker. And Animal’s band mates in Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem — Dr. Teeth himself on keyboards, Floyd Pepper on bass, Janice on lead guitar, Zoot on saxophone and Lips on trumpet. Rowlf would join in on piano, too.
Sam Eagle, the Swedish Chef, Rizzo the Rat, Pepe the King Prawn, Camilla the Chicken, Lew Zealand (the boomerang fish thrower), Link Hogthrob (Pigs in Space), Marvin Suggs and his Magnificent Muppaphones, Kermit’s nephew Robin, Sweetums the giant loveable ogre and so many more.
Remember the incredibly talented guest stars? Bob Hope, Pearl Bailey, George Burns, Alice Cooper, Steve Martin, Buddy Rich, Edgar Bergen, Gene Kelly, Danny Kaye, Julie Andrews, Carol Burnett, Liza Minelli and so many more.
Kermit and the grouchy heckler Waldorf appeared in all 120 episodes of the show — Statler was sick and Waldorf’s “wife” looked awfully familiar. Statler was in 119 episodes, Fozzie was in 115, Miss Piggy in 111 and Rowlf in 99.
