The Muppets

The Muppets are a group of puppet characters created by Jim Henson, with Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear and Gonzo as the main cast members. They became world famous thanks to the TV show The Muppet Show (1976-1981) and various spin-offs, among them films. The franchise has been referenced in The Simpsons several times.

References to The Muppets in The Simpsons

Episodes

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Picture Season Episode number Episode name Reference 7 143 "Bart the Fink" Kermit is seen at Krusty's funeral. 147 "A Fish Called Selma" A film called The Muppets Go Medieval is seen, starring Troy McClure, Kermit and Miss Piggy. While no such movie exists in the Muppets' franchise, the title is a reference to The Muppets Go Manhattan (1984). Here The Muppets Go Medieval pokes fun at the jerky movements of the puppets, causing Lisa to asks Homer "what's a muppet?" 10 223 "The Old Man and the "C" Student" One of the rats is called Rizzo, a reference to Rizzo the Rat from The Muppets. 19 416 "Papa Don't Leech" Lurleen Lumpkin sings a variant of "Bunk with Me Tonight" to Kermit on TV; then Miss Piggy kicks and strangles him. 419 "Mona Leaves-a" Lance Armstrong and Fozzie Bear co-present an award sponsored by Right Guard deodorant. After a joke from Fozzie at Armstrong's expense, he angrily throws the Fozzie puppet across the room, revealing the puppeteer's hand underneath. The puppeteer stops doing the act once he notices the puppet is gone. 20 433 "Gone Maggie Gone" A rat is seen riding an eggbeater, a reference to Chester Rat in "Rat Scat". 22 472 "The Fight Before Christmas" When Maggie goes to sleep holding A Fluppet Christmas Special, she dreams a parody of "The Muppet Show". The Simpson family, Moe, Mr. Burns, Granpa and Jasper all appear as real-life puppets. Much of their puppet movements and comedy style directly spoof The Muppet Show in general. A specific reference are Grampa and Jasper who give critical comments from a balcony, just like Statler and Waldorf. Bart plays drums in reference to Animal. 23 491 "The Food Wife" The Swedish Chef is seen in Marge's dream. 496 "Politically Inept, with Homer Simpson" The "Liberal straw man's song" shows a green puppet lizard playing a banjo, while a speech balloon reads: "It's not easy being a Democrat". This is a reference to Kermit's signature song "It's Not Easy Bein' Green". Kermit plays banjo in the swamp during the opening credits of The Muppet Movie (1979), but this is not "Bein' Green", but "The Rainbow Connection". 497 "The D'oh-cial Network" Reverend Lovejoy takes an online quiz to find out which Muppet he is. The result of the quiz gives him Beaker. 26 572 "Let's Go Fly a Coot" Milhouse said he wanted the cheese cut like Pokémon characters, not The Muppets.

Comics

Picture Comic issue Story name Reference Simpsons Comics #175 It Came from the '70s The first story Homer tells is a parody of The Muppets. Lisa the Frog is a parody of Kermit. Krusty the Bear is a parody of Fozzie Bear. Grampa and Jasper are a parody of Statler and Waldorf. El Barto the Great is a parody of Gonzo.

Books

Picture Book Reference The Lisa Book One of the movies on Lisa Simpson's DVD Shelf is I Only Have Ping-Pong Balls for You: A Muppets Love Story.

Twitter

Account Date Tweet ComicBookGuy November 27, 2011 Seeing the new Muppets movie brought back wonderful childhood memories of hating the original Muppets movie. HomerJSimpson May 15, 2016 Miss Piggy. She's sexy and she's bacon. (In reply to "Favorite Muppet?")

Common Cast and Crew

Cast

Picture Name Role in The Muppets Role on The Simpsons Jason Bateman Played himself in the ABC sitcom The Muppets episode "Pig's in a Blackout". Voiced himself in "Home Away from Homer", and Max Davis and himself in "The Road to Cincinnati". Tony Bennett Played himself in Muppets Most Wanted. Voiced himself in "Dancin' Homer", "Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade" and "Whiskey Business". Greg Berg Voice of Fozzie and Scooter in Muppet Babies. Voiced Rory in "Bart vs. Thanksgiving". Jack Black Played himself in The Muppets. Voiced Milo in "Husbands and Knives". Emily Blunt Played Miss Piggy's receptionist in The Muppets. Voiced Juliet Hobbes in "Lisa the Drama Queen". Mel Brooks Played Professor Krassman in The Muppet Movie. Voiced himself in the season 6 episode "Homer vs. Patty and Selma". Jemaine Clement Played the Prison King in Muppets Most Wanted. Voiced Ethan Ballantyne in "Elementary School Musical". Tina Fey Played the Nadya in Muppets Most Wanted. Voiced Ms. Cantwell in "Black-Eyed, Please". Lady Gaga Played herself in Muppets Most Wanted. Voiced herself in "Lisa Goes Gaga". Zach Galifianakis Played Hobo Joe in The Muppets and Muppets Most Wanted. Voiced Lucas Bortner in "Luca$". Ricky Gervais Played Dominic Badguy in Muppets Most Wanted. Voiced Charles Heathbar in "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife" and himself in "Angry Dad: The Movie". Elliott Gould Portrayed the Beauty Contest Compere in The Muppet Movie. Voiced himself in the Season 14 episode "The Dad Who Knew Too Little"; was also interviewed in The Simpsons: Celebrity Friends, The Simpsons: Mischief & Mayhem, and The Simpsons: Access All Areas. Josh Groban Played himself in the ABC sitcom The Muppets episode "Hostile Makeover". Was Professor Frink's singing voice in the season 30 episode "I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say D'oh". Valerie Harper Played herself in The Muppet Show. Voiced several characters over several episodes, starting in season 24 and then again in season 28 - 29. Neil Patrick Harris Played himself in The Muppets. Voiced himself in "Bart the Murderer". Tom Hiddleston Played the Great Escapo in Muppets Most Wanted. Voiced Loki, his character from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in the Disney+ special The Good, the Bart, and the Loki. Bob Hope Played himself in The Muppet Show and an ice cream vendor in The Muppet Movie. Voiced himself in "Lisa the Beauty Queen". Joshua Jackson Played Pacey Witter in Muppets from Space. Voiced Jesse Grass in "Lisa the Tree Hugger". Ken Jeong Played the Punch Teacher Host in The Muppets. Voiced the Korean monk 1 and Korean monk 2 in "E My Sports". Elton John Played himself in The Muppet Show. Voiced himself in "I'm with Cupid". Rashida Jones Played Veronica in The Muppets. Voiced Portia in "The Changing of the Guardian". Carol Kane Played "Myth" in The Muppet Movie. Voiced Maggie Simpson in "Bart vs. Thanksgiving". Keegan-Michael Key Played himself in the ABC sitcom The Muppets episode "Swine Song". Voiced Jazzy James in "The Great Phatsby: Part One" and "The Great Phatsby: Part Two". Phil LaMarr Played Miss Piggy's doctor in the ABC sitcom The Muppets episode "Generally Inhospitable". Voiced Hermes Conrad in the season 26 crossover episode "Simpsorama" and voiced the auctioneer and male party guest in the season 28 episode "The Great Phatsby: Part One". Cloris Leachman Played herself in The Muppet Show and Lew Lord's secretary in The Muppet Movie. Voiced Alice Glick in "Three Men and a Comic Book". Jay Leno Played himself in the ABC sitcom The Muppets episode "Hostile Makeover". Guest-voiced himself in "The Last Temptation of Krust" and "To Courier with Love". Ray Liotta Played a security guard in Muppets from Space and Big Papa in Muppets Most Wanted. Voiced Morty Szyslak in "King Leer". William H. Macy Played an angel named Glenn in It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie. Voiced himself in "Homer's Paternity Coot". Steve Martin Played himself in The Muppet Show and Kermit and Piggy's sarcastic waiter in The Muppet Movie. Voiced Ray Patterson in "Trash of the Titans". Willie Nelson Played himself in ABC sitcom The Muppets in the episode "Generally Inhospitable". Voiced himself in the season 11 episode "Behind the Laughter". Nick Offerman Played himself in ABC sitcom The Muppets in the episode "Bear Left Then Bear Write". Voiced Captain Bowditch in "The Wreck of the Relationship" and "Uncut Femmes". Jim Parsons Played Human Walter in The Muppets. Voiced himself in "Frinkcoin". Joan Rivers Played Eileen in The Muppets Take Manhattan. Voiced Annie Dubinsky in "The Ten-Per-Cent Solution". Mickey Rooney Played a Smalltown USA resident during "Life's a Happy Song" in The Muppets. Voiced himself in "Radioactive Man". Linda Ronstadt Played herself in The Muppet Show. Voiced herself in "Mr. Plow". RuPaul Played herself in the ABC sitcom The Muppets episode "Got Silk?". Voiced Queen Chante in "Werking Mom". Jennifer Saunders Played Mrs. Bluveridge in Muppet Treasure Island. Voiced Phoebe Pratt in "Looking for Mr. Goodbart". Kristen Schaal Played the anger management group moderator in The Muppets. Voiced Taffy in the season 22 episode "Homer Scissorhands" and also reprised her role as Louise Belcher in the couch gag of the season 30 episode "My Way or the Highway to Heaven". Martin Short Played himself in Muppets Tonight. Voiced Guthrie Frenel in "Springfield Splendor". Sarah Silverman Played the restaurant greeter in The Muppets. Voiced Nikki McKenna in "Stealing First Base" and "Moonshine River", herself in "Clown in the Dumps" and Rachel Cohen in "Treehouse of Horror XXVII". Jack White Played himself in the ABC sitcom The Muppets finale episode "Because... Love". Voiced himself in the season 18 episode "Jazzy and the Pussycats". Reese Witherspoon Played herself in the ABC sitcom The Muppets episode "Walk the Swine". Voiced Greta Wolfcastle in "The Bart Wants What It Wants".

Crew

Picture Name Role in The Muppets Role on The Simpsons Michael Giacchino Composed the score and some songs for The Muppets' Wizard of Oz. Composed additional music for the Medal of Homer level for The Simpsons Game and composed the song "World's Worst Internet Troll" for the season 32 episode "Do PizzaBots Dream of Electric Guitars?". Bret McKenzie Wrote the original songs for The Muppets and Muppets Most Wanted. Wrote the music used in "Elementary School Musical" and "Friend with Benefit". He wrote the music for "Panic on the Streets of Springfield". Hans Zimmer Composed the music for Muppet Treasure Treasure. Currently serves as a score producer for Bleeding Fingers Music for The Simpsons. He also composed the music for The Simpsons Movie, The Simpsons Game and the special episode The Longest Daycare. He also conducted "Spider-Pig" in The Simpsons Take the Bowl.

See also

• Sesame Street

External links

• The Muppets at Wikipedia
• The Muppet Show at Wikipedia

Cultural references

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