Difference between revisions of "The Muppets"

Latest revision as of 07:47, February 16, 2026

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[edit]

Episodes[edit]

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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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

Cast[edit]

Name	Role in The Muppets	Role on The Simpsons
Will Arnett	Played The Great MacGuffin in Muppets Haunted Mansion.	Voiced Deputy Director Gratman in "Steal This Episode".
Ed Asner	Made a posthumous cameo in the special Muppets Haunted Mansion.	Voiced a Lifeways editor in the season 11 episode "Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner?".
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".
Elizabeth Banks	Played herself in two episodes of the ABC sitcom The Muppets.	Voiced Persephone Odair in "Thirst Trap: A Corporate Love Story".
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".
Rachel Bloom	Voiced Dot the Dragon in Muppet Babies and played Samantha Swiftie in The Muppets Mayhem.	Voiced Annette in "Springfield Splendor".
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".
Andrés Cantor	Voiced an unseen announcer in Muppets Most Wanted.	Voiced himself in "You Don't Have to Live Like a Referee".
Jemaine Clement	Played the Prison King in Muppets Most Wanted.	Voiced Ethan Ballantyne in "Elementary School Musical".
Tina Fey	Played 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".
Peter Jackson	Played himself in The Muppets Mayhem.	Voiced himself in "Thirst Trap: A Corporate Love Story".
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 and a Springfield Plasma Center nurse in "Bart vs. Thanksgiving" and Blythe in "Step Brother from the Same Planet".
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".
Aubrey Plaza	Played herself in Muppets Now.	Voiced Amber Duffman in "From Beer to Paternity".
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".
Molly Shannon	Played herself as a cameo in It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie.	Voiced Katya in the season 36 episode "Desperately Seeking Lisa".
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".
Robert Smigel	Voiced Triumph the Insult Comic Dog in It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie.	Voiced Gabriel Razelton in "Full Heart, Empty Pool".
Danny Trejo	Played a Gulag prisoner in Muppets Most Wanted, himself in Muppets Now, and the Ghost of Huey in Muppets Haunted Mansion.	Voiced himself in the season 36 episode "Abe League of Their Moe".
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".
Fred Willard	Played himself in Muppets Tonight.	Voiced Wally Kogen in the Season 10 episode "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday".
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[edit]

Name	Role in The Muppets	Role on The Simpsons
Jack Burns	Produced The Muppet Show.	Voiced Edward Christian in "Beyond Blunderdome".
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.

External links[edit]

The Muppets at Wikipedia
The Muppet Show at Wikipedia

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