Difference between revisions of "The Muppets"

Revision as of 17:53, April 5, 2021

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

Television episodes

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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 Simpsons 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.

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

Name	Role in The Muppets	Role on The Simpsons
Tony Bennett	Played himself in Muppets Most Wanted.	Voiced himself in "Dancin' Homer", "Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade" and "Whiskey Business".
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.
Bob Hope	Played himself in The Muppet Show and an ice cream vendor in The Muppet Movie.	Voiced Himself in "Lisa the Beauty Queen".
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".
Ray Liotta	Played a security guard in Muppets from Space and Big Papa in Muppets Most Wanted.	Voiced Morty Szyslak in "King Leer".
Jennifer Saunders	Played Mrs. Bluveridge in Muppet Treasure Island.	Voiced Phoebe Pratt in "Looking for Mr. Goodbart".

External links

The Muppets at Wikipedia
The Muppet Show at Wikipedia

Cultural references

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2001: A Space Odyssey • Alice in Wonderland • Alien • Alvin and the Chipmunks • Apocalypse Now • Avatar • Back to the Future • Beauty and the Beast • Ben-Hur • Das Boot • C.H.U.D. • Charlie's Angels • Casablanca • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory • A Christmas Carol • Citizen Kane • A Clockwork Orange • Close Encounters of the Third Kind • DC Comics • Dial M for Murder • Die Hard • Dracula • The Dukes of Hazzard • The Exorcist • Fantasia • The Fly • Frozen • Garfield • Ghostbusters • The Godfather • Godzilla • Gone with the Wind • Harry Potter • Home Alone • The Hunger Games • Indiana Jones • It's a Wonderful Life • James Bond • Jaws • Jurassic Park • King Kong • Laurel & Hardy • The Lion King • The Little Mermaid • The Little Rascals • The Lone Ranger • Looney Tunes • The Lord of the Rings • MAS*H • Mad Max • Marvel • The Marx Brothers • The Matrix • The Odd Couple • Pirates of the Caribbean • Planet of the Apes • Pokémon • Popeye • Psycho • Pulp Fiction • RoboCop • Saw • Scooby-Doo • The Shawshank Redemption • The Shining • The Silence of the Lambs • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs • The Sound of Music • Soylent Green • SpongeBob SquarePants • Star Trek • Star Wars • A Streetcar Named Desire • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles • Terminator • Thelma & Louise • They Saved Hitler's Brain • The Three Stooges • Thriller • Titanic • Toy Story • Transformers • When Harry Met Sally... • The Wizard of Oz

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Angry Birds • Candy Crush Saga • Donkey Kong • Grand Theft Auto • The Legend of Zelda • Mario • Minecraft • Pokémon

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Cracked • MAD • The New Yorker • Playboy • Rolling Stone

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Alice in Wonderland • Beauty and the Beast • Ben-Hur • The Catcher in the Rye • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory • A Christmas Carol • A Clockwork Orange • Dial M for Murder • Dracula • The Exorcist • Fahrenheit 451 • The Fly • Game of Thrones • The Godfather • Gone with the Wind • Goosebumps • Harry Potter • The Hunger Games • James Bond • Jaws • Jurassic Park • The Little Mermaid • The Lord of the Rings • Moby-Dick • The Old Man and the Sea • Planet of the Apes • Psycho • The Silence of the Lambs • The Shining • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs • A Streetcar Named Desire • The Wizard of Oz

view • talk • edit • past Comics
DC Comics • Dennis the Menace • Dilbert • Garfield • Life in Hell • Marvel • Mary Worth • My Little Pony • Peanuts • Popeye • Sailor Moon • The Smurfs • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles • Tintin • The Walking Dead

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Art references • Gilbert and Sullivan • Hindenburg disaster • References in other media