7.7/10481 votes#1 - Joel Grey
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 9/5/1976
Fozzie works on a new act -- jokes on any subject -- and drives everyone crazy. Finally, he gets on stage and asks for any word. Statler and Waldorf call his bluff by yelling out: "Amoeba!"
Director: Peter Harris
Writer: Marc London, Jack Burns, Jerry Juhl, Jim Henson
7.7/10375 votes#2 - Rita Moreno
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 9/12/1976
Fozzie Bear becomes embroiled in a running gag involving the backstage phone. Throughout the episode, Rita parodies her combative image. She battles with several Muppets, including Miss Piggy, a Full-Bodied Muppet, and Animal, who's backing her on drums in her closing number, "Fever."
Director: Peter Harris
Writer: Marc London, Jack Burns, Jerry Juhl, Jim Henson
7.2/10367 votes#3 - Sandy Duncan
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 9/19/1976
Fozzie performs Gags Beasley's famous "banana sketch," which everyone has heard of except Kermit. When Kermit asks Sandy and Fozzie to tell him what it is, they laugh too hard to explain it.
Director: Peter Harris
Writer: Marc London, Jack Burns, Jerry Juhl, Jim Henson
7.3/10329 votes#4 - Jim Nabors
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 9/26/1976
A young kid named Scooter applies for a job as a go-fer. When Kermit remarks that he doesn't even look like a gopher, Scooter explains that he'll go-fer coffee, he'll go-fer sandwiches, he'll go-fer anything. Kermit says he doesn't have the money to hire him, until Scooter mentions that his uncle owns the theater.
Director: Peter Harris
Writer: Marc London, Jack Burns, Jerry Juhl, Jim Henson
8.1/10394 votes#5 - Ruth Buzzi
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 10/3/1976
Scooter's uncle sends a mechanical, wind-up TV show host, an exact duplicate of Kermit. The robot harasses Kermit and flirts with Miss Piggy.
Director: Peter Harris
Writer: Marc London, Jack Burns, Jerry Juhl, Jim Henson
7.0/10332 votes#6 - Paul Williams
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 10/10/1976
Scooter talks Fozzie into doing "the telephone pole bit," and Fozzie practices dutifully until he finds out what the bit is: Fozzie dresses up as a public telephone, and Scooter asks what his name is. "Mike Oznowiczki," Fozzie says, and Scooter exclaims, "Oh, so you're the telephone Pole!"
Director: Peter Harris
Writer: Marc London, Jack Burns, Jerry Juhl, Jim Henson
7.4/10297 votes#7 - Florence Henderson
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 10/17/1976
The Muppet Theatre is plagued by a variety of pig-related problems, both onstage and off. First, The Bouncing Borsalino Brothers flub their act and crash through the stage floor. Backstage, Miss Piggy throws herself at an uninterested Kermit and then jealously interrupts his onstage Talk Spot, physically threatening guest star Florence Henderson, whom she thinks is horning in on her frog. The feud continues in the Panel Discussion as Florence throws pig slurs around.
Director: Peter Harris
Writer: Marc London, Jack Burns, Jerry Juhl, Jim Henson
7.6/10294 votes#8 - Peter Ustinov
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 10/24/1976
Kermit becomes jealous when Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Hilda and Scooter rave about Peter Ustinov. At the end, Peter admits that he's jealous of Kermit; he's always wanted to be a frog.
Director: Peter Harris
Writer: Marc London, Jack Burns, Jerry Juhl, Jim Henson
7.0/10270 votes#9 - Lena Horne
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 10/31/1976
Kermit cuts Miss Piggy's scheduled song so she won't look foolish following Lena Horne. He tells her that "there are singers and there are singers," making her think that he doesn't want her to show up Lena.
Director: Peter Harris
Writer: Marc London, Jack Burns, Jerry Juhl, Jim Henson
7.5/10272 votes#10 - Harvey Korman
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 11/7/1976
Embarrassed about being the "token person" on the show, Harvey is dressed up as a giant chicken.
Director: Peter Harris
Writer: Marc London, Jack Burns, Jerry Juhl, Jim Henson
7.6/10258 votes#11 - Candice Bergen
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 11/14/1976
Fozzie brings a series of deliveries to Kermit, pestering the frog with lousy gags.
Director: Peter Harris
Writer: Marc London, Jack Burns, Jerry Juhl, Jim Henson
7.7/10257 votes#12 - Ben Vereen
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 11/21/1976
Fozzie gets stuck in a magician's trick cabinet. The cabinet is dragged onstage so that he can perform his act -- and at the end of the act, two pig stagehands tip the box over so he can take a bow. Crazy Harry, who makes frequent appearances (and frequent explosions) during the show, blows up the cage before the end of the show so that Fozzie can escape.
Director: Peter Harris
Writer: Marc London, Jack Burns, Jerry Juhl, Jim Henson
7.3/10235 votes#13 - Charles Aznavour
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 11/28/1976
When he's unable to get a spot on the show, Gonzo asks Scooter to be his manager. Scooter advises Gonzo to do a rock act, banging on a large rock with a mallet. Later, Gonzo tries his hand at female impersonation, wearing a dress and a blonde wig. Scooter gives up managing when Gonzo eats his contract.
Director: Peter Harris
Writer: Marc London, Jack Burns, Jerry Juhl, Jim Henson
7.4/10266 votes#14 - Phyllis Diller
Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 12/5/1976
Aging wardrobe woman Hilda puts on a wig and makeup to try to make herself look younger. She is spotlighted in a backstage plot for the first and last time.
Director: Peter Harris
Writer: Marc London, Jack Burns, Jerry Juhl, Jim Henson
7.6/10251 votes#15 - Avery Schreiber
Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 12/12/1976
To make Kermit jealous, Miss Piggy instructs Scooter to tell him that Avery is in love with her. Kermit finds out that it's all a trick, and Piggy karate-chops everybody.
Director: Peter Harris
Writer: Marc London, Jack Burns, Jerry Juhl, Jim Henson
7.4/10225 votes#16 - Twiggy
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 12/19/1976
Kermit is skeptical when everyone backstage is terrorized by "the Phantom of the Muppet Show." There turns out to be one, though -- Uncle Deadly, a monster-actor who performed in the theater years ago. After being panned by the critics, he vowed never to perform there again, and not to let anyone else perform either. He warns the Muppets, "Leave or be doomed!"
Director: Peter Harris
Writer: Marc London, Jack Burns, Jerry Juhl, Jim Henson
7.5/10217 votes#17 - Valerie Harper
Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 1/2/1977
This is one of only a few Muppet Show episodes that open the show after the theme song with some kind of offstage scene. There's also a couple of scenes with the guest star in her dressing room conversing with Muppets instead of onstage in the Talk Spot. In last week's "At The Dance", Boppity danced in drag with another monster. This week Boppity appears as normal but his partner is in drag. In both instances, he ends up headless.
Director: Peter Harris
Writer: Marc London, Jack Burns, Jerry Juhl, Jim Henson
7.5/10224 votes#18 - Mummenschanz
Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 1/9/1977
Miss Piggy is repulsed when Gonzo tells her that he loves her. Kermit tries to help by asking Piggy if she would like to go to dinner -- and when she accepts, he fixes her up with Gonzo. Everybody gets karate-chopped.
Director: Peter Harris
Writer: Marc London, Jack Burns, Jerry Juhl, Jim Henson
8.3/10338 votes#19 - Juliet Prowse
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 1/16/1977
Muppy, the favorite pet of The Muppet Theatre owner J. P. Grosse, becomes a prima donna when Kermit reluctantly allows him to do a musical number with Scooter. Muppy even gets his own dressing room and star billing, but Kermit draws the line when the dog asks to change the show's title to The Muppy Show. When Muppy locks himself in his dressing room and refuses to perform, Scooter does the number with Fozzie instead.
Director: Peter Harris
Writer: Marc London, Jack Burns, Jerry Juhl, Jim Henson
7.4/10217 votes#20 - Kaye Ballard
Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 1/23/1977
Tired of the "embarrassingly square" theme song, bass player Floyd Pepper informs Kermit that he and the rest of the orchestra pit (except Rowlf) are quitting. Kermit says their conductor Nigel will write a new theme, but Floyd refuses: "He wrote the first one, man." Floyd performs his idea for a new theme, a dreadful Zappa-esque piece called "Fugue for Frog." Kermit won't use it and refuses that Floyd submits to Kaye Ballard a petition about the theme song, so the band leaves. The closing theme is performed solo by Rowlf on the piano.
Director: Peter Harris
Writer: Marc London, Jack Burns, Jerry Juhl, Jim Henson
7.5/10226 votes#21 - Bruce Forsyth
Season 1 Episode 21 - Aired 1/30/1977
Fozzie Bear has a plan to get back at Statler and Waldorf when he does his act, but is crushed when he's replaced by Bruce Forsyth. Fozzie throws some nasty jokes and, for the first (and last) time, leaves the two old codgers speechless. Then Fozzie and Bruce end up performing together, and sing "Side by Side." A duck appears frequently in the sketches and skits.
Director: Peter Harris
Writer: Marc London, Jack Burns, Jerry Juhl, Jim Henson
7.6/10222 votes#22 - Ethel Merman
Season 1 Episode 22 - Aired 4/9/1977
Fozzie's agent, Irving Bizarre, negotiates Fozzie's contract with Kermit. Kermit ends up offering Fozzie ten times as much money; unfortunately, Fozzie made nothing before. "Yeah, and don't forget," Irving says, "I get ten percent of that."
Director: Peter Harris
Writer: Marc London, Jack Burns, Jerry Juhl, Jim Henson
7.1/10208 votes#23 - Connie Stevens
Season 1 Episode 23 - Aired 4/16/1977
When Fozzie overhears Hilda, Kermit, and Scooter talking about getting rid of "that bear," he thinks they're talking about him, only to find out later it's actually Gonzo's teddy bear that everyone is badmouthing.
Director: Peter Harris
Writer: Jack Burns, Jerry Juhl, Jim Henson
7.5/10230 votes#24 - Vincent Price
Season 1 Episode 24 - Aired 4/23/1977
In honor of guest star Vincent Price, the show is filled with monsters, ghosts, bats, vampires and spooky situations. A three-headed monster auditions for the show: "We sing!" "No, we dance!" "No, we tell jokes!"
Director: Peter Harris
Writer: Marc London, Jack Burns, Jerry Juhl, Jim Henson
The Best Episodes of The Muppet Show Season 1
Every episode of The Muppet Show Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The Muppet Show Season 1!
Go behind the curtains as Kermit the Frog and his muppet friends struggle to put on a weekly variety show.
Genres:KidsComedyFamily
Network:ITV1
Season 1 Ratings Summary
"Joel Grey" is the best rated episode of "The Muppet Show" season 1. It scored 7.7/10 based on 481 votes. Directed by Peter Harris and written by Marc London, Jack Burns, Jerry Juhl, Jim Henson, it aired on 9/5/1976. This episode is rated 0.0 points higher than the second-best, "Rita Moreno".