by Dennis Finocchiaro The Muppet Show That Never Was: ‘Little Muppet Monsters’

Jim Henson was a huge influence on many people’s lives, mine included. I’ll never forget watching the old Muppet Show episodes with my parents back in the day. Fozzie’s bad jokes, Gonzo’s crazy antics and Kermit’s loss of all control were a weekly bonding moment for my whole family.

And then came Muppet Babies, which drew us in on Saturday mornings. What a show! The young Muppets, plus their friendly caretaker (all we saw of her were her legs), all in an animated special. As a matter of fact, CBS loved the show (and the ratings) so much that they immediately asked for a spin-off which was eventually named Little Muppet Monsters.

Never heard of it? Neither did I. I even asked Geekscape’s Muppet expert Matt Kelly, who had read something about the show but didn’t know much more. I’d never heard of it until I was reading an old comic book from 1985 that included and ad for the Saturday Morning Cartoon Lineup of CBS. And right there, under Muppet Babies was the listing for Little Muppet Monsters.

The show was supposed to bring Muppet Babies from thirty minutes to an hour on Saturday mornings. The hour-long package would have been called Muppets, Babies and Monsters. There were three main characters in the show: Tug, Boo and Molly. They lived with the Muppet rats (which eventually brought about the creation of Rizzo) and would have had cameos from many of the big Muppets, including The Electric Mayhem, Scooter, Kermit, and Miss Piggy.

The show was going to be a mix of live-action Muppets and cartoons. It would have included animated versions of Pigs in Space plus a segment called Kermit the Frog, Private Eye, which would have been introduced by the puppet Kermit. Also included was something called Muppet Sports Shorts that starred Animal. In episode one he was learning about the high balance bar.

Of course, anytime a person wants to watch something from their childhood for free, they head to YouTube, where I found the first episode. It had that quirky Muppet sense of humor, but I have to agree that it wasn’t very good. The monsters seemed to live in the basement of The Muppets’ home or possibly the theater. The first episode included many of the segments mentioned earlier, plus Fozzie’s Comedy Corner:

Production included eighteen episodes, but only three aired on CBS. Many people, including Henson himself, didn’t think the combination of live-action puppets and cartoons worked, and it was his idea to pull the plug on the show. Here is the intro to the show:

According to Wikia, another problem was with the slow creation of the cartoon segments by Marvel Productions. It was replaced with Muppet Babies reruns from the previous season, and high ratings continued. But either way, the long-lost show gives Muppet fans something to check out while they wait for the next film.

So what do you think? Had you heard of Little Muppet Monsters? Let us know!