ITC logo/DVD trivia

[The Count]

Oh, OK... Is salright then.

 

[pault]

Maybe I'm just a newbie, but can you please give detailed explanations of how Hit! ATV, ITC, etc., etc. come into play? It's all alphabet soup to me. Thank you.

 

[David French]

Also, the Zoot puppet was a different colour. He was blue/grey during the first season or two and then changed to green. I think he stopped wearing his hat at that point too. The green Zoot was around the time that HIT! took over from ATV. The HIT! ending is the one they still have a "clean" version of.

Zoot doesn't wear his hat in the end credits of the first two seasons. He is wearing his hat in the end credits of the last three seasons.

Maybe I'm just a newbie, but can you please give detailed explanations of how Hit! ATV, ITC, etc., etc. come into play? It's all alphabet soup to me. Thank you.

Associated TeleVision (ATV) was the independent channel that aired The Muppet Show in the United Kingdom.

Incorporated Television Company (ITC) is the company that made The Muppet Show and distributed the series outside of the UK.

Henson International Television (Hit!) was one of Jim Henson's companies. When Henson bought the rights to TMS in the 1980's, the series was distributed by Hit!

 

[Mistersuperstar]

ATV wasn't exactly a channel as such, it was more of a production company based in the Midlands (although its studios were miles away in London) that aired it's programs on the UKs ITV channel. It disappeared in 1982 when Central Independant Television took over and moved the studios to Birmingham where the company was based. ITC was a subsidiary of ATV that distributed their programs out of the country, mainly to the USA.
Lew Grade was the guy that gave Jim Henson the chance to make The Muppet Show at his ATV studios in London because USA networks weren't sure it would be a success. ATV then sold rights to other networks in the USA to show the series.

Side note: Lew Grade's nephew, Michael Grade used to be chairman and controller of the BBC in the UK from 1984 until he resigned to become Executive Chairman for ITV in the UK this year.