"Muppet Show" Guest Stars: The Master List

peyjenk

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Okay, ladies and gentlemen, I have taken it upon myself to list and categorize all 122 guest stars of The Muppet Show, and I have here the results!

Yes, I know, I have no life, but I thought it would be interesting to see it all on paper. So I went to Muppet Wiki and went through the list of TMS episodes to catalogue each guest. I went through each one, and placed him or her (or them) in a category. For several of them, I had to do a little bit of outside research, but I finally got through it all.

Here's how it works. There are 19 categories. These categories are sometimes broad ("Movie Stars") and sometimes very specific ("Calypso Singers"). Each star is in only ONE category... the category that I felt best described the source of their stardom at the time they appeared on TMS.

Of course, there are overlaps that aren't accounted for on this list, because hardly any of these folks did just one thing and stuck with it. Several were famous for many different entertainment ventures. But I did my best to put them under the label that they were BEST KNOWN FOR at the time of their TMS appearance (yes, I just repeated myself, but I want to make that clear).

Some notes...

-The "Movie Stars" and "TV Stars" categories are horribly broad. Included in each of these are people who also found fame on Broadway, on the comedy circuit, or the opposite medium I have them listed in. But I, again, tried to determine what they were best known for. For example, Rita Moreno has done extensive Broadway, vocal, and television work, but I included her as a "Movie Star" because I feel that she is best known for her Oscar from West Side Story. Similarly, Carol Burnett is well known for movies and stage, but she is best known for "The Carol Burnett Show", so she's a "TV Star".

-I had to combine the "Pop Singers" and "Rock Singers" categories, because there is so much crossover between the two genres, and it was very hard to determine exactly who was what sometimes. So there are some that are CLEARLY pop (Leo Sayer) and some that are CLEARLY rock (Alice Cooper) and some that fall somewhere in-between (Linda Ronstadt).

-"Stageshow Stars" were people best known for their work in Vegas (Lola Falana) or onstage at such places as Disneyland (Wally Boag)

-"Dancers" include ballet dancers, jazz dancers, etc.

-"Comedians" are people well known for stand-up comedy. Some (like Steve Martin) did several movies and TV episodes, too, but they stand out for their stand-up work.

-This list is totally mine... I did do some digging to find out exactly what people were known for, but it all came down to my opinion. If you think someone needs to be in a different category, say so. I'd love to hear other people's opinions, because on some of these, I just don't know for sure!

-Similarly, if you have any questions as to why I put someone here or there, please let me know.

-Here's the breakdown:

On the five years of The Muppet Show, there were...

31 Movie Stars
23 TV Stars
14 Pop/Rock Singers
11 Country singers
8 Comedians
6 Broadway Stars
5 Musicians
3 Dancers
3 Folk Singers
3 Jazz Singers
3 Models
2 Mime Troupes
2 R&B Singers
2 Stageshow Stars
2 Ventriloquists
1 Calypso Singer
1 Magician
1 Opera Singer
1 TV Writer

Okay, on to The Master List!
 

peyjenk

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BROADWAY STARS - 6
-Carol Channing (season 4)
-Joel Grey (season 1)
-Ethel Merman (season 1)
-Zero Mostel (season 2)
-Bernadette Peters (season 2)
-Leslie Uggams (season 3)

CALYPSO SINGERS -1
-Harry Belafonte (season 3)

COMEDIANS -8
-Phyllis Diller (season 1)
-Milton Berle (season 2)
-George Burns (season 2)
-Bob Hope (season 2)
-Rich Little (season 2)
-Steve Martin (season 2)
-Spike Milligan (season 3)
-Avery Schreiber (season 1)

COUNTRY SINGERS -11
-Johnny Cash (season 5)
-Roy Clark (season 3)
-Rita Coolidge (season 3)
-Mac Davis (season 5)
-John Denver (season 4)
-Crystal Gayle (season 4)
-Kris Kristofferson (season 3)
-Loretta Lynn (season 3)
-Roger Miller (season 3)
-Anne Murray (season 4)
-Kenny Rogers (season 4)

DANCERS -3
-Rudolf Nureyev (season 2)
-Juliet Prowse (season 1)
-Ben Vereen (season 1)

FOLK SINGERS -3
-Joan Baez (season 5)
-Judy Collins (season 2)
-Arlo Guthrie (season 4)

JAZZ SINGERS -3
-Lena Horne (season 1)
-Cleo Laine (season 2)
-Lou Rawls (season 2)

MAGICIANS -1
-Doug Henning (season 4)

MIME TROUPES -2
-Mummenschanz (season 1)
-Shields & Yarnell (season 4)

MOVIE STARS -31
-Julie Andrews (season 2)
-Alan Arkin (season 4)
-Charles Aznavour (season 1)
-Candice Bergen (season 1)
-Dyan Cannon (season 4)
-John Cleese (season 2)
-James Coburn (season 5)
-James Coco (season 3)
-Dom DeLuise (season 2)
-Dale Evans (season 3)**
-Marty Feldman (season 5)
-Mark Hamill and the cast of Star Wars (season 4)
-Glenda Jackson (season 5)
-Madeline Kahn (season 2)
-Danny Kaye (season 3)
-Gene Kelly (season 5)
-Liza Minelli (season 4)
-Dudley Moore (season 4)
-Roger Moore (season 5)
-Rita Moreno (season 1)
-Vincent Price (season 1)
-Lynn Redgrave (season 3)
-Christopher Reeve (season 4)
-Roy Rogers (season 3)**
-Peter Sellers (season 2)
-Brooke Shields (season 5)
-Elke Sommer (season 3)
-Sylvester Stallone (season 3)
-Peter Ustinov (season 1)
-Lesley Ann Warren (season 3)
-Raquel Welch (season 3)

MODELS -3
-Marisa Berenson (season 3)
-Phyllis George (season 4)
-Twiggy (season 1)

MUSICIANS -5
-Victor Borge (pianist) (season 4)
-Dizzy Gillespie (trumpeter) (season 4)
-Liberace (pianist) (season 3)
-Jean-Pierre Rampal (floutist) (season 5)
-Buddy Rich (drummer) (season 5)

OPERA SINGERS -1
-Beverly Sills (season 4)

POP/ROCK SINGERS -14
-Shirley Bassey (season 5)
-Teresa Brewer (season 2)
-Petula Clark (season 2)
-Alice Cooper (season 3)
-Debbie Harry (season 5)
-Elton John (season 2)
-Melissa Manchester (season 5)
-Helen Reddy (season 3)
-Linda Ronstadt (season 5)
-Diana Ross (season 4)
-Leo Sayer (season 3)
-Paul Simon (season 5)
-Andy Williams (season 4)
-Paul Williams (season 1)

R&B SINGERS -2
-Pearl Bailey (season 3)
-Gladys Knight (season 5)

STAGE SHOW STARS -2
-Wally Boag (season 5)
-Lola Falana (season 4)

TV STARS -23
-Kaye Ballard (season 1)*
-Carol Burnett (season 5)
-Ruth Buzzi (season 1)
-Lynda Carter (season 4)
-Sandy Duncan (season 1)
-Bruce Forsythe (season 1)
-Valerie Harper (season 1)
-Florence Henderson (season 1)
-Don Knotts (season 2)
-Harvey Korman (season 1)
-Cheryl Ladd (season 3)
-Linda Lavin (season 4)
-Cloris Leachman (season 2)
-Hal Linden (season 5)
-Jim Nabors (season 1)
-Jaye P. Morgan (season 2)
-Gilda Radner (season 3)
-Tony Randall (season 5)
-Jean Stapleton (season 3)
-Connie Stevens (season 1)
-Loretta Swit (season 5)
-Nancy Walker (season 2)
-Jonathan Winters (season 4)

TV WRITERS -1
-Chris Langham (season 5)

VENTRILOQUISTS -2
-Edgar Bergen (season 2)
-Señor Wences (season 5)

*Kaye Ballard was known to mainstream audiences because of her guest spots on variety and talk shows, but she got to those shows because of her success on Broadway and Vaudeville.

**Roy Rogers and Dale Evans are probably equally known for their work in films and their country songs.
 

erniebert1234ss

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My favorite episodes:

BROADWAY STARS - 1
-Bernadette Peters (season 2)

CALYPSO SINGERS -1
-Harry Belafonte (season 3)

COMEDIANS -2
-Steve Martin (season 2)
-Avery Schreiber (season 1)

COUNTRY SINGERS -2
-John Denver (season 4)
-Anne Murray (season 4)

DANCERS -2
-Rudolf Nureyev (season 2)
-Ben Vereen (season 1)

JAZZ SINGERS -1
-Lena Horne (season 1)

MOVIE STARS -7
-Julie Andrews (season 2)
-Charles Aznavour (season 1)
-Candice Bergen (season 1)
-Mark Hamill and the cast of Star Wars (season 4)
-Madeline Kahn (season 2)
-Brooke Shields (season 5)
-Raquel Welch (season 3)

POP/ROCK SINGERS -5
-Shirley Bassey (season 5)
-Elton John (season 2)
-Linda Ronstadt (season 5)
-Diana Ross (season 4)
-Paul Williams (season 1)

TV STARS -4
-Carol Burnett (season 5)
-Sandy Duncan (season 1)
-Florence Henderson (season 1)
-Gilda Radner (season 3)
Well, those are my faves!

BJ
 

peyjenk

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Here's some more info...

Season 1 featured several TV Stars: 9, in fact. That's more than any other single season.

Season 2 was weighted towards Comedians. 5 of the 8 TMS Comedians were in Season 2.

In Season 3, Country Singers appeared on the show for the first time. There were 4 episodes with 5 individual Singers... that's almost half of all of the Country Singers to appear on the show's entire run.

No Dancers appeared on the show after the second season.

I'm sure there are other things one can learn from this list, but that's all I've got for now! :smile:
 

Drtooth

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What about the guest puppeteers? Do they count, or is that something else all together? Like the guy who did the doll-like puppets in the Cleo Lane episode.
 

peyjenk

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Aaaah.... I didn't even think about them..... I just went through the Muppet Wiki listing of episodes...

Yeah, I don't see why they wouldn't count. I know Bruce Schwartz was one of 'em... do you know the names of any others?
 
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