The Muppet Show
Gene Kelly
TV Flash files “Gene Kelly” as a desk essential hour — The Muppet Show (1976–1981) on Syndicated, season 5, episode 24, aired 1980-08-19, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S05E24: listed hour 120 of 120 in the The Muppet Show guide, last listed hour of season 5. It aired 1980-08-19 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Buddy Rich” (S05E23). No later hour is listed in this guide.
Essential hour: “Gene Kelly”. Gene Kelly closes the five-season run. Classic Hollywood dance meeting Henson's backstage mythology: the last guest as a bow to the variety form they revived.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Gene Kelly sit in the The Muppet Show guide?
S05E24 is listed hour 120 of 120 — last listed hour of season 5, season 5 episode 24.
When did The Muppet Show S05E24 air?
Gene Kelly aired 1980-08-19 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Is this just Sesame Street for older kids?
No. It is a prime-time-style variety show for mixed ages, not a preschool curriculum hour. Celebrity guests, backstage chaos, and adult-pitched jokes ride with the felt.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Kermit tries to keep a vaudeville catastrophe on the rails while Miss Piggy karate-chops her way to diva status. Jim Henson's UK-made syndication hit put A-list guests in felt chaos and revived variety for mixed-age living rooms. Songs, balcony hecklers, and a frog under stress.
So about the group chat that still argues whether Miss Piggy is a villain or a wife-goal: she karate-chops her way to diva status while Kermit tries to keep a vaudeville catastrophe on the rails. (I said spoiler-free. For a variety hour whose plot is 'the show must not collapse,' I can keep that.) The Muppet Show (1976–1981) is five seasons, 120 hours, produced in the UK by Jim Henson's team after U.S. network hesitation, then sold worldwide. Weekly human guests beside Fozzie, Gonzo, and the balcony hecklers.…
Filed against
- Jim Henson as Kermit the Frog / others
Jim Henson’s Muppet performing and creating made Sesame Street a 1960s catalog wager that kids were smart, then The Muppet Show a frog under stress with A-list guests. TV Flash files him as the man who built a street and a theater out of…
- Frank Oz as Miss Piggy / Fozzie / others
Frank Oz’s Muppet performing made Sesame Street a daylight argument that kids were smart — 1960s catalog letters with jokes, then The Muppet Show stretching the felt into Piggy-adjacent vaudeville chaos. TV Flash files him as the right…
- Jerry Nelson as Various
Jerry Nelson’s various Muppet turns kept The Muppet Show stocked with a throat for weirdos — 1970s catalog Henson vaudeville, then Fraggle Rock stretching the felt into underground harmony. TV Flash files him as the puppeteer who could do…
- Richard Hunt as Various
Richard Hunt kept The Muppet Show's felt chaos on the rails — Jim Henson's UK-made variety hit, A-list guests in vaudeville catastrophe, balcony hecklers, a frog under stress. Ensemble puppet craft, not a single mascot. TV Flash files him…
- Dave Goelz as Gonzo / others
Dave Goelz’s Gonzo — and others — made The Muppet Show a vaudeville catastrophe with a nose for danger — 1970s catalog Henson chaos, then Fraggle Rock stretching the felt into underground harmony. TV Flash files him as the weirdo who kept…