[ In the Muppet TV studio, Kermit welcomes his new act to the show. ]

Kermit

Extremes, I'd like to welcome you to the show. I'm sure you're feeling a bit shy, but don't worry. How's everything so far?

Purple

Well, you know... it makes me wanta... 

[ The Extremes burst into frenetic singing. ]

Extremes

SHOUT! YEAH YEAH! SHOUT! YEAH YEAH! SHOUT! YEAH YEAH! SHOUT! YEAH YEAH!

Purple

You know, I feel...

Extremes

ALLLLLLL-LLLLL RIIII-IIIII-IIIIIGHHHHT!

[ The Extremes run off, screaming. They run over Kermit as they go. ]

Kermit

Oof. You know, I think they're going to fit right in. Digit -- roll the opening!

[ Digit pushes the remote control. ]

[ The opening: A Griffin sits alone in a temple, contemplating his crystal ball. He holds up the ball triumphantly, and with a flash of lightning, the title appears. ]

[ Small animals approach timidly to admire the crystal ball. They murmur "ooooh, aaaaaah" -- and then one of the animals punctures the ball with a pin. ]

[ The ball explodes into a swirling whirlpool; various elements spin by as we're sucked down the rabbit hole. Finally, we end up in the studio, where Jim Henson enters down a set of moving stairs. As the stairs spin away, Jim approaches a white lion. ]

Henson

Hi there, and welcome to our very first show. We're all really excited about this --  [ the Lion roars ]  -- well, almost all of us are excited. Anyhow, this program will give you a chance to see a lot of different things. It represents the very best of the work we've been doing lately. Now, our show is usually divided into two half hours. Tonight's second half is a beautiful, eerie tale from the Storyteller called "The Heartless Giant."

[ clip of the Giant tossing knights around ] 

Henson

To begin our show, however, we go to MuppetTelevision -- and the frog in charge of that is an old friend named Kermit. You remember Kermit?  [ The Lion roars. ]  Listen, don't give me any trouble. Kermit presides over a place called Muppet Central -- a huge control room into which feeds every video source you can imagine. And Kermit has to pick and choose the stuff he thinks we'll enjoy. Now, he promises that tonight's episode is really going to be "out there." I don't know what that means, but I assume it's a good thing. Kermit?

Kermit

Oh, yes -- it's a very good thing, because tonight's show centers around the theme of Science Fiction. And I'm relying very heavily on Digit, since this whole area is very close to his heart.

Digit

Yes... when I die, I'm going to leave my body to Science Fiction.

[ Cut to commercial. ]