May 9, 2025 is officially the 70th anniversary of the Muppets! On this date in 1955, Jim Henson kicked off his series Sam and Friends, which featured the icon himself, Kermit the Frog. And now, so many years later, we’re agog at how much the Muppets have accomplished over the course of 7 decades.
In one of the many ways we’re celebrating this momentous occasion, the entire ToughPigs team has gotten together to identify our favorite Muppet moments from each of the past 70 years (plus a few more, because it was literally impossible to choose just one). Read on to see our picks while also getting a very surface-level version of the complete history of the Muppets!
1955 – A frog is born! Kermit is built and performed for the very first time – first on Afternoon and then on Sam & Friends.
1956 – “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” makes its national debut on The Steve Allen Show, featuring Yorick and a very edible Kermit.
1957 – Wilkins murders Wontkins for the very first time in the Wilkins Coffee commercials.
1958 – The first Muppet merchandise is produced – hand puppets of Wilkins and Wontkins. Unsurprisingly, there will be more Muppet puppets made in later years.
1959 – Kermit takes on his drag persona of “Kermeena,” previously seen in “I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face,” to dance to “That Old Black Magic” with his friend Sam. The world does not end because Kermit did drag multiple times.
1960 – In an early example of his banjo-prowess, Kermit lip-syncs to “A Horse Named Bill.”
1961 – Kermit and Harry the Hipster get lost in their own thoughts in the “Visual Thinking” sketch on Sam & Friends.
1962 – Rowlf the Dog makes his world debut convincing Baskerville that Purina Dog Chow is better than asparagus.
1963 – A happy girl meets a monster, teaching the world what happens if you mess with a beautiful day.
Honorable mention: Rowlf appears on The Jimmy Dean Show for the first time, instantly becoming the first Muppet TV star.
1964 – Kermit is devoured by a monster with a worm-like nose in the “Glow Worm” sketch on The Jack Paar Show.
1965 – Jim Henson paints an elephant in Time Piece. Where’d he even get an elephant anyhow??
Honorable mention: The La Choy Dragon cooks noodles in dragon fire, which I’m relatively sure isn’t how noodles are made.
1966 – On The Jimmy Dean Show, Rowlf gives the hot take that “Hang On Sloopy” sucks.
Honorable mention: Jim Henson debuts the abstract Limbo character in “The Organized Mind,” thus creating nightmares for generations of Muppet fans.
1967 – A chivalrous Muppet spray can named Sir Linit appears in commercials for an exciting new product that “restoreth light finish to cotton and miracle fabrics.” Whatever that means!
1968 – Jim Henson demonstrates how Whatnots work by rearranging the facial elements of a puppet in The Muppets on Puppets.
1969 – On the new experimental children’s show Sesame Street, Kermit the Frog teaches kids what happens if a monster eats your W. Wow, that seems very silly. I bet that show didn’t last.
1970 – Audiences everywhere are introduced to the Frackles, Thog, and some unimportant blue weirdo with a hooked nose and big eyes as Jim Henson takes over The Ed Sullivan Show with his Great Santa Claus Switch.
1971 – Fobin the Rrog… we mean, Robin the Frog, is fed many popovers by Taminella Grinderfall in The Frog Prince, educating the world on how to shut up noisy kids.
1972 – Catgut tries to will herself to death in The Muppet Musicians of Bremen.
1973 – On The Julie Andrews Hour, Rowlf becomes Julie’s best dog friend, enraging Jimmy Dean.
1974 – Miss Piggy Lee makes her world debut on The Tonight Show, and the world will never be the same again.
Honorable mention: In The Muppets Valentine Show, George the Janitor lets every Nielsen household know he’s in love with his mop.
1975 – After a bold proposal for The Muppet Show in the pitch reel, Kermit asks, “what the hell was that all about?” And thus, every network passed due to Kermit’s potty language, forcing them to go to syndication.
Honorable mention: Kermit the Frog shamelessly flirts with Cher, and she seems to be into it.
1976 – The Muppet Show begins, and Kermit kicks off the first (produced) episode by presenting “Mahna Mahna, whatever that means.”
Honorable mention: The Muppets are fired from Saturday Night Live, and the Land of Gortch characters will never be invited to SNL’s future anniversary specials.
1977 – Vincent Price introduces the world to his beautiful assistant, Uncle Deadly.
Honorable mention: The Swinetrek sends pigs into space for the first time.
1978 – Pearl Bailey and Floyd Pepper get down backstage on The Muppet Show with “In the Good Old Summertime.”
Honorable mention: Lew Zealand throws his first boomerang fish, thus disrupting Kermit and Piggy’s wedding.
1979 – Exterior. Swamp. Day. In a long helicopter shot, we discover Kermit the Frog playing his banjo and singing “Rainbow Connection” for the very first time in The Muppet Movie.
Honorable mention: Harry Belafonte brings a little culture to The Muppet Show with “Turn the World Around.”
1980 – The Muppets sing “When You Wish Upon a Star” with Mark Hamill, Chewbacca, C-3PO and R2-D2, and somewhere, a finger curls on a young Bob Iger’s monkey’s paw.
Honorable mention: Miss Piggy laments not being nominated for a Best Actress Oscar at the Academy Awards.
1981 – Miss Piggy gets waterlogged during her underwater ballet in The Great Muppet Caper.
Honorable mention: Kermit taps his flippers alongside Gene Kelly on The Muppet Show.
1982 – True to her diva ways, Miss Piggy declares she’s “too delicate for show business” after rampaging through the set in The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show.
1983 – The Muppets join John Denver for a singalong in Rocky Mountain Holiday. Sadly, they don’t sing “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” because it’s not that kind of holiday.
1984 – Gregory Hines is shocked to learn that Kermit gave Jenny the huggies.
Honorable mention: The world is introduced to the Muppet Babies theme song for the first time, and it’s still stuck in our heads.
1985 – Kermit frantically types on a typewriter in Little Muppet Monsters, and that’s about the only memorable thing from that show.
1986 – The Muppets celebrate 30 years by inviting every character to their TV special. Everyone except Icky Gunk. Poor guy, what did he ever do?!
1987 – Practically every Muppet in existence at the time comes together to slip on the icy patch in A Muppet Family Christmas. Everyone except Icky Gunk.
1988 – By 1988, the Muppets had conquered every frontier except one: breakfast. This all changed with the release of Cröonchy Stars cereal, a Swedish Chef-themed food with some very funny commercials.
1989 – In The Jim Henson Hour, Kermit reminds us all that when life gets you down, your friends can always take you on a “Sweet Vacation.”
1990 – Robin the Frog says in the saddest voice, “we will miss you, Jim Henson,” reminding us of the cold new reality in The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson.
Honorable mention: Thanks to the magic of World Showcase and video editing, The Electric Mayhem go on a world tour in one musical number: “Rockin’ All Around the World,” as seen in The Muppets at Walt Disney World.
1991 – The Muppets break the fourth wall as Sweetums steps out into the audience in Muppet*Vision 3D. Not to be outdone, Disney will break the rest of the attraction later this year.
1992 – “It Feels Like Christmas” when the Ghost of Christmas Present and Michael Caine introduce the world to the bus driver dance in The Muppet Christmas Carol.
1993 – Kermit records a cover of “Kokomo,” much to the delight of Mike Love’s bank account.
Honorable mention: “Jim Henson: The Works” book is published, and I guarantee you have a copy on your shelf right now.
1994 – The Muppets sing “Gotta Get That Name” in Muppet Classic Theater, featuring a frantically dancing weasel. The debate over whether this is funny will tear the Muppet fan community apart for decades.
Honorable mention: 47 of the most random celebrities sing about how Miss Piggy “drives them crazy” in a music video for the song included on the album Kermit Unpigged.
1995 – Miss Piggy drives Martha Stewart to a life of crime while baking gingerbread cookies.
Honorable mention: Mr. Willowby introduces the new hit phrase “arboretum arborvitae,” which swept the country. I believe it’s even in the Oxford dictionary!
1996 – With the premiere of Muppets Tonight, the world is introduced to Pepe the King Prawn… who quickly loses his mind as he attempts to explain a joke in the Sandra Bullock episode.
Honorable mention: Fozzie Bear talks to a man who lives inside his finger. Just kidding, this is no one’s favorite moment.
1997 – The Artist Formerly Known as Prince orders starfish and coffee at the Muppets Tonight commissary.
1998 – Moi perfume is sold at Bloomingdale’s, fulfilling the dream of anyone who ever wanted to smell like Miss Piggy.
1999 – Gonzo’s people tell him he’s an alien in the film Muppets From Space. This is an incredibly uncontentious detail that we all agree is canon and we absolutely aren’t still debating today.
2000 – Time-Life releases a whole bunch of Muppet Show episodes on VHS and DVD, bringing a significant amount of the series into our homes for the first time.
2001 – The Muppets appear on Family Feud, and the world falls in love with Mo Frackle because he can taste life, apparently.
Honorable mention: The first (and last) MuppetFest is held, which sadly a lot of people missed because they lived too far away or weren’t born yet. But they’ve got to do another one, right? Any day now…
2002 – The thought of you in love with someone else broke Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo’s heart. The rest of us, however, had our hearts warmed by a veritable Muppet Show mini-episode in the music video for Weezer’s “Keep Fishin’.”
Honorable mention: Fozzie becomes a pickpocket and Gonzo gets a singing brick as audiences visit The World Where Kermit Was Never Born in It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie.
2003 – One door was red, and the other was blue, as Kermit rapped about the bizarre PlayStation game Muppets Party Cruise.
2004 – After they appeared in a Pizza Hut commercial with Jessica Simpson, the Muppets are bought by the Walt Disney Company. Are those two things connected?
2005 – Pepe grabs Gonzo’s nipples in The Muppets Wizard of Oz.
Honorable mention: Watching the first season of The Muppet Show on DVD and the realization that we’ll get all five seasons on physical media and no one will ever complain about not having them again.
2006 – Although everyone’s waitin’ for the man with the bag, Muppet fans could stop waitin’ for new Electric Mayhem songs with their return on the album A Green and Red Christmas.
2007 – Bunsen and Beaker start making appearances at Disneyland. Finally, we can learn about real science there, and not just about how oranges are grown!
2008 – Fozzie Bear teaches Selena Gomez how to tell jokes on the second Studio DC special. In that way, we have Fozzie to thank for Only Murders in the Building.
2009 – It’s the real life, not just fantasy, as the Muppets have an early YouTube smash hit viral video with “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Do you remember where you were when Animal first yelled “MAMA???”
2010 – Gang, I really don’t think anything happened on The Muppets Kitchen With Cat Cora.
2011 – In an interview promoting The Muppets (the movie), Walter reveals he reads ToughPigs. And that’s why he’s our favorite.
2012 – The Muppets win their first Academy Award for the song “Man or Muppet.” It helped that this year, unlike in 1980, “It Goes Like It Goes” wasn’t eligible.
Honorable mention: In a UK advertisement for Cravendale milk, Pepe reveals he has a magic potato, and a running gag among fans was born.
2013 – Mo Frackle sings Lady Gaga’s “Applause” in your favorite Christmas special, Lady Gaga & the Muppets’ Holiday Spectacular. My mother taught me if I can’t say anything nice, I should say nothing at all, so that’s what I’ll do.
2014 – Kermit drinks a cup of tea.
Honorable mention: Constantine sings of “the lovers, the dreamers, and cheese” in Muppets Most Wanted. He nails it. (Because he said so.)
2015 – Kermit and Miss Piggy break up because they saw a poster for Pitch Perfect 2. I mean, it was more complicated than that, but that’s how the premiere of their new sitcom went.
2016 – Kermit and Piggy appear on network television singing “In Spite of Ourselves” by John Prine and Iris DeMent, a song that contains the lyric “He ain’t got laid in a month of Sundays/I caught him once and he was sniffin’ my undies.”
Honorable mention: The Electric Mayhem performs a live concert at Outside Lands and why haven’t they been performing live concerts all this time???
2017 – Muppet Thought of the Week debuts and brings much-needed peace to our planet.
Honorable mention: The Muppet Show comes to life as the Muppets took the Hollywood Bowl live on stage.
2018 – At The Muppets Take the O2, the Swinetrek crew meets TWO different Doctors, paradoxes be darned! (Ed. Note: Well yeah, because they met a pair of docs.)
Honorable mention: The Muppets sing along with Jason Sudeikis while driving around Los Angeles in a multicolored van. Subtle.
2019 – Fozzie Bear makes his voice acting debut as Dr. Enamel, a human dentist on the Disney Channel cartoon Big City Greens.
2020 – Danny Trejo and The Swedish Chef hug it out in Muppets Now. And that’s pretty much all we remember from that year; we kinda blocked out the rest.
2021 – After nearly three decades, we learn that Tiny Tim actually did die when he appears as a ghost in Muppets Haunted Mansion. Gonzo’s a liar!
Honorable mention: None of the Masked Singer judges correctly guess that Kermit the Frog was inside the giant snail all along.
2022 – The Muppets’ run on Holey Moley concludes as Miss Piggy commits grand theft auto. What a great golf-themed ending!
2023 – Baby Animal. No, not that Baby Animal. The other one.
Honorable mention: True to Jim’s vision, the Electric Mayhem performs a concert in Minecraft.
2024 – Kermit probably sang “Rainbow Connection” somewhere! And by somewhere, we mean Texas. With Willie Nelson.
Honorable mention: The Jim Henson Idea Man documentary returns us to The Cube.
2025 – In a Super Bowl commercial for booking.com, Miss Piggy rides around on her luggage like Groucho Marx.
Honorable mention: The Muppets celebrate their 70th anniversary. That’s why we’re here!
Which of your favorite Muppet moments did we miss? Be sure to visit the ToughPigs Discord to share!
by the ToughPigs Staff
