The Muppet Show: a refuge for the head cases. With a g*y Scooter, a fluid Gonzo, a dr*g queen Miss Piggy, and Sylvester Stallone

How can this article, which is been around since 2020 and has no mention of anything inappropriate for a 5-year old, possibly get the blogger censors upset?   But it did!  The only thing I can think of is that the Orange Goblin must commanded them to censor the word g*y itself, so....

When I was an undergraduate at Augustana College, I spent most of my free time in a little bookstore off the Student Union lobby. It stocked some bestsellers and miscellaneous nonfiction, including The Little Prince and Dag Hammarskjold's Markings,  but mostly science fiction and fantasy, with some underground comics under the counter.

It provided a bright belonging place for "head cases," boy who were majoring in English or philosophy or music, who wanted something greater and nobler from life than carrying briefcases into skyscrapers.  We called ourselves the Bookstore Gang.

During any hour of the afternoon and early evening, half a dozen members of the Bookstore Gang could be found standing by the counter, or sitting on it, or browsing through the shelves, or reading in the armchairs or green couch that blazed with western sunlight.  We discussed classes, comic books, movies, ghosts, and politics, but for some reason never girls.  When the bookstore closed, we adjourned to the Rathskeller or to the TV Lounge, to argue and advise and review, discussing The Wizard of Id or Saturday Night Live, yelling "No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!" while stuck-up Business Majors stared.

 

Everything we watched or listened to or read was hip, anarchic, iconoclastic, but my favorite was The Muppet Show (1976-81), with Kermit the Frog from Sesame Street hosting a comedy-variety show, juxtaposing back stage bits with musical numbers and tv show parodies:

The Swedish Chef

Veterinarian Hospital

Pigs...in Space

 Meanwhile, obviously g*y couple Statler and Waldorf heckled everything, except for the famous guest stars, of course.

And what a cast of guest stars!  Everybody who was anybody stopped by:
Joan Baez
Milton Berle
Bert and Ernie
Joel Grey
Arlo Guthrie
Vincent Price
Tony Randall

Sylvester Stallone, post-Rocky and pre-Rambo, who sang "A Bird in a Gilded Cage" and "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off."  (He means ending the romance, not removing clothing).

When I moved to West Hollywood, I found that every gay man had a copy of Miss Piggy's Guide to Life (1981) on his bookshelf.  The diva, ghosted by Henry Beard, offered a combination of real and parody tips for diet, exercise, entertaining, and romance.  The only one I remember is "Miss Piggy runs only when she is being chased."

Other hip, anarchic, iconoclastic tv programs and movies -- Monte Python, Mary Hartman, Saturday Night Live, WKRP in Cincinnati, Blazing Saddles, The Cheap Detective, Silent Movie -- were loaded down with anti-g*y jokes and hetero stuff, but The Muppet Show had neither.  

More after the break

Only Miss Piggy regularly displayed hetero interest -- at Kermit and various male guest stars -- and she was always rejected. And instead of constantly ridiculing feminine guys, The Muppet Show offered a pleasant nonchalance about diversity.

James Hunt, who voiced Scooter (Kermit's assistant) and Janice (the hippie from the Electronic Mayhem Band), was g*y.  He died in 1992 (and was closeted in newspaper obituaries), but later  performers like David Rudman have presented Scooter as g*y in tribute.

Muppet creator Jim Henson was a g*y ally, as is his daughter Lisa, now CEO of Jim Henson Enterprises. In 2012, the company severed ties with Chick-Fil-A due to its anti-g*y bias, and donated existing proceeds to GLAAD.

Since the original Muppet Show, there have been 11 Muppet movies, 10 Muppet tv series, and 15 tv specials, including an updated Muppet Show that streamed on the Disney Channel in February 2026.  Many have oblique hints about LGBTQ people.  

Away from need to stay closeted for the kids, the Muppets have been more open.  Miss Piggy was interviewed in Out magazine, and was a guest judge on RuPaul's Dr*g Race.  Kermit the Frog appeared on Can't Cancel Pride in 2020.  You can get Kermit and Gonzo on Pride-themed wallpaper.

But in 1980, all we had was Statler and Waldorf singing:

Why do we always come here?

I guess we'll never know

It's like a kind of t*rture

To have to watch the show.

It was enough.

See also: A G*y Couple Arrives on "Sesame Street" (No, Not Bert and Ernie)

The Weird World of Gumball: Definitely weird, but is it adequately g*y?

Gemstone Season 3 Memes Part 2: Kelvin dates, Keefe bl*ws, and that's not Jerry O'Connell.  With Elmo.

"I Don't Want to Pretend that We're Just Coworkers": Starring Bert and Ernie, Patrick and David, and Kelvin and Keefe