History Series / TheMuppetShow

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first season is wildly different from all later seasons.
** The show's first season had a different (and far less epic) opening, fewer celebrity interactions with the Muppets, the first two guests were given their own Muppets in their likeness (eliminated in part because of the cost), Gonzo's eyes weren't as expressive, some other characters looked and/or sounded different, etc.
** The show was also more gag-centric in the first season, due in large part to Jack Burns being the show's head writer in that season. In the second season, when Jerry Juhl replaced Burns as the show's head writer, the series started to become more character-based.
** One character that needed a lot of development then was Fozzie; he was played as [[ButtMonkey a bad comedian]] who is rather obnoxious and is treated rather cruelly in the early stories. However, the seeds of what would make him a great character in later seasons showed in episode 10 with the "[[http://youtu.be/eH2coWVi9Vg Good Grief, the Comedian's a Bear]]" sketch when you see him struggle to set up a joke with Kermit and is both hilarious and charming with his innocent goofs and his determination to make it work.
*** Fozzie's voice was [[VocalEvolution considerably lower and more gravely the pilots]], and his puppet was a slightly different model. When the pilots were reworked and one of Fozzie's sketches still had his old voice in it, they added a HandWave to one of the backstage scenes - since the sketch was a [[TheWestern Western]] parody, the lower voice was Fozzie's poor attempt at a Creator/JohnWayne impression.
** ''The Muppet Valentine Show'' and ''Sex and Violence'' were hosted by now-obscure Muppets (Wally and Nigel respectively, the latter becoming the orchestra's conductor) instead of Kermit. And at the end of the latter, [[spoiler:the camera pulls back to show the Muppeteers running around]].
** Miss Piggy looked very different in the first season, and was alternately played by both Frank Oz and Richard Hunt, the latter usually portraying her when the former had to play a more prominent character like Fozzie or George the Janitor. This is made even more peculiar in the first episode, in which the final sketch had Oz doing Piggy's speaking voice, and Hunt singing for her.
** Piggy and Janice were both occasional chorus girls.
** The first season is the only season without cold opens involving the guest star.
** Gonzo originally was a rather pathetic nebbish and had a crush on Piggy. He soon gained a whole lot of confidence and a girlfriend in Camilla the chicken. This was reflected in his first-season puppet, which was [[PropRecycling recycled]] from a TV special, was a bit ratty-looking, and had [[PerpetualFrowner a permanent frown on his face]]. It was rebuilt for the second season, and his base appearance was in place.
** Eren Ozker and John Lovelady were performers in the first season. Ozker left after that, while Lovelady scaled back his involvement to building puppets for the New York Muppet Workshop before he himself left.
** Crazy Harry was part of the Muppet Orchestra in the first season. He was still seen in the closing credits in Season 2, as the Season 1 credits were used.
** Muppet Labs was originally solely hosted by Bunsen. His inventions would usually backfire on himself, and he had a much more frustrated personality. Once the segments became more frequent in Season 2, Bunsen gained both a cheerier, more absent-minded personality, and a loyal, yet long-suffering assistant, Beaker, who quickly became the segment's new guinea pig for testing inventions.
** Zoot spoke more often in the first season, and was the one dating Janice in the "At the Dance" sketches. Season 2 established Floyd as Janice's boyfriend, while Zoot became TheQuietOne in the Electric Mayhem. He also didn't wear his hat all the time in the first season.
** The pilots had Statler and Waldorf speaking slower like in ''Sex and Violence'', which is easily noticeable in the aired versions when they still have their slower delivery in some of their scenes. As the series progressed, both became far more boisterous.
** Janice and Crazy Harry were performed by Eren Ozker and John Lovelady in the first season. After their departure, they were darrin'ed by Richard Hunt and Jerry Nelson, respectively.
** In the first season, the Newsman would report on a bizarre story or interview a guest star playing a role related to said story. It wasn't until season two that the formula began of the Newsman being comically hit by something related to the story he had just reported on. Also, he didn't wear glasses in Season 1.
** Kermit wore a purple tuxedo more regularly on stage in the earliest episodes.
** At the Dance was a more frequent segment in that season as well. It was phased out over time after Juhl became the head writer due to its heavy focus on wordplay.
** Dr. Julius Strangepork was a generic pig in the first season. Starting in Season 2, he was given a name and became prominent in the Pigs in Space segments.
** Season 1 also had quite a few segments that never appeared in later seasons, chief among them the Talking Houses and Wayne and Wanda.

** Also, Miss Piggy in the early episodes was almost unrecognizable.
*** On a related note, in the first season, Miss Piggy was alternately played by both Frank Oz and Richard Hunt, the latter usually portraying her when the former had to play a more prominent character like Fozzie or George the Janitor. This is made even more peculiar in the first episode, in which the final sketch had Oz doing Piggy's speaking voice, and Hunt singing for her.

** The Newsman originally simply read out silly news bits. Starting in Season 2, the news would always happen to ''him''. Also, he didn't wear glasses in Season 1.

* ShootTheShaggyDog: in the Cleo Laine Episode, Fozzie's mother is in the audience, and to make her proud he snuck, cheated, and tricked his way into almost every skit, ticking off the rest of the cast... only to discover that his mom has fallen asleep - and implied to have ''slept through the entire episode'', rendering his efforts for naught.

* AllForNothing: in the Cleo Laine Episode, Fozzie's mother is in the audience, and to make her proud he snuck, cheated, and tricked his way into almost every skit, ticking off the rest of the cast... only to discover that his mom has fallen asleep - and implied to have ''slept through the entire episode'', rendering his efforts for naught.

* LiteralMinded: The butt of many, ''many'' of the show's jokes. Beauregard is perhaps the most recurring example.

** The pilots had Statler and Waldorf speaking slower, like in ''Sex and Violence'', which is easily noticeable in the aired versions when they still have their slower delivery in some of their scenes.

** The Newsman didn't have his glasses in Season 1.

** Zoot spoke more often in the first season, and was the one dating Janice in the "At the Dance" sketches. Season 2 established Floyd as Janice's boyfriend, while Zoot became TheQuietOne in the Electric Mayhem.

* HighDiveHijinks: In the Danny Kaye episode, the Flying Zucchini Brothers attempt a daredevil high dive into a bucket of water. While they're on their way down, the theatre's janitor notices somebody's left a bucket of water on stage and helpfully tidies it away.

* FourFingeredHands: A vast majority of characters fit this trope. The few exceptions include Gonzo (three fingers), Kermit (five), and any Muppet (such as the Swedish Chef and Rowlf) with live hands (five, for obvious reasons).

* {{Expy}}: Beauregard the Janitor is virtually the exact same character as Wendell the Porcupine from ''Literature/EmmetOttersJugBandChristmas'', down to the same personality, fur color, performer, and voice. Beauregard even looks a bit like a porcupine.