50 years of the “Muppet Show”: Queer, multicultural and damn woke

The political mood around the world 50 years ago was quite unpleasant. The Vietnam War was over, but the dictatorship remained. The Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot established their reign of terror in Cambodia. Civil war broke out in Lebanon, military dictatorship began in Argentina, while in the USA Gerald Ford led the country haplessly through the oil crisis and recession. And in Germany the Stammheim trial was underway against the first generation of the RAF, which led to massive further radicalization.

In the middle of this bad mood, a frog burst onto US television on September 9, 1976. To be more precise, it was a frog, a pig, a bear who plays the piano badly and tells jokes even worse, plus a whole host of other show biz creatures. They dressed in tails and frocks for the “Muppet Show” that was going into series and made the stage shake. It was queer, multicultural and, even though all of these expressions didn't really exist yet, damn woke. But above all, it was extremely funny.

The guest star of the first show was the Puerto Rican actress and singer Rita Moreno, in episode seven composer Charles Aznavour was mocked, the Swiss masked theater group Mummenschanz appeared, as well as US stars and starlets of all origins and skin colors. At the end of the first season, Peter Ustinov gave his blessing to the whole thing, but of course Waldorf and Statler still had something to complain about.

Maybe it's appropriate to take a cue from The Muppet Show given the current mood. Because she really opened up corridors of discourse, was progressive to the core, made fun of herself for it and even gave patrons like Waldorf and Statler a front seat every time.

Dilettantes from all countries and styles came together; no one was “foreign to culture” here. The “Muppet Show” is, to this day, proof that there is only one culture that encompasses everything and in which almost everything is allowed.

In short, pretty much everyone was allowed to feel accepted in the reality of their lives, but never taken completely seriously. Looking at the situation today, it is clear that a new “Muppet Show” is needed. To tear open and tear down all the alleged lack of alternatives and stubbornness. To finally put a smile on people's faces again and make it clear that it's not as bad as you think. “And please don’t just do this in your niche!” says the roommate. “People love stories, simple, atmospheric and with great visual entertainment.”

Because the feeling that things are always going downhill is something Kermit also said at every new show. But things always turned out very differently, and conservative and even right-wing reactionary minds were naturally part of it.