Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Here's a remarkable behind-the-scenes look at Jim Henson's Muppet empire, and more particularly the making of The Muppet Show - in this segment from the long-running 60 Minutes news magazine as aired over the CBS Network, reported by Morley Safer (and produced by John Tiffin).
This piece originally aired on Sunday, March 11th 1979 - and I believe the video presented here is the original airing. There were also two encore showings: Sunday, June 10th 1979 & Sunday, August 24th 1980. Lastly, it was run one more time on Sunday, May 27th 1990, in a memorial tribute to Jim Henson after his untimely passing. Many thanks to our researcher extraordinaire (and all around good egg) – Mr. Chris Tufts!
Includes:
Morley's (mostly complete) introduction of this piece (including a brief history of the start-up of The Muppet Show), followed by a look at the making of a segment (with Gonzo; Philips LDK-25 cameras were used), an interview with Richard Hunt, looks inside the control room and behind-the-scenes shots including Frank Oz
A glimpse of Jim Henson, his particular history, a meeting with his staff (with shots of Jerry Juhl, Mr. Oz [and his main muppets Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear], Jerry Nelson [a.k.a. Floyd], Mr. Hunt [a.k.a. Scooter], Dave Goelz [a.k.a. Beauregard and The Great Gonzo]), and stars who'd guested on the program (including Danny Kaye, Ethel Merman, Rudolf Nureyev, Bob Hope - and Raquel Welch, whose appearance is being taped at the point this segment was made, and scenes of rehearsals with Raquel and Fozzie are shown, juxtaposed with the actual taping)
A look inside the work room where the various Muppet characters are produced and assembled; at one point the Muppet newscaster is miming to Morley who's next to him; he and Miss Piggy have a few words
Safer notes that all the puppeteers are shy people who mostly are unable to speak outside their characters; Frank, Richard, Dave and Jerry (the latter via his character Lew Zealand) all expound on what it takes to get inside their respective characters
A brief shot of the Swedish Chef inflicting mayhem in his kitchen (including his version of "chicken in a basket")
A look at Henson's control over his empire, and why the show's formula has not been copied by others; he speaks about Kermit the Frog's significance in his own life and career
This is followed by another interview with Miss Piggy ("Mae West and Charlie McCarthy with roles reversed"), with Beauregard and other characters interjecting
Another look at the taping, with a view of The Muppet Show band (the actual one, not those shown on the program), with another bit with Miss Piggy and Miss Welch performing "I'm a Woman"
(Note: The original recording was missing the last 15 seconds or so of the report, so at 14:23, the end was spliced in from another (lower quality) source - namely CBS as evidenced by the "Wazee Digital" watermark)
This aired on local Chicago TV on Sunday, March 11th 1979 within the 6:00pm to 7:00pm timeframe.
About The Museum of Classic Chicago Television:
The MCCTv (FuzzyMemoriesTV) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose primary mission is the preservation and display of off-air, early home videotape recordings (70s to early 80s, mostly) recorded off of TV (in Chicago or other cities now too); things which would likely be lost if not sought out and preserved digitally. If you have any old 1970s videotapes recorded off of TV please email: tapes@fuzzy.tv Even though (mostly) short clips are displayed here, we preserve the entire broadcasts in our archives - the complete programs with breaks (or however much is present on the tape), for historical preservation. For information on how to help in our mission, to donate or lend tapes to be converted to digital, please e-mail tapes@fuzzy.tv Thank you for your help!
Here's a remarkable behind-the-scenes look at Jim Henson's Muppet empire, and more particularly the making of The Muppet Show - in this segment from the long-running 60 Minutes news magazine as aired over the CBS Network, reported by Morley Safer (and produced by John Tiffin).
This piece originally aired on Sunday, March 11th 1979 - and I believe the video presented here is the original airing. There were also two encore showings: Sunday, June 10th 1979 & Sunday, August 24th 1980. Lastly, it was run one more time on Sunday, May 27th 1990, in a memorial tribute to Jim Henson after his untimely passing. Many thanks to our researcher extraordinaire (and all around good egg) – Mr. Chris Tufts!
Includes:
Morley's (mostly complete) introduction of this piece (including a brief history of the start-up of The Muppet Show), followed by a look at the making of a segment (with Gonzo; Philips LDK-25 cameras were used), an interview with Richard Hunt, looks inside the control room and behind-the-scenes shots including Frank Oz
A glimpse of Jim Henson, his particular history, a meeting with his staff (with shots of Jerry Juhl, Mr. Oz [and his main muppets Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear], Jerry Nelson [a.k.a. Floyd], Mr. Hunt [a.k.a. Scooter], Dave Goelz [a.k.a. Beauregard and The Great Gonzo]), and stars who'd guested on the program (including Danny Kaye, Ethel Merman, Rudolf Nureyev, Bob Hope - and Raquel Welch, whose appearance is being taped at the point this segment was made, and scenes of rehearsals with Raquel and Fozzie are shown, juxtaposed with the actual taping)
A look inside the work room where the various Muppet characters are produced and assembled; at one point the Muppet newscaster is miming to Morley who's next to him; he and Miss Piggy have a few words
Safer notes that all the puppeteers are shy people who mostly are unable to speak outside their characters; Frank, Richard, Dave and Jerry (the latter via his character Lew Zealand) all expound on what it takes to get inside their respective characters
A brief shot of the Swedish Chef inflicting mayhem in his kitchen (including his version of "chicken in a basket")
A look at Henson's control over his empire, and why the show's formula has not been copied by others; he speaks about Kermit the Frog's significance in his own life and career
This is followed by another interview with Miss Piggy ("Mae West and Charlie McCarthy with roles reversed"), with Beauregard and other characters interjecting
Another look at the taping, with a view of The Muppet Show band (the actual one, not those shown on the program), with another bit with Miss Piggy and Miss Welch performing "I'm a Woman"
(Note: The original recording was missing the last 15 seconds or so of the report, so at 14:23, the end was spliced in from another (lower quality) source - namely CBS as evidenced by the "Wazee Digital" watermark)
This aired on local Chicago TV on Sunday, March 11th 1979 within the 6:00pm to 7:00pm timeframe.
About The Museum of Classic Chicago Television:
The MCCTv (FuzzyMemoriesTV) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose primary mission is the preservation and display of off-air, early home videotape recordings (70s to early 80s, mostly) recorded off of TV (in Chicago or other cities now too); things which would likely be lost if not sought out and preserved digitally. If you have any old 1970s videotapes recorded off of TV please email: tapes@fuzzy.tv Even though (mostly) short clips are displayed here, we preserve the entire broadcasts in our archives - the complete programs with breaks (or however much is present on the tape), for historical preservation. For information on how to help in our mission, to donate or lend tapes to be converted to digital, please e-mail tapes@fuzzy.tv Thank you for your help!
![KXAS Channel 5 [Fort Worth-Dallas, TX] - Emergency Broadcast System Test (7/30/1979)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oGJOsPDG-k8/mqdefault.jpg "KXAS Channel 5 [Fort Worth-Dallas, TX] - Emergency Broadcast System Test (7/30/1979)
Heres another example of how Emergency Broadcast System tests were handled by local stations back in the day - in this case, from KXAS Channel 5 in Fort Worth-Dallas, TX.
(NOTE: Another EBS test from another Dallas-Fort Worth station - WFAA Channel 8, from 1978 - can be seen here: https://youtu.be/_9SvldZ8zs0 )
Includes:
Ending of PSA for The Family Place (a shelter for battered women) (voiceover by ??)
This is followed by the obligatory Emergency Broadcast System test (voiceover by ??)
The test - two tones, played simultaneously at 853 and 960 Hz, per FCC guidelines - only lasted a bit more than 23 seconds. The rest in this 60-second test were the This is a test... intro at the start, and the outro script at the end (both of which were also shown on screen as they were being read). However, there is no indication (between the actual emergency spiel and This concludes this test...) of which area this station serves (which would have been the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex).
Station ID / promo for The Muppet Show (voiceover by ??)
First few seconds of Act 5 of Days of Our Lives
This aired on local Fort Worth-Dallas TV on Monday, July 30th 1979 within the 12:00pm to 1:00pm timeframe.
About The Museum of Classic Chicago Television:
The MCCTv (FuzzyMemoriesTV) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose primary mission is the preservation and display of off-air, early home videotape recordings (70s to early 80s, mostly) recorded off of TV (in Chicago or other cities now too); things which would likely be lost if not sought out and preserved digitally. If you have any old 1970s videotapes recorded off of TV please email: tapes@fuzzy.tv Even though (mostly) short clips are displayed here, we preserve the entire broadcasts in our archives - the complete programs with breaks (or however much is present on the tape), for historical preservation. For information on how to help in our mission, to donate or lend tapes to be converted to digital, please e-mail tapes@fuzzy.tv Thank you for your help!")
