Original 'Muppet Show' TV Pitch Was As Delightfully Bonkers As You'd Expect

Believe it or not, CBS passed on the show after seeing this.
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The Muppet Show” might be one of the most iconic variety shows in TV history, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing.

ABC aired two pilots ― “The Muppets Valentine Show” in 1974 and “The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence” in 1975 ― then passed on a series, which led Jim Henson to create a new pitch for the series for CBS.

Muppet History, a fan-run account on Twitter, posted a portion of the clip on Monday, the anniversary of the date the reel was filmed:

CBS passed on “The Muppet Show” as a network series, but it was picked up in Britain and then sold into syndication, ironically through CBS in the United States.

It ultimately ran for five seasons but has since spawned countless other shows, broadcasts, clips, attractions and more.

A longer portion of the segment from that original 25-minute pitch is available on YouTube:

The Muppets have been owned by Disney since 2004.

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