The Muppet Show

"Excuse me Master Luke, but what is this strange world we’ve come to?"

- C-3PO

"Beats me, Threepio. Seems like we’ve landed on some sort of comedy-variety show planet."

- Luke Skywalker

The Muppet Show was a show that ran in syndication from 1976 to 1981. With a cast of puppets, called Muppets, each show featured a special guest star.

Star Wars episode
Mark Hamill, in character as Luke Skywalker and also as himself (Luke's "cousin") was featured as the guest star in 1980, soon after the release of The Empire Strikes Back. Along with R2-D2 and C-3PO, Luke was searching for Chewbacca, who was "captured by a bunch of turkeys". They hijacked the cast of the skit Pigs in Space to "borrow" the ship (the Swine Trek) for the search. Suddenly infatuated with Luke, Miss Piggy costumes herself as Princess Leia.

After accidentally crashing onto the planet Koozebane, the team confronts "Dearth Nadir", who is the Muppet Gonzo dressed in a Darth Vader costume. (A previous episode had "Nadir" invade the Swine Trek with a team of chickens as his "stormtroopers"). He had a device that neutralized any blaster, rendering Luke's useless.

Chewbacca was being held hostage on the planet, and managed to escape and attack Nadir. Right before major action was about to begin, Kermit the Frog gave the cue for a musical number. The Star Wars characters happily joined in, with C-3PO displaying his dancing skills with a soft-shoe. Mark Hamill, who was shown as a completely different person than Luke in the show, danced along.

Behind the scenes

 * In addition to Hamill, Anthony Daniels and Peter Mayhew reprised their roles (though they were credited as their characters). Daniels also guest starred as C-3PO in an episode of Sesame Street, another Muppet production, in which he and R2-D2 befriended Big Bird and R2 fell in love with a fire hydrant.


 * Although R2-D2 appeared in The Muppet Show episode, it was the "three-legged" R2, operated by a radio control and not by Kenny Baker. However, Baker did later work with Jim Henson, playing a goblin in the film Labyrinth (with George Lucas as executive producer).


 * Frank Oz, the puppeteer of Yoda, was a lead puppeteer and creative consultant on The Muppet Show, performing Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, and several others. Another Muppet Show regular, Kathryn Mullen, served as Yoda's right hand in The Empire Strikes Back.