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Despite the fame of The Muppet Show, Kermit, Miss Piggy, all the Sesame Street characters, and even the early Muppet appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, I think the first Muppet to actually become a national figure was Rowlf the dog. In the early 1960s, long before he became a sausage icon, Jimmy Dean was a country music star who'd had a huge hit song, "Big Bad John." In 1963, he got his own TV series that ran until 1966. One of the most popular segments were the charming chats that Jimmy Dean would have with this floppy dog. Occasionally, Rowlf would bang out a tune on a piano. (Rowlf -- who was voiced by Muppet creator Jim Henson -- actually made his appearance the year before, in a TV commercial for Purina Dog Chow.) That history is what makes this video a treat. It comes from what I think is a Disney convention, called D23. And it features the first "famous" Muppet not only performing with the iconic Muppet, Kermit -- but together they sing what has become the iconic Muppet song, "The Rainbow Connection." Making this fun, too, is a wonderful ad lib thrown in by Rowlf when he screws up... (It all starts after a brief commercial. If for some reason it doesn't load -- I had a slight problem with the software -- click here instead.)
2 Comments
Douglass Abramson
6/30/2013 11:32:45 am
The second nationally known Muppet was probably Delbert the La Choy Dragon (could not find a You Tube clip), who was used in a series of Henson created ads between 1965 and 1967. Once Dean went off the air, Delbert was the only widely seen character until Sesame Street premiered in November 1969. I know that The Muppets made a lot of guest shots on various variety and talk shows, but Delbert was probably seen by more people, especially since Kermit and Rowlf weren't used in all of the guest shots. Various "monsters" were used frequently instead.
Robert Elisberg
6/30/2013 12:42:18 pm
I think I remember Delbert. If memory serves, he did a lot of fire-breathing. Actually, Jim Henson had earlier Muppets in very popular TV ads before this, but they weren't national (so it doesn't count in this discussion). In Chicago -- and perhaps the Midwest -- the very first Muppet commercials were for a company called Kraml Milk. I haven't been able to find those online either, though I've read that Kraml was their first ad account. I have fond memories of them. Very weird and funny. Leave a Reply. |
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. 
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