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when does the muppet show premiere

The original The Muppet Show premiered on 5 September 1976 in the United Kingdom, with U.S. broadcasts starting in April 1977.

Below is a Quick Scoop–style post shaped to your rules.

When Does The Muppet Show Premiere?

Quick Scoop

If you’re asking “when does The Muppet Show premiere,” you’re most likely thinking about the classic Jim Henson variety series that turned Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, and Gonzo into global stars. Here’s the key info at a glance.

Core Premiere Dates

  • UK series premiere: 5 September 1976 (first broadcast on ITV/ATV in Britain).
  • US premiere: 23 April 1977 in first‑run syndication.
  • Total run: 5 seasons, 120 episodes , ending in March 1981.

These dates are what most TV databases, fan wikis, and release‑info pages treat as the “official” premiere points for the original show.

Mini Sections

1. What people usually mean by “The Muppet Show”

When people say The Muppet Show (not The Muppets 2015 series or newer specials), they almost always mean the 1976–1981 British‑American variety show produced by Jim Henson and ITC. It’s the backstage‑chaos, on‑stage‑variety format set in the Muppet Theatre, hosted by Kermit the Frog.

Think of it as a weekly “live” vaudeville night: musical numbers, sketch comedy, and a big-name guest star… with everything behind the curtain going hilariously wrong.

That classic series is what the premiere dates above refer to, not later reboots or spin‑offs.

2. Country‑by‑country premiere snapshot

Here’s a quick look at how the premiere rolled out in a few regions.

html

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Region</th>
      <th>Premiere date</th>
      <th>Notes</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>United Kingdom</td>
      <td>5 September 1976</td>
      <td>First broadcast on ITV/ATV; considered the original premiere.[web:1][web:3][web:5][web:7][web:9]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>United States</td>
      <td>23 April 1977</td>
      <td>Debuted in first-run syndication across U.S. stations.[web:3][web:7]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>France</td>
      <td>20 January 1977</td>
      <td>Listed in release info as one of the early European premieres.[web:7]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Netherlands</td>
      <td>3 October 1977</td>
      <td>Part of the broader international rollout.[web:7]</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

Because it was syndicated and sold region by region, airtimes and exact debut days could differ even within the same country’s TV network structure.

3. What about pilots, reruns, and streaming “premieres”?

If you’ve seen other dates floating around, you’re not wrong—just looking at different milestones:

  • Two earlier pilots (including The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence) aired in 1974–1975 , before the official series launch.
  • Different ITV regions in the UK sometimes aired the same “first” episode at slightly different times of day (e.g., 4:15 vs 4:20 p.m.).
  • On 19 February 2021 , all five seasons dropped on Disney+ , which many fans treated as a “modern streaming premiere” of the full series.

So if someone says “The Muppet Show is premiering on Disney+,” they usually mean that 2021 streaming release, not a new production.

4. Is there a new Muppet Show coming?

As of early 2026 , there isn’t an officially announced brand‑new series called exactly The Muppet Show with a future premiere date. The most recent big “new” moment for the classic series was that full Disney+ release in 2021.

There have been other Muppet TV projects, like the 2015–2016 ABC series The Muppets , but that’s a different show with its own premiere (September 2015) and a mockumentary office‑style format.

5. TL;DR (for quick SEO clarity)

  • If you search “when does The Muppet Show premiere” and mean the original classic series, the answer is:
    • 5 September 1976 (UK) and 23 April 1977 (US).
  • If you mean a future “reboot” with the same title, there is no confirmed upcoming premiere date as of 2026.
  • For modern viewers, a big milestone was the Disney+ full‑series release on 19 February 2021.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.