The Jim Henson Hour

The Jim Henson Hour was Jim Henson's last television series, and aired in 1989 on NBC. The first half of most of the hours was 'Muppetelevision', with the second half a half-hour special showcasing what else Henson could do with puppetry (and one Muppet special, Miss Piggy's Hollywood). Several episodes of The Storyteller that hadn't yet aired in North America were originally aired here, as was the one-off special Dog City, which inspired a TV series of the same name. One character named Clifford would go on to appear in other Muppet productions, such as hosting Muppets Tonight and appearing in Muppets from Space.


 * Compliment Backfire: Kermit gets the compliment-that-makes-you-feel-old from Vicki, who's been a huge fan of The Muppet Show since kindergarten.
 * Do Not Adjust Your Set: In Sesame Street 20 Years, And Still Counting! After showing the Sesame Street song: Rubber Ducky, Bill Cosby reminds the viewers not to adjust their TV sets and explained that was Rubber Ducky, Sung in English, Spanish, Hebrew, German, and French. Bill Cosby then shows viewers the international versions of Sesame Street.
 * Everything's Better with Dinosaurs: One episode that never aired on NBC, Living With Dinosaurs. It subsequently aired in The Nineties on Nickelodeon.
 * Green Aesop: In one story narrated by Clifford, and in others.
 * Hostile Show Takeover: Gonzo and Leon try this, but it's less hostile than usual as Kermit relishes the opportunity for a break. Consequently, things fall to pieces as no one can decide who should have Kermit's job.
 * In Memoriam: Sesame Street 20 Years, And Still Counting was dedicated to the memory of the longtime Sesame Street composer, Joe Raposo.
 * Ominous Multiple Screens: Well, maybe not so ominous. The Muppet control room on consists of hundreds and hundreds of TV screens. This made sense, as the idea was that Kermit the Frog assembled the show by tuning into every television feed in the universe and picking the best stuff. This being the Muppets, characters could also get flung out of screens and into the control room itself.
 * Revival: Of The Muppet Show.
 * The Scottish Trope: In the cheeky behind-the-scenes special Secrets Of The Muppets, another program that wouldn't air during the NBC run but later appeared on Nickelodeon, it's revealed that most of the Muppets are very sensitive about "the 'P' word".
 * Serendipitous Symphony: In The Song of the Cloud Forest.
 * Similar Squad: An episode featured the characters receiving footage of an alien TV show starring the Teppums, including Timrek the Gorf and Oznog.
 * Statler and Waldorf: Even these guys can't stay away.
 * The Tape Knew You Would Say That: Gonzo leaves to do a poultry show across town, but has Digit 'pre-record' himself to make an appearence on Muppet Television, and is just that good at predicting what will happen.

See the Dog City page for tropes from that special.