June 22, 1979: “The Muppet Movie” Premieres

June 22, 1979: The Muppet Movie premieres, directed by James Frawley. It is a companion piece to The Muppet Show, and many of the performers who were "very special guest stars" on the show were in the movie.

It's a "meta" movie: It begins with the various Muppets settling in to watch the premiere of The Muppet Movie, and breaks in the action sometimes go back to the theater where it's been screened.

Here's the synopsis: On November 13, Kermit the Frog was asked to remove himself from his place of residence. That request came from his wife. Deep down, he knew she was right. But he also knew that, one day, he would return to her. With nowhere else to go, he appeared at the home of his friend, Fozzie Bear. Several years earlier, Fozzie's wife had thrown him out, requesting that he never return. Can a divorced frog and a divorced bear share an apartment without... Wait a minute... No, that's not right...

The film-within-the-film serves as something of an origin story: Kermit is inspired to leave his native swamp and go to Hollywood by a studio executive who's gotten lost (played by Dom DeLuise). Along the way, he meets various other Muppets: Fozzie Bear, a struggling comedian, who offers to drive him to Hollywood in his uncle's Studebaker; Miss Piggy, a struggling singer who falls in love with Kermit at first sight, but abandons him as soon as her agent calls with what seems to be a better offer; Rowlf, the piano-playing dog; and a rock band, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem.

While all this is going on, Kermit is pursued by Doc Hopper (Charles Durning, who was never a Muppet Show guest star), who dresses up in a frog costume to advertise his chain of restaurants that specialize in "French fried frog legs," and is tried of it. Not the business, just having to do his own commercials and wear the costume. He sees Kermit as his ideal replacement, but fails to convince him, even capturing him and engaging in the services of a mad scientist (Mel Brooks) in an attempt to brainwash him into doing it.

Eventually, the Muppets are saved due to the well-meaning but misguided science of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, and are offered a contract by a studio executive (Orson Welles).

Kermit found Fozzie at a nightclub called the El Sleezo Café. The owner is played by James Coburn. The piano player is singer-songwriter Paul Williams. Also at the club are characters played by Telly Savalas and Madeline Kahn.

Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, and his most famous doll, Charlie McCarthy, appeared in the film as judges at a County Fair. Bergen died before the film was released, and it was dedicated to his memory. He was the father of actress Candice Bergen, who wasn't in the film, but both of them were Muppet Show guests.

Aside from the preceding, guest stars include, in chronological order by when they became famous:

Bob Hope, Milton Berle, Richard Pryor, Elliott Gould, Cloris Leachman, Steve Martin and Carol Kane.

The film's songs included Kermit's "The Rainbow Connection," which became a Top 40 hit; Kermit and Fozzie duetting on "Moving Right Along"; Piggy singing "Never Before and Never Again," which she would later sing on The Muppet Show in a duet with Superman actor Christopher Reeve; and Gonzo the Great's plaintive "I'm Going to Go Back There Someday."

Later Muppet movies have included The Great Muppet Caper in 1981, The Muppets Take Manhattan in 1984, The Muppet Christmas Carol in 1992 (a version of Charles Dickens' story, and probably the most popular Muppet film, exceeding even the original), Muppet Treasure Island in 1996, Muppets from Space in 1999 (not to be confused with Space: 1999), The Muppets in 2011, and Muppets Most Wanted in 2014.

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June 22, 1979 was a Friday. The Main Event also premiered on this day. Barbra Streisand played a ruined perfume magnate, and Ryan O'Neal played a boxer. It was a comedy. I guess someone decided to put the guy from Love Story and the girl from The Way We Were together, and to see what happens.

The reverse almost happened: Ali MacGraw was cast as Daisy Buchanan, opposite Robert Redford, in the 1974 version of The Great Gatsby, but she backed out, and was replaced by Mia Farrow.

These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-2 at Yankee Stadium. Jim "Catfish" Hunter was the winning pitcher. It was the 223rd win of his career. He would win only 1 more. Reggie Jackson did not play.

* The New York Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Ted Simmons hit 2 home runs.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-5 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Mike Schmidt went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Pete Rose went 2-for-5.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 12-1 at Fenway Park in Boston. Jim Rice hit 2 home runs. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-2 with a walk.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-5 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Ken Singleton and Doug DeCinces hit home runs in the bottom of the 9th to win the game. Eddie Murray went 2-for-5 with an RBI.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-2 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 7-2 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Bert Blyleven outpitched Ken Holtzman. Willie Stargell entered the game as a pinch-hitter, stayed in the game at 1st base, and went 1-for-2.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Johnny Bench did not start, but pinch-hit and stayed in the game to catch, going 0-for-2.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-3 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Houston Astros beat the San Diego Padres, 2-1 at the Astrodome in Houston. Joe Niekro outpitched Bob Shirley. 

* The Kansas City Royals beat the California Angels, 9-5 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). George Brett went 2-for-4. Rod Carew did not play.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Texas Rangers, 6-5 at the Oakland Coliseum. Rickey Henderson made his major league debut for the A's 2 days later.

* And the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Seattle Mariners, 15-8 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Robin Yount, Gorman Thomas and Charlie Moore hit home runs. Paul Molitor went 1-for-5.