Part One : A Strange Kind of Feeling
Kermit on Good Morning America
Summer, 1976
I’m going to start this Valentine’s Day celebration of Romance, Muppet Style with an example of how powerful the Frog-Pig relationship has been over the last 25 years. What follows is an excerpt from a Good Morning America interview in the summer of 1976, publicizing The Muppet Show before its premiere.
As far as I know, this may be the very first TV interview with a Muppet character talking about The Muppet Show. And within moments, the conversation takes a turn that will become very familiar to Muppet fans over the next couple of decades…
| Kermit
|
Hello there! I am Kermit the Frog, and I’m here on Good Morning America. And today we’re going to be talking to the noted morning show host, Mr. David Hartman. I’m asking the questions this morning, you’ll notice. Tell me, David — uh, do you have any, uh, girlfriends? |
| David
|
Uh, Kermit… that gets just a little bit personal, really. I… but… |
| Kermit
|
Well, this is a probing interview. In depth, you see. |
| David
|
Yeah, I understand that. Well, I’m supposed to interview you. Do you have a girlfriend? |
| Kermit
|
Oh! Well, uh. Me? Oh. Well. Uh. Well, no. Listen. I’m a — I’m a very busy frog, you see. However, on the show — the show that I’m — that I’m going to be doing, I do have a, uh, — I have a, uh — I have a young lady — well, actually, she’s a pig. |
| David
|
A pig? |
| Kermit
|
Yes. Who has a hankering for me. Have you been hankered at by a pig before? |
| David
|
Well… [ laughs ] Occasionally. |
| Kermit
|
It’s a strange kind of feeling. But, you see, it wouldn’t work out. |
| David
|
It wouldn’t. Why not? |
| Kermit
|
Well, if we had kids, what’d we have, you know, little green footballs. You see. |
by Danny Horn
