Rizzo on The Muppet Show

Can anyone here help me figure out something? I was watching the Gene Kelly episode of The Muppet Show today and I noticed a rat at the end of the show during the credit roll. Was that Rizzo? I thought Rizzo was introduced in Muppets Take Manhattan and that the only "Muppet Show" he was part of was Muppets Tonight.

yeah, that'd how Rizzo evolved. Steve Whitmire was encouraged to take an old puppet and use it as an extra. He used a rat puppet from the "Muscicians of Bremen" that could basically be bounced up and down on a stick. Jim thought it was funny and redid the puppet into today's Rizzo as a hand puppet with eye mechanism!

jzion12345 said:

I thought Rizzo was introduced in Muppets Take Manhattan and that the only "Muppet Show" he was part of was Muppets Tonight.

Click to expand...

Actually, I think Rizzo was in several episodes of The Muppet Show. He was mostly a background character (as mentioned above), but I'm fairly positive he was given his name and even had some lines during the last two seasons. Of course, Muppets Take Manhattan was a more significant role than he probably ever got on TMS.

Yeah, Rizzo sang a song along with Fozzie, Link, and Lew Zeland. It's the one where they go, "Another opening of another show." He sang the line, "Two weeks, will it ever be right???"

Super Scooter said:

Yeah, Rizzo sang a song along with Fozzie, Link, and Lew Zeland. It's the one where they go, "Another opening of another show." He sang the line, "Two weeks, will it ever be right???"

Click to expand...

What episode was that? I saw it on a muppet clip video and was surprised to see Rizzo on the Muppet Show.

Oh, Rizzo made his theatrical debut in GMC. He had a few lines, then he got a bigger role in MTM, and then a HUGE role in MCC, MTI, and MFS. Rizzo is a classic character but for some reason he is still seen as being new by many.

Jeez! This Burns Me Up, My Own Computer Isn't Working So I Try The Computers In The

LOBBY, BUT EVEN THEY'RE NOT WORKING HERE!!!! IT @#^%$#//!!!ES ME OFF!!!

Now as I was trying to say three hours ago.... That was the Mac Davis ep where Rizzo sang. I've noticed at imdb.com they have the false information that TMTM was Rizzo's first appearance. That might be what confuses a lot of people.

more Rizzo appearances

What about on the John Denver and the Muppets: Rocky Mountain Holiday special? I just watched this last night, along with the Sesame Street 25th. anniversary special. (and I was glad to see Kermit show up in at least 2 songs )
But back to RMH. I noticed that they didn't use all the Muppets you normally see in the movies. It was interesting the way they did the flashbacks to Ms. Piggy and (in the original uncut version) the flashback to John and Rowlf in the plane. Now that I've seen the transcript of that scene on the site here, Rowlf's hiccups make a lot more sense. But in the newly released version, that scene doesn't make a lot of sense.
Anyway, I also noticed that only Kermit, Robin, Animal, Gonzo, Fozzie, Scooter, Rowlf, Janice, and Floyd were with John. (That's what I thought at first.) However, when John and Floyd are fishing, Zoot shows up from out of nowhere and plays the sax and then isn't seen again. Of course, Statler and Waldorf show up throughout the special and make jokes. I also noticed that the jug band showed up, which was kinda cool, since I don't think they've shown up in anything outside the Muppet Show except for The Great Muppet Caper. (and RMH, of course)
Oh yeah, back to the point of my post. I noticed a rat in a white shirt that looked quite similar to Rizzo. Does anyone know if this is supposed to be Rizzo? I think he sings with the others when they're hiking to the campsite, but he doesn't really say anything else. Granted, I know I've seen a few rats that look similar to Rizzo, so this could just be a generic unnamed character. However, if that is Rizzo, that would probably be one of his earliest appearances, since the special aired in 1979!

GonzoLeaper said:

Anyway, I also noticed that only Kermit, Robin, Animal, Gonzo, Fozzie, Scooter, Rowlf, Janice, and Floyd were with John. (That's what I thought at first.) However, when John and Floyd are fishing, Zoot shows up from out of nowhere and plays the sax and then isn't seen again. Of course, Statler and Waldorf show up throughout the special and make jokes. I also noticed that the jug band showed up

Click to expand...

In my opinon the muppets that were used with John were the main charcters at that time. Of course including piggy in the flash back.

GonzoLeaper said:

I noticed a rat in a white shirt that looked quite similar to Rizzo. Does anyone know if this is supposed to be Rizzo? I think he sings with the others when they're hiking to the campsite, but he doesn't really say anything else.

Click to expand...

I would say it is Rizzo, at that time Steve did not realy have a regular character other than Rizzo.

Rizzo, if I piece everything together correctly WAS in the Muppet show, he wasn't Rizzo as we know him yet. Basically he was a recurring BG character, that Steve decided to use, and created a personality for him, but by the time he was able to, TMS ended, and MTM was a few years away.

Rizzo was in the Paul Simon Episode, playing with the band in "50 ways to leave your lover"

Well...I guess I was really wrong. He WAS in the Muppet Show. But, then why would they have made him a character that they run into and don't know initially in Muppets Take Manhattan?