Decades Before Disney Owned Star Wars, The Muppets Made Their Worlds Collide
The first "Pigs in Space" segment of "The Muppet Show" occurred in the third episode of the show's second season, the one hosted by Milton Berle. "Pigs in Space" sought to lampoon all of the most popular sci-fi tropes of the day, most notably "Star Trek," which was exploding in popularity at the time thanks to endless syndication deals. The segments took place on board a pig-shaped vessel called the Swinetrek, which was commanded by the handsome Captain Link Hogthrob (Jim Henson). Miss Piggy (Frank Oz) played First Mate Piggy, and the ship's chief medical officer was Dr. Strangepork (Jerry Nelson). The "Pigs in Space" segment was so popular, it appeared in 32 episodes of "The Muppet Show" through its fifth season. The segment was revived for the short-lived 1997 series "Muppets Tonight," where it was called "Pigs in Space: Deep Dish Nine: The Next Generation of Pigs in Space."
"The Muppet Show" crested in popularity at about the same time "Star Wars" was infiltrating popular culture like a cloud of spores. George Lucas' 1977 film took the public kind of by surprise, and many makers of TV and film weren't sure, at least at first, how to respond. In 1978, the first "Star Wars" sequel hit the airwaves in the form of "The Star Wars Holiday Special," a truly horrible outing — truly, truly horrible — that attempted to fold "Star Wars" into the TV variety show format that was popular at the time. Carrie Fisher appeared in character as Princess Leia on "Donny & Marie." Meco released a "Star Wars" disco record.
Most famously, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Peter Mahew appeared in character as Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, and Chewbacca respectively on "Pigs in Space" on February 25, 1980. R2-D2 played himself.
Luke Skywalker vs. Dearth Nadir
Each episode of "The Muppet Show" featured a very special guest, pulling from an impressive pool of 1970s talent. On the February 25 1980 episode, however, the very special guest was simply "The Stars of Star Wars." Hamill was the only actor whose face was visible. At the beginning of the episode, Hamill, in character as Luke Skywalker, announces that he and his friend have mysteriously arrived on a musical variety show planet. Yuk, yuk.
Later on, a "Star Wars" musical number was performed out of plot necessity (as it were). Luke Skywalker, his "Star Wars" co-stars, and the Pigs in Space were lost on an alien world called Koozebane, cornered by the Darth Vader-like Dearth Nadir (Gonzo) and his gargling right-hand man Angus McGonagle (Nelson). Kermit enters rather unexpectedly and announces the only escape is to sing and dance. The ensemble breaks into "You Are My Lucky Star." Chewbacca and R2-D2 dance and C-3PO taps. Luke Skywalker is invited to perform, but he excuses himself and cedes the stage to his cousin ... Mark Hamill. Hamill sings "When You Wish Upon a Star."
Disney didn't own the Muppets or "Star Wars" in 1980, so the fact that Hamill sang a song from the 1940 Disney feature film "Pinocchio" was a coincidence. Indeed, the number seemed to be a sendup of Disney treacle, as the Muppet joined Hamill in singing and the Sleeping Beauty castle from Disneyland appeared in the background behind them. How silly, the joke was, to juxtapose "Star Wars" and Disney. Those things are very different.
Let Hamill do Hamill
At the end of the episode, Kermit the Frog (Henson) thanks Luke Skywalker for appearing on the show. Hamill, a little miffed, said instead that he should be thanking actor Mark Hamill. Thanks to a split-screen effect, a second Mark Hamill steps out on stage in a tuxedo and takes a bow next to Luke Skywalker.
It seems the bifurcation of Mark Hamill and Luke Skywalker extended from real concerns that Hamill had over being typecast as "the Star Wars guy." Hamil's concerns were stated outright by Muppet performer Dave Goelz in issue #55 of Star Wars Insider Magazine in 2001, who said that Hamill "was rightfully concerned about being identified forever as Luke Skywalker, so for that reason, they wrote a dual storyline." It seems that the makers of "The Muppet Show" liked to give a lot of creative leeway to their guests. "Our whole stance was," Goelz said, "we wanted guest stars to be able to do what they wanted to do."
In issue #32 of Star Wars Insider, published in 1997, the editors also noted that R2-D2 and C-3PO also teamed up with Muppet characters the following month in a March 1980 episode of "Sesame Street." It should be noted that Muppet performer Frank Oz appeared in the 1980 "Star Wars" sequel "The Empire Strikes Back" as the Jedi sage Yoda, so the world of the Muppets and the world of "Star Wars" were already pretty chummy.
1980 was a banner year for "Star Wars" on TV, as it also saw the release of a now-notorious anti-smoking PSA wherein R2-D2 was caught holding a cigarette in his pincer by C-3PO. Smoking, C-3PO noted, isn't bad for droids, "but we should set a good example."