Chip is a nerdy technician who appeared in 1989's The Jim Henson Hour and 2015's The Muppets.
Chip originally worked for Gorilla Television, the pirate broadcasting operation seen in the MuppeTelevision segments of The Jim Henson Hour and was performed by Gord Robertson. The Gorilla crew despised popular television entertainment, including that of the Muppets, so they tried to seize control of the show and broadcast their own material instead. Chip's Gorilla Television cohorts were Zondra and Ubu.
Chip has an egg-shaped head, a protruding set of upper teeth and large eyes with shutter-style blinking pupils. He wears red-framed spectacles and a plaid jacket. In his early appearances he often wore an "ALF for President" button on the lapel, referencing NBC's other prime-time puppet show of the time.
In addition to The Jim Henson Hour, Chip made silent background appearances in Muppets Tonight, Muppets from Space, It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, and The Muppets' Wizard of Oz.
After a ten year absence from the Muppets (in which he earned a degree in Synergistic Informational Technology & Modern Dance),[1] Chip appeared in a network pitch for ABC (now played by Dave Goelz). He appears alongside fellow "obscure Muppets" asking if they will be included (and struggling to remember what Muppet production he's from).
The pilot sold The Muppets as a series where Chip works in IT for Up Late with Miss Piggy. In the series, Chip struggles with social boundaries, having read a number of e-mail exchanges between Gonzo and his online match Debbie, for example ("Bear Left Then Bear Write"). "Going, Going, Gonzo" establishes that his life-long dream is to spread joy by tap-dancing across the world. In "Single All the Way", he describes his experience with synesthesia to Sam, explaining that he discovered he could sometimes see numbers as colors since he was yellow and a half years old. In "A Tail of Two Piggies", it's revealed that he was born with a tail. Having been removed, he keeps it on his necklace so he can be reincarnated.
Chip reappeared in The Muppets Take the Bowl, once again in a parade of obscure Muppets. Scooter, recognizing him from the former ABC series, gave him a shout-out. He also appeared in The Muppets Take the O2, where he gave a two-minute warning to the audience before the intermission was over.
Chip appeared during the opening of The Disney Family Singalong: Volume II, singing "The Muppet Show Theme" with the other Muppets. He also appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden singing "With a Little Help from My Friends" with James Corden, his band and the other Muppets.
Chip appears in the episodes "Sleep Mode" and "The I.T. Factor" on Muppets Now, but his face can be glimpsed before, starting with the premiere episode, as an app icon on Scooter's shared computer screen.
Trivia[]
- The original sketch for Chip pictured below came from Michael Frith. He is a caricature of Muppet writer (and Frith colleague) Bill Prady, a nod to Prady's earlier career as a computer programmer.
- In the audio commentary on the DVD release of Muppets from Space, Gonzo and Rizzo refer to Chip as "Lester Zidwango."
- Before assuming the character for the 2015 series, Dave Goelz had previously performed Chip in a small role in the "Tales from the Vet" sketch in Muppets Tonight episode 201, at one point showing Clarissa "a photograph of [his] kitty" and becoming a frequent victim of Mulch's shoving.
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