A Muppet Family Christmas

A Muppet Family Christmas is a Christmas television special starring Jim Henson's Muppets. It first aired on December 16, 1987, on the ABC television network in the United States. Shot in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, its teleplay was conceived by longtime Muppet writer Jerry Juhl, and directed by Peter Harris and Eric Till. The special features various Muppets from The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and Muppet Babies. It also stars Gerard Parkes as Doc from the North American wraparound segments of Fraggle Rock, and Henson as himself in a cameo appearance. In the special, the Muppets surprise Fozzie Bear's mother Emily with a Christmas visit to her farm, not knowing that she had already rented out the place to Doc for the holidays so she could spend a winter vacation in Malibu. Due to licensing issues with the songs featured in A Muppet Family Christmas, some scenes have been cut from subsequent North American VHS and DVD releases.