Rizzo the Rat "Midnight Cowboy". Steve Whitmire created the character, based on rats he had previously made out of bottles. Rizzo first appeared in episode 418 of "The Muppet Show", as one of many rats following Christopher Reeve backstage. He can be seen mugging and reacting to practically every line of dialogue. He remained a scene-stealing background figure through the final season, occasionally performing with Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem. By the time of "The Muppets Christmas Carol", Whitmire had been performing Rizzo for around 12 years. After the series, he appeared in "The Great Muppet Caper" as a bellboy in a
Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show mistakenly lead some people to believe that Sawyer was 'Dr. Hook'. When anyone asked the band which one of them was 'Dr Hook' they always directed everyone to the bus driver. The band played for a few years in New Jersey, first with drummer Popeye Phillips (who had also been in The Chocolate Papers), who went on to be a session drummer on The Flying Burrito Brothers' first album, "The Gilded Palace of Sin". Citing musical differences, Popeye returned home to his native Alabama, and was replaced by local drummer Joseph Olivier. When the band began recording their first album,