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
The Great Electric Show and Dance that apparently only he could anticipate. It's fascinating in a way, a bit like watching blind drunks navigate home from the bar at closing time, each one on roller skates and with a firmly held but completely different idea about longitude and latitude. No one really wins here, not Hopkins, not the band, and certainly not anyone listening to it, making this an album only dead serious Lightnin' Hopkins collectors should seek to find". All compositions by Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins The Great Electric Show and Dance The Great Electric Show and Dance is an album by blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins