Whatnots

Whatnot-blue-purple — The interchangeability of the puppets is evident in this Whatnot in episode 308 who has a purple head and blue hands.

Whatnots are blank Muppet heads, onto which facial features, bodies, and clothes are added to make any kind of character in the Muppet Show universe. A similar group of Muppets known as Anything Muppets appear on Sesame Street.

Notable recurring characters made from Whatnots include Lew Zealand, Marvin Suggs, and Bobby Benson.

There were many different Whatnots. In the first two seasons, the Whatnots were mostly shaped like Fraggles. Later in the series, more humanoid Whatnots were added, often with sculpted noses.

In 1993, Playskool released a series of toy Muppet Workshop Puppet Kits based on the concept of Whatnot Muppets.

More recently, The Muppet Whatnot Workshop is an interactive puppet creation display at FAO Schwarz in New York City, and online. For promotion of the workshop, the Muppets (led by the Whatnots) took over the Today Show on November 13, 2008.

The Muppet Whatnot Workshop Kits were sold through Toys'R'Us stores late 2011 to coincide with the promotion for The Muppets.