Link Hogthrob

Link Hogthrob is the blonde, cleft-chinned pig with a high opinion of himself on The Muppet Show. He debuted in the second season as the not-so-fearless captain of the Swinetrek, where his unbridled machismo was often a source of conflict with his co-star, First Mate Piggy.

Unlike Dr. Julius Strangepork, whose role on The Muppet Show would be primarily relegated to the Pigs in Space sketches, Link would feature regularly both in the show's on stage acts and backstage mayhem. When numbers were consisted of assorted pigs, Link was usually with them.

His singing talents were first featured in his second appearance, where he sang "I Talk to the Trees." Other musical numbers included solos ("Sonny Boy"), duets with Miss Piggy ("La Ci Darem La Mano"), and group numbers ("Sea Chantey," "The Rhyming Song").

Link's bravado was often challenged by various scenarios. For example, in episode 524 it is revealed that he wears a toupee and a girdle to bolster his vanity. Other times, he would drop his composure and call out to his mommy while sucking his thumb, such as in episode 103.

Starting in the show's third season, Link was also featured as the police chief in the recurring "Bear on Patrol" sketches, where his dimwittedness was often the source of physical trauma to Patrol Bear.

Link was later one of the few classic Muppet Show characters to be used in the Muppet Central control room on The Jim Henson Hour. His most notable appearance was in the episode "Fitness" where he believes that he has a disease called Canadian Snout Fever after reading a book of silly diseases and by coincidentally encountering a number of things related to the book's symptoms. Other notable appearances include "First Show" (where he tested the Response-O-Matic, a device used to change television programs based on what the viewers want), and "Food" (in which he appeared in a sketch as a food critic at a restaurant).

For a time after Jim Henson's death, Link was largely retired, appearing in occasional silent cameos such as in The Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island. His few speaking roles included the video games Muppet RaceMania and Muppets Party Cruise, as voiced by Steve Whitmire. Whitmire continued to perform Link in his return to puppet form in The Muppets (where he sang "Smells Like Teen Spirit" as a member of the Muppets Barbershop Quartet), and Muppets Most Wanted (singing a verse in "Something So Right," and conversing with Usher at the wedding). Link also appeared during the Muppets' appearance on QVC. Link also appeared in The Muppets Take the Bowl concert, taking part in the live Pigs in Space sketch "The Suits Awaken," where he was performed by Peter Linz. Linz also performed Link at the PuppetPalooza festival.

An action figure of Link was produced in 2003 as part of Series 4 of Palisades Toys' line of Muppet action figures.

Behind the scenes
According to Brian Henson in one of his generic introductions for The Muppet Show, Link's voice was one that Jim Henson used in real life: "As a kid, whenever my dad did some stereotypical fatherly chore, like carving the Thanksgiving turkey, that would be the voice he would use. I guess when the character of this pompous, not-too-bright pig came along, he figured well that voice would fit just perfectly."

Dave Goelz, who spent time in the Muppet Workshop in addition to performing, described Link's conception in a 2018 interview with Splitsider: "When Bonnie Erickson built Link Hogthrob, we all sat in the shop together and had these discussions about what a male chauvinist pig would be like. We added the gold chain and then somebody said Link would feign chest hair, even though he was a pig. So that got added. Jim would come by every morning and saw these things and thought, “That’s great, that’s great.” It all became bigger than the original idea because of the collaboration."

Though Link was primarily a Live-Hand Muppet, a Hand-Rod Muppet was used occasionally on The Muppet Show.

Filmography

 * The Muppet Show
 * "The Muppet Show Theme" (Seasons 2 - 5)
 * Episode 203: Milton Berle (Pigs in Space)
 * Episode 205: Judy Collins (Pigs in Space, "I Talk to the Trees")
 * Episode 207: Edgar Bergen (Pigs in Space)
 * Episode 209: Madeline Kahn (Pigs in Space, "The Pig Got Up and Slowly Walked Away")
 * Episode 213: Rudolf Nureyev ("La Ci Darem La Mano")
 * Episode 214: Elton John (Pigs in Space)
 * Episode 215: Lou Rawls ("Sonny Boy")
 * Episode 216: Cleo Laine (Pigs in Space)
 * Episode 218: Jaye P. Morgan (Pigs in Space)
 * Episode 219: Peter Sellers (Doctor De Ericlever sketch)
 * Episode 220: Petula Clark ("Sea Chantey")
 * Episode 222: Teresa Brewer (Pigs in Space)
 * Episode 223: John Cleese (Pigs in Space)
 * Episode 224: Cloris Leachman (Operetta Medley: "My Hero," "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life," "Serenade," and "Stouthearted Men"; Pigs in Space)
 * Episode 303: Roy Clark (Pigs in Space)
 * Episode 305: Pearl Bailey (Pigs in Space)
 * Episode 306: Jean Stapleton
 * Episode 307: Alice Cooper (Pigs in Space)
 * Episode 308: Loretta Lynn ("The Rhyming Song")
 * Episode 309: Liberace
 * Episode 313: Helen Reddy ("Stayin' Alive")
 * Episode 314: Harry Belafonte (Pigs in Space)
 * Episode 315: Lesley Ann Warren (Pigs in Space, "Last Dance")
 * Episode 318: Leslie Uggams (Bear on Patrol)
 * Episode 319: Elke Sommer (Pigs in Space)
 * Episode 320: Sylvester Stallone
 * Episode 321: Roger Miller (Bear on Patrol)
 * Episode 322: Roy Rogers & Dale Evans (Bear on Patrol)
 * Episode 324: Cheryl Ladd ("True Love," Pigs in Space)
 * Episode 402: Crystal Gayle (Pigs in Space)
 * Episode 405: Victor Borge ("Macho Man")
 * Episode 406: Linda Lavin
 * Episode 407: Dudley Moore (Pigs in Space)
 * Episode 409: Beverly Sills ("Pigoletto")
 * Episode 412: Phyllis George (Pigs in Space, Stunt of the Year Award presenter)
 * Episode 414: Liza Minnelli
 * Episode 415: Anne Murray ("I Get Around")
 * Episode 416: Jonathan Winters
 * Episode 417: Star Wars (Pigs in Space)
 * Episode 418: Christopher Reeve ("Brush Up Your Shakespeare")
 * Episode 419: Lynda Carter ("Wonder Pig," "Orange Colored Sky")
 * Episode 420: Alan Arkin (Pigs in Space)
 * Episode 423: Carol Channing
 * Episode 424: Diana Ross (Pigs in Space)
 * Episode 501: Gene Kelly (Pigs in Space)
 * Episode 502: Loretta Swit (Pigs in Space)
 * Episode 503: Joan Baez (Pigs in Space)
 * Episode 504: Shirley Bassey
 * Episode 505: James Coburn (Bear on Patrol)
 * Episode 506: Brooke Shields (as the King of Hearts)
 * Episode 509: Debbie Harry (Pigs in Space)
 * Episode 510: Jean-Pierre Rampal (Bear on Patrol)
 * Episode 511: Paul Simon ("Scarborough Fair")
 * Episode 512: Melissa Manchester (Pigs in Space, "Your Cheatin' Heart")
 * Episode 513: Tony Randall (Pigs in Space)
 * Episode 514: Mac Davis ("Another Opening, Another Show," "It's Hard to Be Humble")
 * Episode 515: Carol Burnett (Pigs in Space)
 * Episode 517: Hal Linden
 * Episode 523: Linda Ronstadt (Pigs in Space)
 * Episode 524: Roger Moore ("In the Navy," Bear on Patrol)
 * The Muppet Movie
 * John Denver & the Muppets: A Christmas Together
 * The Muppets Go to the Movies (as Gummo in The Three Musketeers)
 * I Love Liberty
 * Pigs in Space video game
 * The Muppets Take Manhattan (Wedding Finale)
 * The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
 * A Muppet Family Christmas
 * The Jim Henson Hour
 * Episode 101: Outer Space
 * Episode 102: Oceans
 * Episode 103: Power
 * Episode 105: First Show
 * Episode 107: Fitness
 * Episode 109: Garbage
 * Episode 112: Food
 * The Muppets at Walt Disney World
 * The Muppet Christmas Carol
 * Muppet Treasure Island
 * Muppets Tonight
 * Episode 103: Billy Crystal
 * Muppets from Space
 * Muppet RaceMania video game
 * Muppets Party Cruise video game
 * The Muppet Show Theme Music Video
 * The Muppets (film)
 * QVC appearance, March 16, 2014
 * Muppets Most Wanted
 * America's Got Talent
 * Warburtons
 * The Muppets (series)
 * "Because... Love"
 * Pigs in Space web series
 * The Muppets Take the Bowl

Book appearances

 * The Muppet Show Book (1978)
 * The Comic Muppet Book (1979)
 * Robin Hood (1980)
 * Muppets at Sea (1980)
 * Pigs in Space (1983)
 * The Muppet Show Comic Book (2009)
 * Muppet Robin Hood (2009)
 * The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson (2009)
 * The Muppet Show Comic Book: Pigs in Space (2009)
 * The Muppet Show Comic Book: On the Road (2010)
 * Muppet Snow White (2010)
 * The Muppets Character Encyclopedia (2014)