It was developed as a showcase for The Jim Henson Company's various puppet creations, including the Muppet characters.

At the beginning of each episode, Jim Henson would enter an abstractly-decorated set (alongside the Thought Lion from his series The StoryTeller) and introduce the evening's show.

Regulars included previous characters Kermit the Frog, Gonzo, and Link Hogthrob in addition to new characters Digit, Leon the Lizard, Lindbergh the Kiwi, Vicki, Clifford, Jacques Roach, and a computer-generated Muppet named Waldo C. Graphic.

Muppet characters Fozzie Bear and Miss Piggy appeared intermittently on the series, due to scheduling conflicts with performer Frank Oz's directing career.

Electric Mayhem regulars Zoot and Animal eventually made appearances with Solid Foam in the episode "Food."

MuppeTelevision would get interrupted on some occasions by an illegal TV station called Gorilla Television run by new characters Ubu, Chip, and Zondra.

After The Jim Henson Hour ended, Chip would go on to make minor appearances in various Muppet productions.

As with The Muppet Show formula, every episode had a celebrity guest star: Louie Anderson, Ted Danson, Smokey Robinson, Buster Poindexter, and k.d.

Note: These are the first appearances of Waldo C. Graphic, Vicki, Leon the Lizard, Clifford, Lindbergh, Brad and Bootsie, and the Extremes.

Note: Henson won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Variety Music Program for this episode.

He starts off by telling Jojo that she was built by Ed Christie with her mechanical riggings created by Tom Newby.

Henson and Jojo meet Jane Gootnik who is preparing to reconstruct Gonzo since the principal Muppets tend to get a lot of use.

Back on the set, he shows a behind the scene footage of The Song of the Cloud Forest, how the Doozers and Gorgs from Fraggle Rock are operated, and how the Muppets ride bicycles.

Note: Originally aired in the UK as a stand-alone special, "Living with Dinosaurs" was later reformatted as an episode of The Jim Henson Hour.

The show frequently acknowledged its own low ratings, with segments offering satirical takes on what viewers would rather watch—violent movies, ridiculous stunts, etc.

In Canada, the MuppeTelevision segments have run as a separate series called The Jim Henson Show.

All of the feature drama segments, except for "Miss Piggy's Hollywood", have been run as standalone specials in the US and other countries, and have been released on home video.