On the day of the show, the Muppets receive a letter from Kermit informing them the production number is meant to pay tribute to Jim Henson, who died about six months earlier.

The rest of the special depicts the Muppets figuring out Jim Henson's relation to them, while simultaneously creating the production number.

Through the course of the special, interviews of several special guests are shown (including Carol Burnett, Ray Charles, John Denver, Steven Spielberg, Harry Belafonte and Frank Oz), where each guest recounts their personal experiences with Henson and his contributions to film, television, puppetry and philanthropy.

Kermit's nephew Robin tries to convince Fozzie otherwise by breaking into "Just One Person" (a song which was featured in the 1977 Bernadette Peters episode of The Muppet Show and in Snoopy!

He then decides to enact Fozzie's original number (by saying they should do something silly to end it) and addresses the audience, thanking them and promising "more Muppet stuff because that's the way the boss would want it."