Johnny Carson and the Muppet Machine was a television special conceived of by Jerry Juhl and Jim Henson in 1969. The special would star Johnny Carson, trapped inside a machine filled with Muppets. The 2001 book Jim Henson's Designs and Doodles reproduced illustrations from Henson and Juhl's proposal, with a synopsis of the script: “Johnny arrives at the studio to appear in a show he knows nothing about. The only thing in the studio is a machine covered with buttons, levers, and gauges. Johnny pushes a button marked "Start". The machine comes to life and begins to give Johnny instructions.