- “Wocka wocka!”
- ―Fozzie Bear's catchphrase
Fozzie Bear is a Muppet bear comedian. He is the best friend of Kermit the Frog. Throughout The Muppet Show, Fozzie was known to have told jokes and punctuate them with his catchphrase "Wocka wocka wocka!" only to have them heckled by his mother's old friends Statler and Waldorf. He is also the son of Emily Bear and Mr. Bear. Even in his young days, Fozzie wanted to be a comedian. On frequent occasions, Fozzie teamed with Rowlf the Dog
During the first season of The Muppet Show, Fozzie's monologues usually consisted of Fozzie telling simple setup/punchline jokes, while being heckled by Statler and Waldorf. After the first season, most of his monologues relied on gimmicks such as telling jokes on roller skates. A common schtick in many episodes is that Fozzie would attempt to imitate the guest star's most famous act in an attempt to emulate their success, only to comically fail completely at that attempt. For instance, Bergen Edgar Bergen inspired him to try ventriloquism while stage magician Doug Henning inadvertently convinced Fozzie to try his hand at being a magician.
In Jim Henson: The Works, Christopher Finch wrote: "One of the biggest problems [with the first season] was with Fozzie Bear. Fozzie was crucial to The Muppet Show because he was conceived as Frank Oz's main character and the success of the show would depend on to a significant degree on Frank having the opportunity to display the full range of his virtuoso performance and comedic skills.
"It was logical to have a comedian as a primary character on The Muppet Show, particularly once The Muppet Theater had been established as its basic setting. And given the spirit of the Muppets, it was almost inevitable that he would be a bad comedian. The problem with Fozzie was that his bad jokes and failure to win over an audience provoked more embarrassment than sympathy. For instance, in episode 122, Fozzie gets so fed up with the heckling that he demands everyone but true Fozzie fans leave the auditorium. As a result, the seats are left completely empty; even Fozzie's own cousin leaves; Fozzie departs the stage almost in tears.
"Jerry Juhl and Frank Oz gradually transformed Fozzie by building up the positive aspects of his personality. They allowed his perpetual optimism to offset his onstage failures until he became a more rounded character. Fozzie's virtues ultimately made his ineptness acceptable—and even endearing. So successful was this metamorphosis that he became one of the most popular of all the Muppets."
As Brian Henson notes in a generic Muppet Show introduction, "Fozzie is always telling terrible jokes, but he's just trying so hard you've got to love him."