Bob Welti and the Muppets have a lot in common.

Both the KSL weatherman and the Muppets can get away with telling terrible (and terribly old) jokes, pulling silly gags - and getting big laughs. Both are beloved institutions on television.And, yes, Bob is just about as cute and cuddly at Kermit, Fozzie, Miss Piggy and Co.

But unlike the Muppets, Welti has decided to call it quits. After 41 years as a television weathercaster, he's stowing his maps and heading home.

But KSL isn't letting him get away without a tribute. "Clear and Mostly Funny: Robert Daniel Welti" (7 p.m., Ch. 5) is an hourlong look at the television pioneer and funnyman.

It's part retrospective, part talk show, part "This Is Your Life" and all Welti.

He throws stuff at Dick Nourse. He gives Shelley Thomas a hard time. He regales the audience with bad jokes.

You'll see Bob as a boy. You'll see him in his early television days. You'll hear stories from those who know him best.

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You'll see Bob fight a bull. (The bull won.) You'll see possibly the worst promo in the history of television - Bob as the Welti Weather Wizard.

And you'll have a lot of fun.

It's a fitting tribute to a local legend - and well worth a look.- TONIGHT ON THE TUBE: Fox television devotes a half hour - commercial-free - to Voices That Care (7:30 p.m., Ch. 13). It features the premiere of a U.S. troops-supporting video and more than 100 stars; Salt Lake hosts Kalamazoo in IHL hockey (7 p.m., Ch. 14); Norm's wife, Vera, gets a job at the restaurant above Cheers (8 p.m., Ch. 2), much to his chagrin; Judith Ivey returns in the sitcom Down Home (8:30 p.m., Ch. 2), which gets a special airing tonight before moving to Saturdays; Gloria Estefan, Demi Moore, Michael Jordan and Al Sharpton are interviewed on First Person with Maria Shriver (9 p.m., Ch. 2); and Linda's tryst with Sumner may end her relationship with Michael on Knots Landing (9 p.m., Ch. 5).

- LOOKING TOWARD FRIDAY: The Jazz take on the Pistons in NBA basketball (6 p.m., Ch. 13); Victoria is imprisoned for Angelique's crimes on Dark Shadows (8 p.m., Ch. 2); Great Performances (8 p.m., Ch. 7) features "The Margot Fonteyn Story"; and KBYU airs Of Moose and Men: The Rocky and Bullwinkle Story (9:40 p.m., Ch. 11). - SDP

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