Remembering the Muppet Man.
(I know this is 2 days late, but my computer was down)
Ever want to see adults of a certain age (including this reviewer) instantly morph into little kids? Just throw The Muppet Show on the tube. Jim Henson, who died 16 years ago this week, enthralled multiple generations with his hilarious, touching, and surreal creations. Some random facts to pay tribute to the Man:
- His most famous creation, Kermit the Frog, debuted in 1955 on Henson's five-minute show on WRC, called Sam and Friends. Henson's mother's coat died to make the frog, and ping-pong balls were used for his eyes. Henson added Kermit's frill in 1968 when Kermit was revamped for inclusion on Sesame Street, to make him more frog-like and to hide the stitch between body and neck. At first Kermit was a marginal character on Sesame Street; he rose to prominence as the harassed MC on The Muppet Show.
- During the 1960's, Jim Henson used muppets to promote various products. One television spot, for Wilkins Coffee, featured a muppet blowing away another muppet with a cannon.
- The first muppet to make regular appearances on network TV was Rowlf, the piano-playing dog, who appeared on The Jimmy Dean Show.
- When Sesame Street debuted in 1968, Hensons' puppetry was a minor part of the show. After test screenings, producers gave the muppets greater prominence.
- The muppets appeared on Saturday Night Live between October 1975 and September 1976. The writers didn't like writing for them, and they didn't go over with audiences.
- The Muppet Show debuted in 1976 and lasted for 5 seasons. It was broadcast in over 100 countries and it won 3 Emmys.
- The show's success spawned 3 successful movies: The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, and The Muppets Take Manhattan.
- The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, two Henson movies that didn't feature Muppet Show cast members, were successful with critics but flopped commercially.
- During the 1980's, Henson worked on two television shows, Fraggle Rock and Dinosaurs. Both shows were critically well-received, only Fraggle Rock was successful with audiences.
- When Henson died of bacterial pneumonia in 1990, veteran Muppeteer Steven Whitmire took over Henson's characters, Kermit the Frog and Ernie.
- When Marlon Brando worked on 2001's The Score, he mocked director Frank Oz by calling him "Miss Piggy," referring to Oz's work on The Muppet Show. Oz also provided the voice of Yoda on Star Wars.
- In closing: Mana-mana!
