Eras in Muppet History: The Beginning Era (1955-1969)

Eras in Muppet History: The Beginning Era (1955-1969)

Jim Henson and Jane Nebel with Sam & Friends Cast

Many people think of The Muppet Show (1976) as where the Muppets began. The show introduced many of today’s characters, however the Muppets began about twenty years earlier in 1955. Jim Henson, a college student at the University of Maryland was given a chance to create a show called Sam and Friends. The show consisted of five-minute segments after the news that featured early Muppets, including an early version of Kermit the Frog, performing comedy bits and lip-synching acts. Henson performed the show with his future wife, Jane Nebel. Henson began to change how puppetry was done, right off the bat. His characters had moving mouths that were used to realistically match up with sounds. It seems pretty simple now, but at the time was a big change. He also got rid of the physical puppet stage, realizing that if this is being shot for TV, then the TV itself can be the puppet stage.

Jimmy Dean and Rowlf

Henson started a company for his creations with what is now known as The Jim Henson Company, currently owned by his children. In order to keep the company going, the Muppets began appearing in commercials in the late 1950s for such companies as Wilkins Coffee and Purina Dog Chow. It’s fascinating to me, to think about the Muppets needing commercials to keep them going. As long as I can remember, the Muppets have been this established force in entertainment. I love origin stories and hearing how successful franchises got their start. One of the characters created for these commercials was Rowlf the Dog. Although Kermit has been around longer, it was Rowlf that first hit national stardom, featuring in comedy sketches on The Jimmy Dean Show (1963). This is when Jim Henson’s name started to get some real heat behind it. Everyone knew about Rowlf, and it seemed like every company wanted the Muppets to sell their products with their commercials.
 

Kermit on The Ed Sullivan Show

The national success also landed several opportunities for Jim Henson to demonstrate his incredible abilities on shows like The Ed Sullivan Show. This was one of the huge milestones I was talking about. This was the equivalent of the Muppets starring on any of the big late night talk shows. Several of the skits performed would later be recreated on The Muppet Show, including a sketch with Kermit sitting on a wall, pulling at a small worm, only to realize the worm was the long nose of a monster that then ate Kermit. If you look closely at some of these Ed Sullivan clips, you can spot early versions of characters, such as Cookie Monster or Grover. The Ed Sullivan Show also debuted one of the most famous Muppet songs, “Mahna Mahna” (do doo do do do). These clips are essentially a grab bag of great, memorable, Muppet moments.

 

Even with such great exposure, Henson didn’t just stick with appearing on other people’s shows, there were some early Henson projects that date back to The Beginning Era. In 1962, Henson produced The Tales of Tinkerdee, a pilot for a new show. The pilot never aired, but the video has surfaced in recent years. I’m not sure how well it would have worked as an ongoing series, but I enjoyed it and thought there was some good humor in there. The story, narrated in song by Kermit, follows the evil witch Taminella Grinderfall as she comes up with plans to steal the birthday presents of Princess Gwendolinda, daughter of the bumbling monarch, King Goshposh. One of the most significant things about this pilot is the debut of Taminella and King Goshposh, both of whom will play key roles in the following Muppet Era.

 

Henson and Frank Oz

This was also the time when Jim Henson began working with key people that would be a lasting part of the Muppet Legacy. Much like the Muppets themselves, Jim Henson had a team of characters behind the scenes as well. Frank Oz joined Henson as a puppeteer, beginning one of the most underrated comedy duos of all time. Henson and Oz would go on to perform such iconic duos as Ernie and Bert, Kermit and Fozzie, Kermit and Miss Piggy, as well as performing the head and hands of the Swedish Chef, respectively.

Don Sahlin

Along with Oz, another addition to the company was Don Sahlin, master puppet builder. Don Sahlin is someone most people have never heard of, but they’ve definitely seen his work. Many fan favorites from Sesame Street (1969) and The Muppet Show were first carved out of foam by Sahlin.
 

Jerry Juhl

One more major player, who joined Henson was Jerry Juhl. Juhl was a puppeteer in these early days, but quickly found his true calling, which was writing. He helped develop who these characters were, and he knew just how to mix the characters together to create terrific entertainment. These people were the foundation for years to come. To put it simply, without knowing it, most people in their life have laughed at characters that were built by Don Sahlin, being performed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz, speaking words that were written by Jerry Juhl.


Continue on to The Fairy Tale Era (1969-1974)