September 24: Muppets Creator Born

On 24 September 1936, James Maury “Jim” Henson was born. The winner of 18 Emmy Awards, 17 Grammy Awards, four Peabody Awards, and five National Cable Television Association Awards, Henson is probably best known as the creator of the Muppets.

The Muppets made their first appearance in 1954 when they appeared as part of a local Washington, DC program called Sam and Friends. In 1969, the Muppets moved to Sesame Street. In 1976, the Muppets obtained their own television series. After the success of The Muppet Show, the Muppets were featured in a series of movies.

Henson died on 16 May 1990 at the age of 53.

Although the Muppets taught generations of students the alphabet and how to count, individuals born in the 1950s will have stronger memories of Bullwinkle J. Moose and Rocket J. “Rocky Squirrel. Although Rocky and Bullwinkle had appeared together in the afternoon series Rocky and His Friends, the Sunday night series The Bullwinkle Show which first appeared on ABC on 24 September 1961 was their first time in prime time. It was also the first prime time cartoon.
On entering the name of the medicine on empty stomach so as to find timely and benefiting erection for a good period of levitra 60 mg wikipedia reference 4 or 5 hours. In the United cheap cialis professional States, nearly 30 million men are known for experiencing premature ejaculation like condition at some point of their life before 40 years; however it lasts only for 3 or 4 days. Get prescription viagra online discover for more info today and reignite the love quotient. Once this enzyme is reduced, the potent chemicals levitra without rx of the body viz.
The grandparents of those who were born in the 1950s also have an entertainment first to celebrate. On 24 September 1914, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. had his film debut when The Lamb premiered at the Knickerbocker Theatre in New York City. Although Fairbanks had worked earlier on The Martyrs of the Alamo, this film was released after The Lamb. The premier is described by Brain Darr in his “First King of Hollywood: Douglas Fairbanks.”

–Steven L. Berg, PhD

Photo Caption: Jim Henson and some of his Muppets. (top) Rocky and Bullwinkle. (bottom)

 

Posted on by stevenlberg
Categories: World History: Modern
Tags: , , ,

3 Responses

  1. Shelby Mann says:
    5 December 2012 at 11:29 am

    Reading this interesting article I had no idea that The Muppets had been around since the 1950s. It’s incredible how far that they have come. Seeing as they have several movies, including, “Muppets from Space”, “Muppet Treasure Island”, and my favorite “A Muppets Christmas” and even a movie released last year called “The Muppets” starring Jason Segel.
    Reading up on The Muppets, I learned that their name had been trademarked by the Walt Disney Company but the Walt Disney Company didn’t own the characters until 2004. This is interesting because when I think of Disney, I think of Mickey Mouse and Pluto. I don’t think of Kermit the Frog and Ms. Piggy. I was quite unaware, or never really paid attention that Disney owned The Muppets. It’s incredible the history behind some of the characters I grew up with!

    Reply
    • Sean Pike says:
      8 December 2012 at 1:10 am

      It’s really amazing how some characters manage to be timeless. My parents grew up with The Muppets, so did I, and if all goes well so will my children.

      Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published the first Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet, in 1887. The series was so well loved that there was an international campaign for him to un-kill Sherlock when he intended to end the series. The franchise currently has a movie series starring Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law and Sherlock and Dr. John Watson., A modern retelling called Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, and a second modern retelling called Elementary starring that one guy from Hackers (Whose name always seems to escape me) and Lucy Lu as “Joan Watson”.

      One character who it surprises me has not faded into obscurity is Hercules (Or Heracles, rather), Having a large series of italian movies, the Disney film, A few comic books, several appearances in video games, and several television programs including “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” To be so well known nearly 2000 years after his creation is quite a feat, I’d say. If only the same could definitely be said about the other Greek gods.

      Reply
  2. Andrea Baird says:
    9 December 2012 at 4:04 pm

    Along with the ever so popular Muppets show, Jim Henson is also the creator of Sesame Street, as mentioned in the article. Sesame Street aired on November 10, 1969. The original series had been aired in 120 countries. In addition there have been over 20 international versions. Sesame Street is educational programing for preschool aged children, in 2009 the show celebrated its 40th anniversary. Sesame Street is known as one of the longest running shows in television history, producing 4,300 episodes. This show helped to showcase Henson’s Muppets show. Not only has Sesame Street been awarded the title of the longest running show on T.V, it has also been multiple Emmy Awards. This show may been seen as a preschool aged show , however several of the ever so popular character names are puns on cultural references, that adults would understand. In addition many adult notable personalities have joined these Muppets on Sesame Street. Henson thought that he had the preschool aged audience hooked; however he also wanted to capture the adult audience of the parents. Henson wanted parents to watch the show along with their children; he did so by bringing in performers like Stevie Wonder. Not only did he bring in performers, he also included political figures such as Kofi Annan. Sesame Street has paved the way for all children’s educational programing. In 2005 the show was in the top 10 shows for children aged 2-5 years old. Jim Henson has said that he believes that the Muppets, along with his other ever so popular hits, will live on as long as audiences allow them to.

    Reply

Leave a Reply