139-689: The Sesame Street Muppets are a group of puppet characters created by Jim Henson , many for the purpose of appearing on the children's television program Sesame Street . Henson's involvement in Sesame Street began when he and Joan Ganz Cooney , one of the creators of the show, met in the summer of 1968, at one of the show's five three-day curriculum planning seminars in Boston . Author Christopher Finch reported that director Jon Stone , who had worked with Henson previously, felt that if they could not bring him on board, they should "make do without puppets". Henson
278-629: A Bachelor of Science degree in home economics . Henson began working at WTOP-TV (now WUSA-TV) in the late spring of 1954, at age 17, hired to "manipulate marionettes" on a Saturday morning children's show called The Junior Morning Show , until the show was cancelled only three weeks later. This first break into the Television industry was short-lived, but his talent landed him and his puppets an opportunity to continue working at WTOP-TV, lip-syncing on Roy Meachum's Saturday show. Henson's employment at WTOP-TV lasted only until August, when Saturday
417-614: A Peabody Award , three Emmys, an award from the Public Relations Society of America , a Clio , and a Prix Jeunesse. By 1995, the show had won two Peabody Awards and four Parents' Choice Awards . It was the subject of a traveling exhibition by the Smithsonian Institution , and a film exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art . Sesame Street is ... with lapses, the most intelligent and important program in television. That
556-479: A 3.3 Nielsen rating, which totaled 1.9 million households. By the show's tenth anniversary in 1979, nine million American children under the age of 6 were watching Sesame Street daily. According to a 1993 survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, out of the show's 6.6 million viewers, 2.4 million kindergartners regularly watched it. 77% of preschoolers watched it once a week, and 86% of kindergartners and first- and second-grade students had watched it once
695-521: A cannon, struck in the head with a hammer or baseball bat, or have a pie thrown in his face. The Jim Henson Company has posted a short selection of them. Henson later explained, "Till then, advertising agencies believed that the hard sell was the only way to get their message over on television. We took a very different approach. We tried to sell things by making people laugh." The first seven-second commercials for Wilkins were an immediate hit and were later remade for other local coffee companies throughout
834-411: A car crash on April 15, 1956. He was raised as a Christian Scientist and spent his early childhood in nearby Leland, Mississippi , before moving with his family to University Park, Maryland , near Washington, D.C. , in the late 1940s. He remembered the arrival of the family's first television as "the biggest event of his adolescence", being heavily influenced by radio ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and
973-443: A curriculum or evaluate what children learned from them. By the mid-1970s commercial television had abandoned their experiments with creating better children's programming. Other critics hoped that Sesame Street , with its depiction of a functioning, multicultural community, would nurture racial tolerance in its young viewers. It was not until the mid-1990s that another children's television educational program, Blue's Clues , used
1112-480: A false but widespread rumor that Henson had died of AIDS — a rumor that was swiftly and directly refuted by Gelmont. Frank Oz believed the stress of negotiating with Disney contributed to Henson's death, stating in a 2021 interview: "The Disney deal is probably what killed Jim. It made him sick." His remains were cremated , and in 1992, his ashes were scattered near Taos, New Mexico . News of Henson's death spread quickly and admirers of his work responded from around
1251-429: A few weeks before the five test shows were due to be filmed. Stone videotaped the auditions, and Ed Palmer took them out into the field to test children's reactions. The actors who received the "most enthusiastic thumbs up" were cast. For example, Loretta Long was chosen to play Susan when the children who saw her audition stood up and sang along with her rendition of " I'm a Little Teapot ." Stone stated that casting
1390-536: A half-hour version of the program. The new version, which originally complemented the full-hour series, was broadcast weekday afternoons and streamed on the Internet. In 2017, in response to the changing viewing habits of toddlers, the show's producers decreased the show's length from one hour to 30 minutes across all its broadcast platforms. The new version focused on fewer characters, reduced pop culture references "once included as winks for their parents", and focused "on
1529-469: A hospital. Two hours later, Henson agreed to be taken by taxi to the emergency room at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan . Shortly after admission, he stopped breathing and was rushed into the intensive care unit. X-ray images of his chest revealed multiple abscesses in both of his lungs as a result of a previous Streptococcal pharyngitis (strep throat) bacterial infection he had apparently had for
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#17330852290521668-506: A loaf. In 1969, television producer Joan Ganz Cooney and her staff at the Children's Television Workshop were impressed by the quality and creativity of the Henson-led team, so they asked Henson and staff to work full-time on Sesame Street , a children's program for public television that premiered on National Educational Television on November 10, 1969. Part of the show was set aside for
1807-472: A lot more of my time on the creative side of things" with Disney handling business matters. By 1990, he had completed production on the television special The Muppets at Walt Disney World and the Disney-MGM Studios attraction Muppet*Vision 3D and he was developing film ideas and a television series entitled Muppet High . Henson and fellow puppeteer Jane Nebel were married on May 28, 1959, in
1946-564: A medley of Henson's favorite songs in their characters' voices, ending with a performance of "Just One Person" while performing their Muppets. In accordance with Henson's wishes, no one in attendance wore black, and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band finished the service by performing " When the Saints Go Marching In ". The funeral was described by Life as "an epic and almost unbearably moving event". The Jim Henson Company and
2085-546: A mixture of styles and characters, and to vary its pace, presumably keeping it interesting to young viewers. However, by season 20, research showed that children were able to follow a story—and the street scenes, while still interspersed with other segments, became evolving storylines. We basically deconstructed the show. It's not a magazine format anymore. It's more like the Sesame hour. Children will be able to navigate through it easier. On recommendations by child psychologists ,
2224-527: A multi-year agreement with Warner Music Group to re-launch Sesame Street Records in the U.S. and Canada. For the first time in 20 years, "an extensive catalog of Sesame Street recordings" was made available to the public in a variety of formats, including CD and vinyl compilations, digital streaming, and downloads. Sesame Street used animations and short films commissioned from outside studios, interspersed throughout each episode, to help teach their viewers basic concepts like numbers and letters. Jim Henson
2363-526: A new educational series. At its 50th anniversary in 2019, Sesame Street had produced over 4,500 episodes, two feature-length movies ( Follow That Bird in 1985 and The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland in 1999), 35 TV specials, 200 home videos, and 180 albums. Its YouTube channel has over 24 million subscribers. It was announced in October 2019 that first-run episodes will move to HBO Max beginning with
2502-436: A pair of jeans forming the sleeve for the puppeteer's arm. Though Henson told people that "Muppet" was a portmanteau of " marionette " and " Puppet ", many early Muppets were actually hand puppets , rod puppets , or some combination of the two. Direct control over the puppet's mouth, in combination with the softer construction materials, allowed the puppeteer to express a wider range of emotions and to more accurately move
2641-487: A part of it, but he ultimately concluded that "what we were trying to do and what his writers could write for it never gelled". The SNL writers were not comfortable writing for the characters, and they frequently disparaged Henson's creations. Michael O'Donoghue quipped, "I won't write for felt." Henson began developing a Broadway show and a weekly television series both featuring the Muppets. The American networks rejected
2780-747: A performing partnership that lasted until Henson's death; their teamwork is particularly evident in their portrayals of Bert and Ernie , Kermit and Miss Piggy , and Kermit and Fozzie Bear . In New York City, Henson formed a partnership with Bernie Brillstein , who managed Henson's career until the puppeteer's death. In the years that followed, more performers joined Henson's team, including Jerry Nelson , Richard Hunt , Dave Goelz , Steve Whitmire , Fran Brill , and Kevin Clash . In 1964 he and his family moved to Greenwich, Connecticut , where they lived until 1971, when they moved to Bedford, New York . Henson's talk show appearances culminated when he devised Rowlf ,
2919-437: A piano-playing anthropomorphic dog that became the first Muppet to make regular appearances on The Jimmy Dean Show . Henson was so grateful for this break that he offered Jimmy Dean a 40-percent interest in his production company, but Dean declined, stating that Henson deserved all the rewards for his own work, a decision of conscience that Dean never regretted. From 1963 to 1966, Henson began exploring filmmaking and produced
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#17330852290523058-845: A series of experimental films. His nine-minute experimental film Time Piece was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 1965. He produced The Cube in 1969. Around this time, he wrote the first drafts of a live-action movie script with Jerry Juhl which became Tale of Sand . The script remained in the Henson Company archives until it was adapted in the 2012 graphic novel Jim Henson's Tale of Sand . During this time, Henson continued to work with various companies who sought out his Muppets for advertising purposes. Among his clients were Wilson Meats , Royal Crown Cola , Claussen's Bread, La Choy , and Frito-Lay , which featured an early version of his character Cookie Monster to promote their Munchos line of potato snacks. Like
3197-499: A series of funny, colorful puppet characters living on Sesame Street, including Grover , Cookie Monster , Bert and Ernie , Oscar the Grouch , and Big Bird . Henson performed the characters of Ernie, game-show host Guy Smiley , and Kermit, who appeared as a roving television news reporter. Henson's Muppets initially appeared separately from the realistic segments on the Street, but the show
3336-468: A single backbone topic." Author Malcolm Gladwell said that " Sesame Street was built around a single, breakthrough insight: that if you can hold the attention of children, you can educate them." Gerald S. Lesser , the CTW's first advisory board chair, went even further, saying that the effective use of television as an educational tool needed to capture, focus, and sustain children's attention. Sesame Street
3475-469: A small ceremony at Jane's family home. They had five children: Lisa (b. 1960), Cheryl (b. 1961), Brian (b. 1963), John (1965–2014), and Heather Henson (b. 1970). Henson and his wife separated in 1986, although they remained close for the rest of his life. Jane said that Henson was so involved with his work that he had very little time to spend with her or their children. His children began working with Muppets at an early age, partly because "one of
3614-409: A song that he had debuted on The Muppet Show , as each member of the congregation waved a brightly colored foam butterfly attached to a puppet performer's rod. Later, Big Bird (performed by Caroll Spinney ) walked onto the stage and sang Kermit's signature song " Bein' Green " while fighting back tears. Dave Goelz , Frank Oz, Kevin Clash , Steve Whitmire , Jerry Nelson , and Richard Hunt sang
3753-568: A system of planning, production and evaluation based on collaboration between producers, writers, educators and researchers. The show was initially funded by government and private foundations, but has become somewhat self-supporting due to revenues from licensing arrangements, international sales and other media. By 2006, independently produced versions (" co-productions ") of Sesame Street were broadcast in 20 countries. In 2001, there were over 120 million viewers of various international versions of Sesame Street ; and by its 40th anniversary in 2009, it
3892-839: A variety of prominent characters, notably Miss Piggy , Gonzo the Great , and Fozzie Bear , in addition to its large cast of supporting characters such as the Muppet musicians Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem with their chaotic drummer Animal . Henson's teammates sometimes compared his role to that of Kermit: a shy, gentle boss with "a whim of steel" who ran things like "an explosion in a mattress factory." Caroll Spinney , who performed as Big Bird , remembered that Henson would never say he did not like something. "He would just go 'Hmm.' ... And if he liked it, he would say, 'Lovely!'" Henson recognized Kermit as an alter ego, though he thought that Kermit
4031-415: A week before starting school. The show reached most young children in almost all demographic groups. The show's ratings significantly decreased in the early 1990s, due to changes in children's viewing habits and in the television marketplace. The producers responded by making large-scale structural changes to the show. By 2006, Sesame Street had become "the most widely viewed children's television show in
4170-492: A writer for Variety , saw in Sesame Street "a hope for a more substantial future" for television. Morrow reported that the networks responded by creating more high-quality television programs, but that many critics saw them as "appeasement gestures." According to Morrow, despite the CTW Model's effectiveness in creating a popular show, commercial television "made only a limited effort to emulate CTW's methods," and did not use
4309-405: Is a big, ambidextrous stunt." The show's research team developed an annotated document, or "Writer's Notebook," which served as a bridge between the show's curriculum goals and script development. The notebook was a compilation of programming ideas designed to teach specific curriculum points, provided extended definitions of curriculum goals, and assisted the writers and producers in translating
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4448-603: Is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action , sketch comedy , animation , and puppetry . It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) and was created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett . It is known for its images communicated through the use of Jim Henson 's Muppets , and includes short films, with humor and cultural references. It premiered on November 10, 1969, to positive reviews, some controversy, and high viewership. It has aired on
4587-620: Is held at the Academy Film Archive . In 2019, the YouTube channel Defunctland released a six-part miniseries on the life and legacy of Jim Henson. A biopic film based on Henson's life, known as Muppet Man , has been in development at Walt Disney Pictures and The Jim Henson Company since 2010. In April 2021, it was reported that Michael Mitnick was hired to rewrite the screenplay, previously written by Aaron and Jordan Kandell . Lisa Henson will serve as producer. In March 2022, it
4726-538: Is not anything much yet. Sesame Street was not without its detractors, however. The state commission in Mississippi , where Henson was from, operated the state's PBS member station ; in May 1970 it voted to not air Sesame Street because of its "highly [racially] integrated cast of children" which "the commission members felt ... Mississippi was not yet ready for." According to Children and Television , Lesser's account of
4865-630: The Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song . The Henson-directed The Great Muppet Caper (1981) followed, and Henson decided to end the Muppet Show to concentrate on making films, though the Muppet characters continued to appear in TV movies and specials. Henson also aided others in their work. During development on The Empire Strikes Back (1980), George Lucas asked him to aid make-up artist Stuart Freeborn in
5004-756: The Educational Testing Service (ETS) during the first two seasons, which measured its educational effectiveness. Cooney said, "From the beginning, we—the planners of the project—designed the show as an experimental research project with educational advisers, researchers, and television producers collaborating as equal partners." She characterized the collaboration as an "arranged marriage." Sesame Street has used many writers in its long history. As Peter Hellman wrote in his 1987 article in New York Magazine , "The show, of course, depends upon its writers, and it isn't easy to find adults who could identify
5143-424: The Educational Testing Service (ETS) to conduct summative research on the show. ETS's two "landmark" summative evaluations, conducted in 1970 and 1971, demonstrated that the show had a significant educational impact on its viewers. These studies have been cited in other studies of the effects of television on young children. Additional studies conducted throughout Sesame Street ' s history demonstrated that
5282-538: The Jim Henson Foundation continued after his death, producing new series and specials. Jim Henson's Creature Shop also continues to create characters and special effects for both Henson-related and outside projects. Steve Whitmire , who had joined the Muppets cast in 1978, began performing Kermit the Frog six months after Henson's death. He was dismissed from the cast in October 2016, and Matt Vogel succeeded him in
5421-589: The Sesame Street Muppets accounted for between $ 15 million and $ 17 million per year in licensing and merchandising fees, split between the Sesame Workshop and The Jim Henson Company. By 2019, the Sesame Workshop had over 500 licensing agreements and had produced over 200 hours of home video. There have been two theatrically released Sesame Street movies, Follow That Bird , released in 1985, and Elmo in Grouchland , released in 1999. In early 2019, it
5560-515: The United States national public television provider PBS since its debut, with its first run moving to premium channel HBO on January 16, 2016, then its sister streaming service (HBO) Max in 2020. The show's format consists of a combination of commercial television production elements and techniques which have evolved to reflect changes in American culture and audiences' viewing habits. It
5699-431: The longest-running shows in the world . Sesame Street was conceived in 1966 during discussions between television producer Joan Ganz Cooney and Carnegie Foundation vice president Lloyd Morrisett . Their goal was to create a children's television show that would "master the addictive qualities of television and do something good with them," such as helping young children prepare for school. After two years of research,
List of Sesame Street Muppets - Misplaced Pages Continue
5838-629: The 1960s. Among the most popular of Henson's commercials was a series for the local Wilkins Coffee company in Washington, D.C. , created for a campaign managed by advertising manager Helen Ver Standig . Most of the Wilkins advertisements followed a similar formula: two Muppets, in this case named Wilkins and Wontkins (usually both voiced by Henson), would appear. Wilkins would extol the product while Wontkins would express his hatred for it, prompting physical retaliation from Wilkins; Wontkins might be shot with
5977-859: The 1980s, the show incorporated real-life experiences of its cast and crew, including the death of Will Lee ( Mr. Hooper ) and the pregnancy of Sonia Manzano (Maria). In later seasons, it addressed real-life disasters such as the September 11 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina . In its first season, the show addressed its outreach goals by focusing on the promotion of educational materials used in preschool settings; and in subsequent seasons, by focusing on their development. Innovative programs were developed because their target audience, children and their families in low-income, inner-city homes, did not traditionally watch educational programs on television and because traditional methods of promotion and advertising were not effective with these groups. Starting in 2006,
6116-485: The CTW Model, a system of planning, production and evaluation that did not fully emerge until the end of the show's first season. According to Morrow, the Model consisted of four parts: "the interaction of receptive television producers and child science experts, the creation of a specific and age-appropriate curriculum, research to shape the program directly, and independent measurement of viewers' learning." Cooney credited
6255-405: The CTW accepted corporate sponsorship to raise funds for Sesame Street and other projects. For the first time, they allowed short advertisements by indoor playground manufacturer Discovery Zone , their first corporate sponsor, to air before and after each episode. Consumer advocate Ralph Nader , who had previously appeared on Sesame Street , called for a boycott of the show, saying that the CTW
6394-455: The CTW created a "non-broadcast" division responsible for creating and publishing books and Sesame Street Magazine . By 2019, the Sesame Workshop had published over 6,500 book titles. The Workshop decided from the start that all materials their licensing program created would "underscore and amplify" the show's curriculum. In 2004, over 68% of Sesame Street ' s revenue came from licenses and products such as toys and clothing. By 2008,
6533-430: The CTW's methods to create and modify their content. The creators of Blue's Clues were influenced by Sesame Street , but wanted to use research conducted in the 30 years since its debut. Angela Santomero, one of its producers, said, "We wanted to learn from Sesame Street and take it one step further." Critic Richard Roeper said that perhaps one of the strongest indicators of the influence of Sesame Street has been
6672-609: The Carnegie Institute awarded her a $ 1 million grant to create a new children's television program and establish the CTW, renamed in June 2000 to Sesame Workshop (SW). Cooney and Morrisett procured additional multimillion-dollar grants from the U.S. federal government, The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations , CPB , and the Ford Foundation . Davis reported that Cooney and Morrisett decided that if they did not procure full funding from
6811-470: The Creature Shop as well as the rest of its film and television library, including Fraggle Rock , Farscape , The Dark Crystal , and Labyrinth . Brian Jay Jones wrote the book Jim Henson: The Biography. It was released on what would have been Henson's 77th birthday, September 24, 2013. The moving-image collection of Jim Henson, which contains the film work of Jim Henson and The Jim Henson Company,
6950-522: The Frog. Of the show's guests, the Henson Archivist points out that Jim Henson placed a special importance on meeting Obraztsov: "As a teenager learning to make puppets, Jim checked out some books from the public library for instruction – one was Obraztsov’s 1950 book, My Profession " Henson continued creating children's television, such as Fraggle Rock and the animated Muppet Babies . He also continued to address darker, more mature themes with
7089-467: The Grouch to interact with the human actors, and the Street segments were re-shot. Sesame Street ' s format remained intact until the 2000s, when the changing audience required that producers move to a more narrative format. In 1998, the popular "Elmo's World," a 15-minute-long segment hosted by the Muppet Elmo, was created. Starting in 2014, during the show's 45th season, the producers introduced
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#17330852290527228-576: The Muppet segments of the show scored high, and more Muppets were added during the first few seasons. Morrow reported that the Muppets were effective teaching tools because children easily recognized them, they were stereotypical and predictable, and they appealed to adults and older siblings. Sesame Street is best known for the creative geniuses it attracted, people like Jim Henson and Joe Raposo and Frank Oz, who intuitively grasped what it takes to get through to children. They were television's answer to Beatrix Potter or L. Frank Baum or Dr. Seuss. Although
7367-421: The Muppet segments, their interest wavered during the "Street" segments, when no Muppets were on screen. This was because the producers had followed the advice of child psychologists who were concerned that children would be confused if human actors and Muppets were shown together. As a result of this decision, the appeal of the test episodes was lower than the target. The Street scenes were "the glue" that "pulled
7506-410: The Muppets , and the show included a prototype of Henson's most famous character Kermit the Frog . He remained at WRC until Sam and Friends aired its last episode on December 15, 1961. In the show, Henson began experimenting with techniques that changed the way in which puppetry was used on television, foregoing the convention of pointing the camera at a stationary Puppet theatre and instead using
7645-829: The Muppets, the puppets in The Dark Crystal were based on conceptual artwork by Brian Froud , and it was a critical success, winning several industry awards including the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film and the Grand Prize Winner at the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival . The film was less financially successful in theaters, but later claimed an enormous following and revenue when it was introduced on VHS for home entertainment. Also in 1982, Henson co-founded Henson International Television with Peter Orton and Sophie Turner Laing as his partners. The company
7784-652: The United States, such as Community Coffee , Red Diamond Coffee, La Touraine Coffee, Nash's Coffee , and Jomar Instant coffee. The characters were so successful in selling coffee that soon other companies began seeking them to promote their products, such as bakeries like Merita Breads , service station chains such as Standard Oil of Ohio and the downstream assets of Marathon Oil , and beverage bottlers such as Faygo . Over 300 "Wilkins and Wontkins" commercials were made. The ads were primarily produced in black and white, but some color examples also exist. Henson sold
7923-529: The Wilkins Coffee ads of the late 1950s and early 1960s, the formula stayed fairly similar. For instance, one of the Claussen's commercials featured Kermit the Frog dangling from a window while a character named Mack asks him if he brought a loaf of the company's bread; when Kermit says he did not, Mack closes the window on Kermit's fingers and causes him to fall, suggesting he "drop down" to the grocery store to buy
8062-506: The Workshop expanded its outreach by creating a series of PBS specials and DVDs focusing on how military deployment affects the families of servicepeople. Its outreach efforts also focused on families of prisoners, health and wellness, and safety. In 2013, SW started Sesame Street in Communities, to help families dealing with difficult issues. As a result of Cooney's initial proposal in 1968,
8201-475: The adult cast learned to handle the children's spontaneity flexibly, even when it resulted in departures from the planned script or lesson. CTW research also revealed that the children's hesitations and on-air mistakes served as models for viewers. According to Morrow, this resulted in the show having a "fresh quality," especially in its early years. When Sesame Street premiered on November 10, 1969, it aired on only 67.6% of American televisions, but it earned
8340-399: The art of puppetry in the United States. Around that time, he began creating darker and more realistic fantasy films that did not feature the Muppets and displayed "a growing, brooding interest in mortality." He co-directed The Dark Crystal (1982) with Oz, "trying to go toward a sense of realism—toward a reality of creatures that are actually alive". To provide a visual style distinct from
8479-503: The beginning, they would drop the idea of producing the show. As Lesser reported, funds gained from a combination of government agencies and private foundations protected them from the economic pressures experienced by commercial broadcast television networks, but created challenges in procuring future funding. After Sesame Street ' s initial success, its producers began to think about its survival beyond its development and first season and decided to explore other funding sources. From
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#17330852290528618-447: The best composers and lyricists, the CTW allowed songwriters like Joe Raposo , Sesame Street ' s first musical director, to retain the rights to the songs they wrote, which earned them lucrative profits and helped the show sustain public interest. By 2019, there were 180 albums of Sesame Street music produced, and its songwriters had received 11 Grammys . In late 2018, the SW announced
8757-692: The best ways of being around him was to work with him", according to Cheryl. Henson was a strong supporter of the civil rights movement . Henson appeared with Kermit on The Arsenio Hall Show in Los Angeles on May 4, 1990. This was his final television appearance. Shortly afterwards, he privately disclosed to his publicist that he was tired and had a sore throat, but that he believed it would soon go away. On May 12, Henson traveled to Ahoskie, North Carolina , with his daughter Cheryl to visit his father and stepmother. They returned to their home in New York City
8896-416: The cast. The show's success continued into the 1980s. In 1981, when the federal government withdrew its funding, CTW turned to and expanded other revenue sources, including its magazine division, book royalties , product licensing, and foreign broadcast income. Its curriculum has expanded to include more affective topics such as relationships, ethics and emotions. Many of its storylines have been inspired by
9035-619: The characters on Sesame Street . During the later years of his life, he founded the Jim Henson Foundation and Jim Henson's Creature Shop . He won the Emmy Award twice for his involvement in The StoryTeller (1987–1988) and The Jim Henson Hour (1989). Henson died in New York City in 1990 from toxic shock syndrome caused by Streptococcus pyogenes . At the time of his death, he was in negotiations to sell his company to The Walt Disney Company , but talks fell through after his death. He
9174-418: The characters. In 1963, Henson and his wife moved to New York City where the newly formed Muppets, Inc. resided for some time. Jane quit performing to raise their children, and Henson hired writer Jerry Juhl in 1961 and puppet performer Frank Oz in 1963 to replace her. Henson credited them both with developing much of the humor and character of his Muppets. Henson and Oz developed a close friendship and
9313-504: The company was becoming typecast solely as purveyors of children's entertainment, so they targeted an adult audience with a series of sketches on the first season of the late-night live television variety show Saturday Night Live . Eleven Land of Gorch sketches were aired between October 1975 and January 1976 on NBC , with four additional appearances in March, April, May, and September 1976. Henson liked Lorne Michaels ' work and wanted to be
9452-418: The computer animation "Nobody Counts To 10." He also directed the original " C Is For Cookie " and Tales from Muppetland , a short series of TV movie specials that were comic retellings of classic fairy tales aimed at a young audience and hosted by Kermit the Frog. The series included Hey, Cinderella! , The Frog Prince , and The Muppet Musicians of Bremen . Henson, Oz, and his team were concerned that
9591-403: The creation and articulation of Yoda . Lucas had also wanted Henson to puppeteer the character, but Henson instead suggested Frank Oz for the role; Oz performed the role and continued in the subsequent Star Wars films. Lucas lobbied unsuccessfully to have Oz nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor . In 1982, Henson founded the Jim Henson Foundation to promote and develop
9730-492: The creator of the Muppets . Henson was also well known for creating Fraggle Rock (1983–1987) and as the director of The Dark Crystal (1982) and Labyrinth (1986). Born in Greenville, Mississippi , and raised in both Leland, Mississippi , and University Park, Maryland , Henson began developing puppets in high school. He created Sam and Friends (1955–1961), a short-form comedy television program on WRC-TV , while he
9869-448: The development and early years of Sesame Street , there was little criticism of the show in the months following its premiere, but it increased at the end of its first season and beginning of the second season. Historian Robert W. Morrow speculated that much of the early criticism, which he called "surprisingly intense," stemmed from cultural and historical reasons in regards to, as he put it, "the place of children in American society and
10008-419: The early television puppets of Burr Tillstrom on Kukla, Fran and Ollie and Bil and Cora Baird . He remained a Christian Scientist at least into his twenties, when he taught Sunday school, but he wrote to a Christian Science church in the early 1970s to inform them that he was no longer a practicing member. Henson attended a variety of grade schools in his youth, including Hyattsville High School until it
10147-476: The enduring rumors and urban legends surrounding the show and its characters, especially speculation concerning the sexuality of Bert and Ernie . Sesame Street was praised from its debut in 1969. Newsday reported that several newspapers and magazines had written "glowing" reports about the CTW and Cooney. The press overwhelmingly praised the new show; several popular magazines and niche magazines lauded it. In 1970, Sesame Street won twenty awards, including
10286-414: The experiences of its writing staff, cast and crew—most notably, the 1982 death of Will Lee , who played Mr. Hooper ; and the marriage of Luis and Maria in 1988. By the end of the 1990s, the show faced societal and economic challenges, including changes in young children's viewing habits, competition from other shows, the development of cable television, and a drop in ratings. As the 21st century began,
10425-554: The first season, they understood that the source of their funding, which they considered "seed" money, would need to be replaced. The 1970s were marked by conflicts between the CTW and the federal government; in 1978, the U.S. Department of Education refused to deliver a $ 2 million check (equivalent to $ 9.34 million in 2023) until the last day of CTW's fiscal year. As a result, the CTW decided to depend upon licensing arrangements with toy companies and other manufacturers, publishing, and international sales for their funding. In 1998,
10564-436: The first two seasons. He produced a series of counting films for the numbers 1 through 10 which always ended with a baker (voiced by Henson) falling down the stairs while carrying the featured number of desserts. He also worked on a variety of inserts for the numbers 2 through 12, including the films "Dollhouse"; "Number Three Ball Film"; the stop-motions "King of Eight" and "Queen of Six"; the cut-out animation "Eleven Cheer"; and
10703-712: The folklore and mythology-oriented show The StoryTeller (1988), which won an Emmy for Outstanding Children's Program. The next year, he returned to television with The Jim Henson Hour , which mixed lighthearted Muppet fare with more risqué material. It was critically well-received and won him another Emmy for Outstanding Directing in a Variety or Music Program , but it was canceled after 12 episodes due to poor ratings. Henson blamed its failure on NBC's constant rescheduling. In late 1989, Henson entered into negotiations to sell his company and characters (excluding those from Sesame Street ) to The Walt Disney Company for almost $ 150 million, hoping that he would "be able to spend
10842-406: The following day, and Henson cancelled a Muppet recording session that had been scheduled for May 14, 1990, due to his ill health. His wife came to visit that night. Henson was having trouble breathing when he woke up at around 2:00 a.m. EDT on May 15, and he began coughing up blood. He suggested to his wife that he might be dying, but he did not want to take time off from his schedule to visit
10981-434: The full rights for the Muppets created for Sesame Street (which do not include Kermit the Frog ) have been owned by Sesame Workshop; Sesame continues to license the trademarked term " Muppet " from The Muppets Studio for their characters. Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer , animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as
11120-420: The goals into televised material. Suggestions in the notebook were free of references to specific characters and contexts on the show so that they could be implemented as openly and flexibly as possible. The research team, in a series of meetings with the writers, also developed "a curriculum sheet" that described the show's goals and priorities for each season. After receiving the curriculum focus and goals for
11259-495: The hospital just a few hours sooner. Medical expert Lawrence D. Altman also stated that Henson's death "may have shocked many Americans who believed that bacterial infections no longer could kill with such swiftness." A lack of familiarity with this possibility, combined with the then-recent deaths of prominent men (including Rock Hudson , Liberace , Roy Cohn , and others) whose AIDS deaths had first been publicly euphemized as other illnesses due to AIDS's pervasive stigma, led to
11398-465: The image created by the TV camera and lens to dynamically engage with his characters. He believed that television puppets needed to have "life and sensitivity". Rather than carving wooden puppets Henson built characters from softer, flexible materials like foam rubber; his first iteration of Kermit was made from a halved table tennis ball and fabric from an old coat belonging to his mother, with denim from
11537-409: The interest level of a pre-schooler." Fifteen writers a year worked on the show's scripts, but very few lasted longer than one season. Norman Stiles , head writer in 1987, reported that most writers would "burn out" after writing about a dozen scripts. According to Gikow, Sesame Street went against the convention of hiring teachers to write for the show, as most educational television programs did at
11676-456: The material. Not intended for broadcast, they were presented to preschoolers in 60 homes throughout Philadelphia and in day care centers in New York City in July 1969. The results were "generally very positive"; children learned from the shows, their appeal was high, and children's attention was sustained over the full hour. However, the researchers found that although children's attention was high during
11815-428: The media business" and as part of a five-year programming and development deal, premium television service HBO began airing first-run episodes of Sesame Street . The episodes became available on PBS stations and websites nine months after they aired on HBO. The deal allowed Sesame Workshop to produce more episodes—increasing from 18 to 35 per season—and to create a spinoff series with the Sesame Street Muppets, and
11954-628: The newly formed Children's Television Workshop (CTW) received a combined grant of US$ 8 million ($ 66 million in 2023 dollars) from the Carnegie Foundation, the Ford Foundation , the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the U.S. federal government to create and produce a new children's television show. Sesame Street was officially announced at a press conference on May 6, 1969. Joan Ganz Cooney , Children's Television Workshop 's executive director , said that Sesame Street would use
12093-645: The next two decades working in commercials, talk shows, and children's projects before realizing his dream of the Muppets as "entertainment for everybody". The popularity of his work on Sam and Friends in the late 1950s led to a series of guest appearances on network talk and variety shows. He appeared as a guest on many shows, including The Steve Allen Show , The Jack Paar Program , and The Ed Sullivan Show . (Sullivan introduced him as "Jim Newsom and his Puppets" on September 11, 1966.) These television broadcasts greatly increased his exposure, leading to hundreds of commercial appearances by Henson characters throughout
12232-455: The original focus of the show. They also criticized choosing to air first-run episodes on HBO, a network with adult dramas and comedies. Producer Joan Ganz Cooney has stated, "Without research, there would be no Sesame Street ." In 1967, when she and her team began planning the show's development, combining research with television production was, as she put it, "positively heretical." Its producers soon began developing what came to be called
12371-736: The past few days. Henson was placed on a ventilator but quickly deteriorated over the next several hours despite increasingly aggressive treatment with multiple antibiotics. Although the medicine killed off most of the infection, it had already weakened many of Henson's organs, and he died at 1:21 a.m. the following morning. He was 53. David Gelmont, the hospital's intensive care unit director, announced that Henson had died from Streptococcus pneumoniae , an infection that causes bacterial pneumonia . However, on May 29, Gelmont reclassified it as organ dysfunction resulting from streptococcal toxic shock syndrome caused by Streptococcus pyogenes . Gelmont noted Henson might have been saved had he gone to
12510-461: The producers decided against depending upon a single host for Sesame Street , instead casting a group of ethnically diverse actors, they realized that a children's television program needed to have, as Lesser put it, "a variety of distinctive and reliable personalities," both human and Muppet. Jon Stone, whose goal was to cast white actors in the minority, was responsible for hiring the show's first cast . He did not audition actors until Spring 1969,
12649-400: The producers initially decided that the show's human actors and Muppets would not interact because they were concerned it would confuse young children. When CTW tested the new show, they found that children paid attention during the Muppet segments, and that their interest was lost during the "Street" segments. They requested that Henson and his team create Muppets such as Big Bird and Oscar
12788-450: The puppet's mouth along with the character's dialogue or while lip-syncing to music. Commenting on his puppet design philosophy, Henson said, "A lot of people build very stiff puppets—you can barely move the things—and you can get very little expression out of a character that you can barely move. Your hand has a lot of flexibility to it, and what you want to do is to build a puppet that can reflect all that flexibility." Sam and Friends
12927-472: The rights to Wilkins and Wontkins to the Wilkins Company, who allowed marketing executive John T. Brady to sell the rights to some toymakers and film studios. However, in July 1992 Brady was sued by Jim Henson Productions for unfair competition in addition to copyright and trademark infringement. The Henson company claimed that Brady was incorrectly using Henson's name and likeness in their attempts to license
13066-554: The role of Kermit. The Children's Television Workshop was renamed Sesame Workshop , which retained the Sesame Street characters in 2000. On February 17, 2004, the Muppets and the Bear in the Big Blue House properties were sold to Disney. One of Henson's last projects was the attraction Muppet*Vision 3D , which opened at Disney's Hollywood Studios on May 16, 1991, exactly one year after his death. The Jim Henson Company retains
13205-447: The saying " open sesame ", which gives the idea of a place where exciting things occur. The show was given an initial six-month run in order to determine whether it was effective and would continue to air. The program premiered on public television stations on November 10, 1969. It was the first preschool educational television program to base its contents and production values on laboratory and formative research. Initial responses to
13344-433: The season, the writers met to discuss ideas and story arcs for the characters, and an "assignment sheet" was created that suggested how much time was allotted for each goal and topic. When a script was completed, the show's research team analyzed it to ensure that the goals were met. Then each production department met to determine what each episode needed in terms of costumes, lights, and sets. The writers were present during
13483-470: The series in 1976, believing that Muppets would appeal only to a child audience. Then, Henson pitched the show to British impresario Lew Grade to finance the show. The show would be shot in the United Kingdom and syndicated worldwide. That same year, he scrapped plans for his Broadway show and moved his creative team to England, where The Muppet Show began taping. The show featured Kermit as host, with
13622-455: The series. He and his creative team also appeared on the first season of the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (1975–present). He produced the sketch comedy television series The Muppet Show (1976–1981) during this period. Henson revolutionized the way puppetry is captured and presented in video media, and he won fame for his characters – particularly Kermit the Frog , Rowlf the Dog , and
13761-453: The show continued to have a positive effect on its young viewers. Sesame Street [is] perhaps the most vigorously researched, vetted, and fretted-over program on the planet. It would take a fork-lift to now to haul away the load of scholarly paper devoted to the series... Lesser believed that Sesame Street research "may have conferred a new respectability upon the studies of the effects of visual media upon children." He also believed that
13900-523: The show had 100% brand awareness globally. In 2018, the show was the second-highest-rated program on PBS Kids. In 2021, however, the Sesame Street documentary "50 Years of Sunny Days," which was broadcast nationally on ABC, did not fare well in the ratings, scoring only approximately 2.3 million viewers. As of 2001 , there were over 1,000 research studies regarding Sesame Street ' s efficacy, impact, and effect on American culture. The CTW solicited
14039-486: The show had the same effect on the prestige of producing shows for children in the television industry. Historian Robert Morrow, in his book Sesame Street and the Reform of Children's Television , which chronicled the show's influence on children's television and on the television industry as a whole, reported that many critics of commercial television saw Sesame Street as a "straightforward illustration for reform." Les Brown,
14178-421: The show included adulatory reviews, some controversy, and high ratings. I've always said of our original team that developed and produced Sesame Street : Collectively, we were a genius. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution." The cast and crew expanded during this time, with emphasis on the hiring of women crew members and the addition of minorities to
14317-535: The show made major changes. Starting in 2002, its format became more narrative-focused and included ongoing storylines. After its 30th anniversary in 1999, due to the popularity of the Muppet Elmo , the show also incorporated a popular segment known as Elmo's World . In 2009, the show won the Outstanding Achievement Emmy for its 40 years on the air. In late 2015, in response to "sweeping changes in
14456-539: The show together", so producers knew they needed to make significant changes. The producers decided to reject the advisers' advice and reshot the Street segments; Henson and his coworkers created Muppets that could interact with the human actors, specifically Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird , who became two of the show's most enduring characters. These test episodes were directly responsible for what writer Malcolm Gladwell called "the essence of Sesame Street —the artful blend of fluffy monsters and earnest adults". Since 2001,
14595-432: The show were popular since its premiere, and more Muppets were added during the first few seasons. The Muppets were effective teaching tools because children easily recognized them, they were predictable, and they appealed to adults and older siblings. During the production of Sesame Street ' s first season, producers created five one-hour episodes to test the show's appeal to children and examine their comprehension of
14734-719: The show's 51st season in 2020. From its first episode, Sesame Street ' s format has utilized "a strong visual style, fast-moving action, humor, and music," as well as animation and live-action short films. When it premiered, most researchers believed that young children did not have long attention spans , and the show's producers were concerned that an hour-long show would not hold their attention. At first, its "street scenes"—the action recorded on its set—consisted of character-driven interactions. Rather than ongoing stories, they were written as individual, curriculum-based segments interrupted by "inserts" of puppet sketches, short films and animations. This structure allowed producers to use
14873-399: The show's airings. As Davis reported, "Cooney stressed restraint, prudence, and caution" in their marketing and licensing efforts. Director Jon Stone, talking about the music of Sesame Street , said: "There was no other sound like it on television." For the first time in children's television, the show's songs fulfilled a specific purpose and supported its curriculum. In order to attract
15012-628: The show's appeal, and encouraged older children and parents to "co-view" it by including more sophisticated humor, cultural references, and celebrity guests; by 2019, 80% of parents watched Sesame Street with their children, and 650 celebrities had appeared on the show. During Sesame Street ' s first season, some critics felt that it should address more overtly such affective goals as social competence, tolerance of diversity , and nonaggressive ways of resolving conflict. The show's creators and producers responded by featuring these themes in interpersonal disputes between its Street characters. During
15151-538: The show's chief liaison between the production staff and the research team. Cameraman Frankie Biondo has worked on Sesame Street from its first episode in 1969. Jim Henson and the Muppets' involvement in Sesame Street began when he and Cooney met at one of the curriculum planning seminars in Boston. Author Christopher Finch reported that Stone, who had worked with Henson previously, felt that if they could not bring him on board, they should "make do without puppets." Henson
15290-422: The show's high standard in research procedures to Harvard professors Gerald S. Lesser , whom CTW hired to design its educational objectives; and Edward L. Palmer , who conducted the show's formative research and bridged the gap between producers and researchers. CTW conducted research in two ways: in-house formative research that informed and improved production; and independent summative evaluations, conducted by
15429-557: The show's taping, which for the first twenty-four years of the show took place in Manhattan , and after 1992, at the Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens to make last-minute revisions when necessary. Early in their history Sesame Street and the CTW began to look for alternative funding sources and turned to creating products and writing licensing agreements. They became, as Cooney put it, "a multiple-media institution." In 1970,
15568-399: The show. They initially focused on cognitive goals, while addressing affective goals indirectly, believing it would increase children's self-esteem and feelings of competency. One of their primary goals was preparing young children for school, especially children from low-income families, using modeling , repetition, and humor. They adjusted its content to increase viewers' attention and
15707-432: The techniques of commercial television programs to teach young children. Live shorts and animated cartoons would teach young children the alphabet, numbers, vocabulary, shapes, and basic reasoning skills. By repeating concepts throughout an episode, young children's interest would be held while they learn the concepts. Guest cameos would help attract older children and adults. Cooney said that the name Sesame Street came from
15846-407: The time. Instead, Cooney and the producers felt that it would be easier to teach writers how to interpret curriculum than to teach educators how to write comedy. As Stone stated, "Writing for children is not so easy." Long-time writer Tony Geiss agreed, stating in 2009, "It's not an easy show to write. You have to know the characters and the format and how to teach and be funny at the same time, which
15985-666: The world with tributes and condolences. Many of Henson's co-stars and directors from Sesame Street , the Muppets, and other works also shared their thoughts on his death. On May 21, 1990, Henson's public memorial service was conducted in Manhattan at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine . Another was conducted on July 2, at St Paul's Cathedral in London. Harry Belafonte sang "Turn the World Around",
16124-450: The world," with 20 international independent versions and broadcasts in over 120 countries. A 1996 survey found that 95% of all American preschoolers had watched the show by the time they were three years old. In 2008, it was estimated that 77 million Americans had watched the series as children. By the show's 40th anniversary in 2009, it was ranked the fifteenth-most-popular children's show on television, and by its 50th anniversary in 2019,
16263-483: The world. By its 50th anniversary in 2019, 190 million children viewed over 160 versions of Sesame Street in 70 languages. In 2005, Doreen Carvajal of The New York Times reported that income from the co-productions and international licensing accounted for $ 96 million. Sesame Street the Musical opened at Theatre Row off Broadway on September 8, 2022. Shortly after the CTW was created in 1968, Joan Ganz Cooney
16402-480: Was "exploiting impressionable children." In 2015, in response to funding challenges, it was announced that premium television service HBO would air first-run episodes of Sesame Street . Steve Youngwood, SW's Chief Operating Officer, called the move "one of the toughest decisions we ever made." According to The New York Times , the move "drew an immediate backlash." Critics claimed that it favored privileged children over less-advantaged children and their families,
16541-497: Was a commercial disappointment. This demoralized Henson; his son Brian Henson described it as "the closest I've seen him to turning in on himself and getting quite depressed." The film later became a cult classic. In 1984 Henson traveled to Moscow, where he made a film about Sergei Obraztsov . Henson also donated four dolls to the puppeteer to replenish the Moscow Museum of Obraztsov Puppets: Fraggle, Skeksi, Bugard, and Robin
16680-472: Was a distribution company for children's, teens' and family television. Henson worked with Oz again on The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), this time with Oz as sole director. The film grossed $ 25.5 million domestically of a budget of only around $ 8 million, and ranked as one of the top 40 films of 1984. Labyrinth (1986) was a fantasy that Henson directed by himself, but—despite some positive reviews; The New York Times called it "a fabulous film"—it
16819-637: Was a financial success, but Henson began to have doubts about going into a career performing with puppets once he graduated. He spent six weeks in Europe during the summer of 1958, originally with the intent to study painting, but was surprised to learn that puppets were considered just as serious of an art form as painting or sculpture. After returning to the United States he and Jane made their partnership official, creating Muppets, Inc. in November of that same year, then marrying each other in 1959. Henson spent much of
16958-580: Was a freshman at the University of Maryland, College Park , in collaboration with fellow student Jane Nebel . Henson and Nebel co-founded Muppets, Inc. – now The Jim Henson Company – in 1958, and married less than a year later in 1959. Henson graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in home economics. In 1969, Henson joined the children's educational television program Sesame Street (1969–present) where he helped to develop Muppet characters for
17097-404: Was also cancelled. Meachum then referred Jim to the local NBC-affiliate station WRC-TV , where Henson continued performing his puppets with Jane's help. The two were eventually offered a nightly segment for which they created Sam and Friends , a five-minute puppet show that afforded Henson much more freedom to develop his own creative work. The characters on Sam and Friends were forerunners of
17236-489: Was announced that Ron Howard planned to direct a documentary on Henson's life, with Brian Grazer 's Imagine Entertainment collaborating with Disney Original Documentary to produce it. The project was reported to have "the full participation and cooperation of the Henson family". In April 2024, it was announced the documentary was titled Jim Henson Idea Man . It began streaming on Disney+ on May 31, 2024. In 2024, Henson
17375-418: Was announced that a third film, a musical co-starring Anne Hathaway and written and directed by Jonathan Krisel , would be produced. In November 2019, Sesame Street announced a family friendly augmented reality application produced by Weyo in partnership with Sesame Workshop in honor of the show's 50th anniversary. Jim Henson , the creator of the Muppets, owned the trademarks to those characters, and
17514-500: Was bolder than he; he once said of the character: "He can say things I hold back." The Muppets appeared in their first theatrical feature film The Muppet Movie in 1979. It was both a critical and financial success; it made $ 65.2 million domestically and was the 61st highest-grossing film at the time. Henson's idol Edgar Bergen died at age 75 during production of the film, and Henson dedicated it to his memory. Henson as Kermit sang " Rainbow Connection ", and it hit number 25 on
17653-503: Was broadcast in more than 140 countries. Since its debut, Sesame Street has garnered praise. It was by then the 15th-highest-rated children's television show in the United States. A 1996 survey found that 95% of all American preschoolers had watched it by the time they were three. In 2018, it was estimated that 86 million Americans had watched it as children. As of 2022, it has won 222 Emmy Awards and 11 Grammy Awards , more than any other children's show. Sesame Street remains one of
17792-464: Was closed in 1951. He completed his high school career at the newly opened Northwestern High School , where he joined the puppetry club. He enrolled at the University of Maryland, College Park , the following fall as a studio arts major, thinking that he might become a commercial artist. As a freshman at the university, Jim took a newly offered puppetry class mostly populated with seniors, including his future wife Jane Nebel . He graduated in 1960 with
17931-511: Was initially reluctant, but he agreed to join Sesame Street to meet his own social goals. He also agreed to waive his performance fee for full ownership of the Sesame Street Muppets and to split any revenue they generated with the CTW. As Morrow stated, Henson's puppets were a crucial part of the show's popularity and it brought Henson national attention. Davis reported that Henson was able to take "arcane academic goals" and translate them to "effective and pleasurable viewing." In early research,
18070-467: Was named its first executive director. She was one of the first female executives in American television. Her appointment was called "one of the most important television developments of the decade." She assembled a team of producers, all of whom had previously worked on Captain Kangaroo . Jon Stone was responsible for writing, casting, and format; Dave Connell took over animation; and Sam Gibbon served as
18209-440: Was one of the many producers to create short films for the show. Shortly after Sesame Street debuted in the United States, the CTW was approached independently by producers from several countries to produce versions of the show at home. These versions came to be called "co-productions." By 2001 there were over 120 million viewers of all international versions of Sesame Street , and in 2006, there were twenty co-productions around
18348-464: Was originally reluctant but agreed to join Sesame Street in support of its social goals. He also agreed to waive his performance fee for full ownership of the Sesame Street Muppets and to split any revenue they generated with the Children's Television Workshop (renamed to the Sesame Workshop in 2000), the series' non-profit producer. The Muppets were a crucial part of the show's popularity and it brought Henson national attention. The Muppet segments of
18487-488: Was portrayed by Nicholas Braun in the biographical dramedy Saturday Night , which chronicles the production of the first episode of Saturday Night Live . Henson's characters are currently performed by the following puppeteers: Matt Vogel (Kermit), Peter Linz ( Ernie , Link Hogthrob ), Eric Jacobson ( Guy Smiley , The Newsman), Dave Goelz ( Waldorf ) and Bill Barretta ( Rowlf the Dog , The Swedish Chef , Dr. Teeth ). Sesame Street Sesame Street
18626-560: Was posthumously awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1991, and was named a Disney Legend in 2011. James Maury Henson was born on September 24, 1936, in Greenville, Mississippi , the younger of two children of Betty Marcella ( née Brown, 1904–1972) and Paul Ransom Henson (1904–1994), an agronomist for the United States Department of Agriculture. Henson's older brother, Paul Ransom Henson Jr. (1932–1956), died in
18765-477: Was reluctant to market them at first. He agreed when the CTW promised that the profits from toys, books, computer games , and other products were to be used exclusively to fund the CTW and its outreach efforts. Even though Cooney and the CTW had very little experience with marketing, they demanded complete control over all products and product decisions. Any product line associated with the show had to be educational and inexpensive, and could not be advertised during
18904-436: Was revamped to integrate the two segments, placing much greater emphasis on Henson's work. Cooney frequently praised Henson's work, and PBS called him "the spark that ignited our fledgling broadcast service." The success of Sesame Street also allowed him to stop producing commercials, and he said that "it was a pleasure to get out of that world". Henson was also involved in producing various shows and animation inserts during
19043-401: Was the first children's TV show to use educational goals and a curriculum to shape its content, and the first show whose educational effects were formally studied. Its format and content have undergone significant changes to reflect changes to its curriculum. Shortly after its creation, its producers developed what came to be called the CTW Model (after the production company's previous name),
19182-518: Was the first children's show to structure each episode, and the segments within them, to capture children's attention, and to make, as Gladwell put it, "small but critical adjustments" to keep it. According to CTW researchers Rosemarie Truglio and Shalom Fisch, it was one of the few children's shows to utilize a detailed and comprehensive educational curriculum, garnered from formative and summative research. Sesame Street 's creators and researchers formulated both cognitive and affective goals for
19321-665: Was the only aspect of the show that was "just completely haphazard." Most of the cast and crew found jobs on Sesame Street through personal relationships with Stone and the other producers. According to puppeteer Marty Robinson in 2019, longevity was common among the show's cast and crew. According to the CTW's research, children preferred watching and listening to other children more than to puppets and adults, so they included children in many scenes. Dave Connell insisted that no child actors be used, so these children were non-professionals, unscripted, and spontaneous. Many of their reactions were unpredictable and difficult to control, but
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