The Jim Henson Hour
A weekly showcase of Jim Henson's puppet creations and innovations.
In 1989, NBC aired The Jim Henson Hour, a series designed to highlight the Jim Henson Company’s puppets, like the Muppets. Only nine of its twelve episodes made it to NBC before low ratings ended the show. Two episodes later appeared on Nickelodeon in 1992 and 1993, while the final episode, “Food,” never aired in the U.S. but did in the UK in 1990. The Muppets wouldn’t return to prime time until Muppets Tonight, six years after Jim Henson’s death.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Comedy; Anthology
- Creator
- Jim Henson
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Seasons
- 1
- Episodes
- 12 (1 unaired)
- Producer
- Martin G. Baker
- Company
- Jim Henson Productions
Facts from the source article.
Format
The series was modeled after the Walt Disney Presents specials, where each week Disney displayed new creations. Each episode opened with The Gryphon from Dreamchild sitting in a temple on a hill, holding a crystal ball against an orange and pink gradient sky with thunder. A lightning flash revealed the title, with the ball inside the "O" of "Hour," as the sky cleared to blue with white clouds. Creatures such as Droop, The Snail from The Tale of the Bunny Picnic, and a cave creature from Fraggle Rock approached the ball; Droop popped it, causing a tornado. Inside the tornado appeared characters from the show and other Henson productions, including Bean Bunny in a cup, Digit, Gonzo fishing, Emmet and Ma Otter in their rowboat, Miss Piggy, Mad Dog in a vehicle, the Swedish Chef tossing a pie at Fozzie Bear in a TV set, Kermit the Frog on a bicycle, Prince Leo riding a wolf, and a picture of the Storyteller. Jim Henson then entered an abstractly decorated computer-generated set with the Thought Lion from The Storyteller to introduce the evening's show. The series had no set structure beyond this. Three of the twelve installments were hour-long mini-movies: the faux film noir "Dog City" narrated by Rowlf the Dog, "Monster Maker" about an alienated teenager working at a special-effects company, and "Living with Dinosaurs" where a boy's stuffed dinosaur comes to life. Other shows like "Secrets of the Muppets" went behind the scenes at Henson studios. Usually, the hour split into two thirty-minute segments, starting with a modernized variation of The Muppet Show called MuppeTelevision, often leading into darker content such as a rerun of The Storyteller, or occasionally a light-hearted story or more Muppet situations in the second half. The first episode produced, "Sesame Street… 20 Years & Still Counting," aired as a stand-alone special, with the series officially premiering a week later.
Cancellation and "lost" episodes
The show poked fun at its own poor viewership by running skits that joked about what audiences supposedly preferred, like violent films or dangerous stunts. Only twelve episodes were made, and three never aired before the series was canceled. Nickelodeon broadcast one of those lost episodes, "Secrets of the Muppets," in 1992, and the next year aired the previously unseen "Living with Dinosaurs" segment as a special; however, the Jim Henson and Muppets parts of that episode remain unaired. The final hour, which paired the MuppeTelevision segment "Food" with The Storyteller's "The Three Ravens," has never been shown, though "The Three Ravens" did air in the UK as part of The Storyteller series. In Canada, the MuppeTelevision pieces were repackaged as a separate show called The Jim Henson Show. All the feature drama segments except "Miss Piggy's Hollywood" have been released as standalone specials in the US and elsewhere and are available on home video. The Storyteller segments have aired with that series. Jim Henson had many unproduced ideas, including a Fraggle Rock origin story called "The Saga of Fraggle Rock," a concept titled "Inside John" about a teenage boy's brain parts fighting for control, and "ASTRO G.N.E.W.T.S.," which would have mixed puppets with animation and computer graphics. Other proposals involved enchanted bowling balls, alien mail carriers, space adventures, a Kermit detective story, adaptations of A Wrinkle in Time and A. A. Milne's works, and a musical hour with The Electric Mayhem in Mexico.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did The Jim Henson Hour first air?
The Jim Henson Hour first aired on 14 April 1989.
When did The Jim Henson Hour end?
The Jim Henson Hour last aired on 7 August 1993.
More in Television Series by The Jim Henson Company
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