Crank Yankers is an American television show produced by Adam Carolla, Jimmy Kimmel and Daniel Kellison. It features actual crank calls made by show regulars and celebrity guests, while re-enacted onscreen by puppets for a visual aid that shows the viewer what is happening in the call. The show premiered on June 2, 2002, on Comedy Central. It returned to MTV2 on February 9, 2007, running again until March 30, 2007.
The Jim Henson Hour is a television series that aired on NBC in 1989. It was developed as a showcase for The Jim Henson Company's various puppet creations, including the Muppet characters.
Steven Lawrence Whitmire is an American puppeteer, known primarily for his work on The Muppets and Sesame Street. Beginning his involvement with the Muppets in 1978, Whitmire inherited the roles of Ernie and Kermit the Frog after Jim Henson's death in 1990; he performed the characters until 2014 and 2016, respectively. As part of the Muppet cast, he has appeared in multiple feature films and television series, performing a variety of characters on The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, and Fraggle Rock and during such occupations has been employed by The Jim Henson Company, Sesame Workshop, and The Muppets Studio.
Drew Massey is an American voice actor, puppeteer and director for Nickelodeon and the Jim Henson Company. He has worked extensively with the Muppets and has performed in many films, television series, and commercials. He has also lent his voice to many commercials and video games.
Adult puppeteering is the use of puppets in contexts aimed at adult audiences. Serious theatrical pieces can use puppets, either for aesthetic reasons, or to achieve special effects that would not otherwise be impossible with human actors. In parts of the world where puppet shows have traditionally been children's entertainment, many find the notion of puppets in decidedly adult situations—for example, involving drugs, sex, or violence—to be humorous, because of the bizarre contrast it creates between subject matter and characters.
Matthew James Vogel is an American puppeteer, actor and director. Vogel has worked for Sesame Workshop and The Muppets Studio. He has performed for the Muppets, Sesame Street, and Oobi. He has been the performer of Kermit the Frog since 2017 and the full-time performer of Big Bird since 2018.
Kathryn Mullen is an American puppeteer, actress, and voice actress most closely associated with Jim Henson projects.
David Rudman is an American puppeteer, puppet builder, writer, director, and producer known for his involvement with the Muppets and Sesame Street.
It's a Big Big World is an American children's television series that aired on PBS Kids from January 2, 2006, to January 8, 2010. The series was created by Mitchell Kriegman, the creator of the Muppet television series, Bear in the Big Blue House. After the series ended, reruns continue to air until April 30, 2010. The series revolves around a group of animals living in "The World Tree" in the rainforest along the Amazon River with the Pico da Neblina mountain background. The main character and host is Snook the sloth. 47 episodes were produced.
Daniel Milano is an American voice actor, puppeteer, writer and director. He was one of the creators of the Fox sitcom Greg the Bunny and performed the title character Greg as well as Warren the Ape and The Wumpus. He is also one of the voice actors and writers of Robot Chicken, and was nominated for an Emmy for writing on Robot Chicken: Star Wars 2.
Julianne Buescher is an American actress, writer, and puppeteer who performs in film, television, radio, and on stage. As a voice actress, she is known for many roles including Anko Mitarashi on Naruto. She hails from Cleveland, Ohio. Buescher is also a puppeteer for The Jim Henson Company, appearing with CeeLo Green as "Piddles the Pug" at the 2011 Grammy Awards and as the same character among others in the improvisational adult puppet show Puppet Up!. She also has worked for both Sesame Street and The Muppets.
Michael Earl was an American puppeteer, puppet builder, actor, voice actor, writer, and singer. A four-time Emmy Award-winner whose credits include Mr. Snuffleupagus on Sesame Street (1978–1981) and Dr. Ticktock in Ticktock Minutes, a musical series of PSA's on PBS he also co-created, scripted and wrote lyrics for that garnered 11 Southern Regional Emmys, a 1998 National Emmy for Best Public Service Announcements, a Gabriel Award, 2 Parents' Choice Awards and numerous other honors. Earl performed the original Shrek character in a motion-capture development test film for DreamWorks and puppeteered lead characters in Paramount Pictures' Team America: World Police.
Noel MacNeal, sometimes credited as Noel McNeal or Edward Noel MacNeal, is an American actor, director, puppeteer and writer of children's television who has performed since the early 1980s. He was the voice and puppeteer of Bear on Bear in the Big Blue House. He also starred as Kako on Oobi, Leon MacNeal on The Puzzle Place and as Magellan on Eureeka's Castle.
Karen Leigh Prell is an American puppeteer and animator. She is the performer of Red Fraggle in Fraggle Rock.
Nigel Plaskitt is an English actor, puppeteer, producer, and both stage and television director.
Mak Wilson is an English puppeteer, writer, CG animation director, mocap artist, and actor. He is also known as Mac Wilson and Malcolm Wilson.
Allan Trautman is an American actor and puppeteer, best known for his work with The Jim Henson Company.
Kevin D. Carlson is an American puppeteer, best known for his role of Mr. Potato Head in The Mr. Potato Head Show.
Joseph Mazzarino is an American actor, puppeteer, writer and director. He is best known for his roles on Sesame Street as Murray Monster, Stinky the Stinkweed and other Muppets, and being Head Writer and Director on Sesame Street, winning 22 Emmy Awards for his work.
Ryan Dillon is an American puppeteer who has played Elmo since 2013, replacing Kevin Clash.
