Sam and Friends

Last updated

Sam and Friends
Created by
Starring
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes1,000 +
Production
Running time5 minutes per sketch (and episode)
Original release
Network WRC-TV (NBC O&O in Washington, D.C.)
ReleaseMay 9, 1955 (1955-05-09) 
December 15, 1961 (1961-12-15)

Sam and Friends is an American live-action and puppet sketch comedy television series and a lead-in to The Tonight Show created by puppeteer Jim Henson and his eventual wife Jane Nebel. It was aired live twice daily as a local series in Washington, D.C., on WRC-TV in black and white, and later color [ citation needed ], on weeknights from May 9, 1955, to December 15, 1961. However, most of the original episodes were never recorded, and are considered lost. A few surviving episodes can be viewed at the Paley Center for Media but many can also be found on video websites like YouTube, [1] [2] such as those digitally archived by The Jim Henson Company. Some have been documented by either the Henson Archives or newspaper articles published while the show was still on air.

Contents

Plot

The series focused mostly on Sam, a bald-headed, big-eared human who escaped the harshness of everyday life with the help of abstract friends that he created based on parts of his life. His friends included Yorick, Harry the Hipster, Professor Madcliffe, Chicken Liver, and a lizard-like character named Kermit (who later evolved into Kermit the Frog).

Early in its run, the show mostly featured the puppets lip-syncing to popular songs of the day (if the song was by a female performer, the puppet would wear a wig while singing). Later, formal sketches were drawn up, many spoofing well-known television shows at the time, including the series which followed Sam and Friends in the Washington market, The Huntley–Brinkley Report .

A popular early sketch that would be used often in subsequent Henson productions was "Glowworm", in which a character, often Kermit, would nibble on what looked like a worm, but would ultimately turn out to be the tongue or nose of the monster Big V, who would devour him.

Bob Payne once substituted for Jim Henson while he was in Europe. Jerry Juhl also worked on the show toward the end of its run where he substituted for Jane Henson. Starting in 1959, advertisements for Esskay Meats would appear at the end of the show, as well as Wilkins Coffee (the latter featured two Muppets created exclusively for the spots, "Wilkins" and "Wontkins").

While Payne, Juhl, and Jane Henson all puppeteered in the series alongside him, Jim Henson provided all of the voices himself (unless the voices were taken from a record).

Characters

Kermit (left) and Harry the Hipster (right) in the "Visual Thinking" sketch.
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Harry: Man, you're just a beginner. I'm an old hand at this stuff. Watch!
Kermit: Hey, a real watch!
Harry: With moving parts, no less. Tv sam and friends.jpg
Kermit (left) and Harry the Hipster (right) in the "Visual Thinking" sketch.
Harry: Man, you're just a beginner. I'm an old hand at this stuff. Watch!
Kermit: Hey, a real watch!
Harry: With moving parts, no less.

Cast

Sam and Friends cast
ActorRole
Jim Henson Sam
Harry the Hipster
Kermit
Chicken Liver
Omar
Professor Madcliffe
Yorick
Pierre the French Rat
Others
Jane Henson Others
Jerry Juhl Henrietta
Others
Bob Payne Bernice
Others

Surviving episodes

Songs

Sam and Friends is mentioned in chapter 2 of Kermit the Frog's book Before You Leap , under the heading of "My First Big Splash".

Yorick made a cameo in a Sesame Street sketch in Season 1.

Henrietta appeared in The Muppets on Puppets during Rowlf the Dog's mixed-up fairy tale sketch portraying the fairy godmother. In this appearance, Henrietta was also performed by Jerry Juhl.

Sam, Harry the Hipster, and Yorick appeared in The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years .

In Spring 2010, early puppet characters were rejoined in Henson Alternative's Stuffed and Unstrung , for two musical pieces that aren't improvised and no cuss words.

In August 2010, Jane Henson donated ten puppets from the show (including the original Kermit) to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. [4]

In July 2016, Hyattsville, Maryland, installed a memorial to Jim Henson in the city's Magruder Park, featuring a large planter embossed with images of characters from Sam and Friends and benches inscribed with quotes from Henson. [5]

Yorick made a visual appearance in the 2021 Muppet Babies episode "Summer's Disaster-Piece", where he replaces the head on Thomas Gainsborough's painting The Blue Boy .

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References

  1. "Sam and Friends on YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  2. "Sam and Friends clips yet to be released". YouTube. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  3. Visual Thinking Sketch on YouTube
  4. "Henson donates original Kermit to Smithsonian". Associated Press. August 26, 2010. Retrieved January 24, 2011.
  5. Bennett, Rebecca (July 9, 2016). "Magruder Park now home to memorial honoring Jim Henson's legacy". Hyattsville Today. Hyattsville, Maryland. Archived from the original on July 13, 2016. Retrieved December 5, 2018.