James Maury Henson was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as 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).
Elmo is a red Muppet character on the children's television show Sesame Street. A furry red monster who speaks in a high-pitched falsetto voice and frequently refers to himself in the third person, he hosts the last full five-minute segment on Sesame Street, "Elmo's World", which is aimed at toddlers. He was originally performed by Kevin Clash. Following Clash's resignation in late 2012, Elmo has been performed by Ryan Dillon.
Martin P. Robinson is an American puppeteer who works for the Jim Henson Company. He is best known for his work on Sesame Street, having performed the characters of Telly Monster, Mr. Snuffleupagus, Oscar the Grouch's pet worm Slimey, Oscar's niece Irvine, Buster the Horse, and Shelley the Turtle for over 40 years. He also designed, built, and performed the Audrey II puppets for Little Shop of Horrors. Robinson performed the characters Riff the Cat and Clef the dad on Allegra's Window, and was an animatronic puppeteer for Leonardo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He was responsible for training the puppeteers on Sesame Tree, and performed the Cat in the Hat in the second season of The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss.
Andrew Comyn "Sandy" Irvine was a British mountaineer who took part in the 1924 British Everest Expedition, the third British expedition to the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest.
Lowell Ganz is an American writer and producer. He is the long-time writing partner of Babaloo Mandel and has written for television, film, and theatre.
John Francis Burns was an American comedian, actor, voice actor, writer and producer. During the 1960s, he was part of two comedy partnerships, first with George Carlin and later with Avery Schreiber. He is also known for his short stint as Warren Ferguson, Barney Fife's replacement on The Andy Griffith Show in 1965. By the 1970s, he had transitioned to working behind the camera as a writer and producer on such comedy series as The Muppet Show and Hee Haw.
"Sunday, Cruddy Sunday" is the twelfth episode of the tenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on Fox in the United States on January 31, 1999, just after Super Bowl XXXIII and the premiere of Family Guy. In the episode, while buying new tires for his car, Homer meets a travel agent called Wally Kogen. After becoming friends, Kogen offers Homer a free bus ride to the Super Bowl, as long as he can find enough people to fill Kogen's bus. Several people, including Bart, tag along on what soon becomes a problematic trip. Meanwhile, Marge and Lisa set out to find the missing parts of "Vincent Price's Egg Magic", a celebrity-endorsed craft kit.
"Grift of the Magi" is the ninth episode of the eleventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. Being the final episode to air in the 1990s, it originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 19, 1999. In the episode, mafia boss Fat Tony successfully extorts a large sum of money from Springfield Elementary School, forcing Principal Skinner to close it down. However, a toy company called Kid First Industries, led by Jim Hope, later buys the school and privatizes it. Classes now start focusing on toys and marketing only, and soon a new toy called Funzo that resembles the children's ideas is released by Kid First Industries in time for the Christmas shopping season. Bart and Lisa decide to destroy all Funzos in Springfield but Gary Coleman, Kid First Industries' security guard, tries to intercept them.
Michael C. Scully is an American television writer and producer. He is known for his work as executive producer and showrunner of the animated sitcom The Simpsons from 1997 to 2001. Scully grew up in West Springfield, Massachusetts, and long had an interest in writing. He was an underachiever at school and dropped out of college, going on to work in a series of jobs. Eventually, in 1986, he moved to Los Angeles where he worked as a stand-up comic and wrote for Yakov Smirnoff.
Matthew Scully is an American author, journalist, and political writer who has also written on animal welfare.
Raymond Austin was a British television and film director, television writer and producer, and stunt performer and actor who worked in both the United Kingdom and the United States.
George Meyer is an American producer and writer. Meyer is best known for his work on The Simpsons, where he served as a scriptwriter and gag writer and led the show's communal rewriting process for much of its earlier run. He has been publicly credited with "thoroughly shap[ing] ... the comedic sensibility" of the show.
The tenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons was originally broadcast on the Fox network in the United States between August 23, 1998, and May 16, 1999. It contains twenty-three episodes, starting with "Lard of the Dance". The Simpsons is a satire of a middle-class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie. Set in the fictional city of Springfield, the show lampoons American culture, society, television, and many aspects of the human condition.
Brian Scully is an American television writer and producer.
The second season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC from September 18, 1976 to May 21, 1977.
"The Rain King" is the eighth episode of the sixth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on January 10, 1999. "The Rain King" was written by Jeffrey Bell and directed by Kim Manners. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "The Rain King" earned a Nielsen household rating of 12.5, being watched by 21.2 million people in its initial broadcast. Critical reception to the episode was mostly mixed, with reactions ranging from negative to positive.
The Land of Gorch was a recurring adult puppetry skit that appeared in the first season of the American comedy television program Saturday Night Live, featuring Jim Henson's Muppets.
Allan Trautman is an American puppeteer, best known for his work with The Jim Henson Company.
