Can Lions Gate Release Muppet Television?(JHH)

[beaker]

I was amazed that Lions Gate, out of nowhere, decided to release the two Jim Henson Hour (non creature shop) specials Dog City and Song of the Cloud Forest. Dog City even features Rowlf the Dog on the cover, even though it's a post Disney buyout era. Storyteller of course had previously been released separately.

I was looking through the Muppet Television segments of the Jim Henson Hour recently, falling in love with it all over again(LOVE Digit! heh) and was wondering...can Lions Gate release these segments? I can imagine nothing cooler, short of Disney releasing Muppets @ WDW, than a Lions Gate set that featured all 11 of the episodes(Science Fiction, Monster Telethon, Ratings Game, Food, Garbage, Aquatic Life, Health, Musicians, Dog City Muppet Television intro, Miss Piggy's Hollywood, and Secrets of the Muppets) Im grateful to have them on vhs, the inner tube and two Jim Henson hour pitches, etc...but having them on dvd...it'd be just like when I flipped on the tv every Friday night in the summer of 1989!

For those saying due to Disney owning the Muppet brand, they couldn't...well, how do you explain Lions Gate being allowed to release that Muppet special from 1984 recently on dvd?

 

[BlueFrackle]

with regards to the recent Docu being released, Disney and Sesame would have had to give permission OR all the rights could have been bought years ago when it was first made, and they could still be in action.

The last time Muppet Television aired it was shown as 'THE JIM HENSON SHOW'. So maybe it is still owned by the Hensons?

In BOLD is what is/has been available from the Jim Henson Hour:

* Episode 101: Science Fiction
MuppeTelevision: Guest star Louie Anderson
The Storyteller: The Heartless Giant

* Episode 102: Aquatic Life
MuppeTelevision: Guest star Ted Danson
Special: Lighthouse Island

* Episode 103: Monster Telethon
MuppeTelevision: Guest star The Today Show
The Storyteller: The Soldier and Death

* Episode 104: Dog City
MuppeTelevision: pre-film show
Special: Dog City

* Episode 105: The Ratings Game
MuppeTelevision: Guest star Bobby McFerrin
Special: Miss Piggy's Hollywood

* Episode 106: Monster Maker
Special: Monster Maker

* Episode 107: Health and Fitness
MuppeTelevision: Guest star Smokey Robinson
Special: Song of the Cloud Forest

* Episode 108: Musicians
MuppeTelevision: Guest star Buster Poindexter
The Storyteller: The True Bride

* Episode 109: Garbage
MuppeTelevision: Guest star k.d. lang
The Storyteller: Sapsorrow

* Episode 110: Secrets of the Muppets
Special: Secrets of the Muppets

* Episode 111: Living with Dinosaurs
Special: Living with Dinosaurs

* Episode 112: Food
MuppeTelevision:
The Storyteller: The Three Ravens

So actually there isnt much left to release! I'm still hoping for a 'Lighthouse Island/Monster Maker/Living with Dinosaurs' set!

 

[antsamthompson9]

I think they could. And I hope they will!

 

[panmanthe2nd]

I hope they will too!

 

[theprawncracker]

As I understand it... the only reason Lionsgate was able to release Henson's Place and Sesame Street: 20 And Still Counting, and even Dog City with Rowlf in-tact, is because JHC owns those specific specials and Disney and Sesame Workshop both agreed for their licensed characters to be released by a different company. It's hard to say what exactly Henson owns, but I'm fairly certain that The Jim Henson Hour was divided with the sale. The MuppeTelevision segments went to Disney and everything else stayed with Henson. Does that mean that Disney owns Digit and Beard and the like? I have no idea, but I would think so.

So in order for Lionsgate to release these segments, they'd have to strike a deal with Disney to release a Disney-owned part of a television show--something that Disney, if they wanted to release it, would likely release through their own company.

 

[minor muppetz]

with regards to the recent Docu being released, Disney and Sesame would have had to give permission OR all the rights could have been bought years ago when it was first made, and they could still be in action.

I think Henson's Place was originally distributed by a different company and Henson bought the distribution rights later. But regardless the special was made years before The Jim Henson Company sold any of it's characters. It would have been pointless for Henson to give itself permission to use it's own characters, and permission would have been needed when character rights were sold (otherwise Kermit would have never had to have been removed from Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas or The Christmas Toy).

 

[beaker]

* Episode 105: The Ratings Game
MuppeTelevision: Guest star Bobby McFerrin
Special: Miss Piggy's Hollywood

Whoah! Where has this been released on dvd? Even if its a PAL dvd release, I so would want to track that down. Was this an extra on some release?

 

[Drtooth]

I've said it before... but there's definitely something about Lionsgate that managed to coax Disney into lending the likenesses. And I believe that's due in part to Lionsgate being the sub-license distribution company of those terrible 2000 era Disney ABC sitcoms (According to Jim...blech... Hope and Faith... gag... My Wife and Kids... barf). I kinda wish they'd get a sublicense to release the REST of Disney Afternoon's DVDs that Disney was unable to finish. Disney REALLY is fumble thumbs when it comes to non-movie DVD releases.

SW would definitely help out Henson. They believed in his vision... and let's be honest. Without Jim's Muppets Sesame Street wouldn't have lasted 10 years, let alone 41. He helped shape most of the characters that were staples... Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Ernie and Bert... even in an Elmo-centric format, they're still popular characters. Disney, however... well, they're not as generous. When Sony or whoever was releasing stuff owned by Henson, references to the Muppets had to be muted or deleted. That's why Dog City never saw the light of day on DVD in the US. But that licensing deal between those horrid sitcoms seems to be the leverage that Henson needed with Disney.

 

[panmanthe2nd]

Whoah! Where has this been released on dvd? Even if its a PAL dvd release, I so would want to track that down. Was this an extra on some release?

Me too! Can someone post a link to where you can get this? Thanks!

 

[BlueFrackle]

The DVD with 'Miss Piggys Hollywood', 'The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show' and 'TMS: Loretta Switt' was once released in Portugal and is now LONG out of print! Sorry guys! I got mine a long time ago, and it cost alot of money.