Jim Henson Hour question

[minor muppetz]

I have a question about The Jim Henson Hour.

Were all MuppeTelevision segments and specials ever originally meant to be seen seperately outside of the show? I know that all of The StoryTeller segments were produced before the series began, so that answers that question, but all full-hour specials (excluding The Secrets of the Muppets) have been shown on TV without the opening and Jim Hensons introductory/closing comments, and all second half-hour specials have been shown outside of the show, as have the first half-hour MuppeTelevisions egments.

Were these meant to be seen outside of the context of The Jim Henson Hour, or was it planned to just show these in their original context if the show was rerun in syndication?

Also, how long in advance were each introduction made? I ask because in The Ratings Game episode, Jim Henson starts the show by saying Happy Mothers Day. This epsiode had nothing to do with mothers day, but it did air on mothers day. However, teh show originally aired on fridays before being moved to sundays, and I doubt that Jim Henson would have known about the show changing schedules before it premiered, and I am under the impression that all episodes were produced before the first season was broadcast.

Also, in the second half-hour specials that I've seen, they have their own closing credits, and I don't think that the credits mention anything about the first half hour. In the case of Miss Piggy's Hollywood and Lighthouse Island, the credits are stills from the specials, so these closings could have been created with some newer editing, but were there special closing sequences for the MuppeTelevision segments? I believe that Jim Henson closing the show was shown before each closing credits sequence, but at the end of each episode of The StoryTeller, the credits just play while the action continues, with no fading to black. Then again, as I said earlier, The StoryTeller episodes were already produced seperately, so they could have added a fade-in, while the DVDs don't.

Finally, as we all know, Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting was originally produced as an episode, but then shown as a seperate half-hour special. But at the beginning, Jim Henson makes an introduction in a different room than on the series. Could a different introduction have been produced but then replaced when it was decided for it to not be an episode of The Jim Henson Hour? Could this mean that there was an alternate introduction? This special also doens't have an ending with Jim henson closing the show, so could one have been produced and then cut from the special?

 

[lowercasegods]

I have a question about The Jim Henson Hour.

Were all MuppeTelevision segments and specials ever originally meant to be seen seperately outside of the show? I know that all of The StoryTeller segments were produced before the series began, so that answers that question, but all full-hour specials (excluding The Secrets of the Muppets) have been shown on TV without the opening and Jim Hensons introductory/closing comments, and all second half-hour specials have been shown outside of the show, as have the first half-hour MuppeTelevisions egments.

Were these meant to be seen outside of the context of The Jim Henson Hour, or was it planned to just show these in their original context if the show was rerun in syndication?

Also, how long in advance were each introduction made? I ask because in The Ratings Game episode, Jim Henson starts the show by saying Happy Mothers Day. This epsiode had nothing to do with mothers day, but it did air on mothers day. However, teh show originally aired on fridays before being moved to sundays, and I doubt that Jim Henson would have known about the show changing schedules before it premiered, and I am under the impression that all episodes were produced before the first season was broadcast.

Also, in the second half-hour specials that I've seen, they have their own closing credits, and I don't think that the credits mention anything about the first half hour. In the case of Miss Piggy's Hollywood and Lighthouse Island, the credits are stills from the specials, so these closings could have been created with some newer editing, but were there special closing sequences for the MuppeTelevision segments? I believe that Jim Henson closing the show was shown before each closing credits sequence, but at the end of each episode of The StoryTeller, the credits just play while the action continues, with no fading to black. Then again, as I said earlier, The StoryTeller episodes were already produced seperately, so they could have added a fade-in, while the DVDs don't.

Finally, as we all know, Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting was originally produced as an episode, but then shown as a seperate half-hour special. But at the beginning, Jim Henson makes an introduction in a different room than on the series. Could a different introduction have been produced but then replaced when it was decided for it to not be an episode of The Jim Henson Hour? Could this mean that there was an alternate introduction? This special also doens't have an ending with Jim henson closing the show, so could one have been produced and then cut from the special?

The MuppeTelevision segments were meant exclusively for the show.

Each intro was probably made in the same advanced time as most TV shows. So while Jim probably intended them to run on specific days (like Mother's Day), NBC likely pre-empted the show for something else, like a Presidential address or something to that effect, throwing the show off it's intended schedule.

And the Sesame Street special wasn't really intended to be part of The Jim Henson Hour. Granted, it was shown in that block of time normally alotted The Jim Henson Hour, but it was a whole other creature, which would explain the different set Jim used for his intro and the lack of his usual end segment.

Admittedly, these are educated guesses. But having studied all things Muppet for roughly 30 years, I feel pretty secure in my answers.

 

[minor muppetz]

And the Sesame Street special wasn't really intended to be part of The Jim Henson Hour. Granted, it was shown in that block of time normally alotted The Jim Henson Hour, but it was a whole other creature, which would explain the different set Jim used for his intro and the lack of his usual end segment.

I thought it was. I've read that it was originally meant to be an episode of the show before being shown as a stand-alone special on this forum, and on other websites. Then again, if that's true, then how do we know that it was originally going to be shown as part of the JHH? Was there an early article about JHH mentioning this being one of the episodes? Was there an interview with somebody who mentioned this fact? Is it mentioned in that book from The Museum of Television and Radio that includes a guide to all Mupept specials?