Jim Henson's performances in later years

[minor muppetz]

Recently, I decided to search the wiki for as many segments as I could think of that Jim Henson performed in, to see how often he performed on the show in later years (of course, taping dates are limited, so I'm mainly going by how many seasons he did).

I decided to start with season ten, since the wiki has full guides for that season. I have gone through many sketch guides that he would perform in, in addition to looking for one-shot character sketches. I might be off with some of the seasons. I think seasons 10 and 11 are more likely to have sketches where he performed but didn't do any actual voices. It gets me thinking about Little Chrissy, Christopher Cerf often speaks of him as if Jim Henson regularly did the puppetry, I think Count It Higher is the only one where we know for sure Jim did the puppetry (and in the past month we learned that Richard Hunt and Kevin Clash did the puppets puppetry in season 20 sketches). He probably did the character more, I'm guessing the 1970s sketches at least (which aren't covered here).

Also, I am going by season broadcasts as opposed to production seasons (which I don't always know). Some season 17-21 sketches are listed on the wiki with their EKAs, so I thought that would be problematic, but in most of those cases, the wiki actually has the taping dates, and the dates correspond with the earliest known appearance seasons.

And now, the totals:
Season 10 - 20 inserts
Season 11 - 32
Season 12 - 23 (most of them likely produced for season 11)
Season 13 - 20
Season 14 - 21
Season 15 - 34
Season 16 - 15
Season 17 - 18 (including an EKA)
Season 18 - 22 (including an EKA)
Season 19 - 21 (including two EKAs)
Season 20 - 20 (wow, potentially 20 segments in season 20!)
Season 21 - 17

I'll show my work in follow-up posts, but it looks like he did an average of 20-21 segments in seasons 10-21. I wonder if I should go through the trouble of determining how often he performed each season in seasons 8-9 (when The Muppet Show started). I have a feeling determining the total of his performances from seasons 1-7 would be too much work.

 

[minor muppetz]

I've ended up being a bit busy this week, but now I can show some of my work.

For season 10, he performed in at least 20 segments.

That includes 11 as Ernie - Bert teaches pigeon checkers,
Apple Walnut Raisen Cookies, Ernie Meets Cousin Monster, Sharing a Newspaper , Ernie’s M/N Gadget, Bert’s pigeon joke book, Ernie’s apple stand, Pigeon outside window, Bert and Ernie meet the Martians, Ernie and Cookie Monster: Carrot, and Breakfast Time

He did 8 segments as Kermit - Kermit Casting Director and seven News segments (search the Muppet Wiki page and click to see them in order and find which ones are season 10 - episodes 1186-1315).

And one as another character, Sinister Sam in "Letter Y Box of Crayons".

In season 11, he did at least 32 inserts.

There's at least 17 as Ernie - Bert and Ernie: Lullabies, Ernie and Cookie Monster choose one or many cookies, none some and all cookies, butterfly pageant, Bert and Ernie: Goldfish, Ernie copies Bert's painting, Ernie prepares to write a story, what's inside Ernie's clothing?, Happy Birthday to U, bed-making co-operation, Bert's new phone, Twiddlebugs: Rainy Day (which also has Thomas Twiddlebug), and five segments with Jason Kingsley.

12 as Kermit - Disco Frog, My Pollywog Ways, Toothbrush Salesman, Kermit and Kimberly show body parts, the beginning/middle/and end, blindfold 5 game, describing a phone, Kermit and Alonzo: EXIT, and four Kermit News segments.

2 as Guy Smiley - The Leslie Mostly Show and Say the Word.

And at least 2 as other characters - Harvey Monster in We're All Monsters and the aforementioned Thomas Twiddlebug appearance.


In season 12, he did 23 inserts, though it seems that many (if not all) were shot during season 11.

10 as Ernie - E&B painting cooperation, Ernie's skate, Ernie tries to scare Bert, Ernie is sad, Ernie sits, Twiddlebugs: Progress, Ernie and Jennifer: Same and Different, Ernie and Katie: Same and different, two segments with Jason (clearly shot in season 11).

9 as Kermit - Nose Warmer Salesman, Frog to Forg, The Leslie Mostly Show, Kermit and Alfonzo: Stop (clearly shot season 11), two bits with Kimberly (clearly shot in season 11), and three Kermit News segments.

1 as Guy Smiley - Mystery Guest

And at least 4 as other characters - Harvey Monster in Me Lost Me Cookie at the Disco and Monsterpiece Theater: Me, Claudius (both of which are listed as from season 11 in 40 Years of Sunny Days), and two segments as Thomas Twiddlebug (one of which also has Ernie).

In season 13 there were at least 20 segment performances by Jim Henson.

10 with Ernie - The Guess What I'm Thinking Game, He Lost His Duckie, E&B Egyptian Pyramid, cookie dilemma, Twiddlebugs out in the rain, Dance Myself to Sleep, attracting birds, Getting a bang Out of It, E&B practice crossing the street, and loud/soft fish call.

5 with Kermit - If I Were, Grover touches his nose with his toes, and three Kermit News segments.

3 with Guy Smiley - This is Your Lunch, This is Your Story, and Name That Sound: Grover. (wow, they must have really wanted to do "This is Your Life" parodies that don't fall under the usual "Here is Your Life" format)

and 2 with Thomas Twiddlebug (one of which also has Ernie and was already listed).

I'll show my work for other seasons later.

 

[minor muppetz]

Showing my work for the amount of insert segments Jim Henson did for seasons 14-16:

Season 14 - at least 21.

14 as Ernie - search for Dr. Livingston, I Wish I Had a Friend to Play with Me, Ernie and Bert go camping, Honker Duckie Dinger Jambouree, E&B Snowman, But I Like You, Ernie watches Bert, smart thinking, Bert meets Snuffleupagus, That's Love, Bert almost shops for dinner, E&B drum beats game, three honkers, and letting balloons go. There's possibly a 15th segment - according to the lost episodes of Sesame Street page, the script sourced for lost episode 1828 has an Ernie and Cookie Monster segment that doesn't appear in any other script. Maybe it was shot and broadcast, maybe it wasn't.

6 as Kermit - Kermit News: Alice in Wonderland, Google Bugle, The Frogs in the Glen, sunglasses salesman, listening with the Two-Headed Monster, and Kermit expects a surprise.

1 segment as another character - Captain Vegetable.

Season 15 - at least 34 segments.

12 as Ernie - DUCKIE, I Don't Want to Live on the Moon, The Insects in Your Neighborhood, Ernie is alone, Ernie brings home a surprise, E&B watch Sneak Peek Previews, grocery list, Ernie calls Bert, imagining the park, Ernie loves his boat, Old King Cole, and That's What Friends are For (though the wiki lists it's EKA, though I think the songs copyright date corresponds to season 15).

13 as Kermit - Kermit's neck, ABCs of the Swamp, It's Alive, Kermit's movie, Kermit subtracts, same and different, headwarmer salesman, Grover's Health Minutes: Teeth, The Count's elevator job, and 4 news segments.

2 as Guy Smiley - On Vacation with Guy Smiley and Name That Sound: Honker.

7 as other characters (what a big season for this!) - performed various other characters in Bad Bart Pays Bartender, The King Who Only Ate Chicken, Grover the lifeguard, Street Garden Cooperation, Bells, One Banana, and waiter Grover: grandmother's birthday.

And 15 segments in season 16.

4 as Ernie - Cookie Monster sleeps over (2 parts, maybe I should count it as two, totaling five segments as Ernie and 16 segments altogether for season 16), Quiet Time Song, At the Movies: The Picnic, and Ernie and Ernestine: same and different.

7 as Kermit - Kermit draws a 2 (I thought I saw this confirmed as from season 12, must have messed up somehow), Do Op Hop, Hair Piece Salesman, Kermit's telephone demo, what's inside Herry Monster?, and two news segments.

2 as Guy Smiley - I'll Love You in the Springtime and The How Many Game.

1 as Bip Bipodotta.

And 1 as another character - King Digitus.

 

[minor muppetz]

Now to show my work for known Jim Henson segments from seasons 17-21....

Season 17: 18
Ernie segments: 4 - Imagine That, Miami Mice: Ernie, One Fine Face, and When Bert's Not Here.
Kermit segments: 8- Miami Mice: Kermit, Happy and sad with Elmo, Z/N lecture, Caribbean Amphibian, sight word "in", Kermit and Gladys pretend, and two News segments.
Guy Smiley segments: 5 - The Triangle is Right, The Letter of the Day Pageant, To Tell a Face (which, last I checked, the wiki only listed the "earliest known appearance"), and two Here is Your Life segments.
Other characters: 1 - Bip Bipadotta in "Scratch My Back".

Season 18: 22
Ernie Segments: 6 - Do De Rubber Duck, Put Down the Duckie, 12/21 poem, The American Revolution: National Bird, Ernie's book, Caveman Days: Taking the kid to school, and Twiddlebugs: Smoke Detector.
Kermit Segments: 10 - On My Pond, Goldilocks rehearsals, loud and soft with Elmo, Mystery Box, Gladys assists Kermit, same and different balls, three Newsflash segments (one of which is listed as "eka", I've read that season 18 scripts list it as a season 17 segment, with no season 17 scripts including it, while season 19 and up list it as a season 18 script), and the aforementioned Do De Rubber Duck.
Guy Smiley Segments: 4 - They Can't Take That Away from Me, The School Game, Where Do I Belong?, and the aforementioned Do De Rubber Duck.
Other character segments: 4 - Thomas Twiddlebug in the smoke detector segment (already listed with Ernie), Mr. Essex in "Muppets Rhyme in School", George Washington in The American Revolution: Surprising the British, and Pat Playjacks in Squeal of Fortune.

Season 19: 21
Ernie segments: 7 - Bert's Blanket, Grow High Grow Low, The Feelings Game, dirt poem, Hill Street Twos, Ernie pretends Bert is not gone, and Forest Fashions.
Kermit segments: 8 - Monsterpiece Theater: Gone with the Wind, Elmo helps Kermit, Monster Fix-It Team, African Alphabet, Tadpole, and three news flash segments.
Guy Smiley segments: 3 (maybe) - Happiness Begins at 40, What's Prairie's Problem (EKA), and The Fairytale Newlywed Game (also EKA on the wiki).
Other character segments: 3 - The Captain in two Spaceship Surprise segments and Bip Bipadotta in "Opposite Stuff".

Season 20: 20
Ernie segments: 5 - Ernie tries to get Ernestine to say his name, I Think That It is Wonderful, Cave Person Days: Inventing the Window, zero cookies, and Ernie counts fruit.
Kermit segments: 8 - Ooooo-klahoma, Get Along, I Love My Elbows, stop that bus stop, and four Sesame Street News Flash segments.
Guy Smiley segments: 4 - Beat the Time: Elmo, Reunion of All Things SH, What's My Job?, and Here is Your Life: Still Painting.
Other characters: 4 - Thomas Twiddlebug in the aforementioned "Get Along", Sinister Sam in High 12, Bip Bipadotta in "Air", and the Captain in Spaceship Surprise: Planet TR.

Season 21: 17
Ernie segments: 5 - Opposites game, heavy and light game, Cave Person Days: Taking Out the Trash, Best Friends Blues, and Don't Throw That Trash on the Ground.
Kermit segments: 6 - The Heart of a Frog, I Wonder About the World Above Up There, and four Sesame Street News segments.
Guy Smiley segments: 3 - Here is Your Life: Carton of Eggs, the audience goes to lunch, and Air.
Other Characters: 3 - Thomas Twiddlebugs in pile of sand sketch, fat blue dentist in "Please Say Toothpaste Somebody", and seal owner in Sneak Peek Previews: The Seventh Seal.

Unless there's something missing, in the 1980s, he usually managed to do at least 20 segments a season, with his last season bringing us a little less than the previous few. And starting with season 15, it seems he would do at least a few more segments as Kermit than as Ernie, I am a bit surprised by this (I would have thought he'd usually do more Ernie on Sesame Street), and I'm not surprised that he would perform Guy Smiley less than Ernie and Kermit each season.