Rowlf on The Jimmy Dean Show

[minor muppetz]

I read that after The Jimmy Dean Show ended production, Jim Hensona dn Jimmy Dean were in a bidding war to own the series, and after Henson lost, he bought the Rowlf footage from the show. Now, what I am wondering is, did Henson buy the distribution rights to Rowlf's segments, or just copies of the sketches for his own personal enjoyment? If Henson bought the distribution rights to Rowlf's segments, then I wonder what his motif was. Did Henson consider packaging them all together, outside of The Jimmy Dean Show, for syndication (perhaps Henson could have syndicated them as Rowlf, or The Best of Rowlf)? Or did Henson buy the distribution rights with no intention of distributing them to the general public? That would be a stupid idea, to pay a lot of money for something with no plans on cashing in on the footage, unless Henson didn't want it to be shown on TV again. It would be weird for Henson to buy the distribution rights but just to keep copies for his own enjoyment, since Henson apaprantly didn't like to talk about past projects much, and I don't know how often he liked to watch his past work (then again, he might not have had a lack of interest of discussing past projects untill later).

If The Jim Henson Company bought the distribution rights for just the Rowlf segments, then is this why The Jimmy Dean Show was never put in syndication? Would the show be worth watching if Rowlf was edited from the show? And if Henson bought the distribution rights to Rowlf's footage, did Disney get the distribution rights when Disney bought the Mupepts (if so, then I would like to see a collection of Rowlf's segments on DVD)?

 

[Super Scooter]

From Muppet Wiki: "Craig Shemin stated at the "Muppet Rarities: The Unseen Work of Jim Henson" event that the Jim Henson Legacy had been in a heated bidding war with Jimmy Dean for ownership of the footage, although they didn't initially realize who they were bidding against. When Dean offered the owner of the footage substantially more money, the Legacy struck a deal with Dean to buy all of the Rowlf segments, while Dean retained ownership over the remaining footage from the show."

So, this was probably a fairly recent event. The Jim Henson Legacy would, of course, want the footage as it is a part of the history of Jim.

 

[minor muppetz]

From Muppet Wiki: "Craig Shemin stated at the "Muppet Rarities: The Unseen Work of Jim Henson" event that the Jim Henson Legacy had been in a heated bidding war with Jimmy Dean for ownership of the footage, although they didn't initially realize who they were bidding against. When Dean offered the owner of the footage substantially more money, the Legacy struck a deal with Dean to buy all of the Rowlf segments, while Dean retained ownership over the remaining footage from the show."

So, this was probably a fairly recent event. The Jim Henson Legacy would, of course, want the footage as it is a part of the history of Jim.

I already read that, though I thought it said that Jim Henson was in the bidding war, not the legacy. And that's still not clear on whether the legacy/ Henson got the distribution rights or just copies of the sketches.

 

[Super Scooter]

Jim Henson Legacy bought the Rowlf segments. I would assume that means they could distribute them, though I doubt they would. Jimmy Dean owns everything else, so if they ever decided to release The Jimmy Dean Show, I'd say the Hensons have a good enough relationship with Dean that they'd have no problem doing it as a joint thing.

This is all speculation, mind you, but from the way that reads, it would seem that way.

 

[Tim]

I guess this explains why Dean was never a guest star on The Muppet Show...

 

[Super Scooter]

I guess this explains why Dean was never a guest star on The Muppet Show...

I'm not sure I follow. The Jim Henson Legacy was established in 1993, so the event would have taken place after that.

 

[minor muppetz]

In the Muppet Central article about the event where it was stated that there was a bidding war over the footage, it was said that Jim Henson eventually bought the footage, not the legacy. I am not sure if Muppet Wiki's page was going by memory or if it was copying the Muppet Central article, but when mentioning this fact in the Muppet Central articel, it refers to "Jim", not "The legacy".

 

[minor muppetz]

Whether or not The Jim Henson Legacy owns the Rowlf footage, and even if the legacy still owns the distribution rights to it, Disney owns the Rowlf character, and Henson would probably need to get Disney's permission before releasing it (and who knows if Disney would even be willing to allow for it?). If Henson owns the footage, then it would have been more logical for Henson to have given Disney the footage (after all, Disney did get the rights to Little Muppet Monsters, and how likely is that going to be released?).

And I am sure that The Jim Henson Legacy has copies of various Muppet productions owned by other companies in it's archives. I think Henson has copies of many Muppet guest appearances and commercials, even though the distribution rights are owned by other companies.

 

[Tim]

I'm not sure I follow. The Jim Henson Legacy was established in 1993, so the event would have taken place after that.

Well, maybe things weren't cool between Henson and Dean before that, which let to the eventual bidding war(?) At any rate, I don't remeber them ever working together after they did show and the live stuff.

 

[Super Scooter]

According to the article (which I realize probably isn't infailable), they didn't realize who they were bidding against. Once Jimmy Dean out-bid, they struck a deal with him.

And, it seems like they had a good relationship. Jimmy Dean speaks highly of Rowlf and Jim Henson in his autobiography. I don't know if perhaps something happened afterward, but...

Anyway, I'm just going by what I've read in the way I respond. I'm sure it's very likely I'm wrong, especially if you've read otherwise.