What is Sam and Friends ?
If you ask most people what Jim Henson’s first TV series was, they may say The Muppet Show or Sesame Street, but few would know that two decades before The Muppet Show and nearly fifteen years before Sesame Street, Jim Henson created a long-running daily local program called Sam and Friends.
Jim Henson began working on local Washington, D.C. television while still in high school, and shortly after he began attending the University of Maryland, he and classmate Jane Nebel started Sam and Friends, which introduced Kermit (who was not yet a frog) to the world -- or at least the D.C. area.
HARRY
Photo courtesy of The Jim Henson Company
About the Book
The book is divided into two parts. Part 1 is the story of Sam and Friends from Jim Henson's earliest days working in television to joining with Jane Nebel (who would eventually become his wife) to launch Sam and Friends and ending with the Hensons’ move from Washington, D.C. to New York City. Included is an in-depth exploration of the behind-the-scenes process, five complete scripts, and more than 150 photos (many never before published) from The Jim Henson Company archives.
Part 2 is an episode guide, including summaries of Henson's original scripts and information about the music lip-synced by the Muppets on the air.
This section of the book also contains the first definitive timeline of the air schedule of Sam and Friends.
YORICK
Photos courtesy of The Jim Henson Company, and
Special Collections, University of Maryland Libraries
JIM HENSON AND JANE NEBEL, 1956
Who Wrote the Book?
Craig Shemin began his writing career with the Muppets and when not creating scripts for television and other media, he is a Henson historian and serves as President of The Jim Henson Legacy, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and celebrating Jim Henson's artistry.
He is the author of The Muppets Character Encyclopedia, and produced and directed an award-winning documentary about the making of Henson's Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas.
The book's foreword was written by Jim Henson's longtime collaborator and esteemed film director, Frank Oz.
Legal Stuff
Website and book text © Craig Shemin Book foreword © Frank Oz
Book cover images: The Muppets and associated characters, trademarks, and design elements are owned by Disney Enterprises, Inc. © Disney
Sam and Friends © The Jim Henson Company. JIM HENSON’S mark and logo, SAM AND FRIENDS mark & logo, and certain characters and elements are trademarks of The Jim Henson Company. All Rights Reserved.
Sam and Friends archival images provided courtesy of The Jim Henson Company. Other website images © Craig Shemin.