Jim Henson never thought that he would make a name of himself inpuppetry; it was merely a way of getting himself on television. Thevehicle that achieved it wasSam and Friends (1955), alate-night puppet show that was on after the 11:00 news in WashingtonDC. It proved to be very popular and inspired Jim to continue usingpuppets for his work. He made many commercials, developing thesignature humor that Henson Productions is known for. A key reason forthe success of his puppets is that Jim realized he didn't need to hidepuppeteers behind a structure when they were in front of a camera. Allhe had to do was instruct the camera operators to focus on the puppetsand keep the puppeteers out of the frame. This allowed the puppets todominate the image and make them more lifelike. This work on puppetsand television would lead to separate projects that had differentgoals. The first one was his work on theThe Jimmy Dean Show (1963)with the character Rowlf the Dog, the oldest clearly identifiedcharacter that Henson Productions still uses. This show provided anincome that allowed Jim to work on a pet project. That project wasTime Piece (1965), a surrealisticshort about time which was nominated for best live-action short Oscar.Henson shot to prominence when he was approached to use his muppets forthe revolutionary educational showSesame Street (1969). The showwas a smash hit and his characters have become staples on publictelevision. Unforetunately, this also led to Henson being typecast asonly an entertainer for children. He sought to disprove that by beingpart of the initial crew ofSaturday Night Live (1975),but his style and that of the creative staff simply didn't jibe. It wasthis circumstance that encouraged him to develop a variety show formatthat had the kind of sophisticated humor that"Sesame Street (1969)" didn'twork with. No American broadcaster was interested, but British producerLew Grade was. This led toThe Muppet Show (1976). Itinitially struggled both in the ratings and in the search for gueststars, but in the second season it became a smash hit and wouldeventually become the most widely watched series in television history.Hungry for a new challenge, Henson madeMapetto no yume miru Hariuddo (1979), defyingthe popular industry opinion that his characters would never work in amovie. The film became a hit and spawned a series of features whichincluded the moody fantasyDark Crystal (1982), whichwas a drastic and bold departure from the amiable tone of his previouswork. The most successful TV work in the 1980s wasFuraguru rokku (1983), a fantasyseries specifically designed to appeal to as many cultural groups aspossible. During this time he also established the Creature Shop, apuppet studio that became renowned for being as brilliant with puppetryas ILM was at special effects. When he died all too soon in 1990, hewas indisputably one of the geniuses of puppetry. More importantly, hewas a man who achieved his phenomenal success while still retaining hissocial conscience and artistic integrity as his work in promotingenvironmentalism and his brilliantThe Storyteller (1987) seriesrespectively attest to.