Sam and Friends

This program presents four of the fifteen surviving episodes of Sam and Friends, a five-minute, live television show created by Jim Henson and Jane Nebel (later Jane Henson) that aired daily on Washington, D.C.–based WRC-TV from 1955 to 1961. Produced with few resources beyond ingenuity and wit, Sam and Friends, which included an early incarnation of Kermit, launched the Muppets to national renown. 

A new book by Craig Shemin, President of The Jim Henson Legacy and guest curator of the Jim Henson’s World screening series at MoMI, vividly recounts the production of this seminal series. Sam and Friends: The Story of Jim Henson’s First Television Show (BearManor Media, 2022) includes descriptions of newly discovered audio recordings of lost episodes and pays tribute to Jane Henson’s enduring contributions to the development of the Muppets.