Sam and Friends is an early live-action/puppet television show created by puppeteer Jim Henson and his eventual wife Jane Nebel. It was taped and aired twice daily as a local series in Washington, D.C., on WRC-TV in black and white, and later color, on weeknights from May 9, 1955, to December 15, 1961. Most of the original episodes were wiped after airing on TV. A few surviving episodes can be viewed at the Paley Center for Media but many can also be found on popular video sites like YouTube, such as those digitally archived by The Jim Henson Company. Some have been documented by either the Henson Archives or newspaper articles published while the show was still on air. Some fans who grew up watching Sam and Friends have posted comments online about some of the lost episodes which they remembered watching.
Sam was a bald-headed human puppet with wide eyes, large ears, and a big nose. His friends included Yorick, Harry the Hipster, Professor Madcliffe, Chicken Liver, and a lizard-like character named Kermit (who later evolved into Kermit the Frog).
Early in its run, the show mostly featured the puppets lip-synching to popular songs of the day (if the song was by a female performer, the puppet would wear a wig while singing). Later, formal sketches were drawn up, many spoofing well-known television shows at the time, including the series which followed Sam and Friends in the Washington market, The Huntley-Brinkley Report.
A popular early sketch that would be used often in subsequent Henson productions was "Inchworm", in which a character, often Kermit, would nibble on what looked like a worm, but would ultimately turn out to be the tongue or nose of the monster Big V, who would devour him.
Bob Payne once substituted for Jim Henson while he was in Europe. Jerry Juhl also worked on the show toward the end of its run where he substituted for Jane Henson. Also around 1959, advertisements for Esskay Meats would appear at the end of the show, as well as Wilkins Coffee (the latter featured two Muppets created exclusively for the spots, "Wilkins" and "Wontkins").
While Payne, Juhl, and Jane Henson all puppeteered in the series alongside Jim Henson, Jim provided all of the voices himself (unless the voices were taken from a record).
Cast[]
| Image | Character | Actor |
|---|---|---|
|
Sam | Jim Henson |
|
Kermit | Jim Henson |
|
Yorick | Jim Henson |
|
Harry the Hipster | Jim Henson |
|
Professor Madcliffe | Jim Henson |
|
Chicken Liver | Jim Henson |
|
Hank | |
|
Frank | |
|
Mushmellon |