"Huntley and Brinkley" is one of the few surviving Sam and Friends episodes, originally broadcast on January 6, 1961.[1]
Kermit appears to interview anchors Chet Huntley and David Brinkley (played by Hank and Frank) of The Huntley-Brinkley Report (which followed Sam and Friends weekday evenings). The pair's dialogue consists entirely of snippets of their program sign-ons (stating their name, the news station, and its city of operation). Kermit first chats with Huntley, who claims CBS gets all their news from NBC and states his favorite character on the show is Yorick (utilizing the "York" in "New York"). Brinkley is then profiled, citing "Washington" as his desired Presidential candidate. He and Huntley begin to argue over which station they're reporting from until Kermit stresses that they're coming from Washington.
Following the routine, Professor Madcliffe and Harry the Hipster star in the advertisement for Esskay Meats, where the professor gets too excited over plugging Esskay's Pork n' Bacon Sausage.
The sketch was reprised a couple of weeks later on the Muppets' first of many regular appearances on Today in the 1960s, on January 16, 1961. It was performed again on August 28, 1961, and much later January 24, 1963. Production documents identify the latter performance as "(3rd vers.)."[2] As Muppets, Inc. had relocated to New York City the day prior, it's possible the revision refers to a change in the sketch's punchline and the new city the report would be coming from.
Notes[]
- Some additional questions were present in the original script, with Kermit asking Huntley questions involving his wife Tippy Stringer.[1]