Title screen
Kermit is spooked by a Devil with no skin.
The Jim Henson Hour pitch reel is a 12½-minute video hosted by Jim Henson from a faux Muppet Workshop[1] to explain and sell his concept for The Jim Henson Hour. The pitch tape was written by Jerry Juhl and Bill Prady.[2] The tape was shot on September 25, 1987 at the Carriage House.[2][3]
Surrounded by all sorts of Muppet and Creature Shop creatures from previous productions, Henson explains his vision for The Jim Henson Hour. The original concept was for the show to have a rotating schedule of four different kinds of episodes, one for each week of the month.
- The first week would feature a one-hour episode of Jim Henson's The StoryTeller.
- The second week was for Lead-Free TV; Henson describes Lead-Free TV (using clips from Inner Tube as a visual) as "the Muppet Show from the future," full of special effects, rock music, fast-paced comedy, and human guest stars.
- The third week, a "Picture Book Special" would be featured, in the vein of Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, The Christmas Toy, and The Tale of the Bunny Picnic.
- And the fourth week, anything could happen; a detective story with Kermit and the gang, a story about an enchanted bowling ball, an outer space adventure or a look behind the scenes.
As Henson describes these four genres of episodes, a montage of clips from various Henson productions are shown to provide examples of each (with the final montage set to the Talking Heads' "Wild Wild Life").
Cast[]
- Muppets
- Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Animal, Philo, Right Door Knocker
- Background Muppets
- Droop, Blustering Bellowpane Monster, a Doozer, The Griffin, Frackles, The Worm, a rat, a devil, a Primitive
Performers[]
- Jim Henson - Himself and Kermit the Frog
- Frank Oz - Animal and Miss Piggy
- Dave Goelz - Gonzo, Philo, and a Doozer
- Brian Henson - Griffin, Devil
- David Rudman
- Camille Bonora
- Rick Lyon - Kermit (puppeteering in scenes where Kermit interacts with Jim Henson)[4]
- Kathryn Mullen
- John Henson
- Noel MacNeal - Right Door Knocker[3]
Sources[]
- ↑ Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian Jay Jones (page 413)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Jim Henson's Red Book -- 8/22/1987 -- Meet with Brandon Tartikoff/ Propose The Jim Henson Hour. All summer - filming "The Bear" Jean Jacques Amiel in Alps Creature Shop project
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Tough Pigs: A Chat with Noel MacNeal, Part 1 February 14, 2011
- ↑ Facebook post by Rick Lyon