Editing The Muppets (section)

===1950s–1960s: Beginnings===
[[File:Jim Henson (1989) headshot.jpg|thumbnail|right|175px|Jim Henson in 1989]]
The Muppets were created by puppeteer [[Jim Henson]] in the 1950s; Henson claimed that he coined the term ''Muppet'' as a [[portmanteau]] of the words ''[[marionette]]'' and ''[[puppet]].''<ref name=JimBio1>{{cite book|last=Jones|first=Brian Jay|title=Jim Henson: The Biography|year=2013 |publisher=Ballantine Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-345-52611-3|pages=41–42|chapter=Sam and Friends|quote=It was really just a term we made up. For a long time I would tell people it was a combination of marionettes and puppets but, basically, it was really just a word that we coined. We have done very few things connected with marionettes.}}</ref> Among Henson's earliest creations was [[Kermit the Frog]], who became his most recognizable character. Originally conceived for an [[adult puppeteering|adult]] audience,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/2015/05/30/the-rainbow-with-the-muppets/14329080001929|access-date=October 11, 2015|work=[[The Saturday Paper]]|title=Into the rainbow with the Muppets|date=May 30, 2015|archive-date=September 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925054252/https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/2015/05/30/the-rainbow-with-the-muppets/14329080001929}}</ref> the Muppets were introduced in 1955 in ''[[Sam and Friends]]'', a short-form television series produced for [[WRC-TV]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref>{{cite news|author=Express|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2008/07/10/muppet_mania_karen_falks_exhibit_on_jim/|access-date=October 11, 2015|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=July 9, 2008|title=Muppet Mania: Karen Falk on Jim Henson|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305080055/https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2008/07/10/muppet_mania_karen_falks_exhibit_on_jim/|archive-date=March 5, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Developed by Henson and his future wife, [[Jane Henson|Jane Nebel]], the series was the first form of puppet media not to incorporate a physical [[Proscenium|proscenium arch]] typical of such works, relying instead on the natural framing of the [[television set]] through which it was viewed.<ref name=JimBio2>{{cite book|last=Jones|first=Brian Jay|title=Jim Henson: The Biography |year=2013|publisher=Ballantine Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-345-52611-3|pages=48–50 |chapter=Sam and Friends}}</ref>

During the 1960s, the characters—in particular, Kermit and [[Rowlf the Dog]]—appeared in skits on several [[late-night talk show]]s and on television commercials, including ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]''. Rowlf became the first Muppet character to appear regularly on network television when he began appearing with [[Jimmy Dean]] on ''[[The Jimmy Dean Show]]''. In 1966, [[Joan Ganz Cooney]] and [[Lloyd Morrisett]] began developing a children's [[educational television]] program and approached Henson to design a cast of Muppet characters during this stage. Produced by the [[Sesame Workshop|Children's Television Workshop]], the program debuted as ''[[Sesame Street]]'' in 1969 on [[National Educational Television|NET]], and later [[PBS]].

Henson and his creative team became closely involved with ''Sesame Street'' during the years that followed; Henson waived his performance fee in exchange for retaining ownership rights to the Muppet characters created for the program. ''Sesame Street'' garnered a positive response, and the Muppets' involvement in the series was said to be a vital component of its increasing popularity, providing an "effective and pleasurable viewing" method of presentation for its educational curriculum.<ref>Morrow, p. 93</ref><ref>Davis, p. 163</ref>