Editing Jim Henson (section)

===Television and Muppets: 1961–1969===
Henson spent much of the next two decades working in commercials, talk shows, and children's projects before realizing his dream of the Muppets as "entertainment for everybody".<ref name="nyobit"/> The popularity of his work on ''Sam and Friends'' in the late 1950s led to a series of guest appearances on network talk and variety shows. He appeared as a guest on many shows, including ''[[The Steve Allen Show]]'', ''[[Jack Paar|The Jack Paar Program]]'', and ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]''. (Sullivan introduced him as "Jim Newsom and his Puppets" on September 11, 1966.) These television broadcasts greatly increased his exposure, leading to hundreds of commercial appearances by Henson characters throughout the 1960s.{{Sfn|Finch|1993|p=22}}

Among the most popular of Henson's commercials was a series for the local Wilkins Coffee company in [[Washington, D.C.]], created for a campaign managed by advertising manager [[Helen Ver Standig]].<ref name="central">{{cite news |last=Harris |first=Judy |url=http://www.muppetcentral.com/articles/interviews/jim1.shtml |title=Muppet Master: An Interview with Jim Henson |via=Muppet Central |date=September 21, 1998 |access-date=May 5, 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926003558/http://www.muppetcentral.com/articles/interviews/jim1.shtml |archive-date=September 26, 2015}}</ref> Most of the Wilkins advertisements followed a similar formula: two Muppets, in this case named [[Wilkins and Wontkins]] (usually both voiced by Henson), would appear. Wilkins would extol the product while Wontkins would express his hatred for it, prompting physical retaliation from Wilkins; Wontkins might be shot with a cannon, struck in the head with a hammer or baseball bat, or have a pie thrown in his face.<ref>{{cite video |url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPVDw7h-nSQ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102094020/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPVDw7h-nSQ&feature=youtu.be&t=1439| archive-date=2020-11-02 | url-status=dead|title=Wilkins and Wontkins commercials |via=[[YouTube]]}}</ref> The Jim Henson Company has posted a short selection of them.<ref>{{cite video |url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVewx3-9x24 |title=Wilkins Coffee Commercials |via=YouTube |access-date=February 20, 2021 |archive-date=February 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205183955/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVewx3-9x24 |url-status=live }}</ref> Henson later explained, "Till then, advertising agencies believed that the hard sell was the only way to get their message over on television. We took a very different approach. We tried to sell things by making people laugh."{{sfn|Finch|1993|p=22}}

The first seven-second commercials for Wilkins were an immediate hit and were later remade for other local coffee companies throughout the United States, such as [[Community Coffee]], [[Red Diamond]] Coffee, La Touraine Coffee, [[Nash Finch Company|Nash's Coffee]], and Jomar Instant coffee.<ref name="central"/> The characters were so successful in selling coffee that soon other companies began seeking them to promote their products, such as bakeries like [[Merita Breads]], service station chains such as [[Standard Oil of Ohio]] and the [[Downstream (petroleum industry)|downstream]] [[Marathon Petroleum|assets]] of [[Marathon Oil]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeMvb01BTIY|title=Marathon Gas – Jim's Red Book – The Jim Henson Company|date=January 25, 2013 |via=[[YouTube]]|access-date=August 24, 2023|archive-date=August 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230824021307/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeMvb01BTIY|url-status=live}}</ref> and beverage bottlers such as [[Faygo]]. Over 300 "Wilkins and Wontkins" commercials were made.{{sfn|Finch|1993|p=22}} The ads were primarily produced in black and white, but some color examples also exist.

Henson sold the rights to Wilkins and Wontkins to the Wilkins Company, who allowed marketing executive John T. Brady to sell the rights to some toymakers and film studios. However, in July 1992 Brady was sued by Jim Henson Productions for unfair competition in addition to copyright and trademark infringement. The Henson company claimed that Brady was incorrectly using Henson's name and likeness in their attempts to license the characters.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/18/business/moi-involved-in-a-copyright-infringement-suit.html |title=Moi? Involved in a Copyright-Infringement Suit? |date=July 18, 1992 |work=[[The New York Times]] |page=5 |language=en-US |access-date=July 15, 2019 |archive-date=July 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715211656/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/18/business/moi-involved-in-a-copyright-infringement-suit.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1963, Henson and his wife moved to New York City where the newly formed [[The Jim Henson Company|Muppets, Inc.]] resided for some time. Jane quit performing to raise their children, and Henson hired writer [[Jerry Juhl]] in 1961 and puppet performer [[Frank Oz]] in 1963 to replace her.<ref name="oz">{{cite interview |last=Plume |first=Kenneth |title=Interview with Frank Oz |website=IGN |date=February 10, 2000 |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/02/10/interview-with-frank-oz-part-1-of-4 |access-date=May 6, 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070228032836/http://movies.ign.com/articles/035/035842p1.html |archive-date=February 28, 2007 }}</ref> Henson credited them both with developing much of the humor and character of his Muppets.<ref name="hands">{{cite news |last=Freeman |first=Don |title=Muppets on His Hands |work=The Saturday Evening Post |year=1979 |pages=50–53, 126}}</ref> Henson and Oz developed a close friendship and a performing partnership that lasted until Henson's death; their teamwork is particularly evident in their portrayals of [[Bert and Ernie]], Kermit and [[Miss Piggy]], and Kermit and [[Fozzie Bear]].<ref name="lifemag">{{cite magazine |last=Harrigan |first=Stephen |url=http://www.muppetcentral.com/articles/tributes/henson/hensonarticle6.shtml |title=It's Not Easy Being Blue |magazine=Life |date=July 1990 |access-date=May 6, 2007 |via=Muppet Central |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070805055823/http://muppetcentral.com/articles/tributes/henson/hensonarticle6.shtml |archive-date=August 5, 2007 }}</ref> In New York City, Henson formed a partnership with [[Bernie Brillstein]], who managed Henson's career until the puppeteer's death.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brillstein |first1=Bernie |last2=Rensin |first2=David |title=Where Did I Go Right?: You're No One in Hollywood Unless Someone Wants You Dead |year=1999 |pages=54–55 |publisher=[[Little, Brown and Company]] |isbn=978-0-316-11885-9}}</ref> In the years that followed, more performers joined Henson's team, including [[Jerry Nelson]], [[Richard Hunt (puppeteer)|Richard Hunt]], [[Dave Goelz]], [[Steve Whitmire]], [[Fran Brill]], and [[Kevin Clash]].

In 1964, he and his family moved to [[Greenwich, Connecticut]], where they lived until 1971, when they moved to [[Bedford (town), New York|Bedford, New York]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=DeRosa |first1=Andrew |title=Jim Henson's CT years: Experimental films and the rise of 'Sesame Street' |url=https://www.ctinsider.com/entertainment/article/Jim-Henson-CT-greenwich-sesame-street-16750864.php |website=CT Insider |date=January 19, 2022 |publisher=Hearst Connecticut Media |access-date=8 February 2022 |archive-date=February 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208015630/https://www.ctinsider.com/entertainment/article/Jim-Henson-CT-greenwich-sesame-street-16750864.php |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Henson's talk show appearances culminated when he devised [[Rowlf the Dog|Rowlf]], a piano-playing anthropomorphic dog that became the first Muppet to make regular appearances on ''[[The Jimmy Dean Show]]''. Henson was so grateful for this break that he offered [[Jimmy Dean]] a 40-percent interest in his production company, but Dean declined, stating that Henson deserved all the rewards for his own work, a decision of conscience that Dean never regretted.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Hell of a Man Himself |url=http://thebluegrassspecial.com/archive/2010/july10/jimmy-dean-news-notes.php |publisher=The Bluegrass Special.com |access-date=October 18, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111020154333/http://thebluegrassspecial.com/archive/2010/july10/jimmy-dean-news-notes.php |archive-date=October 20, 2011 }}</ref> From 1963 to 1966, Henson began exploring filmmaking and produced a series of experimental films.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite journal |title=Jim Henson |work=Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. |year=2012 |access-date=September 24, 2012 |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/262164/Jim-Henson |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015203441/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/262164/Jim-Henson |archive-date=October 15, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://zenbullets.com/blog/?p=110|title=Jim Henson's Experimental Period|publisher=zenbullets.com|access-date=January 7, 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422103342/http://zenbullets.com/blog/?p=110|archive-date=April 22, 2009}}</ref> His nine-minute experimental film ''[[Time Piece]]'' was nominated for an [[Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film]] in 1965. He produced ''[[The Cube (film)|The Cube]]'' in 1969. Around this time, he wrote the first drafts of a live-action movie script with Jerry Juhl which became ''[[Tale of Sand]]''. The script remained in the Henson Company archives until it was adapted in the 2012 graphic novel ''Jim Henson's Tale of Sand''.<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.henson.com/archaia-and-the-jim-henson-company-announce-new-original-graphic-novel-written-by-jim-henson-and-jerry-juhl/ |title=Archaia and the Jim Henson Company Announce new, original graphic novel written by Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl |agency=Jim Henson Company |date=August 4, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330011842/https://www.henson.com/archaia-and-the-jim-henson-company-announce-new-original-graphic-novel-written-by-jim-henson-and-jerry-juhl/ |archive-date=March 30, 2023 |access-date=November 27, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Jim Henson - McGarry's Sausages featuring Kermit and Mack (1964).webm|thumb|left|3 commercials for McGarry's Sausages featuring Kermit the Frog and Mack, following the typical snappy, wordplay-based violent format of a Wilkins & Wontkins commercial]]
During this time, Henson continued to work with various companies who sought out his Muppets for advertising purposes. Among his clients were [[Thomas E. Wilson|Wilson Meats]], [[RC Cola|Royal Crown Cola]], Claussen's Bread, [[La Choy]], and [[Frito-Lay]], which featured an early version of his character Cookie Monster to promote their [[Munchos]] line of potato snacks. Like the Wilkins Coffee ads of the late 1950s and early 1960s, the formula stayed fairly similar. For instance, one of the Claussen's commercials featured Kermit the Frog dangling from a window while a character named Mack asks him if he brought a loaf of the company's bread; when Kermit says he did not, Mack closes the window on Kermit's fingers and causes him to fall, suggesting he "drop down" to the grocery store to buy a loaf.