Sam and Friends
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Sam and Friends was an early live-action/puppet television show created by puppeteer Jim Henson and his eventual wife Jane. It was taped and aired locally in Washington, D.C. on WRC-TV in black and white between 1955 and 1961.
Sam was a bald human-looking puppet with wide eyes, large ears, and a big nose; his Friends included Yorick, Harry the Hipster, and a lizard-like creature called 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 Sam and Friends' lead-in show 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 a monster, who would devour him.
Jerry Juhl also worked on the show toward the end of its run.
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