The Jim Henson Hour is a short-lived television series that aired on NBC in 1989. It was developed as a showcase for The Jim Henson Company's various puppet creations, including the popular Muppet characters. Only nine of the twelve episodes produced managed to air on NBC before the low-rated program was cancelled. Two later aired on Nickelodeon in 1992 and 1993, and the final episode never aired in the US, but it did air in the UK in 1990.
The Jim Henson Hour was modeled after the old Walt Disney Presents specials, in which every week Disney would show off the latest innovations and creations of his production company. At the beginning of each episode, Jim Henson would enter an oddly-decorated set (alongside the Thought Lion puppet from his series The Storyteller) and introduce the evening's show. Beyond that, the series never had a set structure. The room where Jim and the Thought Lion performed their introduction was computer animated.
Three of the thirteen installments were hour-long mini-movies:
James Maury "Jim" Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for projects like Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, and Labyrinth. He was also an Oscar-nominated film director, Emmy Award-winning television producer, and the founder of The Jim Henson Company, the Jim Henson Foundation, and Jim Henson's Creature Shop. He died on May 16, 1990 of organ failure resulting from a Group A streptococcal infection caused by Streptococcus pyogenes.
Henson, who was born in Greenville, Mississippi and educated at University of Maryland, College Park, is one of the most widely known puppeteers ever. He created Sam and Friends as a freshman in College Park. After suffering struggles with programs that he created, he eventually was selected to participate in Sesame Street. During this time, he also contributed to Saturday Night Live. The success of Sesame Street spawned The Muppet Show, which featured Muppets created by Henson. He also co-created with Michael Jacobs the television show Dinosaurs during his final years. On June 16, 2011, he posthumously received the Disney Legends Award.
Frank Oz (born Frank Richard Oznowicz; b. May 25, 1944) is an American film director, actor, voice actor and puppeteer who is known for creating and performing the characters Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear in The Muppet Show, as well as Cookie Monster, Bert and Grover in Sesame Street. His work as a film director includes 1986's Little Shop of Horrors remake and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. He is also the operator and voice of Yoda in the Star Wars film series.
Oz was born in Hereford, England, the son of Frances (née Ghevaert) and Isidore Oznowicz, both of whom were puppeteers. His parents moved to England after fighting the Nazis with the Dutch Brigades. Oz's Dutch/Polish father was Jewish and his Flemish mother was a lapsed Roman Catholic. Oz moved to Oakland, California, United States, with his parents when he was five years old. He attended Oakland Technical High School and Oakland City College. He worked for a time with the Vagabond Puppets, a production of the Oakland Recreation Department, where Lettie Connell was his mentor.
within the hour it finds me
how come with you it takes so long?
so long, so long
and if you're slipping out of sanity
I reveal, you're not the fool that feels it strong
what it takes to make you go
holding the hands that shake me
it's just the rules you're reading wrong
oh so wrong
and if you're careless with hostility
I reveal, you're not the fool that gets it wrong
what it takes to make you go
within the hour it finds me
how come with you it takes so long?
so long, so long
and if you're slipping out of sanity
I reveal, and like a fool I feel it strong
Making plans for a future that
won't come at all.
None of these angels will make up
for the loss that I've caused.
This time I'll run from harm.
Remember me? Should have broken your fall.
If I could stop the clock, consider me.
I'll play your part
Friends for a lifetime, lost at sea.
Sinking slow.
None of these angels will get home
until were close.
None of them ever, could make up
On and on I'm feeling blue
On my own, to see, to do
Everything it seems is time
Like a book song, that rhyme
I can only say that time has come
The waiting's on your own
If you're feeling insecure
Happening not fewer
I can only say that time has come
Like a drum, a gun, I'm done
And the waiting's on
On and on, I'm feeling blue
On my own, to see, to do
Getting it on the two
The repetition
Is it a deja vu
Waiting on the hour
[x2]
With a flash before eyes
Is an impact disguise
On and on, I'm feeling blue
On my own, to see, to do
Getting it on the two
The repetition
Is it a deja vu
Waiting on the hour
[x2]
Waiting on the hour
On and on, I'm feeling blue
On my own, to see, to do