JIM HENSON: The TV Creator

Hundreds of millions of kids--and adults--have been entranced by the Muppetmaster

By James Collins Monday, June 08, 1998

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    The only complaint of his five children seems to be that because Henson was so busy, he was unable to spend enough time with them. They often accompanied him while he worked, and he once even took his eldest daughter along when he held a meeting with the head of a movie studio. That child, Lisa, is now a powerful producer in Hollywood; Henson's elder son Brian runs the Jim Henson Co.; and another daughter, Cheryl, also works there. However gentle, Henson was not a complete naif. He liked expensive cars--Rolls-Royces, Porsches--and after he and Jane separated in 1986 (they remained close and never divorced), he dated a succession of women.

    In the '70s and '80s, Henson produced innumerable films and TV shows with and without the Muppets. Some were dark, like his adaptations of folktales and myths in the ingenious TV series Jim Henson's The Storyteller. Then in 1990, at age 53, Henson suddenly died after contracting an extremely aggressive form of pneumonia. He remains a powerful presence, though, on account of Sesame Street and the Henson Co., whose next venture will be a global family-entertainment network called the Kermit Channel. Because the works we encounter as children are so potent, Henson may influence the next century as much as this one, as his viewers grow up carrying his vision within them.

    James Collins is TIME's TV critic. His household includes two Kermits and an Elmo.

    Three More Titans of the Tube

    Television is such a young medium that some of its basic forms are still being invented and refined. Below we recognize other men behind the camera who helped shape TV as you know it.

    THE TODAY SHOW
    Dave Garroway was the first anchor for Today, which was invented by NBC's Pat Weaver (Sigourney's dad). He also developed the Tonight show, Your Show of Shows and other seminal programs. More than anyone else, he freed TV from its roots in radio.

    ALL IN THE FAMILY
    Before this show bowed in 1971, no sitcom was any more daring than Family Affair. By creating Archie Bunker (played by Carroll O'Connor), Norman Lear opened the way for TV to confront — and find humor in — any subject, from race to abortion.

    HILL STREET BLUES
    If you're a fan of ER, thank the man who revolutionized the hour-long drama, Steven Bochco. His Hill Street (which starred Daniel Travanti and Veronica Hamel), L.A. Law and other shows pioneered a new grit, complexity and sexual heat.

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