Muppet and Henson fans have long clamoured for a DVD, Blu-Ray or otherwise official release of Jim Henson’s first Muppet series, Sam and Friends. While an official explanation for why this hasn’t happened has never been provided, it’s likely due to the fact that the show was broadcast live and only a handful of episodes – possibly as few as just fifteen – were actually recorded. Music licensing is another likely complicating factor; many of the songs that were used on Sam and Friends were never properly licensed, which was a common occurrence in the early days of television (Henson famously drew the ire of comedian Stan Freberg, whose songs were often used on air without obtaining formal clearance or permission, and later spoofed Freberg’s complaints by hitting a puppet of him over the head with a mallet on air).
Into this void has stepped a small, but dedicated group of community archivists who are working to preserve Jim Henson’s early work, including Sam and Friends. One of the places where this is happening online is Sam And Friends Remastered, a fan-run YouTube channel that pieces together, cleans up, and strives to preserve the surviving fragments of Henson’s earliest work and make them available to fans to watch online. In addition to episodes of the series, the channel also features Muppet commercials for Esskay Quality Meats (one of the primary sponsors of Sam and Friends), many of the Muppets’ famous Wilkins and Wontkins coffee ads, and other rarities, including films of live Muppet performances in the 1960s.
Interestingly, the copyright status of much of Jim Henson’s early work is actually a bit of a legal grey area. Sam and Friends was originally broadcast beginning in 1955 without copyright notices, years before copyright reforms in the United States made copyright automatic, but no one has ever tested the show’s copyright status in court.
Notwithstanding that, it’s great to see such an important piece of television puppetry history being preserved, restored and made accessible to Henson fans everywhere.
You can find it all in the Sam And Friends Remastered YouTube channel. If you’re interested in learning more about the early work of Jim Henson, Craig Shemin’s excellent book Sam and Friends: The Story of Jim Henson’s First Television Show is highly recommended.
