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For people who didn't live through the era, it's a bit hard to quantify just how huge the Muppets were between 1975 and 1985. For five seasons, they were the stars of the beloved and wildly popular syndicated series "The Muppet Show," rubbing shoulders with celebrities like Liza Minnelli, Sylvester Stallone, and Mark Hamill. During that show's run, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, and Fozzie Bear also made the leap to the big screen with the absolute, stone-cold classic 1979 film "The Muppet Movie," which only proved how talented they were while giving the world one of the most instantly iconic songs in "Rainbow Connection." While "The Muppet Show" ended its run in 1981, the Muppets would continue making successful films, such as that year's "The Great Muppet Caper" as well as the end of the would-be trilogy of sorts, "The Muppets Take Manhattan." This 1984 musical comedy is set in the Big Apple and...

Forty years on, fans still want to be “down at Fraggle Rock,” the fantastical world created by Muppets mastermind Jim Henson for a TV show that debuted on HBO on January 10, 1983. Fraggle Rock followed the titular characters — a species of underground-dwelling, radish-loving creatures — as they interacted with the societies of Doozers, Gorgs, and the silly creatures of outer space. (Those would be us humans.) And over its five-season run, Fraggle Rock taught young viewers valuable lessons about the real world. “For decades, those involved with Fraggle Rock have chuckled self-indulgently about its purported mission, which was, supposedly, ‘to save the world,’” producer Michael Frith told GeekDad in 2013. “But perhaps that’s not as ridiculous as it might at first blush sound … Fraggle Rock’s simple ambition [was] to open kids’ eyes to the interconnectedness of all things and the unassailable fact that their own actions would have consequences.” Frith added: “The...

Jim Henson was a genius, as most people now realize. Therefore, it’s a real treat to see a documentary that has been made about his creations and his company. Henson’s Place: The Man Behind the Muppets is just that. However, this piece is a vintage documentary, one produced in England back in 1984. The most recent project Henson and company are shown to be working on in this piece is Labyrinth (1986), because you can notice them building the film’s creatures in one segment.

Henson’s Place tells the tale of Jim Henson’s beginnings as a college student in a puppeteering class, where he met his future wife Jane. The two started a televised puppet show that even in its primitive black and white presentation foreshadowed the brilliance that lay ahead. Henson’s early puppet design and writing was not much different to the look and comedy of...

Some kids have a sports team, a movie or a television show that they’re obsessed with. For me, it was, and still is, the Muppets. I have Kermit’s advice book. My twitter background is Wembley from “Fraggle Rock.” I did my sixth grade biography research project on Jim Henson. I ordered Big Bird Goes to Japan on DVD from Amazon. There were no limits to this obsession. But even if I wasn’t a huge Muppets freak, I would love Henson’s Place: The Man Behind the Muppets. This is one of the best biographical documentaries I have ever seen.

Let me begin with a warning: this film was made in 1984. While the special features were added at a later date, the audio and picture quality definitely make it clear that the footage is still in the original (that is to say, pretty grainy and definitely less clear...

The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the Fred Weekend Shopping Guide - your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…

(Please support Fred by using the links below to make any impulse purchases - it helps to keep us going…)

I really could have done without the over-the-top violence, because I actually found the story behind Kick-Ass (Lionsgate, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$39.99 Srp) to be pretty damn good, adapted from the comic book of the same name that envisions what it might be like for a real-life teen to decide to become a superhero-styled vigilante. What elevates it, though, is an impressive cast - including Nic Cage...

I miss Jim Henson. I recall sitting in my home office and hearing the stunning news that the puppeteer had unexpectedly passed away. All I could think of were the movies and television shows that we would never see, the voice of Kermit the Frog growing silent. As it is, every time the family watches the Muppet Christmas Special, I sigh at the end when he makes a cameo appearance.

Henson was a gentle, creative man, but in the documentary, Henson’s Place, he’s also described as a having a “steely will” and he needed that to bring his creations to life and before the public. The 52-minute show was produced for airing in Wales in 1984 and has played on PBS here in the states. Today, Lionsgate releases the documentary on DVD. It’s a frozen moment in time, six years before his untimely passing, but well after he...