Jim Henson and alternate history

We Almost Didn’t Have the Muppets. [Link]

Let me be clear, before we start, that I’m about to geek out on puppetry. Jim Henson is why I’m a professional puppeteer today, even though I never met him. Like many puppeteers, I grew up watching Sesame Street and The Muppet Show and before I discovered the wider world of puppetry.

Now, I’m also a science fiction writer and here’s the thing... Henson would be a really good subject for an Alternate History story of the “Duck Mr. President” variety, where a single change could affect the entire time line.

I do not exaggerate. The face of modern puppetry would be completely different if not for Jim Henson. Here, let me show you.

Cusp point 1: What if Jim Henson hadn’t gone into puppetry?

It’s easy to think of Henson as a puppeteer because he’s synonymous with puppetry in most Americans’ minds but when he started puppetry it was just a way to get on television. He was fascinated with the medium and kept applying for jobs in TV. Then, in 1954 he heard that WTOP was looking for puppeteers for its Junior Good Morning Show. So he and a friend built some puppets, auditioned and were hired. He later said, “...but I wasn’t really interested in puppetry then. It was just a means to an end.”

Think about that. If he’d been hired by someone before he got to puppetry, we wouldn’t have Kermit.