he puppets created for the show. He was made of foam rubber wrapped with green fabric from a coat belonging to Jim’s mother. The eyes were each of a ping pong ball. This early Kermit was not a frog. Jim said that Kermit, “was much more lizard-like . . . People would say, ‘Oh you’ve got a frog there,’ and I’d say, ‘No, it’s just a creature’” (St. Pierre 35). Over time, Kermit changed to look more like the frog he is today. Jim Henson continued to perform Kermit until his death. Kermit was the most famous Muppet. “Kermit may possibly be the leading children's character of the century, more significant than even Peter Pan or Winnie-the-Pooh” (Collins).Having his own show and being a full time student at the University of Maryland was too difficult, even for Jim. He recruited another student with an interest in puppetry to help on the show. Her name was Jane Nebel. Jim and Jane became very close working together and ended up getting romantically involved. They also created their own company called Muppets Inc.Jane’s work proved to be valuable. Sam and Friends was very successful in the Washington D.C. area and it became a stepping stone (ERIC G) to national fame. Soon, the two were making guest appearances on national network programs like The Steve Allen Show, The Jack Paar Show, and The Today Show. Wilkins Coffee hired Muppets Inc. for a ser(ERIC G)ies of commercials featuring the Muppets. The commercials were eight seconds long. Jim and Jane created almost 160 commercials in all (St. Pierre 34). Jim and Jane made a substantial amount of money from these commercials. Jim enjoyed puppetry but he did not want to do it full time. He wanted to be a commercial artist. To him puppetry was just a way to get a job as an artist. He planned to quit puppetry when he was financially secure. Jim thought he could make a little money to get his start. ...
