Seventy Years Ago the Muppets Made Their Television Debut

Jim Henson with Kermit, Sam, and others

Seventy years ago today, on May 9 1955, a local television show called Sam and Friends debuted on Washington, DC's NBC station WRC-TV. If it had been any of a number of other local television programs, this might not be particularly significant, but Sam and Friends was created by Jim Henson and his future wife Jane Nebel and introduced the world to what would become known as Muppets. Indeed, among the puppet characters was a lizard-like one called Kermit, who would become Kermit the Frog.

Sam and Friends was a live-action, puppet show, but like Jim Henson's future projects, it was made for adults rather than children. In fact, it aired as a lead-in to The Tonight Show on WRC-TV. The series centred on Sam (played by Jim Henson) , a human puppet with big ears and an active imagination. Sam had a number of imaginary friends who represented various parts of his psyche, including Kermit (played by Jim Henson), the beatnik Harry the Hpster (played by Jim Henson), the rock-like Yorick (played by Jim Henson), Professor Madlcliffe (played by Jim Henson), and yet others. Other puppeteers on the show beyond Jim Henson included Jane Nebel, Jerry Juhl, and Bob Payne. The puppets would take part in various sketches and lip-sync to various songs.

Sam and Friends would air in various time slots throughout its run, and at one point aired before NBC's news program at the time, The Huntley–Brinkley Report. It last aired on December 15 1961. Unfortunately, very little survives of Sam and Friends. The show was produced on a low budget and as a result it was not preserved on kinescope or videotape. Out of the clips that have survived, almost none of them feature Sam, despite the fact that he was the main character.

It was while Sam and Friends was still on the air that Jim Henson and Jane Nebel founded Muppets, Inc., which would later be named the Jim Henson Company. It was also while Sam and Friends as still on the air that the Muppets began to get national exposure. Kermit appeared on The Steve Allen Show in 1956 In 1958 the Muppets appeared on Tonight Starring Jack Paar. The Sixties, after Sam and Friends ended, would see the Muppets appear frequently on The Ed Sullivan Show. The decade would also see Rowlf as a regular on The Jimmy Dean Show and several Muppets, including Kermit, become regulars on Sesame Street.

Of course, all of it began with Sam and Friends. Indeed, in the few remaining episodes of the show one can easily see the origins of The Muppet Show, from the pop culture parodies to the use of popular music. While it may not have been seen beyond the Washington, DC area, it would certainly have a lasting impact.

"Subterranean Homesick Blues" by Bob Dylan

Sixty years ago today a clip for Bob Dylan's song "Subterranean Homesick Blues"was filmed in an alley near the Savoy Hotel in London. The clip consists of Bob Dylan flipping cue cards as the song plays, while  Allen Ginsberg and Bob Neuwirth are occasionally seen in the background. The cue cards were written by Bob Dylan, Allen Ginsberg, and Bob Neuwirth. Although the clip is often referred to as a promotional film or promotional clip, it was actually filmed as the opening of the documentary Don't Look Back, directed by D. A. Pennebaker. It covered Bob Dylan's 1965 tour of England.

Two alternate clips for "Subterranean Homesick Blues" were also filmed. One was shot in Embankment Gardens near the Savoy. In addition to Bob Dylan, Allen Ginsberg, and Bob Neuwirth, Bob Dylan's producer Tom Wilson also appeared in that clip. Another clip was shot a building that has yet to be identified. Martin Scosese included a montage of all three clips in his 2005 documentary No Direction Home.

The clip for "Subterranean Homesick Blues" from Don't Look Back was one of the earliest conceptual music films and would prove influential on music videos to come.

Without further ado, here is the promo clip for "Subterranean Homesick Blues."

How to Disable Tab Groups on Firefox

Chances are good that if you use Firefox, you now known that it has tab groups. For those of you who don't know what tab groups are, they are a browser feature that allows users to organize tabs into groups. In theory, at least this makes it easier to keep track of manage tabs. Chrome had had tab groups for about five years now, and other browsers have had them for a few years as well. As to Firefox, according to Mozilla, it was the most requested idea on Mozilla Connect.

Of course, while some people find tab groups a convenient way to organize and manage tabs, others of us don't.This can be a particularly problem for those of us who sometimes like to move tabs around, as Firefox will automatically assume that we want to create a tab group. Fortunately, Firefox has a means of disabling tab groups, unlike some other browsers (*cough* Chrome for Android *cough*).

If you are one of the many Firefox users who dislike and you want to disable them, simply type about:config in the address bar. You'll then want to click the button that reads "Accept the Risk and Continue." You'll then search for " browser.tabs.groups" and mark all of them "false."

This should disable tab groups, although some have found them re-enabled if they close and then re-open their browser. In my case this was caused by a study related to tab groups. I fixed it by simply going into setting and unchecking "Install and run studies," although you could also type about:studies in the address bar and disable any studies related to tab groups.

With regards to tab groups on Firefox, I have two recommendations for Mozilla. The first is that they should have a place in Settings (I figure "Brower Layout" might b a good place) where one can disable tab groups. This would be more obvious and thus easier than disabling tab groups in about:config would be. The second is that they should always allow users to disable tab groups and never force them upon users. Tab groups may be the most requested feature in Mozilla Central, but there are also a number of us who absolutely hate them.