Sesame Street Muppets on "Are you Smarter Than a 5th Grader"

The Muppets of Sesame Street will make special appearances on the hit game show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? this fall to help celebrate the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street. Several Muppets will appear on the show during a week-long series of special guest appearances.

Grover, Prairie Dawn, Zoe and Cookie Monster will co-host the game thoughout the week of November 9, 2009 (check local listings for details). The world famous Muppets will appear alongside host Jeff Foxworthy as contestants try to prove that they are in fact smarter than a group of fifth graders.

So mark you calendar, set that VCR or DVR, and be sure to tune in to catch these very special Muppet appearances on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?.

"Fraggle Rock: The Animated Series" Comes to DVD!

"Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock: The Complete Animated Series" is on DVD for the first time! Lionsgate Entertainment and The Jim Henson Company plan to release Fraggle Rock: The Animated Series - The Complete Series on DVD in January. The 2-disc DVD set will include all 13 episodes of the 1987 animated spin-off, plus all-new never before released special features. The set is planned for release on January 19, 2010. The set is expected to retail for around $19.98. I will keep you updated as more release information on this exciting Jim Henson title becomes available.

Episodes:
• "A Growing Relationship" & "Where No Fraggle Has Gone Before"
• "Big Trouble for a Little Fraggle" & "Necessity Is the Fraggle of Invention"
• "Gobo's Song" & "Homebody Matt"
• "Laundry Never Lies" & "What Boober's Nose Knows"
• "Mokey's Flood of Creativity" & "What the Doozers Did"
• "No Fraggle Is an Island"
• "Red's Drippy Dilemma" & "The Funniest Joke in the Universe"
• "The Best of the Best" & "Ambassador Gorg"
• "The Great Fraggle Freeze"
• "The Great Radish Round Up" & "Lucky Fargy"
• "The Radish Fairy" & "Fraggle Babble"
• "Wembley and the Bemble" & "A Fraggle for All Seasons"
• "Wembley's Trip to Outer Space" & "Fraggle Fool's Day"

Bonus Feautres:
• "Making Animated Fraggles" featurette with co-producer Michael Frith
• Character Galleries
• Original Opening Storyboard Squence

New Halloween Videos from The Muppets!

Sid the Science Kid Delivers New Vaccination Special

The Jim Henson Company and the US Department of Health and Human Services have partnered to produce a special episode of Sid the Science Kid to help answer children's questions about the germs, virus and vaccinations. Just in time for flu season, the special new episode is planned to hit PBS airwaves later this month. In the new episode, entitled "Getting a Shot: You Can Do It!", Sid and his friends learn the basic science behind how vaccinations work.

It's vaccination day at Sid's school, and Sid and his friends are a little apprehensive about getting a shot. Thankfully, a very special nurse will be giving the kids their vaccination -- Sid's Grandma! Throughout the special episode, Grandma, Teacher Susie, Mom and Dad all do their part to make vaccination day a fun learning experience filled with music, games and lots of laughs.

The Henson Company utilized the Henson Digital Performance Studio, the Emmy-winning real-time animation system, to deliver the full 30-minute episode in record time. While the typical production of an episode of Sid the Science Kid usually takes up to six months, in this case, the Company took only six weeks, from greenlight to delivery, to produce the special episode.

The special episode will debut on PBS on October 26, 2009 and will receive a prominent spot in the network's regular rotation thereafter (check local listins for details). Funding for the special came in part from the Deptartment of Health and Human Services, marking the first time the federal agency has funded an episode of Sid the Science Kid.

This also marks the first specially produced episode of Sid the Scince Kid outside of the show's regular week-long curricular cycles. The special show will join the library of 40 Sid the Science Kid episodes already in rotation on PBS Kids. I will be sure to keep you updated with more information regarding this new episode, and other Sid the Science Kid productions, as things develop.

A Merry Fraggle Holiday

The Jim Henson Company and Lionsgate Home Entertainment are giving Fraggle fans a reason to celebrate this holiday season with the release of "Fraggle Rock: A Merry Fraggle Holiday" on DVD. This upcoming single-disc DVD release will contain three episodes from the classic Henson series.

• "The Bells of Fraggle Rock" - It's time for the Festival of the Bells, but while the other Fraggles excitedly prepare, the holiday has lost its meaning for Gobo.
• "The Grapes of Generosity" - After finding enchanted fruit that compels anyone who eats it to share with others, Gobo decides to keep all the fruit for himself.
• "The Perfect Blue Rollie" - Wembley is happy when he and Boober find a rare stone - the 'Blue Rollie' - but Boober does not want to share with his friends.

The DVD will also include a selection of holiday-themed bonus features - including a full-length episode from the animated Fraggle Rock entitled "The Great Fraggle Freeze." In the episode the heat goes out in Doc's workshop, it has a chilling effect on Fraggle Rock, so Gobo sets out on a mission to the center of the Mystical Magical Maze to set things right. Other bonus features include interactive Fraggle games and a look at other classic Henson holiday titles.

Bonus Features:

• Animated Fraggle Rock episode: "The Great Fraggle Freeze"
• "Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas" sing-along
• A look at "The Christmas Toy"
• Traveling Matt's Holiday Trivia
• Holiday Game

Lionsgate will release this special DVD title just in time for the holidays - hitting stores on November 3, 2009. You can already pre-order the disc for the low price of just $8.99. Also hitting retail shelves on November 3rd, is the long-awaited "Fraggle Rock: The Complete Final Season" (season 4) DVD set and a repackaging of the "Fraggle Rock: The Complete Series Collection". Be sure to celebrate the holidays with the gift of Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock.

Preview Sesame Street's 40th Season

New season premieres November 10, 2009 on PBS