Jerry Juhl

'Jerry Juhl' (qv) became the first full-time employee of 'Jim Henson' (qv) Co. in 1961 after meeting Henson at a puppeteer's convention. The company coined the term "Muppet," a combination of the words marionette and puppet, and created a series of short skits parodying television news people. Juhl worked on 'Jim Henson' (qv)'s first television show, _Sam and Friends (1955)_ (qv) as a puppeteer and later spent six years writing for _Sesame Street (1969)_ (qv) after its 1969 premiere. He created scripts for the Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, Big Bird, Elmo, Bert, Ernie and The Count. He also created Super Grover, a superhero version of Grover, and received two Emmy 'Awards' (qv) for his work. Juhl served as head writer for _The Muppet Show (1976)_ (qv) from 1977-1981. He also was the writer and creative producer of _Die Fraggles (1983)_ (qv), which featured his wife as a writer and script editor. The show was met with critical acclaim when it appeared on HBO in 1983 and lasted four years.::Austin R. Taylor