Changes: Henson Alternative

Revision as of 15:12, 28 September 2015

The Henson Alternative logo, which echos the logo of Henson Associates, a former title of The Jim Henson Company

Henson Alternative is a production and distribution brand of The Jim Henson Company. The productions under the Henson Alternative banner feature more mature themes and content than those traditionally associated with Henson Company. Despite the brand of "adult" content, The Henson Company still continues their long-time tradition of producing Family entertainment and Sci-Fi and Fantasy features.

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 [[Image:HensonAlternative.logo.png|thumb|300px|The Henson Alternative logo, which echos the logo of Henson Associates, a former title of The Jim Henson Company]]
 '''Henson Alternative''' is a production and distribution brand of [[The Jim Henson Company]]. The productions under the Henson Alternative banner feature more mature themes and content than those traditionally associated with Henson Company. Despite the brand of "adult" content, The Henson Company still continues their long-time tradition of producing Family entertainment and Sci-Fi and Fantasy features.
-{{quote|"Henson Alternative" is a title that lets our audience know that what they're watching is not intended for our youngest viewers. Most people know the Henson Company for their successful work with ''[[The Muppet Show]]'' and ''[[Sesame Street]]'', but we have a number of shows that are geared towards older audience members.}}
-::- [[Nicole Goldman]], Henson Company Vice President of Marketing and Publicity <ref name="podcast1">"[[The Jim Henson Company Podcast]]", Episode 17. October 26, 2007</ref>
+==List of productions==
-==Origins==
-[[Image:BrianHenson.PuppetUp.jpg|thumb|thumb|300px|[[Brian Henson]] and the puppets of ''[[Puppet Up! - Uncensored]]''.]]
+*''[[Puppet Up!|Puppet Up! - Uncensored]]''
+*''[[Late Night Buffet with Augie and Del]]''
-Under the leadership and direction of [[Brian Henson]], the Jim Henson Company began developing adult-comedy content in 2005.  After the sale of [[The Muppets]] to the Walt Disney Company, the company assessed new and potential areas for future development and focus. Brain Henson stated in a 2006 interview that "we lost our position as funny, popular entertainment in the prime-time arena, so I'm trying to get back there. To do that and be innovative, we have to really establish a new voice."<ref name="Wallenstein">Wallenstein, Andrew. "Jokes That Kermit Wouldn't Dare Tell", ''The New York Times''. November 12, 2006</ref>
+*''[[Tinseltown]]''
+*''[[w:c:henson-alternative:Del's Vegas Comedy Binge|Del's Vegas Comedy Binge]]''
-However, Henson Alternative was not the first time the Henson Company sought an adult audience.  Many of [[Jim Henson|Jim Henson's]] early projects were very risqué and adult in nature - such as ''[[Time Piece]]'', ''[[The Cube]]'', ''[[The Land of Gorch]]'', and ''[[Sex and Violence]]''. As Brian Henson reflected "because of ''Sesame Street'' people thought of [Jim Henson] as a children's performer. It was sort of odd for him because he was until then an adult performer."<ref name="Wallenstein">Wallenstein, Andrew. "Jokes That Kermit Wouldn't Dare Tell", ''The New York Times''. November 12, 2006</ref>
+*''[[w:c:henson-alternative:The Simian Undercover Detective Squad|The Simian Undercover Detective Squad]]''
+*''[[w:c:henson-alternative:Alt/Reality|Alt/Reality]]''
-When developing this new direction, Henson stated that "[We are] starting to develop more comedy that's a little rough around the edges, kind of like Muppets in the early days but with a modern sensibility." <ref name="TV.com">"[http://www.tv.com/sesame-street/show/887/story/4328.htmlom_act=convert&om_clk=headlinessh Interview with Brian Henson]", TV.com. May 1, 2006</ref>.
+*''[[w:c:henson-alternative:Stuffed and Unstrung|Stuffed and Unstrung]]''
-{{quote|If you look at the original Muppet comedy, the Muppet comedy came from vaudeville, and then vaudeville became television variety shows, and ''The Muppet Show'' was borrowing heavily from that tradition of vaudeville and then variety comedy. Presently, what I was trying to do was to look for what’s in contemporary, funny, comedic voice and tone and energy for puppets that wasn’t sort of borrowing from modern sitcoms, which never felt right.}}
+*''[[w:c:henson-alternative:Late Night Liars|Late Night Liars]]''
-::- Brian Henson<ref>"[http://typingisnotactivism.wordpress.com/2007/03/22/puppet-up-an-interview-with-brian-henson/ Puppet Up! an interview with Brian Henson]". March 22, 2007</ref>
+*''[[w:c:henson-alternative:Marvin E. Quasniki for President|Marvin E. Quasniki for President]]''
-Henson was not purposefully forcing the content and focus to go "off-color" or become risqué for the sake "shock comedy" or simply polarizing or reaching to capture a specific demographic, but rather explained the shift of focus as doing what they, as performers, found entertaining. Brian Henson commented on the development saying, "we didn't set out to do risqué adult-exclusive content. What we did set out to do is to forget all the rules of the 8 p.m. sensibility, what puppets do that aren't in preschool, and instead let's just do what we as puppeteers think is the funniest thing we can do in the moment."<ref name="Wallenstein">Wallenstein, Andrew. "Jokes That Kermit Wouldn't Dare Tell", ''The New York Times''. November 12, 2006</ref>
-{{quote|In terms of The Jim Henson Company, my dad first started with adult-minded comedies very early on. He also worked in an era where most of the airwaves were highly censored. But he was always a very naughty, irreverent performer and this basically captures that same level of naughtiness and irreverence, but in a contemporary setting. Having said all of that, I think it's very important that everybody always knows that this is for adults only. This is our opportunity to let our hair down and get crazy every now and then, even though generally we are very safe with the material we do.}}
-::- Brian Henson <ref name="TBS.com">"[http://www.tbs.com/stories/story/0,,106836,00.html Puppet Up! Uncensored - Interview with Brian Henson]", TBS.com. 2007</ref>
-==Productions==
-[[Image:Tinseltown.jpg|300px|thumb|''[[Tinseltown]]'']]
-[[File:Skreet-Drag2.jpg|300px|thumb|''[[S.U.D.S.]]'']]
-The first projects realized under the Henson Alternative banner was ''[[Puppet Up! - Uncensored]]'', a live improv show which led to a [[Puppet Up! - Uncensored (television special)|television special]] on [[TBS]], a [[Puppet Up! - Uncensored (web series)|web series]] on TBS.com, and an [[Puppet Up! - Uncensored: Live in Melbourne, Australia|exclusive film]] at the [[Center for Puppetry Arts]].
-The company later developed and piloted a late night talk show entitled ''[[Late Night Buffet|The Late Night Buffet with Augie and Del]]'' for TBS. Like most late-night talk shows, "Late Night Buffet" was not geared towards children and the comedic tone was more adult-oriented; as such, all members of the live studio audience were required to be over 18. While the pilot remains unseen, the character of [[Delbert Kastle|Del]] went on to star in five original webisodes of ''[[Del's Vegas Comedy Binge]]'' for TBS.com in November 2007.
-The company also produced the adult-oriented comedy series ''[[Tinseltown]]'' for the [[Logo Network]]. ''Tinseltown'' stars two homosexual puppets – [[Bobby Vegan]] and [[Samson Knight]] - in a faux-reality series. The show began development in 2006 and the pilot episode its television debuted on November 2, 2007. While the series was not picked up for more episodes, the characters of Bobby and Samson lived on. The couple hosted a special tour video created for the "Adventures by Disney" tours of the Henson Studio lot, and they starred as the fictional producers of the 2010 stage show ''[[Stuffed and Unstrung]]''.
-In 2007 Henson partnered with [[Warner Bros]] to develop "alternative comedy" webseries. These projects include a monkey detective comedy entitled ''[[The Simian Undercover Detective Squad]]''; a puppet reality-show spoof known as ''[[Alt/Reality]]''; and a full series adaptation of the company's ''Puppet Up!'' improv show.
-In 2008 the company announced that it was producing a puppet based film noir parody under the Henson Alternative banner. The film, entitled ''[[The Happytime Murders]]'', will feature a puppet detective who is forced to solve a string of murders involving The Happytime Gang, the cast of a beloved children's show. In early 2009 [[Lisa Henson]] commented on the project, and the prospects of future Henson Alternative feature films, stating:
-{{quote|It's an adult puppet movie. It's going to be a film noir staring a puppet detective and basically it’s a spin-off of our theatre franchise 'Puppet Up!'... We loved the live shows so much that we were trying to figure out what we wanted to do to go to the next level with that kind of comedy. So we want to do a series of ''Puppet Up!'' films which would all be in different genres. So this would be film noir detective, and if we do another one it won't be that genre – it would be a teen comedy, or a sci-fi, or something like that. So we would use the ''Puppet Up!'' improv style to do different genres.}}
-::- Lisa Henson<ref>[http://www.muppetnewsflash.com/2009/02/could-hensons-happytime-murders-lead-to.html Could Henson's "Happytime Murders" Lead to a "Puppet Up!" Film Franchise?]. February 05, 2009</ref>
-===List of productions===
-;Stage shows
-:
-*[[Puppet Up!|''Jim Henson's Puppet Improv'']] (2005-2006)
-*[[Puppet Up!|''Puppet Up! - Uncensored'']] (2006-present)
-*''[[Stuffed and Unstrung]]'' (2010)
-;Television shows & specials
-:
-*[[Late Night Buffet|''Late Night Buffet with Augie and Del'']] (unaired television pilots for TBS)
-*[[Puppet Up! - Uncensored (television special)|''Puppet Up! - Uncensored'']] (2006 television special for TBS)
-*''[[Tinseltown]]'' (2007 television pilot for Logo)
-;Film projects
-:
-*''[[The Happytime Murders]]'' (unproduced film project announced in 2008)
-*[[Puppet Up! - Uncensored: Live in Melbourne, Australia|''Puppet Up! - Uncensored: Live in Melbourne, Australia'']] (2009 film for the Center for Puppetry Arts)
-;Web content
-:
-*[[Puppet Up! - Uncensored (web series)|''Puppet Up! - Uncensored'']] (2007 webseries for TBS.com)
-*''[[Del's Vegas Comedy Binge]]'' (2007 webseries for TBS.com)
-*''[[The Simian Undercover Detective Squad]]'' (2009 webseries for Film.com)
-*''[[Alt/Reality]]'' (2010 webseries for Film.com)
-==Branding==
-[[image:HensonAlternative.jpg|thumb|300px|The Henson Alternative splash page on Henson.com]]
-The Henson Alternative brand was created as a way to label the productions and let audiences know that the content might not be appropriate for the youngest audience members. The Henson Alternative logo, a variation of the old Henson Associate's "ha!" logo, first appeared in early 2007 on the playbills, programs and promotional material of the ''Puppet Up! – Uncensored'' stage show. The logo later appeared on [[Henson.com|Henson.com's]] coverage of the Henson Alternative productions and in materials related to the release of ''Tinseltown''.
-==Sources==
-<references />
 ==External links==
+* [[w:c:henson-alternative:|Henson Alternative Wiki]]
 *[http://www.henson.com/alternative.php Henson Alternative at Henson.com]
-[[Category:Henson Alternative| ]]
 [[Category:Henson Company Subsidiaries]]
+[[Category:Adult Themes]]