Wizard of Id Test Pilot

[BombKrueger]

Glad you decided to do Sesame Street instead.

[bigg34691]

"The King IS A FINK"!!

And a Muppet?!

Talk about your Muppet/Puppet Rulers!! XD

[BrainDeadZombies]

Premise:

1) Set up joke

2) Give punchline

3) Look at audience while music plays

4) Repeat

[stratocake]

The strange thing is there was a TV series-in cartoon form-somewhere around 1964-1966.I remember it and liked it at the time.Didn't last more then one or two seasons-strangely I can't find any info on it.

[jbevan70]

I love Jim Henson, but good lord these jokes are CHEESY

[wolfmanjim]

@jbevan70 So were most of the jokes on The Muppets. But we still loved them!

[joepod]

3:27 Did this pre-date Super Mario Brothers?

[Robikus]

The Wizard sound too much like Kermit the frog.

[cstoczyn]

RIP Johnny Hart

[cstoczyn]

Long Live Jim Henson!

[cstoczyn]

RIP Jim Henson

[cstoczyn]

Long Live Jerry Juhl!

[cstoczyn]

RIP Jerry Juhl

[cstoczyn]

Poor Spook

[cstoczyn]

Poor Wizard

[cstoczyn]

Poor King

[cstoczyn]

@BrawlBabe Me 2

[areyoucallingmeauser]

 THE KING IS A FINK !!!

[cstoczyn]

@areyoucallingmeauser LOL

[muppetfan33]

I take it this was shot sometime during the 60's?

[cstoczyn]

@muppetfan33 This Is Taped From 1967-1968

[edensinyourpants]

god I love the Muppet's

[cstoczyn]

@edensinyourpants Me 2

[Mario36Bros]

AIE! 2:45

[cstoczyn]

@Mario36Bros LOL

[NintendoTV64]

The Spook Monster appeared in the Sesame Street Pitch Reel as one of the Chairmen along with Scoop, Beautiful Day Monster, Grump, and the early Grover. The Pitch Reel was hosted by Kermit and Rowlf, but while Kermit appeared often on Sesame Street, Rowlf only appeared in a Number Song during the first season.

[tbonepearson]

Love it!

[cstoczyn]

@tbonepearson Me 2

[Fragglevision]

This seems to be the only video on Henson's channel that has an ad playing before the video begins.

[JoeDator]

Fascinating, and I love the character design, but these kinds of "one two punch" jokes don't really work outside of the daily strip format.

[WaltHenson]

@JoeDator True, but it could've turned into a franchise like Peanuts. By releasing it in the forms of TV specials.

[cstoczyn]

@WaltHenson Yeah

[GhoS64]

While I enjoyed the comic strip and this was a good few minutes of jokes, I can see how it didn't continue, there isn't enough to generate a show week after week. It would get tiresome. Nice idea though.

[Madhatter1903]

Funniest line ever at 3:52

[CloudchaserShaconag]

I wasn't aware that Wizard is the voice of Ernie! j/k

[MoPapparani]

Wow...just imagine a world where this was wildly successful instead of Sesame Street

[CheckDare]

How did they miss the classic line "the peasants are revolting" at the beginning there?

[MarshalGrover]

I recall seeing this at the Paley Center and I don't recall it being so...flat. It's really just a series of strip jokes strung together.

[SMALLSCREENINGROOM]

As an old fan of this comic strip and of the Muppets, this is like a match made in heaven. The voices are great and the way Henson's crew adapted the simple sketchy artwork into such wonderfully dimensional and articulate puppets (while staying true to the originals) is nothing short of genius. Even the set design is pitch-perfect. Nice demonstration of how to do more with less.

[finfan7]

Ah, Jim...

[Quidam]

This was funny. I wonder why it never saw the light of day.

[Quesal]

@Pupepepets I agree!

[Pupepepets]

The king's hair reminds me of Scooter's hair.

[wileyk209zback]

Incredible! I think a Jim Henson Muppet version of "Wizard of ID" would've been really cool as a series!

[TheGrungeGamer]

This should have been a TV series. I'd have bought the DVD if it were.

[kingmallow]

I love how jim henson's voice becomes easy to identify over time

[Montork]

WHOORY SHIT! LOOK HOW CLOSE THE KING AND OTHER PUPPETS ARE TO THE COMICS!! MAD SKILLZ!

[NicholasMoreau]

Wow, so glad to have finally seen it!

[glowworm2]

Loved the drum bit!

[abetterpepper]

Great! I thought I'd have to go up to the Paley Center to see this. Thanks! I remember these jokes from the Wizard of Id books I used to borrow from the school library when I was little. This is very similar in tone to the 'Good Grief, Charlie Brown!' record (the Charlie brown jokes are better).

[IJustWatchEm71]

The "scum in the moat" bit is the best!

[thekingof8]

Standard Muppet Finale: Go out with a (BANG!) or throw Penguins around.

[Pikachu4352]

Holy Christmas! I remember making a request asking about this Pilot, Thanks for the Upload!

[654zns]

This is so amazing. It is the perfect example of Jim's creativity. I never even knew if they had shot any of this stuff. Keep 'em coming Henson.

[Fragglevision]

This is an adaptation of the popular comic strip of the same name, that's why they don't look like Muppets, because they're based on the actual designs from that comic.

BTW, that's Jim as the Wizard and the Spook, and Jerry Juhl as the King.

[TasnimRidderhof]

But they sound like muppets!!

[mwermuthland]

Wow, those puppets don't look Muppety at all.

[Froghan417]

@mwermuthland They Look like Crank Yanker Puppets!