The Muppets film, "Muppets from Space", released by Columbia Pictures in 1999. In 2000, Henson was sold to EM.TV & Merchandising AG for $680 million. However, EM.TV was plagued with financial problems and the Henson family re-acquired the company in 2003, with the exception of the rights to the "Sesame Street" characters, which had been sold by EM.TV to Sesame Workshop. Fourteen years after initial negotiations began, Disney acquired the Muppets intellectual property from the Jim Henson Company for $75 million on February 17, 2004. The acquisition consisted of the Muppets and "Bear in the Big Blue House" properties, as well as
The Muppets (TV series) the same network that aired "Muppets Tonight"—as the characters, the network, and the production companies are all owned by The Walt Disney Company—on the ABC network schedule. This marks the second time Prady has attempted to revive The Muppets. Before co-creating CBS' "The Big Bang Theory", the writer-producer shot some test footage that ABC ultimately passed on. Prady's history with The Muppets dates back to his work on "Fraggle Rock" in 1987. His previous writing credits for Muppet productions include the "Muppet*Vision 3D" attraction at Walt Disney World, and the tribute special "The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson", which earned Prady