The Muppets to be a vital component of its increasing popularity, providing an "effective and pleasurable viewing" method of presentation for the series' educational curriculum. In the early 1970s, the Muppets continued their presence in television, primarily appearing in "The Land of Gorch" segments during the first season of "Saturday Night Live". As his involvement with "Sesame Street" continued, Henson mused about the possibility of creating a network television series featuring the Muppets; as opposed to "Sesame Street", however, this proposed series would be aimed at a more adult audience and focus largely on sketch comedy. Two pilot specials, "The Muppets Valentine
The Muppets Rudman, Vogel and Peter Linz. The majority of the Muppets are designed as hand puppets, with several characters utilizing rods. Common design elements of the Muppets include wide mouths and large protruding eyes. The puppets are often molded or carved out of various types of foam and covered with any felt-like material. Muppets may represent humans; anthropomorphic characters; realistic animals; robots; extraterrestrial creatures; mythical beings; or other forms of abstract characters. The Muppets are distinguished from ventriloquist dummies, which are often animated only in the head and face, in that their arms or other features are also animated. Muppets are