The Muppets industry and popular culture in the United States, receiving recognition from various cultural institutions and organizations, including the American Film Institute, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Library of Congress, and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Muppets were created by puppeteer Jim Henson in the 1950s, beginning with Kermit the Frog, who would become Henson's most recognizable character. Originally conceived for an adult audience, Henson claimed, and later retracted, that he coined the term "Muppet" as a portmanteau of the words "marionette" and "puppet". In 1955, the Muppets were introduced in "Sam and Friends", a short-form television series
The Muppets Primetime Emmy Award nominations during its run and won four, including Outstanding Variety Series in 1978. The success of "The Muppet Show" allowed Henson Associates to diversify into theatrical films centered on the Muppets; the first of these, "The Muppet Movie", was released in 1979. Following "The Muppet Movie" were "The Great Muppet Caper" and "The Muppets Take Manhattan", released in 1981 and 1984, respectively. Collectively, the three films received four Academy Award nominations. In 1983, Henson debuted another television series, "Fraggle Rock", which ran on HBO in the United States until 1987. In the late 1980s, Henson entered discussions