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 Take Manhattan plays the show's opening number with spoons. At the Biltmore Theatre on opening night, the Muppets try to help Kermit remember, but it only works when Miss Piggy sends him flying upside-down onto a chair with a vicious karate chop for insulting their past romance and initially orders the show cancelled because of it. Kermit regains his memories and, realizing the show needs more Muppets, requests the Madison Avenue frogs, the dogs, the bears, the chickens, and others to become supernumeracies. The show is a success, culminating in what is intended to be a staged wedding between Kermit and Miss