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 Jimmy Dean on "The Jimmy Dean Show". In 1966, Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett began developing an educational television program targeted towards children and approached Henson to design several Muppet characters for the program. Produced by the Children's Television Workshop, the program debuted as "Sesame Street" in 1969. Henson and his creative team performed and created several characters for "Sesame Street" during the years that followed; Henson waived his performance fee in exchange for retaining ownership rights to the Muppet characters created for the program. "Sesame Street" received critical acclaim, and the Muppets' involvement in the series was touted