They were slighted by the Oscars after their bid to host this year was ignored, but the Muppets have soldiered on, and now they're seeing their hard work pay off: today, the gang will get a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. more ›

If you haven't already spent a couple worthwhile minutes clicking around with the latest and greatest Google Doodle, you might be unaware that today marks Jim Henson's would-be 75th birthday. The ingenious creator of "The Muppets" continues to posthumously receive awards three decades after his death in 1990. more ›

Archaia Entertainment and The Henson Company have announced they will be joining forces to bring to life the lost Jim Henson screenplay, "A Tale of Sand," in graphic novel form, according to Deadline. more ›

Three is the un-magic number of today's video lunch retro delight buffet. These massive talents all departed the planet on May 16. Andy Kaufman who (most likely did not fake his own death but rather) died tragically at age 35 in Los Angeles from cancer in 1984, and both Jim Henson and Sammy Davis Jr. in 1990, Henson at age 53 in New York from a streptococcal infection and Sammy Davis Jr. in Beverly Hills at age 64 of complications from throat cancer. more ›

If you've ever given or sought consolation for receiving an A- instead of an A, you'll feel right at home in Whiz Kids. The documentary, which opens this weekend at Laemmle's Music Hall, charts three teen scientists as they prepare for the Intel Science Talent Search, high school's equivalent of the Nobel Prize. There's a lot of hard work and a little heart break along the way, but this trio is hell-bent on forging their destinies and a new world. Harmain, raised on food stamps by a Pakistani single mother, plots human evolution by carbon-dating crocodile fossils (human fossils from the same sites are too fragile to be examined). Ana, the first in her family looking to attend college, analyzes plant root systems to increase crop yields. more ›

University students turn to their professors for education, but whom should they look to for wisdom? According to The Philosopher Kings, they would do well to leave the classroom and head for the janitor's closet. The wonderful documentary goes behind the wet floor sign of college custodians, and illustrates the dynamic personalities who deliver a clean campus amid spotty life experiences. more ›

If you're anything like me, your Fridays are packed with dead bodies. No? Make some time this week to rectify that situation. The Warner Grand's deadly double of The Giant Gila Monster & The Giant Spider Invasion features radiation, rock & roll, and most importantly, a raffle for a dead body at intermission. Once you've won, high-tail it to the Nuart, where the midnight premiere of controversial coming-of-age-zombie-rape-melodrama Deadgirl will teach you what to do and what not to do with your new friend. If you still have questions, leads Noah Segan, Shiloh Fernandez & writer Trent Haaga will be on hand and happy to help! more ›

We featured The Day The Earth Stood Still when it ran back in May, but this week the Aero cements director Robert Wise's genius by replaying that sci-fi classic, alongside timeless musicals West Side Story & The Sound of Music. West Side Story and Star! (his post-Music reunion with Julie Andrews) are even presented in earth-standing 70mm! Another genre-defying artist receives his due every weekend this month at the Not-So-Silent Theatre. Jim Henson effortlessly melded puppets & live actors, reality & fantasy, commercialism & chaos. His work is that rare breed which can be called "magic" with a straight face. And it's hilarious for viewers of all ages. The Old Pasadena Film Festival also kicks off a three-weekend extravaganza of films on Friday with free screenings of Notting Hill and The King and I. Check their linked website for the full schedule. more ›

Ever wonder what the building behind the Kermit statue on La Brea looks like? Mom Logic invited LAist to tour The Jim Henson Studios. We headed into the screening room to see their new Unstable Fables film "Tortoise vs Hare". Then we met Jim Henson's daughter, Lisa Henson and director, Howard E. Baker. It's great to see Lisa Henson find new ways to carry on the Henson family legacy. more ›

, which I have since discovered was not actually created by Henson himself, but by the Children's Television Workshop, who then asked Henson to create characters for it. The episode was enjoyable not only as a flashback but also because the puppets were cruder versions of favorites, like Oscar the Grouch (who was oddly orange) and the little blond Mary Louise type, who was present in a gender-bending bit where the puppets popped up with no features and asked Gordon to give them noses and eyes, etc, for whatever they felt like being today. What kind of show could get away with that these days? more ›

If, like me, you were such a huge fan of Muppets and costumed creatures growing up that you're practically anti-CGI, you should head over to the Silent Movie Theater on March 18th for "Jim Henson's Commercials & Experiments"! The screening starts at 8pm and will feature rare clips, shorts and commercials from Jim Henson's studio archives, including experimental animation and "a 35mm print of Time Piece, an Academy Award nominated 8-minute masterpiece that showcases Henson’s talent for making music out of everyday sounds." more ›

And you shall know Mr. Bowie by the size of his purple spandex package… The 35mm reissue of the 1986 Jim Henson/George Lucas magnum opus, LABYRINTH, is now playing at the Nuart Theatre. The new print will continue showing in all its goblin glory until Thursday August 2nd. Tonight, there is a post-show Q&A with the entire Froud brood -- Brian Froud, the conceptual fantasy designer, Wendy Froud, the puppet designer, and baby-actor extraordinaire,... more ›

In what could easily be the most important news item you read today (or yesterday if you’re an overachiever), Ahmet Zappa has been “tapped” to write a treatment for a feature film version of Jim Henson’s beloved Fraggle Rock. Can you think of anything groovier than a Zappafied Muppet movie? Me neither. Photo by Cadela Garza via Flickr... more ›