Fraggle Rock™
Fraggle Rock is a wonderfully inventive series, starring a diverse and quirky group of cave-dwelling creatures who share adventures and misadventures in a subterranean community. The world of Fraggle Rock is a unique place where three different, yet surprisingly similar communities learn to live and work in harmony.
Fraggle Rock™: Co-Creator Bio (Jerry Juhl)
As a small child, Jerry Juhl saw some puppets for sale in a store and convinced his parents to buy them for him. While other toys were played with and forgotten, puppetry grew from a hobby to a passion. Jerry began building puppets, creating plays for them and performing them - and by the time he was in high school in California, he was performing anywhere he could.
While attending San Jose State University as a theater arts major, Jerry puppeteered on children's shows for local television stations and was a member of The Oakland Parks' Vagabond Puppets - a performing troupe - where he met and became friends with a young teenager named Frank Oz. At a puppeteer convention, the two met Jim Henson. They would eventually join Jim's company and become essential contributors to the style and voice of the many characters and projects that would follow.
Joining The Jim Henson Company in 1961, Jerry worked on Jim Henson's first television show, "Sam and Friends" as a staff puppeteer and eventually as a writer. Of the gradual change to writing exclusively, Juhl once quipped, "I did it for self-protection...I never rated much [as a puppeteer] - so I figured I'd better save my job by doing something else."
Jerry worked closely with Jim throughout the 60's developing the many sketches they would perform on variety shows like The Mike Douglas Show and The Ed Sullivan Show. After Sesame Street began in 1969, Jerry spent six seasons as a writer on the show and received two Emmy Awards for his work there.
As head writer of The Muppet Show, Jerry received consecutive awards in 1978 and 1979 from the Writer's Guild of America for the episodes with Marisa Berenson and Liza Minnelli (respectively). In 1981, he was also awarded an Emmy for the very popular "dance marathon" episode of The Muppet Show featuring guest star Carol Burnett.
And when the Muppets went to the big screen, Jerry was right there as well. He co-wrote The Muppet Movie (1979) and went on to co-write the Muppet features The Great Muppet Caper (1981), The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), Muppet Treasure Island (1996), and Muppets From Space (1999).
Jerry was also instrumental in the 1980's television show that Jim Henson created "to make world peace" - Fraggle Rock. As head writer and creative producer, Jerry led the multiple-award winning series for five seasons creating episodes and characters that continue to have devoted fans around the world.
Other honors received in Jerry's prolific career include additional WGA Awards for A Muppet Family Christmas (1989) and The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson (1992) as well as an Award of Excellence from the Film Advisory Board for The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992).
