Sam and Friends

Sam and Friends is an early live action/puppet show created by Jim Henson and Jane Nebel, his future wife. The show aired on WRC-TV from May 9, 1955 until December 15, 1961 The show revolves around the character Sam in whose world the other muppets (as Jim was calling them at the time) where firgments of his imagination. Sam had some daily trouble in life and would find distraction or a solution through the antics the imaginary characters around him. Most of the time Sam's imagining would end with one of the muppets being killed in various ways but they would always be back in the next episodes (all being characters in Sam's mind). Among the notable cast of characters is a Saurian creature named Kermit though he's not Kermit the Frog (the Frog distinquishing him from Jim's early character present in this series). At the end of each episode would be a commercial for Wilkins Coffee in which, much like the show, someone (specifically the character Wontkins) would be harmed, intemidated, or apparently killed most of the time.