Jim Henson fans rejoice! According to Deadline, Shout! Factory will bring thirteen programs from The Jim Henson Company's library to streaming and home video, some for the first time. This new deal will give Shout! Factory worldwide distribution rights to several of Henson's beloved properties including Farscape, Farscape: The Peacekeeper, The Storyteller, The Storyteller: Greek Myths, Jim Henson’s World of Puppetry, Monster Maker, Lighthouse Island, Living with Dinosaurs, Dog City, Ghost of Faffner Hall, The Fearing Mind, Mopatop’s Shop and Brats of the Lost Nebula.
Kerry Novick, The Jim Henson Company’s Vice President of Global Distribution, had this to say about the move:
“FAST Channels are the wave of the future in terms of getting your content front and center for both devoted fans and new audiences. Shout! Factory is one of the best in this business, and audiences will enjoy watching beloved Henson productions, like The Storyteller, as well as discovering new favorites through this partnership. We’re especially excited for the global fans of Farscape to once again explore the uncharted territories with John Crichton and the crew of Moya in its long overdue premiere on AVOD.”
FAST channels are a streaming medium not unlike traditional television. Rather than a streaming service without ads, FAST channels are a free, ad-supported method of watching movies and television. Popular examples include Roku and Tubi. Shout!'s service, Shout! Factory TV, currently showcases numerous classic programs including The Carol Burnett Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and The Lone Ranger. Shout! also has an extensive home video market, with numerous releases of cult films and television shows available on DVD and Blu-ray.
Shout’s Senior Vice President of Programming & New Business Development, Jeffrey Peisch emphasized the company's significance on pop culture, saying, “The Jim Henson Company has produced some of the most acclaimed television programs of the last several decades; we are humbled and energized to be given the opportunity to make Henson programming available to the widest possible audience.” One of the top priorities of the deal seems to be making the 1999 science fiction series Farscape more readily available. Though available to purchase, there is currently no way to watch this series for free in the United States, something that Shout! will make possible.
During his lifetime, Jim Henson was a hugely influential puppeteer and creative force behind such projects as The Muppets, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and more. Following his death in 1990, The Jim Henson Company has continued to lend their puppeteer and animatronic effects to numerous projects with their renowned Creature Shop. Recent Jim Henson productions include Apple TV+'s Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock, Disney+'s Earth to Ned, and Netflix's The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Jim Henson's son Brian Henson is also a puppeteer and the company's chairman.
Check out a behind-the-scenes look from Jim Henson's The Storyteller below.