The Muppets were created by Jim Henson in yhe 1950s, and made various appearances in commercials for the next 15 years.

Independently, Jim Henson was hired as a contractor to build puppets for Sesame Street. During the 70s the Muppets began to make appearances on the show.

Then in the mid-70s Henson made his own show, for British television, featuring a large cast of Muppets. This rocketed them to fame and spawned a series of feature films and spinoff shows that continues today.