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Memoirs of a Muppets Writer:
In his 20 year affiliation with Jim Henson's Muppets Joseph A. Bailey was a staff writer on both Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. He also co-wrote the television specials Big Bird in China, Christmas Eve on Sesame Street and Rocky Mountain Holiday, starring John Denver and the Muppets on location in Aspen, Colorado. Additionally, Mr. Bailey wrote Sesame Street song lyrics, albums, five 90-minute Sesame Street Live! musicals, Muppet Business Meeting Films and special material for Big Bird's appearances in the White House and Carnegie Hall. The Muppet Show guest stars he wrote for include George Burns, Bob Hope, Steve Martin, Rudolf Nureyev, John Cleese, Milton Berle and Peter Sellers. For his writing, Mr. Bailey has garnered 5 Emmys, 3 Emmy nominations, a Writers Guild of America Award and a George Foster Peabody Award. Mr. Bailey lives in Manhattan with his wife, Gail. He indulges in occasional long-distance motorcycle trips and claims to speak French and play piano to the equal amusement of others.
284 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
November 17, 2013
I absolutely adored this book. For anyone who loves the Muppets, this is a must-read. Bailey's stories are not only chock-full of insider Muppet information and behind-the-scenes stories, but he also gives some of the nitty gritty, like how Sesame Street writers were told which educational goals to use, that Muppets are built on a scale of three's (1/3 head, 2/3 body). The stories are funny, touching, sad, and incredibly useful as Bailey also includes very practical advice for writers of any genre.
So why did I give this only four stars instead of five? TYPOS. Seriously, whomever is the editor for Walnut Press should be fired. This had some of the strangest, most misguided use of punctuation I've seen in some time (and I teach college students!). Also the font size occasionally changes from one paragraph to the next, and the text uses both quotation marks and italics with no rhyme or reason (is it dialogue? Internal dialogue? Adding emphasis?). All in all, very distracting; I would expect more from a man who included a section on the importance of grammar in writing.
The only other detractor (besides the glaring, distracting typos) is the rather disjointed narrative. Bailey jumps back and forth in time, and it can occasionally be confusing to the reader where we are in his career timeline with Jim Henson Productions.
So why did I give this only four stars instead of five? TYPOS. Seriously, whomever is the editor for Walnut Press should be fired. This had some of the strangest, most misguided use of punctuation I've seen in some time (and I teach college students!). Also the font size occasionally changes from one paragraph to the next, and the text uses both quotation marks and italics with no rhyme or reason (is it dialogue? Internal dialogue? Adding emphasis?). All in all, very distracting; I would expect more from a man who included a section on the importance of grammar in writing.
The only other detractor (besides the glaring, distracting typos) is the rather disjointed narrative. Bailey jumps back and forth in time, and it can occasionally be confusing to the reader where we are in his career timeline with Jim Henson Productions.
January 19, 2025
I am quite thankful that I heard this book be mentioned on the Muppeturgy podcast in brief passing. Otherwise, I have no idea how much longer it would have taken for me to learn about this absolutely delightful memoir.
For any Muppet fan who has yet to read this, I ask you to please do so at your earliest convenience. Joseph A. Bailey knows exactly what his audience wants, and after a brief description of his childhood and initial career working in advertising, the overwhelming majority of the book is devoted to his time spent writing for Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. Memoirs of a Muppets Writer is delightfully jam-packed with behind-the-scenes info and various fond memories of the author working alongside the likes of Jim Henson, Jon Stone, Frank Oz, Richard Hunt, Jerry Juhl, and many other familiar figures. I managed to power this entire book in only a single day, and the reading experience was almost nothing less than pure bliss.
For any Muppet fan who has yet to read this, I ask you to please do so at your earliest convenience. Joseph A. Bailey knows exactly what his audience wants, and after a brief description of his childhood and initial career working in advertising, the overwhelming majority of the book is devoted to his time spent writing for Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. Memoirs of a Muppets Writer is delightfully jam-packed with behind-the-scenes info and various fond memories of the author working alongside the likes of Jim Henson, Jon Stone, Frank Oz, Richard Hunt, Jerry Juhl, and many other familiar figures. I managed to power this entire book in only a single day, and the reading experience was almost nothing less than pure bliss.
January 7, 2018
I enjoyed reading this book to learn more about one of the people who put the words in The Muppets mouths. As it turns out the author and I are both from Boston, and share Irish-American roots. I was happy to learn that Mr. Bailey, and his wife Gail, were a part of the creative team of the 1970s Boston kid's WCVB-TV show "Jabberwocky", that I enjoyed as a boy.
I recommend this book to fans of Sesame Street and The Muppets, as well as those interested in what goes into writing for television, and for "socks on hands".
I recommend this book to fans of Sesame Street and The Muppets, as well as those interested in what goes into writing for television, and for "socks on hands".
August 17, 2021
A quick read full of fun anecdotes and interesting glimpses backstage at Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. At times I wish we got more details, but what’s there is great.
Mostly I wish the book had gone through one more round of copy editing and had an actual book designer handle the typesetting. (Part of what makes this a quick read is that every paragraph is separated from the next with a blank line.)
Mostly I wish the book had gone through one more round of copy editing and had an actual book designer handle the typesetting. (Part of what makes this a quick read is that every paragraph is separated from the next with a blank line.)
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December 12, 2025Joseph A. Bailey has so many wonderful, weird tales from his years of writing for ‘Sesame Street’ and ‘The Muppet Show’. I couldn’t help but feel like he could’ve gone more personal, he was very willing to talk about Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Carol Spinney and their talents, contributions, but rarely spoke about himself. It felt very distant for an autobiography.
That being said, the stories were consistently entertaining, and some great insights on writing too.
That being said, the stories were consistently entertaining, and some great insights on writing too.
September 7, 2020
C'mon.. it's a Muppet related book. Really fun stories. Some interesting tidbits. It confirmed some stories, and told some new ones. One of the most memorable things I've done in my life was attend Jim Henson's memorial service in NY. This book does a great service to what Henson seem to believe in. Humor and creativity.
October 8, 2022
I rarely review books I've read, but with this book had to make an exception. My love of this book was unexpected. Very well written, it told of the behind the scenes events from my childhood, and a tribute to the day my childhood died, with the passing of Jim Henson.
If anyone grew up with Sesame Street and the Muppet Show, as I did, you will definitely love this book.
If anyone grew up with Sesame Street and the Muppet Show, as I did, you will definitely love this book.
January 24, 2023
A good mix of Muppet stories and writing advice. It’s not the first Muppet or writing advice book I’d recommend to you. (Start with the big Henson bio and Stephen King on Writing) but it does a good job at both. It’s very inside baseball, but that’s what I was looking for. A worthy read.
February 19, 2021
Höfundur skrifaði handrit og sketsa fyrir Prúðuleikarana, aðallega um Sesamestreet. Dálítið af góðum sögum en oft sundurlaust. Þetta er ekki ævisaga þó einstaka persónulegar sögur fylgi.
December 30, 2021
Outstanding
A perfect companion piece to Jim Henson's biography.
Only parts that dragged were when he included actual scripts, otherwise outstanding
A perfect companion piece to Jim Henson's biography.
Only parts that dragged were when he included actual scripts, otherwise outstanding
August 28, 2023
A wonderful book
Author takes us on his journey of becoming a Muppet writer. Filled with many unique stories that I hadn't heard before.
Author takes us on his journey of becoming a Muppet writer. Filled with many unique stories that I hadn't heard before.
August 17, 2015
Jim Henson is one of my heroes! So I tend to read anything on him or the Muppets when I can. And this book was absolutely delightful. It feels like you're having a good conversation with Joseph A. Bailey, who was lucky enough to write for both Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. And it was a thrill to learn that he was responsible for quite a few of my favorite Muppet moments, including "Christmas Eve on Sesame Street" and the Swedish Chef and the Mexican lobsters segment from The Muppet Show. It was also interesting to hear about a Sesame Street special that was planned out but never filmed, where Big Bird would go to Ireland.
There are also lots of delightful anecdotes galore about the Muppeteers, especially the moments with Richard Hunt-my two favorites were the 'bus incident' and how he 'assisted' some fellow passengers about the Queen Elizabeth II. Frank Oz is also deemed the most talented actor by Bailey, and he makes a good point.
The world has been a sadder place since we lost Jim Henson way too soon. But with remembrances like this, at least while you're reading and enjoying them, it gets a little brighter again.
There are also lots of delightful anecdotes galore about the Muppeteers, especially the moments with Richard Hunt-my two favorites were the 'bus incident' and how he 'assisted' some fellow passengers about the Queen Elizabeth II. Frank Oz is also deemed the most talented actor by Bailey, and he makes a good point.
The world has been a sadder place since we lost Jim Henson way too soon. But with remembrances like this, at least while you're reading and enjoying them, it gets a little brighter again.
March 5, 2015
There is so much to like about this book. I loved all the behind the scenes stories Bailey tells. The insight into the process of writing for the Muppets, Sesame Street and comedy in general are pure gold.
The only reason this doesn't get 5 stars is because of the poor quality of the book itself. The text changes sizes for no reason at all throughout the book. I started reading the paperback but ended up buying the Kindle version to avoid the bizarre text issues. Whoever did the editing also did not do a good job—and I say this as someone who usually doesn't notice those sorts of things. I hope someone republishes this at some point with a little more attention given to it because the actual substance here is wonderful.
The only reason this doesn't get 5 stars is because of the poor quality of the book itself. The text changes sizes for no reason at all throughout the book. I started reading the paperback but ended up buying the Kindle version to avoid the bizarre text issues. Whoever did the editing also did not do a good job—and I say this as someone who usually doesn't notice those sorts of things. I hope someone republishes this at some point with a little more attention given to it because the actual substance here is wonderful.
January 5, 2012
I always love to read about the behind-the-scenes Muppets stories, and Mr. Bailey does have some fun stories about his time spent working with Jim Henson and the creative teams behind The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, and various TV specials. However, I found there to be quite a few grammatical typos in this text, which surprised me since Mr. Bailey is a writer himself. These were a little distracting for me, but didn't lessen my enjoyment of the stories. Thank you, Joseph A. Bailey, for letting us peek into the world of creating the zany sketches of some of my favorite TV shows.
March 17, 2012
Some great behind-the-scenes stuff about living in London during The Muppet Show, and a bunch of awesome Jon Stone anecdotes.
Also a lot of overlap with Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street , which is the more "professional" book.
Very amusing and accessible throughout.
Also a lot of overlap with Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street , which is the more "professional" book.
Very amusing and accessible throughout.
June 1, 2012
Loved it! Loved the stories! Loved the fact that Mr. Bailey wrote some of my favourite Muppet and Sesame Street scenes. I wish that this book was in the Chapters/Indigo company and not just Amazon as I know I would be able to sell a few of these.
May 16, 2014
This one was muuuuuuch better than Street Gang. And it wasn't just about Sesame Street, it was about The Muppet Show too. Lots of interesting facts about both shows that I never knew about. Give this one a chance! I couldn't put it down
June 13, 2014
A wonderful, yet quick, read about the Muppets. More entertaining than Street Gang and slightly less informative.
December 30, 2012
Very fun books with behind the scenes muppet stuff.
September 14, 2013
A must for every muppet fan.
August 5, 2014
He started in advertising - gives me hope that I too could be a Muppet writer one day.
July 26, 2015
Being a writer for the Muppets and working with Jim Henson was everything I'd hoped it to be. I was worried I read something horrible, but how can something so zany not be fun to create?
February 25, 2012
An inside look at the writing and antics of Sesame Street and The Muppets.
March 16, 2015
Would have liked more behind the scenes stories rather than bits the author had written.
August 31, 2015
Funny, sweet, and moving. Made me very nostalgic.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews