New Reality Competition Focuses on Puppetry, Animatronics and Creature Effects
Tonight, SyFy is premiering a new reality competition show, Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge (Tuesdays at 10pmET/PT on SyFy) in hopes of creating a reality competition block that builds off the strength of its powerhouse makeup-effects competition, Face Off.
Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge follows 10 hopeful creature designers who have come to LA with a singular dream: to land a job working in Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. Now, they will pit their talents in creature design, fabrication and mechanization against each other because only one will be awarded a contract working at the world-famous Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. This leader in the field of character creation and effects pushes the limits of creativity in the creature effects industry and builds off of the Henson legacy of characters from The Muppet Show, Dinosaurs, Sesame Street and The Dark Crystal.
The judges panel of top creature effect experts is led by Brian Henson, Chairman of The Jim Henson Company and son of iconic puppeteer, Jim Henson. Brian is an award-winning writer, puppeteer, producer and director in his own right. The show also features host Gigi Edgley (Farscape)
I am getting a little desperate for a good show to follow FaceOff that appeals to geeky reality fans like me. A sampling of the drivel that we’re been subjected to in the past year includes: a show about body painting (Naked Vegas), a show about Cosplay (Heroes of Cosplay) a show about production designing (Hot Set), and a show about former contestants on FaceOff (last week’s Foxy and Co., which was the worst of the bunch). We pin our hopes of a night dedicated to people who love visual and special effects, and movie magic on the puppets and puppetry of Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge.
Image © Justin Stephens/Syfy Media Inc.
