Sam and Friends was a 5-min. television series. The show relied on lip-synching most of the time, but some of the time, the puppet spoke actual words. It is known in the puppet community for introducing 18-year old Jim Henson and his Muppets to the world. It aired on WRC-TV (NBC's Washington affiliate) from May 9, 1955 to December 15, 1961. Nowadays, very few episodes survive.