Jim Henson's Odyssey!

I've been hearing a lot about this new movie called "The Odyssey." Apparently, it's based on a book of stories by a guy called Homer and not even the yellow one from Springfield.

Well, as usual, this Hollywood blockbuster is years behind Jim Henson and the Henson Company.

For you see, before there was Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey," there was Henson and Hallmark's Odyssey Network.

What's a mere 3 hours when you have 24hrs a day 7 days straight!

So let's look back at the one, true original, Odyssey - The Odyssey Network!

The Odyssey Network began in 1998 after the Faith & Values Network cable channel was bought by The Jim Henson Company and Hallmark Entertainment.

In addition to airing classics like The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, and Muppet Babies, the network also aired lesser known show like The Ghost of Faffner Hall, Aliens in the Family, The Secret Life of Toys, and Mother Goose Stories.

It was these airing of The Muppet Show were Brian Henson's introductions first appeared. 

Henson also produced new content including a continuation of the series Donna's Day (which previously ran for two season on PBS) as well as interstitials like Muppetisms and Movie Mania that aired during commercial breaks, many of which were later released as DVD bonus features.

And while not the same story as "The Odyssey" nor having aired on The Odyssey Network, Jim Henson produced a spin off to The Storyteller titled The Storyteller: Greek Myths that followed a Greek storyteller played by Michael Gambon and his talking dog retelling classic greek myths as "Perseus and the Gorgon", "Orpheus and Eurydice", "Theseus and the Minotaur", and "Daedalus and Icarus."

Just like Nolan's "The Odyssey" had exclusive popcorn buckets, The Odyssey Network had exclusive items given out to employees like this Applause Kermit plush with Odyssey tags, and Kermit adorned luggage. 

So if you're a fan of this new epic retelling of "The Odyssey," remember Henson did it first and longer - as well as some guy named Homer too, I guess.

And you should see Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey," it's really good, even if it doesn't have any Henson connections.