TV REVIEW : Muppets Maintain Huggability in ‘Jim Henson Hour’

Some of television’s oldest stars--the Muppets--are still among the freshest.

That applies to the “Sesame Street” creatures on PBS, “Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies” on CBS and now also to “The Jim Henson Hour,” one of the new Friday night entries on NBC.

Its premiere--at 8 tonight on Channels 4, 36 and 39--is a happy, imaginative, cleverly written, fur-flying romp.

As usual, Muppeteering yields entertainment on two levels: visual for the young and satirical for adults. The program’s magazine segment includes that fabulous singing group, The Extremes; a visit with a somewhat bizarre-looking candidate in the Miss Galaxy pageant (“I want to work with underprivileged children--and eat them!”) and a splendid production of “My Dinner With Godzilla” starring comedian Louie Anderson and Godzilla itself.

After dinner, the bill arrives. Louie to Godzilla: “Let’s see, you had Tokyo, right?”

Another regular segment is that old favorite, “The Storyteller,” tonight featuring John Hurt as the medieval spinner of tales. Written by Anthony Minghella, the delightful opening story is about a giant who has no heart. But how many do?

“The Jim Henson Hour” has old Muppets and new Muppets, all of them goofy, all of them huggable, all of them a bright addition to prime time.