ANNOUNCER: Bringing you the world for 20 years, this is CNN.</s>LAURIN SYDNEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I had the pleasure of interviewing Jim over a period of maybe 15 years. So of course he's a household name now, has been for a very long time. And the best thing about him is that he didn't change. He was half child, half man -- 100 percent genius, but half child, half man. What he did that was absolutely brilliant was that a child and parents could sit in the room and they would laugh at the same exact things. He was able to merge the worlds of fantasy and technology together. He just took his mom's simple green coat, called it Kermit, made him a world-renowned star, and then added technology layers to that, and he came up with this whole incredible empire that was truly won by just this one guy. There was a time back in the end of the '70s and the '80s, I believe, that it was actually cool and hip to be a guest on the "Muppet Show." There was Linda Ronstadt singing with the Muppets. In fact, Kermit hosted "LARRY KING." And I don't know if you noticed, but that's a very hard gig to get, and he got very high ratings, I might also add. He put learning and fun in the same sentence, learning and fun together. It's a new concept, and now we take it so for granted, especially in this computer age. But think about what he did to merge those two concepts together and do them like nobody had done it before.
CNN 20: Jim Henson Dies, May 16, 1990