'Hans My Hedgehog', 'Fearnot', 'A Story Short', and 'The Luck Child' aired (in that order) in the United States on NBC as standalone specials in January 1987, October 1987, January 1988, and April 1988, respectively.

Henson, having worked with director Steve Barron on the music videos for David Bowie's songs ' As the World Falls Down' and ' Underground' (both from Henson's Labyrinth (1986)), was so impressed with Barron's work that he invited him to direct several episodes of the series. However, Ron Mueck filmed a test with facial prosthetics, to suggest that an actor in make-up would be more effective. The StoryTeller was initially conceived by Jim Henson as an animatronic puppet character. Heavy make-up was used to create the character, notably large ears and a prosthetic nose resembling the titular character from the children's book by Roald Dahl, The BFG. In the 'Secret of the Muppets' episode of The Jim Henson Hour, Jim Henson stated that the StoryTeller has a half-puppet appearance. The framing device had an old storyteller ( John Hurt) sitting by a fire telling each tale to both the viewers and to his talking dog (a realistic looking puppet of a brown and blonde Pudelpointer performed and voiced by Brian Henson) who acted as the voice of the viewers, and was written in a language and traditional style in keeping with old folk tales. The series retold various European folk tales, particularly ones considered obscure in Western culture, created with a combination of actors and puppets.

Reruns of The StoryTeller episodes were featured in some episodes of The Jim Henson Hour. The StoryTeller is a live-action/ puppet television series that originally aired in 1987 and which was created and produced by Jim Henson.

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