Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Nightcrawler Experience!
I have a little devotional today, based on a new TV show that I have begun to really get into.
Those who know me well know that I for the most part have a deep hatred of reality television. It's stupid, it's exploitative, it's often unoriginal, it often blatantly encourages the worst in people (Check out any of MTV's reality shows and you'll see what I mean), plus back in 2002, 'Firefly' (aka one of the best sci- fi shows ever made) was cancelled midseason to make room for the despicable reality series 'Joe Millionaire.'
However, over the last few weeks, I have gotten really into a certain new reality show airing on Syfy, called 'Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge.'
For those who are unfamiliar with it, the late, great Jim Henson (Best known as the creator of the Muppets and Sesame Street) had I believe two major workshops/ design companies he owned and used: His Muppet workshop of course, and another called Jim Henson's Creature Shop. The Creature Shop specialized in odd, fantastical animatronic creature effects for fantasy and science fiction movies and TV shows. Some of the movies that they made creatures for include the classic films 'The Dark Crystal' and 'Labyrinth,' the first two 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' movies, and the 'Where the Wild Things Are' movie, among others. Some of its TV credits include the early- 90s prehistoric sitcom 'Dinosaurs,' the fantasy anthology series 'The Storyteller,' and the renowned sci- fi series 'Farscape.' All manner of strange creatures which defied imagination were brought to life by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.
Anyway, with 'Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge,' 10 amateur creature- effects artists are competing for a shot at a permanent job working at Jim Henson's Creature Shop. In each episode, the contestants are given an assignment for a certain type of creature to create (In past episodes, some of the types of creatures they have been asked to make have included strange undersea creatures, creatures made out of junk from a scrap yard, and the heads of fantasy beasts mounted on a wall which come alive, among others), usually in groups, within a certain time limit. Then, when the time's up, they present their creations in a screen test in which a panel of judges who are experts in the field of creature- effects design (Including Brian Henson, son of Jim Henson and CEO of pretty much everything Henson- related) look at what's been made, and critique it. The judges decide among themselves who did the best job and is thus the winner of the competition, and the person who they decide was the least successful, in turn, is eliminated from the show and sent home. In the last episode, the final winner will be made a permanent, full- time member of the staff on Jim Henson's Creature Shop.
I consider this a very fun show to watch. I've always loved the work that Jim Henson's Creature Shop has done for movies and TV, so a show spotlighting that of course attracts my interest. It provides a quite fascinating inside look at what kinds of processes can go into making some of the wonderful creature effects seen in movies and TV shows. We see the techniques they use and the struggles they go through, everything from wondering how to pull a look off, to worrying about an animatronic feature on their creation malfunctioning, to arguing with team members on group projects. Then, of course, the screen tests in which the contestants show off their finished products for the judges are always fun. Plus, for the most part, I find myself agreeing with Brian Henson and the other judges on their critiques, who wins, and who goes home each week.
All of this leads me to the themes of this devotional. One of the neat aspects of 'Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge' is, during the screen tests, seeing the delight and excitement on the contestants' faces as their creations, things they made with their own hands from foam, metal, electronic components, etc., come to life before the judges. I realized that this, nice though it is, cannot compare to the joy and delight that God must have experienced when He created each and every one of us. Unlike the contestants, who often are not able to make their creations as fine- tuned as they had hoped due to time constraints and not having the right materials, God made us exactly how He wanted us, to fulfill specific roles He established just for us. Psalm 139:14 says that we are all "Fearfully and wonderfully made" by our Lord, and I know that to be true.
I can think of a couple other similarities, too, involving Jesus and certain episodes. Like the contestants in the 'Scrap yard' episode, Christ can take all the junk and discarded stuff in our lives, and rebuild us into something beautiful. Like the contestants in the 'Heads on a wall' episode, He can take what was once dead and give us new life in Him.
We are God's greatest, most beloved creations, and He loved us enough that He sent His Son to Earth to die for us so that we might be reconciled to Him.
'Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge' is airing new episodes on Syfy at 9:00 pm on Tuesdays, and it is currently rather regularly running marathons of all the episodes that have been aired so far, so it shouldn't be hard to get caught up.
That's all for this edition of The Nightcrawler Experience. Another installment should be coming soon. Until then, take care and God bless!
