'Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge': First look at new Syfy series

Think Project Runway, but with creatures!

That’s one way you could describe the new Syfy series Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge, on which 10 aspiring creature creators compete to bring the wildest beasts they can think of to life. EW has an exclusive first look at a promo for the series, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at how some of these creatures are made.

Brian Henson, chairman of the Jim Henson Company and Jim Henson’s son, will serve as lead judge on the series. Creature designers Beth Hathaway (Jurassic Park, The Walking Dead, and Edward Scissorhands) and Kirk R. Thatcher (Return of the Jedi, Gremlins, and E.T.) will join Henson on the judging panel, while Farscape actress Gigi Edgley will host. Contestants — who will be mentored by Creature Shop artists Peter Brooke and John Criswell — are competing for a $100,000 prize and a contract with Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.

Watch the first promo for the show plus an exclusive behind the scenes look:

Check out these exclusive images of some of the creatures being made on the show:

Attila

In the exclusive image above is Attila, a hand puppet/animatronic hybrid with radio-controlled facial expressions, mouth, ears, and eyes.

Scoots

This flying purple people eater is animatroinc and radio-controlled.

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Yolanda

Yolanda is primarily a hand puppet, but she does have controls to make her many eyes blink.

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