Remember that 2002 Fox Network Pitch?

[Drtooth]

No doubt about it. The script was weak. They had some alright ideas, but poor execution. I don't see why they went with non-Muppet people for a TV show (no one point out the obviousness of The Muppets being written by someone else). It does seem like the first draft if anything. A little more polish, and this would have been fair for its day.

Then again, we didn't actually see the interactions and improvisation that makes up most of the Muppets, so it is kinda hard to tell.

I just don't think it would have lasted long on that network, especially in the Greg The Bunny/The Tick/Keen Eddy... essentially that whole list Peter Griffin gave in the first rebirth episode of Family Guy...era.

 

[dwayne1115]

I have told this person this, and I will say it here. Jim Lewis should be the new head writer for the Muppets. He really does understand the Muppets quite well, and I think that with them having a head writer once again things would flow a lot more.

 

[Cookie Chris]

This was a nice find! I was enjoying the script up until Fozzie gets naughty with "Jenna". That seemed too inappropriate for a revamped version of "The Muppet Show". Other than that, it was nice seeing classic characters such as Rowlf and Scooter that were relatively absent throughout the 1990s have a role in the planned episode. The cold opening and Sam the Eagle's rap battling with Eminem was hilarious (though a bit cringe worthy), and the parodies needed a little work. If this aired, it would be on par with "Studio DC", which I didn't like, and most likely wouldn't last very long on the airwaves if the writers chose the edgy route that would have alienated younger audiences. I sort of liked it, though it needed a few more rewrites.

 

[Drtooth]

I have told this person this, and I will say it here. Jim Lewis should be the new head writer for the Muppets. He really does understand the Muppets quite well, and I think that with them having a head writer once again things would flow a lot more.

I've no doubt about the talents of those who worked on the last several Muppet projects, but something tells me if Jim wrote the script we'd get essentially the same pop cultury bits, just way better done.

As long as it's not as lame as Bay of Pigs Watch. There's no reason for that to have been as unfunny as it turned out. Ugh... or Deep Dish 9.

 

[minor muppetz]

I don't care either way whether the Muppets do Simpsons/Family Guy/Robot Chicken/Greg the Bunny-style adult humor or the family friendly kind they are better known for. I remember when this series was announced, it was announced that the show would be edgier. Of course I only expected it to be that way for the show and no other Muppet production... Then was pleasantly surprised when that kind of humor was also used in It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, and expected that humor to continue for years to come. I sort of wondered if they'd stop after Disney bought the Muppets, but they did continue that kind of edgier humor for The Muppets' Wizard of Oz and From the Balcony, before finally ending it by 2008.

But at the time, I had turned 18, and it felt like the Muppets were growing up with me. Like they'd been family-friendly role models for my entire childhood and teenage hood, and now were becoming more adult as I was graduating high school. Though even before then, there were times when the Muppets did stuff I questioned... Like when Rizzo sang "I'm Too Sexy" on Muppets Tonight (I thought it was odd that a Muppet would say "sexy"). Heck in The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, when Bert mentioned the movie Titanic, I thought it was weird they'd be allowed to mention that movie in a Sesame Street production, all because Titanic had a full-frontal nude scene (and this is keeping in mind that Bert never mentioned that scene, just that it had a sad ending).

But I'm thinking it might be best for the Muppets to stick with the family friendly humor/image they've had for years, with some occasional edgy humor, maybe if it's limited to the kinds of characters who WOULD say that kind of stuff. Like if it's limited to the mouths of Rizzo and Pepe, maybe also The Electric Mayhem (hey, back when Jim Henson was alive, she made those occasional remarks about nudity, though it wasn't a sexual kind of nudity).

Thinking about how Fox didn't want this show to have backstage plots, I wonder if they just didn't want to have to rebuild the backstage. Though keep in mind that Henson did rebuild the backstage TWICE that year (for the Weezer video and It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie).

 

[minor muppetz]

One thing I've wondered about... The Muppet Wiki page for this show refers to it as "The Muppets Present". The only time I saw that title announced anywhere was in a 2001 press release of upcoming Muppet projects. Then it was announced that FOX was going to do a new Muppet show in spring 2002, but The Muppets Present title wasn't used, and the script for this pilot doesn't use that title (it just says "Untitled Muppet Show"). So I wonder if it was meant to be the same show. I guess it's possible they considered "The Muppets Present" but then changed their minds about that without coming up with a new title.

Of course when I first saw "The Muppets Present" title, I thought it sounded more like a title for an anthology series than a variety show. That would have been an interesting concept, have Kermit introduce a different special each week starring a different Muppet character in a different setting.

 

[Muppet Master]

Honestly, if this was picked up it'd still be better than Family Guy or American Dad, I mean it sucked terribly, but I still think it was better than half of what FOX has to offer, but with that dumb news report about TM 2011, well I don't think we'll see the muppets work with FOX ever again, good riddence . For the record, I do like my muppets edgy, but if it goes too far (MWoO) then just no.