New Muppet Pilot in Development by Randall Einhorn (The Office, Modern Family) for ABC

[mr3urious]

This "more adult" feel for the show (as in, focusing on things relatable to adults like relationships and workplace troubles) sounds the most intriguing. And it seems like the backstage antics from TMS and MT we love so much will return, too.

 

[dwayne1115]

It sounds like it's going to be like 30 Rock/Grey's Anatomy/The Muppet Show.

 

[C to the J]

I don't get why some folks are dissing TV-G-rated shows. If you're looking for the family-friendly charm seen in older shows (e.g. Leave it to Beaver), the shows on the Disney Channel, and Hallmark perhaps, are as close as you can get nowadays. It really is possible to entertain audiences without resorting to overly crude content or words much worse than d--n and h--l, both of which are fairly common in TV-PG, of course.

If this adult-themed Muppet show is also aimed at kids of all ages, I guess there's no harm in that. Might go along the direction Dinosaurs took.

 

[Drtooth]

We're not dissing Disney Channel sitcoms for being G rated. We're dissing them for being uninspired, interchangeable, forgettable, and factory made. There's plenty of classic (or at least older) family sitcoms that are far more enjoyable. Disney Channel's slop is insulting.

Again... one of the shows is called "I Didn't Do It."

 

[D'Snowth]

Okay, time for me to be hated on again, but I've lost interest in this.

I knew they were pretty much rehashing the shelved project from ten years ago, but come on, the Muppets have always been able to do their own thing while still managing to poke fun at the rest of the entertainment world and hold themselves up in the process, why do we need to try to mold the Muppets and turn them into another faceless sheep among the masses of mainstream entertainment? I don't want to another clone of THE OFFICE, PARKS AND REC, 30 ROCK, MODERN FAMILY, THE MIDDLE, whatever else the **** is on TV right now, I want to see the Muppets doing what they do best: bringing forth laughter and mayhem in all their goofy glory, not dulling themselves down to try and appeal to today's "sophisticated" and "intelligent" audiences . . . and they're trying to make them more adult? Yeah, they tried that with that trainwreck VMX. I mean, yeah, Jim always wanted the Muppets to appeal to adults as well, but he always kept their humor within an acceptable containment to keep them from becoming too inappropriate.

Yeah, sorry. As much of a big Muppet Freak as I am, I'll be passing on this.

 

[Oscarfan]

Okay, time for me to be hated on again, but I've lost interest in this.

I knew they were pretty much rehashing the shelved project from ten years ago, but come on, the Muppets have always been able to do their own thing while still managing to poke fun at the rest of the entertainment world and hold themselves up in the process, why do we need to try to mold the Muppets and turn them into another faceless sheep among the masses of mainstream entertainment? I don't want to another clone of THE OFFICE, PARKS AND REC, 30 ROCK, MODERN FAMILY, THE MIDDLE, whatever else the **** is on TV right now, I want to see the Muppets doing what they do best: bringing forth laughter and mayhem in all their goofy glory, not dulling themselves down to try and appeal to today's "sophisticated" and "intelligent" audiences . . . and they're trying to make them more adult? Yeah, they tried that with that trainwreck VMX. I mean, yeah, Jim always wanted the Muppets to appeal to adults as well, but he always kept their humor within an acceptable containment to keep them from becoming too inappropriate.

Yeah, sorry. As much of a big Muppet Freak as I am, I'll be passing on this.

You do realize that 30 Rock and the Middle are completely different than the others despite being a single-camera show?

 

[jvcarroll]

I don't get why some folks are dissing TV-G-rated shows. If you're looking for the family-friendly charm seen in older shows (e.g. Leave it to Beaver), the shows on the Disney Channel, and Hallmark perhaps, are as close as you can get nowadays. It really is possible to entertain audiences without resorting to overly crude content or words much worse than d--n and h--l, both of which are fairly common in TV-PG, of course.

If this adult-themed Muppet show is also aimed at kids of all ages, I guess there's no harm in that. Might go along the direction Dinosaurs took.

I doubt the Muppet Show or any of the original Muppet films under Jim Henson would be considered G by today's standards and I think that's the point.

There are currently 7 different ratings:

• TV-Y: All Children (particularly ages 2-6) and containing nothing frightening.
• TV-Y7: Older Children (ages 7 and up) and may contain some very mild fantasy violence.
• TV-Y7-FV: Older Children (ages 7 and up) and contains somewhat more intense fantasy violence than some kids are used to seeing.
• TV-G: General Audience (technically for all ages) and contains little or no violence, no strong language and little or no sexual dialogue or situations.
• TV-PG: Parental Guidance Suggested (may be unsuitable for younger children) and may contain some suggestive dialogue, and/or infrequent coarse language, and/or some sexual situations, and/or moderate violence beyond a fantasy level.
• TV-14: Parents Strongly Cautioned (ages 14 and up) and contains intensely suggestive dialogue, and/or strong coarse language, and/or intense sexual situations, and/or intense violence.
• TV-MA: Mature Audiences Only (ages 17 and up) specifically designed for adults and contains crude indecent language, and/or explicit sexual activity and/or graphic violence.

The Muppets have always been suggestive (i.e. Kermit & Piggy's sexual tension and some adult situations with the characters) and included some violent situations (i.e. explosions, Piggy's karate chop violence and sometime gun use at times). Even though they've usually been sly about it and avoided crossing the line, they've always fallen more on the PG side of things and there's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with G either, but that's more Sesame Street than the tradition of the Muppet Show Muppets. It's a thematic distinction Jim Henson wanted.

So when the showrunners report this program will have more of an adult tone, it doesn't mean they're going to be crude or edgy. It simply means they're going back to their roots and maybe adding on a few layers to their personalities that adults will appreciate and will probably go over the heads of young kids.

 

[jvcarroll]

Okay, time for me to be hated on again, but I've lost interest in this.

I knew they were pretty much rehashing the shelved project from ten years ago, but come on, the Muppets have always been able to do their own thing while still managing to poke fun at the rest of the entertainment world and hold themselves up in the process, why do we need to try to mold the Muppets and turn them into another faceless sheep among the masses of mainstream entertainment? I don't want to another clone of THE OFFICE, PARKS AND REC, 30 ROCK, MODERN FAMILY, THE MIDDLE, whatever else the **** is on TV right now, I want to see the Muppets doing what they do best: bringing forth laughter and mayhem in all their goofy glory, not dulling themselves down to try and appeal to today's "sophisticated" and "intelligent" audiences . . . and they're trying to make them more adult? Yeah, they tried that with that trainwreck VMX. I mean, yeah, Jim always wanted the Muppets to appeal to adults as well, but he always kept their humor within an acceptable containment to keep them from becoming too inappropriate.

Yeah, sorry. As much of a big Muppet Freak as I am, I'll be passing on this.

The Muppets have always been sophisticated. I think some folk are reading too much into a few simple words in a press release. I'm sure it'll be fine.

 

[dwayne1115]

Well they are saying that this is going to be geared for adults. so anything lower then a TV PG would surprise me.

This deserves a chance, at least. I mean I have never heard more buzz over a pilot for a show that has not even been picked up, so I'm sure this will be the best show that it can be.

 

[dwayne1115]

Here is the thing, if they tried to just "re-do" the Muppet Show it would fail for a couple of reasons. Fist off it would fail because no matter how hard they would try it would never live up to how great the original show was. Secondly, I don't know how many people would watch. they would think that they had seen it before or something.
This type of show is going to be more story and character driven then both the Muppet Show, and Muppets Tonight. Which is something that a lot of fans have said is something they have kind of wanted, which is to dive deeper into who these characters are. Let's face it since the Muppet Show, or even Muppets Tonight all of Frank's Richard's and Jerry's characters have been beautifully recast. So now is the time to let the new Muppeters grow into there characters, and give them new or adjusted personalities,friendships, and problems.

I mean come one It's not even a show yet, lets at least give it a season before we judge it at least.