The Muppets Episode 1 - Pig Girls Don't Cry (Pilot)

[Muppet Master]

The reviews also have improved, it now has a 63% critic rating on rotten tomatoes and a 72% with audiences, which shows that peiple like the show.

 

[Beakerfan]

Haven't had a chance to chime in till now...

I LOVED IT! Yes, there will always be things to nit-pick about, but I found it charming. I love that they are exploring areas that have never been approached (i.e. Fozzie's girlfriend). I felt Piggy was totally believable and relatable as she dealt with the biggest heartbreak of her life. I also found the show truly funny in that Muppet-way (Uncle Deadly with the lint roller? BEST MOMENT!). Can't wait for next week!

 

[D'Snowth]

I really miss the days when you couldn't swear on TV.

I really miss the days when you couldn't show sexual content on TV.

 

[Oscarfan]

I mean, they're things that happen in everyday life.

 

[D'Snowth]

The hosts of Getting Felt Up a Puppetry Podcast feel the same way so here's what I put on their FB page. You guys think that removing the arm-rods is bad and Jim wouldn't have done that? Well, this is an exact quote from the runner of Muppet Stuff: "I actually like the rods being removed. Before HD the rods could barley be seen. The reason the Jim Henson Hour's Muppet segments were primarily on green screen was so the performers and rods could be removed. Jim was always about hiding/removing them." So, it was only on talk shows that Jim would be willing to show how the puppets work. Also, the arm-rod removing started in Muppets from Space, before Disney bought them. Brian Henson said, "in the movies we remove them in the computer, because techniques have moved along so quickly that all the rods will be gone in Muppets from Space, for instance... Nowadays, when we make a Muppet movie, we pretty much do whatever we want with the arm rods and remove them later."

I'm not saying removing rods is bad, I just don't care for it, just like I don't care for excessive use of greenscreen/chromakey outside complex, full-bodied puppetry: rods aside, the greenscreen effect - even when done well - looks more fake than building sets or even painting scenery. But again, I just feel that to remove the rods and such takes away from the narm charm as it were.

 

[somethingofafan]

I enjoyed the show. The jokes that hadn't been seen in the pilot presentation, the previews, the reviews, etc. made me laugh. A promising first episode, and if this one picks up steam as it goes along like the classic variety show did, it has the potential to go from a good to a great show.

 

[dwayne1115]

Some of you really should read or reread some of Jim's biography. Especially the chapters that focus from 1969 to 1980. That was when Jim tried for years to convince people that The Muppets where not just for kids,but for everyone. The new show showcased that beautifully, so stop complaining please.

 

[Ladywarrior]

I really miss the days when you couldn't show sexual content on TV.

Yeah me too. She can make a show for adults without swearing like a drunken sailor or having excessive sex and stuff. Shows like I Dream of Jeannie didn't have either or it was real subtle and it was hilarious and for adults.

Of course I'll probably have some people telling me to suck it up and get over it but I don't much care if they do. I'm allowed to feel that way and as long as the muppets don't have a sex scene (eww) it's not much of a huge deal for them. Besides, what kind of sicko would do that kind of thing?!

 

[The Count]

Really? I usually think of that character in connection with Elizabeth Berkley, rather than Banks...

Like I said, I could be wrong and confusing the two Elizabeth-named actresses. Guess I should head to Wiki before posting something like that. Meh. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

 

[jobi71]

Yeah me too. She can make a show for adults without swearing like a drunken sailor or having excessive sex and stuff. Shows like I Dream of Jeannie didn't have either or it was real subtle and it was hilarious and for adults.

Of course I'll probably have some people telling me to suck it up and get over it but I don't much care if they do. I'm allowed to feel that way and as long as the muppets don't have a sex scene (eww) it's not much of a huge deal for them. Besides, what kind of sicko would do that kind of thing?!

You may have picked the wrong sitcom to site as an example - maybe Bewitched would have been better? Yeah not much swearing on Jeannie. But you do have a somewhat scantily clad woman (bare midriff at least) promising her "Master" to fulfill his desires. They were playing very heavily on sex in that show and what could be seen by viewers. I will grant you it is nothing compared to nowadays, but to long for the innocence of Jeannie is misplaced nostalgia. Barbara Eden, Hayden Roarke, Bill Daley have all talked about the boundaries being pushed in the show.

I have never felt more like my avatar the stern matron with the baton. I mean no disrespect as Jeannie is a fairly innocuous show, but they pushed it where and when they could.