Are the Muppets as popular as they were 30 to 40 years ago?

[DMHFan]

I don't know if this has been asked, but, are The Muppets (Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Scooter, Statler and Waldorf, etc.) popular as they were in the late '70s and the early '80s? (The Muppet Show's run)

 

[newsmanfan]

I don't know if this has been asked, but, are The Muppets (Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Scooter, Statler and Waldorf, etc.) popular as they were in the late '70s and the early '80s? (The Muppet Show's run)

I've wondered that myself. The fact that younger folk such as yourself are still enjoying the Muppets (even TMS, and the original films) these many years later suggests that their appeal is timeless. (Granted, I already thought that, so I'm biased!) I have nieces, 10 and 8, who love the original show.

Are the Muppets AS popular as they were at the height of things in the late 70s/early 80s? I don't know. Disney seems to consider them still a viable commercial property; I still see Muppet toys in some stores. I've no idea how well the dvds sell; would have to look up amazon sales rankings.

I find it encouraging to see younger folk discovering and enjoying the Muppets as I did as a child (and as I very much still do today). And of course there are still many, many adults who remember and love the characters!

 

[CensoredAlso]

Maybe not the immediate popularity of the 70s and 80s but they're definitely fondly remembered. As far as younger generations, well from what I've seen they certainly have a strong following on Tumblr.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Eh, well, everyone knows about Sesame Street. So that's gotta count for something, right?

 

[D'Snowth]

I kind of think Frank Oz has a point though when he said the Muppets (or "Muppets") have become something like "Kleenex" in that whenever you see film/television style puppets on a screen, many people just automatically regard them as Muppets, whether they're actually Muppet characters or not . . . and in a sense, it's true: I've seen videos on YouTube that have puppets included, and people in the comments refer to them as "Muppets," and I think even TV Tropes has sort of genericised the term a bit as well.

I don't think they're as popular as they were in the 70s or 80s, but then again,t here's other things that have been around for so long, that they kind of fall into that whole "Seinfeld is Unfunny" trope . . . like, look at the Looney Tunes in general.

 

[Muppet Master]

The Muppets are nowhere near as popular as they were in the 70s-80s. I'm sure there was a huge following back then, especially since TMS was a global phenomenon and TMM was a huge box office hit.

Nowadays, the average person will say they like the muppets but have only seen one or two movies or confuse them with sesame street. At least they're still relevant.

 

[DMHFan]

What I mean by The Muppets are the ones from The Muppet Show/movies/specials (Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo the Great, Scooter, Rowlf the Dog, Statler and Waldorf, Animal, etc.), not the ones from Sesame Street. Alright?

 

[dwayne1115]

I brought up this same kind of thought on Facebook the other day. I've been thinking and watching a lot of Jim Henson's early Muppet work. You know like Sam and Friends and all of the countless commercials that where so popular.
I've been thinking that the Muppets need to get back to some of that. Sure the Muppets where in there prime during the Muppet Show days, but they where also very popular before then as well.
I think they have really not expanded on the internet as well as they could as well. I think for a brief time they where slowly starting to get back to there roots when they where doing all of those wonderful videos for muppets.com. sadly that to is a thing of the past.

 

[Muppet Master]

I brought up this same kind of thought on Facebook the other day. I've been thinking and watching a lot of Jim Henson's early Muppet work. You know like Sam and Friends and all of the countless commercials that where so popular.
I've been thinking that the Muppets need to get back to some of that. Sure the Muppets where in there prime during the Muppet Show days, but they where also very popular before then as well.
I think they have really not expanded on the internet as well as they could as well. I think for a brief time they where slowly starting to get back to there roots when they where doing all of those wonderful videos for muppets.com. sadly that to is a thing of the past.

I agree. Not only muppets.com, but all those great youtube videos. They were making all these viral videos like Bohemian Rhapsody and Beaker's ode to joy back in the late 00's and early 10's. Then they pretty much stopped and now all they do are those "thoughts of the week" that barely register 10k views.

 

[Blue Frackle]

Probably not, but they're so timeless it's impossible to tell.