Dark Moments in the Muppets

[GroovyMuppet6]

Were there any moments in any past Muppet film or TV series, that could be considered dark, or dismal at least, in tone today?

If you think so, which moment was that and maybe explain why.

 

[Flaky Pudding]

I can think of a couple off of the top of my head:

-Alice Cooper asking Kermit to sell his soul to his "manager" (obviously implying that he is Satan). This one is definitely supposed to be funny but the subject matter alone is enough for me to consider it a dark moment.

-Crazy Harry in general. Sometimes I can't help but consider the possibility of him being a puppet terrorist. He's a psychopathic guy who has a disturbing obsession with blowing objects and even people up for no reason. Yup, that sounds like a terrorist to me.

-Time in a Bottle. Their beautiful rendition of the Jim Croce song has a very poignant message to it. Everyone at some point in their life will eventually come to that harsh realization that they are getting old. The song as well as the accompanying Muppet sketch perfectly captures that mixture of sadness and anger that most every person will someday feel when they realize how truly short life actually is and that no matter how hard they are, they can never just magically become young again.

-The Gambler skit from the Kenny Rogers episode. The titular Gambler Muppet dies in his sleep at the end of the sketch and comes back as a ghost. Do I even need to continue talking about this one any further?

-To me Marisa Berenson singing You're Always Welcome At Our House always seemed like a scene straight out of a horror movie. The fact that she kidnaps random people and even went as far as to stuff one of them in the oven and the creepy slasher-like smile she makes at the end of the sketch that would make even Jeff the Killer feel uncomfortable certainly make for a dark, non-Muppet-y sketch.

-While the Muppet sketch itself was very tame because they cut out the end of the poem, Rowlf reciting the t*t willow was pretty surprising considering they actually read a poem about SUICIDE on The Muppet Show. Yup, the real poem ends with the Dicky Bird killing himself.

-The Liza Minnelli episode which was from beginning to end a bunch of dark comedy involving murder.

-This one isn't dark per say but I need to talk about how unsettling this one feels to me:Mummenchanz. When I was a kid, I remember being super weirded out and disturbed when those creepy looking humanoids with strange clay faces randomly appeared on one of my favorite shows. They never scared me but I always felt this twinge of unease whenever I watched the Mummenchanz sketches that I admittedly still feel to this day. Seeing them surrounded by beloved Muppets only added to the creep factor for me. I can totally understand why YouTuber blameitonjorge added them to his "Top 20 Most Unintentionally Disturbing Children's Characters From Around the World" list.

-A group of male Muppet monsters repeatedly trying to tear off Sandy Duncan's skirt. For something lighthearted as the Muppets, the scenario I just described sure does sound an awful lot like sexual harassment.

-Speaking of the monsters, how could I forget Ruth Buzzi's rendition of "Can't Keep My Eyes Off of You" where she tries to get Sweetums's attention for the purposes of love but instead she gets knocked over a table by him. Domestic violence, much!?

 

[Snowwie0319]

Well I’m surprised no one has been scarred by the wonderful performance of Kermit singing Once In a LifeTime on Muppets Tonight. That has dark imagry EASILY!

Once In A Lifetime

Also ANY wilkins coffee commercial- thats dark because its murder of course.

 

[D'Snowth]

VMX. Just, VMX. Particularly the alternate-universe Kermit is shown if he had never been born, such as the Muppets Theater being The Dot.

While not "dark," in terms of "dismal," certain specials feel like this at times, such as Emmet Otter or The Chistmas Toy, but not so much that I think they're too much for kids or sensitive viewers to handle; the former just has an overall hopeless and helpless feel because Emmet and Ma are just so dirt poor and wanting their lives to improve, while the latter utilized a colorful euphemism for being in a comatosed state.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

VMX. Just, VMX. Particularly the alternate-universe Kermit is shown if he had never been born, such as the Muppets Theater being The Dot.

Oh, and there is the fact that, apparently Kermit's existence indirectly caused 9/11??

 

[D'Snowth]

There's a plot detail that I don't even remember! Goes to show how little I ever rewatch this movie.

 

[Snowwie0319]

Oh, and there is the fact that, apparently Kermit's existence indirectly caused 9/11??

I think this is the part where you explain

 

[Flaky Pudding]

While it is definitely not dark per say, one of the more shocking classic Muppet moments I've come across is "Put Another Log On The Fire".

Why does it's mere existence surprise me so much? Because the entire song is completely sexist from beginning to end. The whole sketch is pretty much about a redneck Muppet demanding his wife to go and put another log on the fire as the title clearly suggests. While the wife does get the upper hand at the end and starts beating him up like he deserves it still gives off a very 1950s-style view on women's rights as a whole.

I'm not saying I'm offended by the sketch at all, it's one of those that never fails to make me laugh actually. But every time I watch it, it always make me think,

"Dang! Good luck getting away with THAT in the post-#MeToo era!"

Not only is the blatant theme of sexism about as politically incorrect as you can get, they also throw in another comment about fat people at one point in the song that would most likely tick off SJWs if it had first aired in 2019. The hillbilly guy says something about how he warns his wife about when she's getting fat and ugly. That part of the song also wouldn't fly during our current PC pop culture landscape, I can almost 100 percent guarantee that.

It seems like the only shows that could even potentially get away with using that song in 2019 are the long running ones that have previously established themselves to be deliberately offensive over the years (e.g. South Park, Family Guy, and possibly Robot Chicken). I don't think a family friendly property like The Muppets could include a skit like that without getting the "Alyssa Milano Seal Of Disapproval" right now lol.

 

[Snowwie0319]

While it is definitely not dark per say, one of the more shocking classic Muppet moments I've come across is "Put Another Log On The Fire".

Why does it's mere existence surprise me so much? Because the entire song is completely sexist from beginning to end. The whole sketch is pretty much about a redneck Muppet demanding his wife to go and put another log on the fire as the title clearly suggests. While the wife does get the upper hand at the end and starts beating him up like he deserves it still gives off a very 1950s-style view on women's rights as a whole.

I'm not saying I'm offended by the sketch at all, it's one of those that never fails to make me laugh actually. But every time I watch it, it always make me think,

"Dang! Good luck getting away with THAT in the post-#MeToo era!"

Not only is the blatant theme of sexism about as politically incorrect as you can get, they also throw in another comment about fat people at one point in the song that would most likely tick off SJWs if it had first aired in 2019. The hillbilly guy says something about how he warns his wife about when she's getting fat and ugly. That part of the song also wouldn't fly during our current PC pop culture landscape, I can almost 100 percent guarantee that.

It seems like the only shows that could even potentially get away with using that song in 2019 are the long running ones that have previously established themselves to be deliberately offensive over the years (e.g. South Park, Family Guy, and possibly Robot Chicken). I don't think a family friendly property like The Muppets could include a skit like that without getting the "Alyssa Milano Seal Of Disapproval" right now lol.

OH MY GOSH i was talking about that song the other day! Literally it was heartbreaking seeing a MUPPET treat her like that. I remember when i first saw it i was so ANGRY because of her treatment! Just disappointing thinking that was on air!

 

[Flaky Pudding]

It was a different time. Until very recently actually, there were plenty of shows and movies that featured insensitive/derogatory comments about and even full on crude depictions of women, black people, homosexuals, Asians, transgender people, Native Americans, and many others. I'm not really upset that they aired that because such sexism was so commonplace at the time that unfortunately they probably didn't even realize how awful it truly was.

Thankfully we live in a world where such insensitivity is no longer tolerated in mainstream pop culture like it used. Nowadays it seems like the only shows that can push boundaries to that level of political incorrectness are adult cartoons but at least they just use racist and sexist jokes/stereotypes for shock value. Unlike back in the olden days, the writers of those modern shows realize that the stuff they are saying isn't right. They just utilize those topics for dark comedy sake only.