Muppets Tonight: 25 Years Later

[Chilly Down]

I'm a bit late in posting this, but it occurred to me that we've fairly recently passed the 25th anniversary of "Muppets Tonight" (Mar. 8 was the date).

I thought the show was rather hit-or-miss at the time, and I never got around to seeing all the episodes. But I've been watching them with a younger family member recently, and he thinks the show is great. He likes it better than TMM! The humor matches the sensibility of a lot of later shows, and he actually knows who some of the guest stars are, unlike the '70s show. He's a big fan of Monsters, Inc., so we watched the Billy Crystal and John Goodman episodes, among others.

At the time, I wanted to see more classic Muppets like Rowlf, but after 20 years of productions where the main characters of TMM have been front and center, and the MT characters have stepped back from the spotlight, it's actually fun to see Bobo and Johnny Fiama and others that I hadn't seen in a long time.

What are others' thoughts on the show, a quarter-century later?

 

[Muppet Master]

Wow, 25 years. Truth be told, I don't think I've actually seen every episode of the series like I have with the original Muppet Show and the 2015 ABC Series. But, from what I have seen (probably around 40%-ish) it was a very good show. Though for the record, I've really been meaning to watch every episode. I'd be a lot more motivated if it was added to Disney+ or somehow released on DVD.

Was it a perfect show? No, far from it. But it had a very fun energy to it that a lot of mid-90's Muppet content had (same goes for Treasure Island and Muppets From Space). Sure, the classic characters were mostly absent but new faces like Clifford, Bobo, Big Mean Carl, and Johnny Fiama filled in the gaps rather nicely. The storylines were usually very entertaining (some standouts include The Mad Bomber plotline in the Sandra Bullock episode and Bunsen having a mid-life crisis in the Andie MacDowell outing) and at times even felt like an improvement from the original Muppet Show. I still think TMS was a better show overall but Muppets Tonight came up with some really engaging stories. The guest stars were great and skits like Swift Wits captured that classic Muppet madness.

It's really quite a shame we never got to see more episodes of this forgotten gem. I honestly think it's one of the most fun Muppet projects there is and I hope it hits Disney+ one day. They were really starting to hit their stride towards the end by embracing the sitcom format that the 2015 series would develop further and leaving the variety-show format of TMS in the past. Overall, it's a show that never gets the credit it deserves.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Wow, 25 years. Truth be told, I don't think I've actually seen every episode of the series like I have with the original Muppet Show and the 2015 ABC Series. But, from what I have seen (probably around 40%-ish) it was a very good show. Though for the record, I've really been meaning to watch every episode. I'd be a lot more motivated if it was added to Disney+ or somehow released on DVD.

Was it a perfect show? No, far from it. But it had a very fun energy to it that a lot of mid-90's Muppet content had (same goes for Treasure Island and Muppets From Space). Sure, the classic characters were mostly absent but new faces like Clifford, Bobo, Big Mean Carl, and Johnny Fiama filled in the gaps rather nicely. The storylines were usually very entertaining (some standouts include The Mad Bomber plotline in the Sandra Bullock episode and Bunsen having a mid-life crisis in the Andie MacDowell outing) and at times even felt like an improvement from the original Muppet Show. I still think TMS was a better show overall but Muppets Tonight came up with some really engaging stories. The guest stars were great and skits like Swift Wits captured that classic Muppet madness.

It's really quite a shame we never got to see more episodes of this forgotten gem. I honestly think it's one of the most fun Muppet projects there is and I hope it hits Disney+ one day. They were really starting to hit their stride towards the end by embracing the sitcom format that the 2015 series would develop further and leaving the variety-show format of TMS in the past. Overall, it's a show that never gets the credit it deserves.

Yeah, they should do something special for the anniversary. Maybe bring back characters from the show like Clifford and Seymour and Bill the Bubble Guy. That would be a cool idea.

 

[CoolGuy1013]

I remember watching Muppet Wiki’s video sources of the show during late 2015-early 2016. I haven’t watched the show in forever, but I liked what I saw (my favorite episode was the Gary Cahuenga episode; I loved the parts with the guest stars in that one).

 

[LittleJerry92]

Can’t say I liked this series as much as the original, but it was still an enjoyable series none the less that I think deserved its fair share of recognition.

 

[minor muppetz]

When you refer to TMM, do you mean TMS?

TMM = The Muppet Movie
TMS = The Muppet Show

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Yeah, I think the reason MT couldn't compare with the original Muppet Show is because of the lack of classic characters like Scooter and Rowlf since that was still relatively soon after Jim and Richard passed and those characters were retired, at least at the time. Then that was before we had Eric to perform Frank's characters, so they relied more on newer characters as main characters, especially considering Clifford taking over the hosting role from Kermit. Still the show definitely had its moments.

 

[MuppetSpot]

Yeah, I think the reason MT couldn't compare with the original Muppet Show is because of the lack of classic characters like Scooter and Rowlf since that was still relatively soon after Jim and Richard passed and those characters were retired, at least at the time. Then that was before we had Eric to perform Frank's characters, so they relied more on newer characters as main characters, especially considering Clifford taking over the hosting role from Kermit. Still the show definitely had its moments.

Okay first of all, I don't think the lack of classic characters break/make the show, look at the og Muppet Show, new characters were getting introduce all the time and with some wins as well as failures. Second, Clifford taking over the hosting role from Kermit was actually a Jim Henson idea during negotiations, Jim's next plan for a new Muppet show was for Clifford to be the host and Kermit being the producer.

In my honest opinion, the show just didn't capture an audience and it lack the heart of the original show that is what cause its downfall.

 

[Muppet Master]

Here's one thing you have to keep in mind, Muppets Tonight only lasted 22 episodes, less than the first season of the original Muppet Show (with one being a clip show). And while season 1 of TMS is fun and enjoyable, it's nowhere near as good as seasons 2-5. With time, MT really could have become very good and they were starting to show signs of improvement towards the end. The problem is that Muppets on primetime TV just never works. TMS stayed alive thanks to first-run syndication but it probably wouldn't have made it past the first season if it had been picked up by ABC or another major network.

 

[CoolGuy1013]

Toughpigs has a very interesting article on this...

The Muppets Were Made for Streaming - ToughPigs

Surprisingly, the Muppets have had terrible luck with network shows. But they've had a ton of success on, well, everything else.

www.toughpigs.com