Muppets to appear in Disney Channel TV special

[Beauregard]

And! I agree! Back to exclamanationatary marks!

And any chance of three of them again? ! ! !

 

[dwmckim]

Quite honestly, when i posted my last reply, i was also kind of expecting the special to be postponed again - that's nothing to do with optimism or pessimism - but rather deja vu - recognizing a pattern of events that have already happened and being realistic. Like i said, Muppet involvement aside, if Disney Channel has a special coming up in less than two weeks that features all of its hottest stars, there should be MASSIVE on-air promotion (not to mention all sorts of promotion in other media outside Disney Channel - and in this age of limited media ownership where only about five companies own all American media...Disney being one of them...than this should really be all over the place) yet there has been ZERO mention of this on the station. That in and of itself practically screams that something is going on behind the scenes either with (post)production issues, scheduling issues, and or promotion issues. SOMETHING is happening behind the scenes and we're all left to guess what/why and how it will affect the airing of the special. And indeed, smart money is that we'll see another postponement.

Tomorrow is when the August 3 schedule gets posted on Zap2it - will be interesting to see if it shows up (unlike some other tv listings that initially showed it and pulled it, it never even showed up on Zap2it at all the first time)

Trust me - in this age of mass advertising and outlandish self promotion where every single new episode of any of Disney's sitcoms is A! Very! Special! Event! when they know for sure that this special's airing is set in stone, this should be promoted up the yingyang to the point where even WE get tired of seeing the commercials!

.........

Now moving on to another note...

What the heck is all this hyper-sensitivity regarding the Hannah Montana episode? It's like everyone's all of a sudden trying to look inside a tv character's head as if it was some crystal ball as to how the Disney will be promoting the Studio DC special.

Let's clear up a few myths and introduce some new evidence into the record...

* The "Hannah on the Street With Diamonds" episode was announced and promoted BEFORE we learned of the postponement - in fact as originally planned, Studio DC would have been Saturday and HotSwD on Sunday making it a very Muppety weekend. (And it should be noted, that episode of HM was promoted for at least three weeks before it aired on-air).

* Okay, everyone DOES realize that Hannah Montana IS a *fictional character*, right? (Course the Muppets also fall into this realm but i digress). A character on a show where even though she is the titular star, is filled with other characters with different points of view. The episode was about her being upset to find her star on a walk-of-fame-like boardwalk was moved to an undesirable position because the head of the committee grew up with and idolized the puppet star that was replacing Hannah's spot. Within the text of such a storyline, it's only natural for the wronged party (Hannah) to not exactly be that happy with the whole situation and the fact that her replacement wasn't even "real" (with further insult to injury being that both the head of the committee and Pancake's puppeteer both were convinced that the puppet was a sentient entity) Given the particulars of that story, is Hannah Montana (the character) going to say some not flattering things about puppets? Yes. Does that mean the actress who is not involved with writing the show harbors ill will towards puppets in general and the Muppets in particular? Certainly not. I think some Muppet fans are a bit hyper-sensitive after such a long wait for a big new original project that they're getting a tad hyper-sensitive over something that ultimately doesn't mean anything.

* Henson Company provided the puppet and the episode was a chance for them to do something - that is a good thing, a desirable thing, something we should be happy about, not some big evil subliminal message that Disney Hates Puppets/Muppets (if you REALLY want to get offended over something, why not get a little peeved at the fact that while Victor Yerred was credited for his puppeteering, not acknowdegement of Henson was given in the credits as opposed to anything writing related)

* Sally Lapiduss, one of the creative heads of Hannah Montana was one of the writers of some of Farscape's earliest episodes ("I ET" and "Through the Looking Glass"...i somehow don't think any accusations of Hannah Montana (the show) being anti-Henson are going to quite fly.

So to summarize...

Given the complete lack of promotion and at least one postponement so far for Studio DC: Almost Live, it's natural for us to recognize something odd is going on behind the scenes at Disney Channel in regards to the special's airing. However, trying to find any answers or hidden messages within a Hannah Montana episode (one that was originally going to be aired in conjunction with the airing of Studio DC) is *really* stretching things!

And btw, while i personally am pessimistic that the special will air on August 3rd, i am simultaneously OPTIMISTIC that it WILL get shown at some point and that it will be given the full Disney-corporate-hype-machine-treatment that it's not getting now. Something's obviously up behind the scenes in regards to the airing and scheduling of the special and without any answers or insider's insights, we're all left to speculate and for many people this means assuming the worst.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

Good grief, I never once blamed Miley herself. WHile it may not have been obvious, in the first post, I did say that it was not her fault in a later post and that it was the writers. What perplexed me was that the writers of the show made her want nothing to do with puppets because they are for babies, and yet she will be performing with the muppets, which are puppets. Regardless of which was filmed and promoted first, it was a bad move on Disney. Kids listen to their people they look up to (and in this unfortunate case, HM). Its a fear that because hannah said that puppets were for babies, kids who watch the show will not even give this special a try, thinking they are too grown up to enjoy puppets and in this case, muppets.

the way things happened to fall on air date I really dont think was an accident. I think disney wanted people to see this episode to see peoples reaction to her working with a puppet. I dont think that it was thier intention on making it a negative thing though

 

[dwmckim]

Sorry, but i think you're reading to much into it...i rewatched the episode to see if maybe i missed something but re-viewing it it was clear that there was no negative puppet vibes in it or anti-puppet message.

The scene i believe you're referring to is in the climax where Hannah and friends trick Pancake's puppeteer away from her post and Hannah starts to berate the Sidewalk chairperson through the puppet, totally humiliating him in front of the building crowd with such taunts as "Wanting to be one of my special boxtop buddies is really cool...WHEN YOU'RE THREE!" The whole point of the scene was that it was a ruse to get the chairperson insulted and mad enough at Pancake that he would give the good space back to Hannah and the bad one back to Pancake. To think that the tween viewers of Hannah can't recognize that and confuse that with thinking that the whole message of the show was that puppets=baby entertainment is really underestimating that audience. To take that further into thinking that the whole exercise was some elaborate attempt at market research and not the slapstick farce that the show does on a regular basis is really stretching it.

 

[frogboy4]

I kind of thought the climax scene had a needlessly snarky take on the world of puppetry from a pair of very inexperienced writers. It also seemed a little sloppy and slapped-on. Other than that I kind of liked the idea of a psychotic puppeteer. Without the rather mean-spirited sentiment spewed in the closing scene this episode could have been the kid-show equivalent of the funky puppet episodes of Angel and Murphy Brown. It is ironic that Hannah Montana scolds a character about growing up when she's doing so on her own pre-teen kiddie cable show. I blame the hacky writers and not the actress.

I actually liked the puppet. I wish they’d let Pancake go a little off-script. Then something funny could actually happen on the Hannah Montana show. Ouch!

I'm glad that it is Milley Cyrus, not Hannah Montana, who is appearing on Studio DC. It appears that even though the Hannah movie is due next year that Cyrus has grown a little tired of the character and is doing what she can to distance herself from it. I likely won't be a big fan of her either way. I have higher standards for recording artists.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

I actually liked the puppet. I wish they’d let Pancake go a little off-script. Then something funny could actually happen on the Hannah Montana show. Ouch!

I have to admit, I did like the puppet too. It did show that puppets could be snarky and not the whole "I love you, I'm a cute adorable puppet, lets learn something today" standard most people think puppets are. The puppet itself was the highlight of the show

 

[frogboy4]

I have to admit, I did like the puppet too. It did show that puppets could be snarky and not the whole "I love you, I'm a cute adorable puppet, lets learn something today" standard most people think puppets are. The puppet itself was the highlight of the show

Heck, they should give Pancake his/her own show!

 

[Erine81981]

Just because she said that on her episode doesn't mean she means it. It was just part of the show not something she said like in a magazine or in an interview on TV but oh her TV Show. I hate to say "Oh My Gosh! Miley said something about being Puppets being for Babies!"

I hate when others watch TV shows and then put them down just because they say something stupide about stuff they like and take it all so wrong. This is why fans get so carried away with what happens. Sometime they stop liking what they really cared about. I know because i stopped watching Sesame Street not only because of having to go to school but also having "Elmo's World" and not enjoying it anymore. Well when i found this place "Muppet Central" it just brought back my love for all Muppets/Sesame/Fraggles and anything else that Jim put his mark on.

This is going to **** me off if people on this certain thread start hating Hanna Montana just because of what she said in her show then all we are going to get is haters and i hate those kinda of people. I stand next to any Child Star no matter how dumb her music might be or how stupid she might make her self to look or what she says. I've enjoyed shows no matter if they make fun of The Muppets, Sesame Street or The Fraggles i know that deep down inside someone loves the thing they are making fun of. I don't care if The Simpsons, Family Guy, Birdman, Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, Aqua Teen Hungerforce, Robot Chicken or any other show that does that. It won't bother me NONE AT ALL! (Please Phil let us back our Exclamation Points or We can't show our strong feeling about what we are trying to prove)

WHO'S WITH ME?

 

[Erine81981]

I kind of thought the climax scene had a needlessly snarky take on the world of puppetry from a pair of very inexperienced writers. It also seemed a little sloppy and slapped-on. Other than that I kind of liked the idea of a psychotic puppeteer. Without the rather mean-spirited sentiment spewed in the closing scene this episode could have been the kid-show equivalent of the funky puppet episodes of Angel and Murphy Brown. It is ironic that Hannah Montana scolds a character about growing up when she's doing so on her own pre-teen kiddie cable show. I blame the hacky writers and not the actress.

I actually liked the puppet. I wish they’d let Pancake go a little off-script. Then something funny could actually happen on the Hannah Montana show. Ouch!

I'm glad that it is Milley Cyrus, not Hannah Montana, who is appearing on Studio DC. It appears that even though the Hannah movie is due next year that Cyrus has grown a little tired of the character and is doing what she can to distance herself from it. I likely won't be a big fan of her either way. I have higher standards for recording artists.

I agree with you todally Jamie. But i still like the show no matter what.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

*headdesk* Thats it... I'm sick of explaining this to people. I KNOW that it was not her fault! Learn to read everything! I know your talking about me! I have stated numerous times that kids are brainwashed into listening to whatever their favroite starts says. They dont undersand its just a show asnd that 0it doesnt express the persons real feelings, but due to the fact that she said in the episode that you shouldnt like puppets and need to grow up has me worried that because of this, kids are going to think its uncool to enjoy puppets, or muppets, or whatever. Disney is already trying to make kids grow up too fast. And if, in a kid's mind, that HM says something, it must be true!

Again, I know that its not her fault!