Your Thoughts: Studio DC Hosted by Dylan and Cole Sprouse

[zns]

Disney sells fluff? Right. And Tickle Me Elmo isn't fluff at all.

Disney Channel has shows that feature clean-cut kids (Miley's dippy offscreen photo blunders notwithstanding) that espouse positive values, and parents appreciate that, and kids love the shows. What is so wrong with that? Honestly, the anti-Disney mania here is pretty weird, especially coming from people who are desperate to get the Muppets on TV again. And what did mean ol' Disney do? Why, it provided the Muppets with a plum timeslot, co-stars that guaranteed viewership even from those viewers who think Kermit is a just dumb old sock puppet their parents used to watch, and still you guys rail against the company that rescued your fixation. Amazing. Simply amazing.

I agree. Lately, most of what I've been hearing about this show is more and morew bad reviews, and quite frankly, I'm kinda sick of it. We should be very very thankful that Disney has given the Muppets a chance to make another comeback into television, despite what some people think about it being lame and overly bizarre. It's hard for people to accept something different yes, but let's not forget that Henson knows how much we care for the Muppets and that they are doing all they can to give us something to enjoy once again in our lives.

 

[dwmckim]

2.3? That's pretty darn excellent for cable! That would be considered good numbers for most network daytime shows these days! For something that otherwise seemed a bit obscure (not really promoted that i'm aware of outside of DC itself and only then a week and a half beforehand) that's really pretty interesting that it pulled off those numbers.

Some random thoughts i had on rewatching...

I appreciate the dancing more and more each time i see it...dang for all the hoopla Kermit got for his bicycle ride in The Muppet Movie, it's mind boggling to even consider Kermit ever moving quite like this! Muppety magic.

If you basically took away the wrap away convention of the whole Studio DC wraparounds, and just broke the show down into its four major parts: Billy and Miley rehearse with their new band/The Suite Life sketch (the main sketch itself, not necessarily with the Swede Life wraparounds)/Bop to the Top number/Miss Piggy, the Jonas Sister -- and just kept those as little standalone bits that were just randomly aired on Disney Channel as what was probably initially envisioned, they would have worked quite well and left you hungry for more. Putting them together with the week Studio DC format took away their punch.

The odd thing is, compare that to the Youtube vids and the stuff on muppets.com - those are also short bits, all independant and just there, no overriding concept...yet if you put these together in a tv show or special on their own...just random Muppet hilarity (i picture it called "Muppet Madness"), those bits could totally work on their own. I'm guessing because those were totally in the hands of the Muppet creative staff and not hack writers/directors (i haven't even yet bothered to look up/Google/investigate who the people were who wrote/directed SD:AL, but i'm willing to bet they were pulled from the staff of one or more of those Disney sitcoms)

I got a huge laugh when it dawned on me that instead of having the full band backing the Jonas Brothers, that it was just Animal, Floyd, and Janice...yet the Jonas' themselves were a singer and two guitarists - so they're backed by a drummer...and *two more guitarists* - which seems like kind of a subtle jab at the musicality of the Jonas Brothers that they need the talents of other guitarists to back them up...and the whole irony of puppets being called in to add some extra musicality to what could be considered (in the more derogatory sense of the word) a "puppet band" almost was a little too delicious for my love-of-irony, hatrid-of-manufactured-musicians humor! (By the same token, who all thought the Snowths' "Doo-DOO"ings on the chorus totally outsang Miley on the whole song?)

If there's any One Life to Live fans on here, Miley Cyrus actually looked oddly like Melissa Archer (Natalie Buchanan) in this appearance, which is something i'd never thought when i've seen her elsewhere.

Some extra kudos for Floyd's performer, i had been so impressed with how Jerry-sounding he sounded when he spoke, that i didn't even notice until my latest re-watch, how much the PUPPETRY was totally spot-on!

(also a little bit of a sidetrack here, but speaking of relatively recent recast portrayals, i recently rewatched Muppets Wizard of Oz for the first time in awhile and the big thing i noticed this time around that i hadn't picked up on before was how brilliant Foo-Foo was played! Foo-Foo totally upstaged everything around him, which is quite the accomplishment given how Steve was Foo-Foo's original performer and how not only was one of Steve's initial strengths in his early days was the manipulation of Muppets and their bodies (again, DANCING KERMIT - HUZZAH!), but he would later go on to regulary upstage everyone with another non-talking dog in the form of Fraggle Rock's Sprocket! However, i don't think i've ever laughed so hard watching Foo-Foo until MWOO, since Foo-Foo had always mainly just been a "prop" character)

 

[Drtooth]

I agree. Lately, most of what I've been hearing about this show is more and morew bad reviews, and quite frankly, I'm kinda sick of it. We should be very very thankful that Disney has given the Muppets a chance to make another comeback into television, despite what some people think about it being lame and overly bizarre. It's hard for people to accept something different yes, but let's not forget that Henson knows how much we care for the Muppets and that they are doing all they can to give us something to enjoy once again in our lives.

I'm going to meet everyone half way. I have no desire to see this special at all. But then again, it wasn't made for me. It was made to test the waters with a different demographic.

I tend to think somehwere in between Disney doesn't know what to do with the muppets, and that Disney is doing a good job. That's the problem. They want to do something, but they don't know what. A TV series seems out of the question for multiple reasons, mainly due to the fact that half of everything on TV is a clone or spinoff of something else. So, unless we get some horrible cross bread of a reality show or a cut up bodies and see how they died for an hour show with muppet stars, there isn't a good place for them yet.

They have been very, almost too careful with how to sell these guys. Especially since OZ met with a cold reception, especially from fans. Of course, putting it on opposite the daytime Emmys on a night Star Wars episode 3 came out wasn't a particularly smart move either. Unlike VMX which was given a choice time slot... day after Thanksgiving. Reminds me of Batman, in a way. No one would even look at a Batman movie after Batman and Robin stunk up the joint. And just look what happened years later. 2 very successful Batman movies. All the Muppets need is a major project to get them out of the doldrums. But we just haven't had one yet.

 

[Robin]

Henson ALWAYS supported Oz's film career. Who are you to think Jim wouldnt be happy with that? Jim was the one who supported him all the way, and so should you as a muppet fan. Just my two cents

You don't understand what I mean... Of course Jim always supported Frank, his film career is good... Jim loved Frank...

the Muppet quality has been terrible and getting worse for the last 10 years or more... Jim would not like that (nothing to do with Frank)... the last Disney special would in "my opinion" made both Jim and Frank cringe...

As far as Frank Oz is concerned... The Muppets need his help more than ever... they are missing writing, heart, and ALL the appeal that Jim created with Frank at his side... I want to feel that great Muppet feeling again... The performers are doing a great job
puppeteering... just the matereal has not been up to par...
DISNEY IS NOTTTTT THE RIGHT PLACE FOR the Muppets...
Frank's giant ego must be keeping him away from the Muppets more than his Movie making career... I love Frank.... Nothing can be as good as him... he needs to come back and help... If not The Muppets are DOOMED... Gonzo in the special was proof...

 

[Robin]

I belive Jim would want Frank Oz to do what makes him comfortable and happy.

Frank is "my" issue... I want him back in the Muppet saddle...
Jim wouldnt care what he was doing unless he was happy of course I know that... I love both those guys so much... I'm just frustrated by the decline of my favorite thing ever! The Muppets!

 

[fleecenotfelt]

pros:
1. muppets come back into the limelight! there hasn't been enough muppets pr IN WAY TOOOO LONG!
2. kermit pretending to be ryan in high school musical. (i confess, i love HSM)

cons:
1. canned laughter. i mean really. a laugh track? and a poorly done laugh track, might i add.
2. poor POOOR WRITING! super un-funny jokes (ie: the jonas brothers).

unfortunately i didn't catch the whole premiere, but i definitely had mixed feelings about it.

 

[Vic Romano]

You know why I liked this special? Because it was the Muppets interacting with "guest stars" that *I'M* familiar with.

I was born way after the Muppet Show ended, and while I like watching it for the Muppets, I don't know half (probably more than half ) of the guest stars.

I liked this special because I'm very familiar with, and enjoy, Miley Cyrus, the Suite Life Cast, etc. etc.

Wow, that's a great angle and it proves a great point, that the Muppets are willing to move with the times, even if some of the fans aren't. Look, nothing is going to be as good as it was when you're a kid, today and tomorrow's entertainment will seem like garbage. It's a generational thing, I know plenty of people older then me who think the television shows I watched as a kid are terrible, and that "they don't write 'em like they used to", it's the same thing today, and our children's children will watch the "Super Bowel Movement Echidna Hour" in 2040 and consider it classic, only to look down in disdain twenty years later at their kid's "Scum Dentists of DesMoines" as corporate trash.

As far as Frank is concerned, yes I want him back too, but let's not a) believe Frank can single handedly fix every single problem the Muppets (granted, I'm sure he could do a lot of good) have and b) make it sound like the rest of the Muppet staff (especially originals like Dave and Steve) are incapable of managing without him.

On another positive note; I have to agree with Floyd's new performer. Who is he? I had to rewind his line several times because I wasn't convinced it wasn't Jerry. Man, I wish all the replacement performers sounded that good!

 

[Vic Romano]

Oh yes, I mean, I fit the bill myself. I think a lot of these shows are terrible. I mean, I can't believe how much they talk down to kids, and these clearly aren't your father's Muppets, or ours either. It makes you wonder what audience the Muppets should go after. Do we, the generation Xers hold on tightly to our TMS Seasons 1-3, Fraggle Rock and Sesame Street Old School DVDS, realizing the golden years are gone, and let the Muppets become tween idols? Or should the Muppets continue to stick with their original crowd and hope we support them?

 

[Super Scooter]

Do we, the generation Xers hold on tightly to our TMS Seasons 1-3, Fraggle Rock and Sesame Street Old School DVDS, realizing the golden years are gone, and let the Muppets become tween idols? Or should the Muppets continue to stick with their original crowd and hope we support them?

Honestly, I don't see why the classic Muppet style doesn't appeal to a younger audience. Maybe it's because I grew up with them, and maybe it's because I was exposed to a lot of older entertainment growing up (like Laurel and Hardy and the classic musicals). Those things just seem like they would never lose their popularity. I think the Muppets could stick to their original style, and they would be relevant and would attract the crowds. Perhaps?

One example I could think of is how fantasy/adventure movies sort of phased out a very long time ago (back in the fifties?) , but now they're starting to make a comeback. I don't think they ever lost their appeal, it's just that people were caught up in more realistic films. If they had just continued making them, I think there still would have been an audience for them. The Muppets will always have an audience just doing what they do best, I think.

Remember, too, the Muppets were sort of considered rebelious humor when they were first introduced. Kids today are obsessed with being rebelious, so that's even more reason why they should like the Muppets without the Muppets having to change for them!

 

[Baby Gonzo]

I don't know... I think kids will watch just about anything. I showed my 12/13 year old cousin a few episodes on my Muppet Show DVD, and while she was somewhat skeptical at first, she seemed to enjoy it. At least she didn't get up and walk away (which is saying something for her).

I think that part of the reason kids don't watch the Muppet show is *GASP* because it just isn't on TV anymore. I know that I for one would watch just about anything that was on TV when I was a kid, as long as it was animated or had puppets. Maybe kids today are just picky? Though I might have been a strange kid. I refused to watch live action TV shows, especially those in the Disney Channel.