Now I didn't see the last Christmas Special they did, but didn't people complain about that one being too adult? I heard Pepe used the word "Sexy" (which in the Muppet World might as well be a big old F-Bomb) and there was a scene of the Muppets in a raunchy dance club or something. I also heard Triumph the Insult Comic Dog made a cameo. No way that was Kiddie.
So maybe they took those criticisms to heart and decided to make this one more kiddie.
Like I said before, I enjoyed. It still isn't up to par with when the Muppets were at their best, but it was a good effort and an enjoyable TV special.
The last truly great Muppet special/movie to me was Muppet Treasure Island, and I wish they'd try and do future projects with that kind of mad energy and love for mindless insanity. (Cabin Fever baby!) This special had signs of it, but it wasn't quite there yet.
This Christmas special did take the Muppets back to the past a little bit with the older cast of characters being focused on rather than newer ones (Pepe & Bobo were the only newer characters that made it in from what I saw) It was great to see Rowlf, Scooter, Dr. Teeth, Janice, and my old favorite CRAZY HARRY all get speaking roles again, albeit mostly short ones.
They also made it a musical, which to me is a must with the Muppets. One of the biggest disappointments about Muppets from Space is that they had all these great 70s songs, but the Muppets didn't sing any of them. Why? I mean I know none of the songs were original, but at least they could have had the Muppets sing "Brickhouse" or "Celebration" So even though the songs in this special weren't fantastic musical numbers like we're used to from the past, it was nice to see them try it. And the songs were at least good IMO.
I think this special was a step in the right direction, but they've still got some work to do to get it back to being the Muppets that I grew up with.