ABC Orders Muppet Pilot To Series!

[minor muppetz]

Muppet canon is so weird we do't know what's real and what is not. i mean are they serious about things or are they just actors playing themselves or themselves playing fictional characters of themselves?

In the last few days I've wondered, in the pilot, is the TV show that Kermit tells the gang about (as well as the one that they need Miss Piggy for) supposed to be this new television series or is it the show-within-a-show?

It's been said in press releases that in the pilot the network would only green light a new Muppet show if Miss Piggy were a part of it, and watching the trailer yesterday it seems like Miss Piggy revealed why she was coming back while she was on the set (as if they got to do the show after all). And Miss Piggy gets to host her own talk show... Could it be that the network wanted Miss Piggy to have her own show, or could it be that Miss Piggy refused to be a part of the show unless she was named the host?

 

[Ladywarrior]

^ These are the questions plaguing inquiring minds,

 

[minor muppetz]

There's an idea I thought about early that could have been done for this series (maybe if the Muppets do a new show after this one ends): What if the Muppets were putting on several shows?

I know, MuppeTelevision was kind of like that, but I mean the Muppets run a TV station or production company, where they produce multiple shows involving the Muppets. They could do a talk show, a sitcom, a drama, maybe even a variety/sketch comedy show... What we see of the shows are portions of bigger shows (as opposed to being variety show sketches... well, except for when they do do variety shows). It could be more of a Muppet station than Muppet Central or KMUP-TV showed us.

 

[minor muppetz]

There's something I was just thinking about recently. In recent movies and specials, as well as The Muppet Show Comic Book, we pretty much get all of the core Muppets - Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Rizzo, Pepe, Bunsen, Beaker, Rowlf, Scooter, Statler, Waldorf, Dr. Teeth, Floyd, Animal, Janice, Zoot, Sam the Eagle, and The Swedish Chef (and maybe Walter, Bobo, Link, Sweetums, Robin, Lew Zealand, Beauregard, Crazy Harry, and The Newsman... In fact Pepe and Rizzo might have to be grouped under these "maybes" when it comes to recent productions).... But on The Muppet Show, we didn't get every "core" character in every episode. Many of these might be more "core" now than they were during the TMS era, but even then, if you limit the core cast to just Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, and Scooter, it was fairly common for at least one of these characters (okay, never Kermit) to be absent (though it was the least common with Scooter, considering he was at the start of every episode for three seasons).

You can also say this about MuppeTelevision and Muppets Tonight. I'd consider the core cast of MuppeTelevision to be Kermit, Digit, Gonzo, Leon, Bean, Vicki, and maybe Clifford, Lindbergh, Waldo, and Link. So of these characters, Waldo was seen the least, and most of the others were in nearly every episode... But Clifford was absent from First Show and the Dog City pre-show (that one seemed to have the least amount of recurring characters of all the MuppeTelevision episodes), as well as non-behind-the-scenes footage from Secrets of the Muppets (if you count that). The pre-show for Dog City was also the only one to not include appearances by Gonzo, Leon, or Link Hogthrob. Besides that pre-show, I think Lindbergh was absent from Garbage and Food.

With Muppets Tonight, I consider the core cast to consist of Clifford, Kermit, Gonzo, Rizzo, Johnny Fiama, Sal, Seymour, Pepe, Bobo, Bunsen, Beaker, Andy, Randy, and maybe Nigel, maybe Statler and Waldorf (well, those three were in every episode). But most of these characters were absent from at least one episode. If you count the clips from past episodes featured in Best of Muppets Tonight, then I think Clifford, Rizzo, Statler, Waldorf, and Nigel are the only characters who were in every episode (and if you don't, then only Rizzo, Statler, and Waldorf were). Gonzo was absent from the Billy Crystal episode (and only appeared briefly at the end of the Cindy Crawford one... I kind of feel like there are more he was absent from). Kermit didn't appear in Johnny Fiama Leaves Home. It took awhile before Seymour and Pepe started showing up a lot (though in production order they had a scene in the second episode, broadcast order-wise Seymour was first seen in the third episode, Pepe first glimpsed in the fifth episode, and their first major appearance being the first episode after the hiatus between the sixth and seventh episodes). I'm thinking that the second season had episodes without Andy and Randy, but I can't think of what episodes off-hand (unless you don't count the clips in Best of Muppets Tonight). Bunsen and Beaker didn't appear between episodes 1 and 6, but after that they appeared a lot more for most of the shows run, though they were absent from Johnny Fiama Leaves Home and Best of Muppets Tonight.

Anyway, back to this series, I wonder if it will be common to see certain main characters absent, like in the older shows. I don't really expect there to be episodes without Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, or Gonzo, but I could see there being episodes without the whole Electric Mayhem (maybe even episodes without Animal), Bunsen and Beaker, Rowlf, Pepe, and so on. But I could be wrong.

 

[Reevz1977]

Has everyone seen the posters for the new show?? They are bløødy awful!!! When will the people in the Disney marketing learn how to bring the puppets/posers to life?? They just look like lifeless dolls!!

That said, some of the concepts raised a (tiny) smile. I'm certainly not going to let the marketing department affect my judgement though. The work on the last two movies was shocking and they turned out great. I just wish the promo material lived up to the final product for once.

 

[Drtooth]

I agree with the exception of "Full Frontal Nudity" Kermit. I'm just impressed Kermit's poser almost has the shape of a hand in his head instead of that very angular stuffed Kermit poser we've been suffering with since the 90's.

On the whole, it speaks to the annoying habit of ultra minimalism that's been plaguing the heck out of movie posters and DVD covers as of late. Then you look at what Fox does when there's a high profile episode of a cartoon series coming up.

Or

So I totally agree on that.

 

[jvcarroll]

Has everyone seen the posters for the new show?? They are bløødy awful!!! When will the people in the Disney marketing learn how to bring the puppets/posers to life?? They just look like lifeless dolls!!

That said, some of the concepts raised a (tiny) smile. I'm certainly not going to let the marketing department affect my judgement though. The work on the last two movies was shocking and they turned out great. I just wish the promo material lived up to the final product for once.

I agree with the exception of "Full Frontal Nudity" Kermit. I'm just impressed Kermit's poser almost has the shape of a hand in his head instead of that very angular stuffed Kermit poser we've been suffering with since the 90's.

I don't know. I'm not a fan of the basic style of composition made popular by the Apple ads, but it's clean and it works. Here are my thoughts on each poster and poser.

I get the minimalist logo. Gonzo looks okay. I guess he really likes that shirt. Yellow makes him pop so I understand that choice. Piggy is done well. I like the return of her purple gloves. In something this iconic, they really should be purple. They've been deviating from that. Her pose looks fine and the flourish to her hair gives it some movement. I will never get used to this incarnation of Fozzie. I understand that his classic fur in no longer available, but the nose is placed too far from the lip. Puppet Heap really needs to fix that. It looks odd. Kermit's the only one here that doesn't look quite right. He's hunched over, his face isn't dynamically posed and his left hand doesn't appear to be grasping the phone. Still, I'd give him a C+ here and the poster in general a solid B.

The flat head and bloated chin make this Kermit look like a stuffed doll and not a living, breathing character. The tagline is funny. I give this a C-

This is the same photo as the group shot and I like it. I'll always think the pig could use some cosmetic improvements, but this it pretty attractive. I particularly like how her ears appear to have more curvature to them and look less bunny-like. I give it an A.

There's not much I can really say wrong about this Gonzo. This is the most attractive I've seen his new build look. My only issue is with the pose of his right hand. It doesn't seem to be grasping the cup. There is something that doesn't quite seem "alive" about him so that knocks this down to a B.

Eeek! Why have they done this to Fozzie? I don't care. I think it's funny! His Fleshy skintone is a little off-putting. Also, I'd have put his hat in his hand rather than on his head for this shot. There's something about the pose that seems incorrect, but the comedic value punches this up a notch. I give this a B as well.

In conclusion, they're getting better and we're getting new photos. I just can't complain too much about that. Maybe with success will come a bump in quality. I hope so. But I approve of this campaign. It seems to have created a sophisticated buzz while looking bright and colorful for younger viewers. I like the campaign and give it a solid B.

 

[Duke Remington]

Has everyone seen the posters for the new show?? They are bløødy awful!!! When will the people in the Disney marketing learn how to bring the puppets/posers to life?? They just look like lifeless dolls.

I disagree. Be nicer to Disney and don't be so harsh, please.

 

[Oscarfan]

I disagree. Be nicer to Disney and don't be so harsh, please.

Man, that user is such a Tough Pig.

AMIRIGHT?????

 

[Reevz1977]

I disagree. Be nicer to Disney and don't be so harsh, please.

Good for you, you have an opinion too - so do I. So "no!"

Apologies if that also seems "harsh" but opinions are something we are all entitled to - something that is sometimes misunderstood on this forum.