ABC's 'The Muppets' Scores Full-Season Pickup

[D'Snowth]

Wait, so when it was announced that the pilot was going to series, it wasn't for a full season or what?

The Muppets, which hails from Big Bang Theory co-creator

The opening of that sentence really made me cringe.

 

[jobi71]

Wait, so when it was announced that the pilot was going to series, it wasn't for a full season or what?

The opening of that sentence really made me cringe.

When it was announced it was for a 13 episode commitment. Many new shows now start out this way. They network will give them a certain upfront episode order usually it's either 6 or 13, and based on ratings, reviews, the competition and other factors the network can order additional episodes. Three extra episodes is a bit unusual, but as others have pointed out this show is expensive and time consuming. It's good news over all and if the numbers stay consistent I hope it leads to a second season.

 

[D'Snowth]

When it was announced it was for a 13 episode commitment.

Uh, that is a full season in many cases today; it's not like back in the early years of television when a season could be upwards of 35-40 episodes a season.

 

[Drtooth]

YES!!! Now let's hope we get a season 2!!!

I'm more concerned about it getting a second season myself. Seems that even with diminished ratings, it's still a strong performer for their Tuesday Night line up. And I'm sure the budget isn't extremely huge enough to keep the show going for a while on modest ratings.

Still, you wonder about how online viewing and DVRing factor in. Those are usually stronger indicators over the completely flawed ratings system that essentially means nothing.

Nice to see the last episode had a slight uptick in ratings, as well as overall signs of improvement as a series. Maybe after the World series there could be potential for the ratings to climb ever so slightly more.

 

[jobi71]

Uh, that is a full season in many cases today; it's not like back in the early years of television when a season could be upwards of 35-40 episodes a season.

That number could be considered a full season but with this show in particular it was an initial order. The producers and creatives were aiming to get additional episodes.

 

[mr3urious]

Great news to hear! Looks like there's hope for a 2nd season!

 

[Reevz1977]

I've stayed very quiet on the new show on here, largely due to the fact that opinions here aren't generally well received if they are anything less than 100% positive, but I'll be honest, I'm very happy the show has been picked up for a full season!

So far for me, the show has very much been bad, good, bad, good, bad... I feel that, probably due to the fact they are trying something different, the results are very uneven and there is something not quite gelling with me at present.

I am one of quite an exclusive club that feels the recent Muppet output peaked with Muppets Most Wanted. For me, particular in the extended edition, the Muppets were the closest they have ever been recently to the Muppets I(!!) loved. After the first episode in the new series, I actually (and very prematurely) said to a friend that I wished they finally hung up the characters for good and let them live on in "nostalgialand" - I am quite glad they didn't.

The new show presents many of the beloved characters in a way completely unfamiliar to me that is very hit and miss. Fozzie has been losing me for years and this series isn't changing that. He used to be one of my favourite characters but these days I really don't care for him at all. Piggy too has begun to grate on me more than amuse. The nasty diva schtick has become tired and for the most part she has become a very one dimensional caricature of someone who used to be so incredible.

Kermit too is leaving me a bit cold. Strangely, this is more acceptable to me because it is the negative aspects of his character that I don't like, but it is fleshing out his character - if that makes any sense?? To me, there's no flaws to Kermit. He's the character that gets pushed to his limits but at the end of the day is the moral barometer for the group. To see him be mean(?), name call etc is taking some getting used to but it is a new aspect to his character.

In general, I think this show has a great deal of hope and potential and I think now that it has the opportunity develop over a full season, it has chance to possibly be one of the best Muppet outputs to date...I hope. I have laughed quite hard on one or two occasions. Pepè, who I feel has carried the Muppets a lot over recent years, is delivering some awesome moments after being largely absent in the last two movies and I feel the writers really need to use him more.

Scooter is now back to his peak and I am loving him as much as I ever have. That said, I hated(!!) the eye-thing and hope that they never(!!!) do that again. It's one of the brilliantly unexplainable quirks of the Muppets that certain characters have no eyes behind glasses and I feel that really ruined that.

It's great having Rizzo back and Uncle Deadly has surprisingly become the standout character of the series.

Fingers crossed the creators iron out some of the creases and win a loyal viewership over the remaining shows and we get a very strong season 2. I hope that the extension lets the writers see what is working and what isn't and possibly do the impossible and please everyone of us...if that is possible.

To end on a positive, some of the puppetry has been mind blowing and I look forward to more of that - this weeks Piggy number in particular was remarkable.

*before you hate, please understand this is just my opinion based on what the Muppets mean to me.

 

[GuySmileyfan]

Awesome!

 

[GonzoLeaper]

That's great news for fans of the show! For the sake of completeness, I may keep watching some episodes here and there, but I haven't been too impressed in general, honestly. Though it is great to see the Muppets on TV again.
It doesn't help that I don't really like the faux documentary style that the show uses. I know it's intended to mock current popular trends for shows today- I also largely don't like shows that use that format either.
I just mainly hope that this show might inspire Disney to finally release Seasons 4 and 5 of The Muppet Show to DVD!

 

[dwayne1115]

That's great news for fans of the show! For the sake of completeness, I may keep watching some episodes here and there, but I haven't been too impressed in general, honestly. Though it is great to see the Muppets on TV again.
It doesn't help that I don't really like the faux documentary style that the show uses. I know it's intended to mock current popular trends for shows today- I also largely don't like shows that use that format either.
I just mainly hope that this show might inspire Disney to finally release Seasons 4 and 5 of The Muppet Show to DVD!

I think seasons 4 and 5 are still on everyones heart and minds. At least I hope it still is