Bring back the old theatre format

[Uselesskgm]

I, like many of us here, love The Muppets. We would love to see them more regularly, especially on TV ... especially on a TV show that works!
Over the years, more recently than in the early 2000s, it has been attempted to reboot them. I enjoyed the new Muppet movies. I also enjoyed the newest Muppets show on ABC. But it didn't quite take with audiences.
My personal opinion: if The Muppets want to return to TV successfully, they need to revive the original Muppet Show format. The old theatre with back stage antics and Statler & Waldorf in the private box. It's really the only format that enjoyed big success.
The Jim Henson Hour didn't quite do it.
Muppets Tonight tried, and kind of came close, but not close enough.
The Muppets last year had promise, but was maybe too big of a departure.
Bring back the variety and guest stars. Bring back the wackiness and zaniness. Bring back the original theme song. Include some of the new characters (Bobo, Pepe, Johnny Fiama, Sal, etc). Bring back the old theatre.
It can be tongue in cheek, but ultimately keep it family friendly.
For us who grew up with The Muppet Show in the 70s, it would be a wonderful and nostalgic nod to our childhood. For those who are newer Muppet fans, it would be a chance for them to experience the joy of that proven successful format with new acts and guest stars.
I believe that it's the only way to get The Muppets back on TV for a successful and solid run.

 

[Drtooth]

I honestly don't think the old theater format would have been good for them either. Maybe if MMW were successful, but certainly not in this television climate. Being brutally honest, I don't think any version of the Muppets would fit on television today no matter how much of the causal fanbase and general public say they'd tune in and watch it.

Of course, I've always said I really really really really really don't want to see something that's going to be at best a not as good retread of the original series. The ONLY one who did a great job with the format of the old series was Roger Langridge in the Muppet Show Comic Book. And frankly, he improved on the original format by having character development in place of fawning over the celebrities. The Muppets should always seek out new venues and new formats. It's just the general nostalgia public isn't as adventurous. Yet they'd be the very same ones to complain about how it's just not the same if they did the same exact thing.

 

[D'Snowth]

As I keep suggesting, what we need is the Muppets to just do what they do best: bring us humor and heart in their own unique and special way. Like Drtooth, myself, and many others have said, remaking TMS would not be the best way to go, because it would be just that: a retread of the original series. That's essentially was MT was: a more modern version of TMS - it tried to be a little more "hip," but it flopped as a result.

That being said, it's also a good idea to not try to force the Muppets into mainstream formulas to try to give them a level of mainstream appeal - that'd be like if SST tried to be more like Barney or Dora to try to stay relevant (well, okay, they kind of did that to a degree with the ATC era, but that's another discussion for another day).

There also needs to be a better meeting of the minds, rather than pandering. The Muppets, when Jim was alive, had a really broad appeal that made them endearing to kids and adults alike, because Jim never intended on the Muppets to be regarded as kiddy entertainment (and, in fact, he was living that nightmare for a while when SST became a success), but at the same time, the level of edgy adult humor was never to the point that it was off-color, distasteful, or inappropriate for kids . . . the Muppets post-Jim have been struggling in this area: are they for kids, or are they for adults? A number of post-Jim Muppet projects have been accused of pandering to kids too much, and then we ended up with THE MUPPETS (2015) that tried to hard to pander to adults, and that in and of itself blew way out of proportion, thanks to parental groups and moral guardians, who were like, "Oh nose! R belobed Muffets that have always ben 4 kidz r now R-rated! Dis cannot happen! Jim Henson wood neva approv uv dis!" That always annoys me how casual lurkers of the Muppets seem to think of Jim as this saintly fellow who intended the Muppets to be squeaky-clean kiddy icons, because that wasn't Jim at all: he always wanted the Muppets to have an edge to them. I'd hate to see how these people would react to any of Jim's non-Muppet work like TIMEPIECE (which includes burlesque) or THE CUBE (which has language).

As I keep saying, IMHO, I believe the best thing to do would be to not try to rehash TMS, and not try to copy mainstream formats and formulas - bring back actual Muppet writers and producers and let them do something in true blue Muppet spirit.

 

[minor muppetz]

That being said, it's also a good idea to not try to force the Muppets into mainstream formulas to try to give them a level of mainstream appeal - that'd be like if SST tried to be more like Barney or Dora to try to stay relevant (well, okay, they kind of did that to a degree with the ATC era, but that's another discussion for another day).

I misunderstood that at first. So you were saying that it'd be like if Sesame Street decided to be like either show to stay relevant, but when I first read this, I thought that "or Dora to try to stay relevant" was a separate example from Sesame Street trying to be like Barney.