Interesting article on the current state of the Muppets

[Sgt Floyd]

The muppets may have become Has-beens but you have to admit, the 1st season was one of the best selling dvds. And if you think about it, the fact the muppets are STILL being used does not mean that they are completly vanishing out of existance.

Sure, I bet there were alot of kids who sat down and watched MWoO and knew kermit and piggy and fozzie and gonzo, maybe even pepe, but wondered who the flying monkeys were, or wondered who the band was that was playing in the poppy feilds set.

I even admit myself I wondered who they were, (I knew the band was the electric mayhm, just not names at the time) and I may even sound like a hypocrit. But after I saw the muppet show for the first time in what..9 years(?)...I instantly knew who they were, know their voices (exept for muppet tonight charaters, we didnt have dinsey channel when it was on). Even my neighboor (the one mentioned) knew who Kermit and fozzie and gonzo and piggy and even beaker, and scooter, should tell you something that even kids who did not grow up with the muppets (I was young enough to watch reruns until it was pulled) still know who the major characters are. Maybe not the ones rarely used and the more minor ones from the muppet show.

Someday, maybe if parents and future parents share the muppets with their kids, Disney will realize how popular the muppets are becomeing, the muppets might come back, even if not as big as it was, just strong enough to show later genorations who most of the muppets are.

Ok, I'm done my ranting and wishful thinking session, have a nice day

 

[CensoredAlso]

The muppets may have become Has-beens but you have to admit, the 1st season was one of the best selling dvds. And if you think about it, the fact the muppets are STILL being used does not mean that they are completly vanishing out of existance.

Right, now they have nostaglic value. Which can be just as important as popularity.

 

[crazed gonzo fa]

I didn't see the pizza hut comercial but brother told me about it. When he told me about the last lines(piggy,"I thought i was the popstar,"--js,"Dream on!"), I was thinking "Miss Piggy better do a karate chop!"

 

[Ruahnna]

It is as though executives don't think that doing a musical requires any special qualities- that anyone can do it. Perhaps the same mindset has gone into Muppet writing- that any seasoned writer can do it, which is not the case. They have a style all their own- silliness with sincerity, and a balanced, multi-leveled approach to humor. Their best projects following Juhl's retirement seem to be aiming at this and some come very close at times. But IMO nothing has fired on all cylinders of late. David "Gorgon Heap" Ebersole

Very nicely put, David. I don't with all that you said, but you said it very well (I'm a sucker for a well-turned phrase). What caught my attention most were your comments above about the inability of some of the PTB (powers that be) to understand the essential Muppet-ness of the muppets (now I'm sounding Zen) and use our dear felt friends in ways that are appropriate.

As I've mentioned before, I'm a Trekkie. Like the Muppets, we were rejected by network television and, like them, found greater creative control by changing venues--Trek to cable, and Muppets to UK. Trekkies are the front-runners of the modern media fandoms, and we have broken more ground and borne more indignities that most other fandoms out there, including the incredibly embarrassing and damaging things that we have done to ourselves. (And please, please, please don't anyone bore me with the whole Trekker verses Trekkie thing--it only adds fuel to the fire that we are all geeks who live with our parents in their basement apartments.) We've suffered through some of the most execrable fan fiction known to man--some of it even published by real publishers, for heavens sake--and a whole string of self-important actors and actresses who couldn't be bothered to watch the original Trek before firmly grasping the coattails of their predacessors to become a character themselves. Has Trek-ness suffered in all these transitions? Yes. But has essential Trek-ness been diminished? I don't think so.

Yes, I was sortof embarrassed watching Kermit's Swamp Years. It wasn't what I had hoped for--mainly because it--literally--wasn't the Kermit I had come to know. Back in the day of no new Star Trek, some of us tried bravely to watch Battlestar Gallactica, Quark and Space:1999. It was science fiction, but it wasn't Star Trek. We tried watching T.J. Hooker (notice I said tried). It was Shatner, but it wasn't Star Trek. Only Star Trek was Star Trek, and when they began to create new and different Treks, what seemed most important to me was not whether or not there was a ship, or whether I liked the captain (or the captain's hairdo) or whether the good guys were always good and the bad guys always bad, but whether or not--when I was viewing--I could sense Trek-ness. KSY was just lacking in muppet-ness because Kermit hadn't become who is already was. And it's really hard to personify an unformed idea with the same warmth and vitality as a fully formed and functional one.

WoO, while disappointing, had moments of muppet-ness. I loved Gonzo leading Fozzie across the bridge despite the hecklers. Pepe's line "I live in a stinkin' fishbowl. We're poking the witch in the eye, okay?!" was dead on. Seeing Foo-Foo in all her snarly splendor was also nice. So while it didn't actually ooze Muppet-ness, muppet-ness was detectable. IMO, IAVMMC was just chock-full of muppety goodness, even while our guys and gals struggled a little with new roles and news voices.

All this to say--I don't think the Muppets are DOA yet. Like Miss Piggy, I think it's possible that--with the right handling--they could pop right off that gurney and take on the world. And I'm going to be rooting for them.
(personal foul--illegal use of soapbox)

 

[Erine81981]

Very nicely put, David. I don't with all that you said, but you said it very well (I'm a sucker for a well-turned phrase). What caught my attention most were your comments above about the inability of some of the PTB (powers that be) to understand the essential Muppet-ness of the muppets (now I'm sounding Zen) and use our dear felt friends in ways that are appropriate.

As I've mentioned before, I'm a Trekkie. Like the Muppets, we were rejected by network television and, like them, found greater creative control by changing venues--Trek to cable, and Muppets to UK. Trekkies are the front-runners of the modern media fandoms, and we have broken more ground and borne more indignities that most other fandoms out there, including the incredibly embarrassing and damaging things that we have done to ourselves. (And please, please, please don't anyone bore me with the whole Trekker verses Trekkie thing--it only adds fuel to the fire that we are all geeks who live with our parents in their basement apartments.) We've suffered through some of the most execrable fan fiction known to man--some of it even published by real publishers, for heavens sake--and a whole string of self-important actors and actresses who couldn't be bothered to watch the original Trek before firmly grasping the coattails of their predacessors to become a character themselves. Has Trek-ness suffered in all these transitions? Yes. But has essential Trek-ness been diminished? I don't think so.

Yes, I was sortof embarrassed watching Kermit's Swamp Years. It wasn't what I had hoped for--mainly because it--literally--wasn't the Kermit I had come to know. Back in the day of no new Star Trek, some of us tried bravely to watch Battlestar Gallactica, Quark and Space:1999. It was science fiction, but it wasn't Star Trek. We tried watching T.J. Hooker (notice I said tried). It was Shatner, but it wasn't Star Trek. Only Star Trek was Star Trek, and when they began to create new and different Treks, what seemed most important to me was not whether or not there was a ship, or whether I liked the captain (or the captain's hairdo) or whether the good guys were always good and the bad guys always bad, but whether or not--when I was viewing--I could sense Trek-ness. KSY was just lacking in muppet-ness because Kermit hadn't become who is already was. And it's really hard to personify an unformed idea with the same warmth and vitality as a fully formed and functional one.

WoO, while disappointing, had moments of muppet-ness. I loved Gonzo leading Fozzie across the bridge despite the hecklers. Pepe's line "I live in a stinkin' fishbowl. We're poking the witch in the eye, okay?!" was dead on. Seeing Foo-Foo in all her snarly splendor was also nice. So while it didn't actually ooze Muppet-ness, muppet-ness was detectable. IMO, IAVMMC was just chock-full of muppety goodness, even while our guys and gals struggled a little with new roles and news voices.

All this to say--I don't think the Muppets are DOA yet. Like Miss Piggy, I think it's possible that--with the right handling--they could pop right off that gurney and take on the world. And I'm going to be rooting for them.
(personal foul--illegal use of soapbox)

AWSOME! Love it! Great what you said Ruahnna. I'm also rooting for them too. GOOOOOOOO MUPPETS!

 

[somethingofafan]

Just once I'd like to see one of those Pizza Hut commercials where they show Piggy getting all huffy about the Pepperoni topping the pizza. Perhaps they can show her griping at the director, demanding to know why they can't use a mushroom pizza (the answer, or course: some Muppet mushrooms).

 

[beaker]

Not to sound pessimistic (heh), but I think the article perfectly described what was wrong with the Pizza Hut commercial.

I agreed with the article 100%. Fans get excited about Kermit appearing with Jessica Simpson on some ghastly super bowl commercia for pizza hut, or Kermit's trademark song being used to promtoe gas guzzling trucks(by a company that worked for the Nazis, no less)

Do we have ANY evidence the Muppets are actually slowly returning? Or are they mor eon life support than ever?

I've been on muppet central almost 8 years now, and I swear the Muppets future hasnt seemed so non existent, as it has in the post Mickey bought years.

 

[MelissaY1]

http://www.ocweekly.com/film/film/sometimes-dead-is-better/24718/

thought this was apretty intertesting artcile that sums up alot of whats happening with the characters we grew up with

Thanks for the link. I have to agree with it and the article only made me sadder to realize what's happened to our beloved Muppets, Warner Bros., Disney characters, etc. They're all shadows of what they once were which was clever, well made bits of entertainment. While I have to disagree with the author's article that kids today don't know who Kermit is (true many don't) many still do. A few years back when they had those Christmas windows unveiled at Macy's in NYC and Steve Whitmire was there to perform Kermit, there was a few kids standing in front of me and as soon as Kermit popped up from behind the podium those kids were jumping up and down with excitement and I got teary eyed thinking how as long as kids still get excited at the sight of Kermit, Jim's dream is still living on. And like someone else here said the Muppet Show Season 1 DVD is still doing well, people still turn out in droves at the Museum of T.V. and Radio here in NY whenever there's a Henson event.... people still care about these charactesr. It's the entertainment industry who doesn't.

 

[CensoredAlso]

people still turn out in droves at the Museum of T.V. and Radio here in NY whenever there's a Henson event.... people still care about these charactesr. It's the entertainment industry who doesn't.

I totally agree. I've gone to two Muppet public screenings at The Museum of TV and Radio and it's always packed. And it's so obvious that most of the crowd is only there for Muppets (they leave as soon as the Muppet segments are over!) There are even some little kids. One girl was asking her mother a ton of questions. The mother asked her if she wanted to leave and the girl replied, "No I love The Muppets!"

 

[Valentine]

"kids today have no idea who Kermit the Frog or Miss Piggy is" MY FOOT!(read that carefully or it will sound weird) I'm a kid (sorta) and I know EXACTLY who they are. My old neighboor who was 8 knew who they were, even kids at my school know who they are!

Before I found this nifty little message board ...I've always wondered where the muppets went to.

...Take that for what its worth.