Yeah I think they always struggled with the size of the cast in the first three Muppet films. It was easier on TV when characters had multiple chances to shine. TMM had the best balance, everyone got their moment. GMC, love it, but it had way too many Muppet crowd scenes with most of the characters not really doing anything. MTM's solution was to make arguably the most heart felt Kermit and Piggy story of all time (with some Rizzo thrown in, yes, lol), but that did mean the other characters got the short end. Still, I personally don't mind because it makes their parting and reunion that much more touching. Those moments early on are genuinely upsetting because they made that bold choice to literally separate the characters. A lot of other films would have been too scared to go there. And one of my favorite parts of the whole movie is actually Scooter's letter, the way the "Together Again" theme plays as you hear him saying, "Have you sold the show yet? Have you heard from the gang?"
Pretty much sums up the entire MTM experience. You're crying a lot, but there's always someone holding your hand going, "It's gonna be OK, it'll be OK." Lol