Muppets Lost Promos

[Mupp]

Pessimism is not going to do any good at this point.

I feel that it is important to remain cautiously optimistic.

 

[Super Scooter]

I feel that it is important to remain cautiously optimistic.

Yes, cautiously optimistic. The same way one might eat KFC.

 

[Drtooth]

"Down to internet videos?" Like it or not, YouTube is more popular than any television station, I'd bet. And at 14 million views, the Muppets are back to The Muppet Show style audience!

If they have a TV show it's not good enough... if they have a movie, it's not good enough. Like it or not, these videos are the best thing they've done in 20 years because they get the luxury of fooling about and having fun, the way they were originally intended. They have room to be creative. Not like a TV show or movie that has to have some idiotic demographic leading to the toothlessness of projects like MFS, which basically Sony and the hack director thought were Sesame Street. And even if they do get some other project, we'll be whining about how it's not exactly like the first movie, or how it's not exactly like the John Cleese episode... I really don't know what people want. Even if you have EVERY single creative mind behind something, whos to say it's even gonna be all that good? George Lucas... Star Wars prequels... need I say more. At least let them TRY. It's a craptacular market glutted with reality shows and shallow movies with shallow feel good messages in between product placement after product placement. Even the Muppets at their WORST are a billion times better than half the crap shooting out of Hollow-wood at the moment. Really... a Marmaduke movie with the plot recycled from the Underdog movie which was recycled from Firehouse Dog? Even Muppet Oz was clever compaired to that. And hey, if you don't like it, there's always the horrible Parody movie that crams EVERY movie that came out in the last year into a fart and people falling over extravaganza! I mean, Clumsy Batman falling over and hitting farting Jack Sparrow? That;s so much fun! I'll never know how they managed to make that funnier and fresher than Clumsy Incredible Hulk falling over and hitting farting Willy Wonka!

It's a garbage market, and any bright shining jewel's gonna get crushed by it and become one of it. They're run by dreamkilling junk collectors that play favorites with people with zero talent. Even if the Muppets were at the top of their game with Jim at the helm, they'd still manage to ruin it somehow.

 

[Reevz1977]

Wanna get some real stars? Think Gerard Butler, Steve Carell, Jennifer Aniston... people like that.

Gerard Butler?

 

[frogboy4]

Gerard Butler?

Hehe. Yeah, I agree that Butler isn't quite A-list, but I do like him.

Yes, sometimes there's a resurgence of stuff that comes out but the heydays have long since passed. We're down to internet videos and half-reared kiddie specials where the cameos are by D-List celebrities. Want proof? Muppets From Space had Kathy Griffin, and I'm sure most of us know the name of the show she's on. That was in 1999, and they haven't really been big enough for the longest time to get good stars. Wanna get some real stars? Think Gerard Butler, Steve Carell, Jennifer Aniston... people like that.

Only Steve Carell is still an A-lister of those mentioned and it seems that this new move will get A-listers. Yes, the Golden Age of the Muppets is over, but there are other precious metals that can be applied to this new age of Muppety goodness. It's not nor ever could be what it was, but it is evolving into something good. The brand now has the talent, the funding, the studio, the interest, the direction and the fanbase all at the same time. That really hasn't happened since Jim. In fact, toward the end Jim wasn't having an easy time keeping the Muppets relevant either. That's a big part of what the Disney deal was about. The internet segments aren't only huge, they get back to the Muppet roots of what made them good in the first place.

 

[Mupp]

If they have a TV show it's not good enough... if they have a movie, it's not good enough. Like it or not, these videos are the best thing they've done in 20 years because they get the luxury of fooling about and having fun, the way they were originally intended. They have room to be creative.

Good point.
Its like we've got a Internet version of The Muppet Show.

 

[Super Scooter]

You guys have said so yourself, they've given their characters something new. Well if it isn't broke don't fix it.

The Muppets are among a minority. The characters grow and evolve. They change as the years pass on. You're right. Kermit isn't the same as he was when Jim performed him. But have you ever compared early Sesame Street Kermit with The Muppet Show Kermit? Or The Muppet Show Kermit with The Jim Henson Hour Kermit? The character changed a lot between SS and TMS. He changed, though not quite so dramatically, between TMS and JHH. Go back even farther, did you ever see Hey, Cinderella? Kermit's barely recognizable there! Even comparing TMS season 1 Kermit to season 5 Kermit you see a major change in the character. You could hardly say he was ever broken, but they still "fixed" him.

And on Eric's Fozzie... I prefer him a ton to the dumbed-down version that Frank's had become. Don't get me wrong. Frank is the master, and I truly do wish he'd never retired from the Muppets. But when he was only lending his voice, poor Fozzie suffered. I'm actually still getting used to Eric's Piggy, but I think the only issue with her is the material. There was an interview with her a while back that was absolutely perfect. Eric was brilliant as Piggy in it, and I'm sure that it is the sort of thing we can expect more of from him.

 

[Frogster]

You're right. Kermit isn't the same as he was when Jim performed him. But have you ever compared early Sesame Street Kermit with The Muppet Show Kermit? Or The Muppet Show Kermit with The Jim Henson Hour Kermit? The character changed a lot between SS and TMS.

That's actually an excellent point. Kermit evolved quite a bit from Hey, Cinderella to The Jim Henson Hour but you know what separates Jim from Steve? Well first and foremost, it's Jim's character and personality. But secondly, Jim actually improved. While Jim wasn't always perfect, there weren't any painful moments by him that I can remember. It's actually tough watching Steve do Kermit for me personally. It's embarrassing. And it's embarrassing because, here's this iconic puppet frog that had more character, personality and depth than most fictional characters; someone who could resonate with anyone at any age, and after the performer passes away, he's handed to someone who brings him down several pegs to where it seems only children find him truly appealing. It's even the little things that he's done with Kermit, like keeping the hands positioned way too high or scrunching the face up too much.

The worst of it is, he turned Kermit into this, "Hey everyone let's all get along, sing, and listen to me talk about either Miss Piggy or how I'm just a little ol' frog. And I'll do it all while seeming foppish, air-headed and one-dimensional ." It's intolerable, and Piggy's nearly the same way now. Kermit is now pretty much like the hot yet dim-witted girl you'd meet at a bar. Looks appealing at first, but when either of them start talking, you see there's no substance.

 

[antsamthompson9]

Also, I seem to remember a video where Jim, Frank and Michael Frith were talking about how to perform Kermit, and Jim said you need to operate Kermit at a slight angle, otherwise Kermit kinda looks like a duck... guess what? Steve does the duck face.

Kermit always did the duck face. Look at this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYvHFzB5BdQ.

 

[Mupp]

The worst of it is, he turned Kermit into this, "Hey everyone let's all get along,

It would seem that you missed the Kermit's Commentary video of Muppets Bohemian Rhaspsody, Kermit lost his cool at the end of the commentary;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAomKAMN2Pw