Muppets Now Episode 1 - Due Date (Pilot)

[DARTH MUPPET]

My main problem with it was a sketch show like The Muppets Show which was great for its time but been there done that. I loved the Muppets 2015 show it was like the Muppets meet the office. It had an edge Muppets drinking beer and dating humans I absolutely loved it the Electric Mayhem leaving Kristen Chenowith for dead in the desert. I will definitely keep watching but it was so so for me. DISNEY IF YOU GOT GUYS WATCHING THIS FORUM PLEASE GIVE US THEATRICAL MOVIES OR MOVIES FOR DISNEY+. I Really liked Muppets 2011 and Muppets Most wanted may be bring Bobbin back to direct and the guys that did the music for those films from Flight Of The Choncords or Lin Manuel Miranda. Another cool idea bring Frank Oz back to direct just some ideas I have!

 

[Muppet Master]

To put it bluntly, it was a dull and laugh-less watch. It only made me miss the 2015 ABC series so much more. What we essentially got was a mismatch of Youtube-style muppet content packaged together with the loose narrative of the gang almost being late to submit the episode. The Miss Piggy sketch was grating while the Walter and RuPaul ones were just so-so. The highlight for me was the Swedish Chef skit with new character Beverly the turkey but even that was just okay and nothing special.

Maybe this is an unpopular opinion but I just really like seeing the Muppets in a sitcom format more than anything else. The backstage scenes in the original Muppet Show were always my favorite part of every episode. And I feel Muppets Tonight and 2015 Muppets did a solid job with that as well. I'm not going to immediately write off Muppets Now because it's just the first episode (and the way they filmed may have been affected by the covid-19 pandemic) but it's certainly a pretty big disappointment for the time being. The next episode is Fozzie-centric so that's definitely a plus.

Overall though, if the following episodes also have a very thin storyline and focus more on skit shenanigans then this feels more like a compilation of Youtube clips than an actual full-fledged series. They should have gone with the Josh Gad show instead. Hate to be harsh but I just really feel dissatisfied with what we got.

 

[DARTH MUPPET]

To put it bluntly, it was a dull and laugh-less watch. It only made me miss the 2015 ABC series so much more. What we essentially got was a mismatch of Youtube-style muppet content packaged together with the loose narrative of the gang almost being late to submit the episode. The Miss Piggy sketch was grating while the Walter and RuPaul ones were just so-so. The highlight for me was the Swedish Chef skit with new character Beverly the turkey but even that was just okay and nothing special.

Maybe this is an unpopular opinion but I just really like seeing the Muppets in a sitcom format more than anything else. The backstage scenes in the original Muppet Show were always my favorite part of every episode. And I feel Muppets Tonight and 2015 Muppets did a solid job with that as well. I'm not going to immediately write off Muppets Now because it's just the first episode (and the way they filmed may have been affected by the covid-19 pandemic) but it's certainly a pretty big disappointment for the time being. The next episode is Fozzie-centric so that's definitely a plus.

Overall though, if the following episodes also have a very thin storyline and focus more on skit shenanigans then this feels more like a compilation of Youtube clips than an actual full-fledged series. They should have gone with the Josh Gad show instead. Hate to be harsh but I just really feel dissatisfied with what we got.

I totally agree and a movie would be nice!

 

[DARTH MUPPET]

I actually watched the pilot a second time tonight after the Yankees game with my dad I loved the episode way more on second view!

 

[DARTH MUPPET]

I hate to say it but people hated the 2015 Muppets show because it was to adult Muppets drinking alcohol Muppets dating humans bad language. Now we get a sketch show Allah the Muppets show Muppets tonight and people hate this new show. You gotta wonder weather it's a problem with the fans or Disney? I am leaning the fans. Us Muppets fans gotta give the Muppets a chance or Disney ain't gonna give Muppets any love. We need ratings binge the heck out of this!

 

[MWoO]

I hate to say it but people hated the 2015 Muppets show because it was to adult Muppets drinking alcohol Muppets dating humans bad language. Now we get a sketch show Allah the Muppets show Muppets tonight and people hate this new show. You gotta wonder weather it's a problem with the fans or Disney? I am leaning the fans. Us Muppets fans gotta give the Muppets a chance or Disney ain't gonna give Muppets any love. We need ratings binge the heck out of this!

I actually liked The Muppets 2015 because they were more adult. The Muppets always drank and were sexually attracted to humans. They also were known to swear once in a while, when appropriate. The problem is that many current adult fans remember The Muppets from when they were kids and seem to block out all the adult oriented stuff. The original Muppet Babies cartoon didn't help either, which seems to be the reason Scooter is now a nerd when he was originally an opportunistic kid, always looking for an angle.

The Muppet Show was actually quite edgy for its time. A lot of violence, sex, innuendo, and an overall "hippy" vibe. However, when you are a kid all of that goes over your head and when you watch it now, it's masked by nostalgia. Now people think that The Muppets should never be cynical or mean. A Muppet drinking? Perish the thought.

I liked The Muppets 2015 for making The Muppets adults again. The main issue that the show had was that there wasn't enough Muppet weirdness. It had good writing, character development, decent story structure, but the show within a show was too realistic. This was something that was getting fixed in the final episodes. The introduction of Howard Tubman as a talent booker was genius. I wish they had more time to use that element. It made for a great excuse to bring in Muppet weirdness. Up Late with Miss Piggy could have remained realistic, but the rehearsals could have had weird bits.

The Muppets 2015 also had decent ratings. It was canceled because the network switched presidents. If that had not happened the show would have likely been renewed. Personally, I would have liked to see a return of that show instead of Muppets Now.

Also, I think The Muppets 2015 with Matt Vogel as Kermit would have been better. Preferably with Steve still on board as Rizzo. I think Matt plays Kermit as a nice adult. I think Steve, while talented, played Kermit a little too.... nice.... and never could pull off angry Kermit. Heck, I remember in AVMMC when Kermit got upset at Piggy and he STILL said "Piggy, will you PLEASE leave me alone!". Steve made Kermit way too polite, even when he was angry. Some times Matt falls into this too, but not as much and I hope that over time Matt drops Kermit being overly polite and brings him back to being the snarky frog who can dish it out as much as he can take it.

So in short, I think the problem is with both The Muppets and with the Muppet fans. Fans expect sanitized Muppets, but when they get them they don't understand why they aren't funny. A lot of people who think they like The Muppets don't realize what made the old stuff so funny. What The Muppets need is a talented creative mind to put them on a path with a clear direction and put together a talented writing staff that knows how to walk that fine line between family friendly and adult oriented. Basically they need Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl.

 

[Prof Bunsen]

Okay, just got done watching Episode 1.

And....remember that Uncle Deadly said something about "owning your flaws"? Yeah, I think after this one I think the team needs to own a LOT of them. Because in my opinion, the episode turned out to be like the Swedish Chef's plantain dish.

So let me just go through the episode here, including the segments. Overall, I'm not exactly sure if I'm digging the new format. Too social network-like, too pop-culture-y. Now, don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with the pop culture part. I mean they had people like Elton John and Loretta Lynn, but again the 70's incarnation were sophisticated enough to bring both highbrow and lowbrow together. Here....it just seems too lowbrow. It's like the Muppets are trying too hard and pretentious to fit in with a modern audience.

Starting off, Piggy's new "Lifesty" segment. It seemed off. We have Miss Piggy and Uncle Deadly being the second banana, and I didn't laugh at all through the segment. None of the jokes I found appealing. Deadly was trying a little too hard at making the humor work, and it didn't. And then the Zoom call with Janice and Linda Cardellini just didn't really work out. I mean it could work, but methinks Piggy needs to own most of her flaws here.

And then, the photography segment involving Kermit, Walter, and Sam. That one was a little more appealing. I kinda chuckled with some of Sam's one-off's. But the whole thing once again seemed a little pretentious. It's like we get it...Kermit likes photobombing. We get it, Walter doesn't know how to photobomb and provokes Piggy to revive her trademark chop towards the camera. But besides Sam, I didn't really care too much for this segment either.

And then.....yeah. Swedish Chef. Didn't really laugh a whole lot through the segment, except during parts that were so bad I had to laugh. First of all, Swedish Chef and entering with hippie sunglasses?! Meh. And we have him just trying (with emphasis) to screw up an entire plantain entree, while of course, a chef by the name of Carlina Will (I'm not really big on famous chefs besides Bobby Flay, Giada and Alex Guarnaschelli) makes a perfect dish. And I think Beverly is trying tot hard to interject like a belladonna, with some unnecessary warbling at the tail end. I don't know what that was all about, but overall this segment pretty much captures the Swedish Chef's own creation. Effort. Trying to make a segment work with effort.

Last but not least, we have the "main" segment I guess (with RuPaul; taking us back to Kermit's "interview" spots for that episode's particular guest star), and once again I just can't really get into Kermit's new voice. It just sounds like Kermit doing a Peter Lorre impression. Maybe Constantine has taken over?! But poking fun aside, we have a random whatnot pig named Howard upstaging Kermit on RuPaul's background. Finally, I was amused. It took this long, but finally. And I think Gonzo also moved things along too (even if I don't know who "Benny" is). And then everyone just ganging up and asking RuPaul questions in unison got the comedic flow back.

But overall, I think the series so far needs some serious work. I didn't think it was terrible, but I felt pretty ambivalent through the episode. I guess you can say I'm more old-school, but like I said before, I think the best description for this was...pretentious. Take that as a compliment. The only Muppets I laughed or chuckled with were Sam, Gonzo, and the pig whatnot. Everyone else was trying too hard, and everything fell flat. Despite the many flaws that need owning, however, I will watch the remainder of the season and see how this goes.

 

[DARTH MUPPET]

I actually liked The Muppets 2015 because they were more adult. The Muppets always drank and were sexually attracted to humans. They also were known to swear once in a while, when appropriate. The problem is that many current adult fans remember The Muppets from when they were kids and seem to block out all the adult oriented stuff. The original Muppet Babies cartoon didn't help either, which seems to be the reason Scooter is now a nerd when he was originally an opportunistic kid, always looking for an angle.

The Muppet Show was actually quite edgy for its time. A lot of violence, sex, innuendo, and an overall "hippy" vibe. However, when you are a kid all of that goes over your head and when you watch it now, it's masked by nostalgia. Now people think that The Muppets should never be cynical or mean. A Muppet drinking? Perish the thought.

I liked The Muppets 2015 for making The Muppets adults again. The main issue that the show had was that there wasn't enough Muppet weirdness. It had good writing, character development, decent story structure, but the show within a show was too realistic. This was something that was getting fixed in the final episodes. The introduction of Howard Tubman as a talent booker was genius. I wish they had more time to use that element. It made for a great excuse to bring in Muppet weirdness. Up Late with Miss Piggy could have remained realistic, but the rehearsals could have had weird bits.

The Muppets 2015 also had decent ratings. It was canceled because the network switched presidents. If that had not happened the show would have likely been renewed. Personally, I would have liked to see a return of that show instead of Muppets Now.

Also, I think The Muppets 2015 with Matt Vogel as Kermit would have been better. Preferably with Steve still on board as Rizzo. I think Matt plays Kermit as a nice adult. I think Steve, while talented, played Kermit a little too.... nice.... and never could pull off angry Kermit. Heck, I remember in AVMMC when Kermit got upset at Piggy and he STILL said "Piggy, will you PLEASE leave me alone!". Steve made Kermit way too polite, even when he was angry. Some times Matt falls into this too, but not as much and I hope that over time Matt drops Kermit being overly polite and brings him back to being the snarky frog who can dish it out as much as he can take it.

So in short, I think the problem is with both The Muppets and with the Muppet fans. Fans expect sanitized Muppets, but when they get them they don't understand why they aren't funny. A lot of people who think they like The Muppets don't realize what made the old stuff so funny. What The Muppets need is a talented creative mind to put them on a path with a clear direction and put together a talented writing staff that knows how to walk that fine line between family friendly and adult oriented. Basically they need Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl.

Yeah I am really digging Matt Vogels Kermit! I agree with a lot of what you have to say!

 

[Luke]

I hate to say it but people hated the 2015 Muppets show because it was to adult Muppets drinking alcohol Muppets dating humans bad language. Now we get a sketch show Allah the Muppets show Muppets tonight and people hate this new show. You gotta wonder weather it's a problem with the fans or Disney? I am leaning the fans. Us Muppets fans gotta give the Muppets a chance or Disney ain't gonna give Muppets any love. We need ratings binge the heck out of this!

The pilot just wasn't funny enough. That's the crux of it.
The Muppets have always been multi-layer funny, whether that's laugh out loud stuff like Pepe in a tutu, to background stuff like penguins being fired from cannons, to them even making a joke of each other like Statler & Waldorf with Fozzie's jokes. Sure you have sad, warm or even scary moments but they always come back to the funny.
This was low level funny ... maybe Joe from legal's been at the scripts ...

 

[D'Snowth]

I hate to say it but people hated the 2015 Muppets show because it was to adult Muppets drinking alcohol Muppets dating humans bad language.

The forced gratuituous adult content was one thing, but really, the 2015 series' main problem was that they tried way too hard to give it mainstream appeal by bringing in mainstream writers and directors to make it seem more like other mainstream "sitcoms" like THE OFFICE, THE BIG BANG THEORY, and MODERN FAMILY, and we ended up getting THE BIG MODERN MUPPET BANG OFFICE FAMILY THEORY.

Granted, like MWoO said, the Muppets have occasionally veered off into adult territory since the beginning when it was necessary, but the difference here is that they were much more blunt, blatant, and in-your-face with the adult humor.

Bottom line is, they tried too hard to make the Muppets something they weren't.

I haven't heard anybody say they hate MUPPETS NOW! yet; critical response has been mostly positive, and as far as fan reaction goes, the harshest criticism I've come across so far has been "Meh?" And that's been few and far between.