New Muppet Pilot in Development by Randall Einhorn (The Office, Modern Family) for ABC

[Drtooth]

I doubt the Muppet Show or any of the original Muppet films under Jim Henson would be considered G by today's standards and I think that's the point.

That really wasn't what that member was saying. It was more in defense of Dinsney Channel's bleh programming. And I'll say this one more thing before I put this to rest. I'm very disappointed that while Disney's preschool programing and animated programming have improved significantly, their live action shows have gotten (and I can't believe I'm saying this) worse. Disney Jr. has some great stuff like Miles from Tomorrowland, free from the influence of Dora, and darned if I'm still surprised that Gravity Falls is a Disney cartoon, rather than something on CN. But (really hate saying this) the sitcom shows (minus GMW) have sunk to worse than Hanna Montana levels. I mean, by comparison, these shows make that thing look like Taxi. Dog with a Blog sounds like one of those terrible ideas NBC would have greenlit in the 80's (and yes, the concept of blogs didn't exist back then, I know that, someone's going to passive aggressively point that out). On the bright side, unlike Hanna Montana, Disney isn't merchandising the heck out of these shows and shoving them down everyone's throats. They learned their lesson after no one was buying Johnas Brothers crap. Sucks that shows like Star vs. the Forces of Evil, Star Wars Rebels, and Penn Zero, while they do enjoy a once a week hour block on DC, got carted off to the less accessible Disney XD channel. I mean, for Glob's sake, force the cable congloms to give everyone both channels.

Done with that soapbox.

Here is the thing, if they tried to just "re-do" the Muppet Show it would fail for a couple of reasons. Fist off it would fail because no matter how hard they would try it would never live up to how great the original show was. Secondly, I don't know how many people would watch. they would think that they had seen it before or something.

Jim really wasn't the kind to redo things, anyway. There was never a "Muppet Show 2," and that's why the first 3 movies were completely different (especially MTM). I don't think he would have wanted a Muppet Show retread. Even with the Muppet segments of JHH there was only so much TMS influence in there. I'm sure if the show got the longer run that it deserved, there would have been vast improvements to the format. Looking back, it did seem a little raw.

But so much of The Muppet Show is based in the 1970's. It managed to come out at the tail end of the Variety Show's relevance (there was such an incredible glut of terrible ones), yet managed to be just accessible and fun enough to push past that. MT failed by trying to take that format and update it. I don't see why they went with that weird Tonight Show type format instead of a more obvious SNL type. MT didn't really get off the ground until it showed less of the show and more of the characters. And I have to admit, while Roger Langridge brought back the Muppet Show in comic form beautifully, the comics really excelled in improving the show because of the lack of usable guest stars lead to some great character development. Scooter wanting to be a writer? That was excellent. He improved upon the formula.

 

[RealWonderman]

I'm sure the change is not going to be as dramatic as the article is making it seem. At the most, what we'll get is more mature conversation and adult humour that will fly over kids heads. I think some people are imagining Muppets cracking jokes about sex and other explicit matters. That would NEVER happen!

I think it's a great idea! The Muppets need a chance to become a little more three dimensional and they're not going to accomplish that by their usual silliness and irreverence. Just imagine what this move could do for Miss Piggy. She has never been a Muppet for kids, so this would let her off the leash and allow her (and Eric) to rediscover what Frank had in mind. The Pig really does live within her complex imagination. Maybe we could see that come out in her again, away from the boundaries of 'family friendly' values.

Not only could it do wonders for the characters, but also for the overall feel of the Muppets. Why settle for 'silly funny' when you could have 'clever funny'? Jim Henson started his career with clever funny with Sam and Friends (with a few explosions added in). In fact, the Muppets remained clever funny until MTI and from there the humour just got thinner and cheaper until the terribleness peaked at MWoO.

It's been a dragging, but surely steady climb for the Muppets to return to thier best and perhaps this is what they need to take thier final step. Yes, let's keep the chaos, silliness and craziness, but let's also gain a deeper perspective while we're at it.

I know there's plenty of my fellow fans who will disagree with me, but I say let's give it a chance!

HEAR HEAR!!!!!!

 

[Drtooth]

Now to sit back and wait for someone who complained about the Muppet Moments bits being too juvenile to complain about this show being too adult.

 

[dwayne1115]

Now to sit back and wait for someone who complained about the Muppet Moments bits being too juvenile to complain about this show being too adult.

Yep sadly there is no middle ground.

 

[mr3urious]

I'm confident these writers will make this show feel mature without being raunchy.

 

[kathy26]

will we see the return of the Mutations,and Scooter

 

[D'Snowth]

I think some people are imagining Muppets cracking jokes about sex and other explicit matters. That would NEVER happen!

Yeah, just like Pepe never fathered a ton of babies with one of his many girlfriends.

I mean don't get me wrong, I get a kick out of Pepe, Bill does a great job with him and he's always a riot, though he is noticeably more "adult" than the other characters, particularly those occasions where he appears on talk shows where he really lets himself loose. Then again, Pepe is a product of his time, and the older Classic Muppets are products of their time as well. Janice has always been a milder version of that kind of ***** character, look at all the times whenever the crowd settles down and she continues rambling about her neo-hippy pasttimes like lying around naked on the beach and such, yet not taking her clothes off for anybody (even if its "artistic").

Then, of course, there's always the problem of "updating" he characters' personalities to make them appeal to today's audiences like they've been doing with those Chipmunks movies - I honestly can't picture Fozzie having a girlfriend. Having be a momma's boy briefly seemed to fit his insecure yet neurotic personality, but I can't see any girl finding that kind of personality appealing. Who would it be anyway? Beth from MTM? Fozzie didn't seem to like the idea of her snuggling with him, lol.

EDIT: Wow, really? We have to censor a certain word that rhymes with "corny"?

 

[mr3urious]

EDIT: Wow, really? We have to censor a certain word that rhymes with "corny"?

I thought it was a certain other 5-letter word that rhymes with "witch".

 

[BlakeConor14]

How

You missed my point completely.

 

[WalterLinz]

I'm confident that this means the show would be for all ages too, it's cute this will be in the style of The Office and 30 Rock, but with the same Muppety zaniness included.

Sigh..we'll just have to wait and see, maybe.. -crosses fingers again-