New Muppets Interstitial Series on Disney Junior 2015

[Muppet Master]

"The Muppet Show gave Jim Henson a way to prove that puppets could successfully entertain adults as well as children." Sorry if I came off like a maniac, but come on Disney Junior, would Jim really want this? Do these guys...

belong with these guys?

I get that new muppet stuff is better than nothing, but will they kidify the muppets to the extent of the characters shown above?

 

[Duke Remington]

Still missing the point, eh, MuppetMaster? Re-read what WalterLinz, Oscarfan and Muppet fan 123 said.

 

[JonnyBMuppetMan]

I'm probably thinking too hard on this, but it really kind of aggravates me that a new Muppet series hasn't gotten off the ground in over a decade, and the best that can be done is a series of shorts on a preschool network.

It's hard for me to fathom why it's come to this, but if they've done it before (Muppet Time, Play-Along videos, etc.), I guess they can do it again. So be it. I only hope that these new shorts aren't too toned down, and hopefully, will lead to something greater (as in not a Muppet preschool show on Disney Junior).

 

[charlietheowl]

Is Disney Junior the ideal spot for the Muppets? No. But I'm not going to pass judgment on the series until more information and/or some clips surface. For all we know, this could be another Disney Drive-On thing where the Muppets promote other Disney series. I'm interested to see what this turns out to be.

 

[Drtooth]

Every one of those "Play-Along" videos would disagree with you.

Yes. So much yes. So very yes.

Remember... this was made!!! And back when Jim was still around, too. And let's not forget the post Jim Sing-a-long videos about construction equipment with Kermit. Muppet Babies, anyone?

Yeah. It stinks they're not coming up with something more accessible to all audiences like the Mickey shorts are (which they should totally do Muppet ones in time). I'm not saying oh well, at least its something" either. This will reach an audience of some sort, and they're making some new footage, as juvenile as it might be. After the public shut them out of the movies by not being Frozen (or that horrible squirrel thing that was darn lucky), we're pretty thankful to see them at all. Of course, I wish that at the same time they'd do some more general audience web shorts again.

 

[minor muppetz]

This would be a great time to bring back Bean Bunny. I wonder what shape that puppet is in.

I wonder how educational these shorts will be. They'll probably be "kiddie" in some way, but I wonder if they'll also be made enjoyable for adults (maybe an excuse to get adults to watch Disney Junior?).

Man, as long as they're doing Muppet interstitials, wouldn't it be more-or-less great if they also reran the old Muppet Time interstitials?

 

[Mr Sweetums]

If this was a proper TV Show I would not be excited, I would be worried and maybe even angry. Disney has worked very hard to make the Muppets a Family Franchise to then go and make a Muppet Show on Disney Junior would just be a dumb move on their part. At the same time it's all about money and MMW has sadly closed a lot of doors for the Muppets. Nobody is going to give the okay for a new Muppet show on any other channel, not at the moment but putting them on Disney Junior is basically playing it safe. This s probably one of their only options at the moment and I'm glad that Disney are still being clever about this because having an interstitial series will not make Disney Junior The Muppets new home but will expose them to a younger audience which at the moment I think is very important.

Even though Jim Henson produced those Play-Along videos and other Muppet Stuff aimed at kids I think it's important to realize that at that time The Muppets had established themselves as family entertainment. They had movies, specials, Guest starred on a lot of late night shows etc... and this time around I don't think they've reached that point just yet. At this moment aiming the Muppets just for kids might not be the best idea that is why an interstitial series is a great compromise. Also those Play House videos only had a handful of main Muppets and some new ones, it was more of an extra Muppet production than a main feature, it was the interstitial series of it's time.

 

[dwayne1115]

Who knows this maybe a way for them to bring back the Muppet Babies.

 

[minor muppetz]

Would I rather the Muppets find a better station to have a interstitial series on? Definetly. Disney owns ABC, ESPN, Disney Channel and Disney XD. Why couldn't they put it on one of those.

As far as I'm concerned, the only Disney station that actually has interstitial series is Disney Junior (with the exception of the new Mickey Mouse shorts on Disney Channel), and there are far more bigger franchises Disney would be going after first.

Wouldn't it be cool if Disney did multiple Muppet interstitial series, each on a different Disney-owned channel and to different demographics? Maybe for ESPN they can make new Muppet Sports segments and bring back Louis Kazagger.

Also those Play House videos only had a handful of main Muppets and some new ones, it was more of an extra Muppet production than a main feature, it was the interstitial series of it's time.

And three of them didn't even feature any recognizable Muppets.

 

[KremlingWhatnot]

You know what I don't get about this? if Disney Junior wanted a preschool muppet show, why didn't they pick Bear In The Big Blue House.