The Future of the Muppets

[GonzoLeaper]

Honestly, I'm not really concerned with if they get a new TV show or not. Of course, I'll certainly be excited, interested and happy to watch any new Muppets TV show. But right now- no matter whether another movie comes along soon or not (though I would welcome more Muppet movies even more so than a TV series)- I just mainly want to see the classic Muppet material get released to DVD. I really hope that when "Muppets Most Wanted" gets released to DVD, "The Muppet Show" Seasons 4 and 5 will soon follow! (And I hope they are loaded up with tons of special features- like say, all the various specials that have yet to get an official video release of any sort- "Of Muppets and Men", "The Muppets Go to the Movies", "The Muppets Go Hollywood", "The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show", "The Muppets at Walt Disney World" and still others.

And then I'd love to see "Muppets Tonight!" get released to DVD.

And of course, "Muppet Babies" on DVD.

And "The Jim Henson Hour" on DVD. (Well, I know some of the specials have been released to DVD- I'd love to see a separate DVD set of all the MuppetTelevision segments. And then maybe all the specials could be put together on a separate DVD set. And then release one big box set with all of it!)

And then after getting some of this classic material out ("John Denver and The Muppets: A Christmas Together" on DVD- I must mention that one- LOVE that special and would LOVE to see an official DVD release)-
then.......I would enjoy seeing more Muppet movies down the road along the way- and maybe a TV series if that's the plan.

 

[Drtooth]

Since MMW has done modest at best at the box office, what do you think Disney'll do next to ojur furry friends? Will they just go and release loads of classic muppet DVDs, will we finally get a primetime TV show we wanted, will Disney make a new muppet film in 2017?

All I can say is, they should try for one more film in a couple years and then make a decision. Just don't release it late in a month that wasn't meant to be kind to any other film there was. they may not have got the amount of money the film should have made, but at least they didn't lose John Carter or Lone Ranger money. Then again, Hitchhiker's Guide made over 100 Mil on a budget of 50 mil, and was never heard from again. But then again, that didn't need to sell T-shirts.

Other than that, I just don't see a TV show unless they can get one on Disney Channel or something. The Muppets have never fared well on network television, and indeed wouldn't have had a TV show in the first place if it wasn't for syndication.

I just hope we don't have a series of lackluster DTV projects that try to get every audience but Muppet fans again.

Will any of this happen? Who knows. I'd like to see Disney dip their foot in the water by giving the Muppets a Muppet-centric special, perhaps a real Christmas special (compared to the Lady Gaga focused one from last year). If the special does well, then try another one and go from there.

I want to see a special that has time and effort spent on it. Whatever anyone's view on the Lady Gag special was, I think we can all agree that it was rushed and careless. And frankly, so wasn't LTS. We need something that's well written, sure... but well written to the point of having a sustainable plot and less missed opportunities. I like LTS, but by all means it felt like everyone besides Kermit, Gonzo, Fozzie, Rizzo, and Pepe just didn't care and disappeared faster than they should have. Especially Piggy, who was almost too ticked off by not going on vacation, she refused to be in the rest of the special. It was like watching the first 20 minutes of a movie and the last 20 minutes of a movie with the middle removed.

 

[Bridget]

Perhaps another remake of a book like MTI. But I don't know.

 

[Pinkflower7783]

No offense but if they ever do them in another story adaption that'll be a turn off for me. I know a lot of people liked MCC and MTI but I'd have to pass.

 

[Bridget]

I agree. I didn't mean another adaption, but rather the same idea to do another remake of something else.

 

[fozzieisfunny]

A TV show would be wonderful, but don't worry with the movie part. Because, I (don don don da) have taken the liberty of writing a Muppet script, then mailing it to Disney to see if they want to pick it up as a movie. Okay, I doubt that they're going to get it produced, but you can still have faith in me, right??

 

[Muppet Master]

No need for Disney to make a new muppet show that may or may not succed, I JUST WANT THE MUPPET SHOW RERUNS ON TV!! Is that really too much to ask? If they are not going to bother to release S4 and 5 just put them on television. And not on Disney Channel or some other goofy cable channel, something like MY13 or KDOC, non cable channels that run classic show reruns. Come on Disney, we have i love lucy, married with children, fraiser, seinfeld (happy 60th for seinfeld by the way) ect., why not TMS?

 

[Bridget]

I agree with reruns 100% dearest.

 

[Muppet Master]

I agree with reruns 100% dearest.

With reruns on a non-cable channel, people will have easy access to the show, and this new generation will "discover" the muppets, so if they make another movie, audience will be mroe familiar, that's why TMM and GMC were box office success stories, because they had a free show to watch to reassure them that it's worth paying the price to watch these on the big screen. I can watch TMS on DVD all I want, but actually watching it on a daily/weekly basis would be better (but I still love watching TMS on DVD), I actually want to start a petition for this.

 

[Happy Haunt]

Personally I like both the idea for reruns and a new show. Reruns will serve the purpose of introducing new fans to the original show, and also be a way to watch season 4 and 5. But I'm sure the annoying fact about the DVD releases has been discussed elsewhere already.

And a new show would be great, new stories and more character development is a plus. As somebody already mentioned, you only get so much from a movie which is limited in how many characters it can represent properly. I liked the idea about a sitcom-style show... as I agree that the verity show format would probably not work with today's audiences.

Here's hoping for another movie too.