The Muppets Episode 1 - Pig Girls Don't Cry (Pilot)

[somethingofafan]

As for the celebrity guest stars in this episode.... Could be wrong about this, but the name Elizabeth Banks immediately equals the character Jesse Spanno which she portrayed in the iconic series Saved By The Bell. Yes? No? *Shrugs.

Really? I usually think of that character in connection with Elizabeth Berkley, rather than Banks...

 

[DARTH MUPPET]

Just had a thought.

Don't know if this was intentional, but Elizabeth Banks did have a memorable but short stint on 30 Rock as Jack Donaghy's girlfriend. Really seems that she makes that connection here as the show is very much similar to 30 Rock anyway.

Isn't Elizabeth Banks a model? since when does she act?

 

[Drtooth]

DUDE. She was

She's been in a lot of stuff lately, actually.

 

[Jedi Kitty]

Isn't Elizabeth Banks a model? since when does she act?

..Since 4 Hunger Games movies, 30 Rock, Modern Family, LEGO Movie, etc, etc..

 

[antsamthompson9]

That bothers me too. They keep going to great lengths to hide and remove all of the imperfections that you kind of lose a sense of the warmth and familiarity of the characters. So we used to could see rods before, so what? As long as the characters are in capable hands (no pun intended) and have life breathed into them by the performers who bring them to life for us to enjoy, then that's all that really matters. I mean, heck, Sid & Marty Krofft once had an act that flopped because you couldn't see the strings on their marionette.

The hosts of Getting Felt Up a Puppetry Podcast feel the same way so here's what I put on their FB page. You guys think that removing the arm-rods is bad and Jim wouldn't have done that? Well, this is an exact quote from the runner of Muppet Stuff: "I actually like the rods being removed. Before HD the rods could barley be seen. The reason the Jim Henson Hour's Muppet segments were primarily on green screen was so the performers and rods could be removed. Jim was always about hiding/removing them." So, it was only on talk shows that Jim would be willing to show how the puppets work. Also, the arm-rod removing started in Muppets from Space, before Disney bought them. Brian Henson said, "in the movies we remove them in the computer, because techniques have moved along so quickly that all the rods will be gone in Muppets from Space, for instance... Nowadays, when we make a Muppet movie, we pretty much do whatever we want with the arm rods and remove them later."

 

[Ladywarrior]

speaking of which. who does the hands for the Swedish Chef now? he always had human hands and I know in the past Frank Oz was his hands.

 

[JimAndFrank]

speaking of which. who does the hands for the Swedish Chef now? he always had human hands and I know in the past Frank Oz was his hands.

If he is not otherwise occupied, Steve usually likes to perform the hands of the Chef. The same goes with Rowlf- since Steve plays the piano, he tends to perform the dogs hands for music segments.

 

[dwayne1115]

Well they must have been doing something right. The rateings are in and The Muppets was ABC's best premiere ever with almost 9 million people watching last night!

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/20...ampaign=Feed:+Tvbythenumbers+(TVbytheNumbers)

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Oh, and another example of adult language being used in a Henson production? THE CUBE had both "#377" and "d @ m n" heard throughout, and this was still a year or two before you were really allowed to swear on network TV.

I really miss the days when you couldn't swear on TV. Heck, that's why I'm not watching "Top Model" tonight. The language on that one has gotten worse and worse throughout the years or even on TV in general. I still don't think there was any excuse to open the Macy's parade with the "He** of a Town" song last year. But I don't want to get too much off topic about this, anyone is welcome to message me if they agree with me and want to talk in private about this. But that's all I'll say about that for now.

Obviously, Kermit and Piggy were my favorite part of the show. It was nice to know that Piggy had a good reason for acting the way she did and she wasn't just being some super diva. The conversation the two had near the end was nice and I'm excited to see where they go from here.

I agree. Hopefully they'll be mature enough to stay friends and maybe eventually get back together at some point during the show's run. We'll see.

• Tom Bergeron was the funniest guest star, hilarious in every part he was in.

Yeah. He's always had some chemistry with the Muppets ever since his days of hosting "Hollywood Squares." It's a shame he got the shaft at the end.

• No Rowlf, I know he will be in other episodes, and it is not really a complaint on the episode, but I wanted to see him in the pilot.

Yeah. Bill probably had his hands full with Pepe and Bobo and Dr. Teeth.

If you missed the premiere of "The Muppets" or if you want to watch it again, the first episode is now on-line here: abc.tv/1V8Iys1.

Thanks. I'd like to check out that breakup scene again. I may get chewed out for this, but I'm still a little unclear as to what really happened there.

But....will Bean Bunny ever be back? I literally think I'd faint if they brought
in for a cameo Digit or other Jim Henson Hour characters besides Chip. Heck, I'D LOVE to even see some Muppets Tonight characters besides Pepe and Randy/Andy. (Heck, I kind of want to see Clifford back)

Yeah. He can be a background character like in the JHH rather than the host as in MT! that would work out. If Kevin doesn't decide to return to Muppets to perform him, I suppose Bill Baretta can perform Cliff or maybe Tyler Bunch or Drew Massey who puppeteered him in MWOO. Just a few suggestions.

I'm in the camp that think one of the arcs of the show will be Kermit and Piggy reuniting.

The good thing about that story arc is Kermit and Piggy didn't interact hardly at all on MT! (except in a few sketches) So having an ongoing story based on them is what makes this show more enjoyable. A lot more suspense here.

 

[Muppet Master]

So, The Muppets has adjusted up to a 2.9 in the ratings for the premiere which is really good. It is on par with recent comedy hits that have gotten a second season like Fresh off the Boat, 2.5, Black Ish, 3.3, and The Last Man on Earth, 2.4, though considering that the muppets had no modern family lead in like black ish, and had to be a lead in, the numbers are even better. Hopefully the ratings stay around the same area, and do not fall below a 1.7 or around there.