The Muppets Episode 11 - Swine Song

[ploobis]

I don't know how many of you noticed this part, but right before Key & Peele close the shades in Kermit's office, you can spot Beautiful Day Monster in the window trying to see whats going on. Pretty Funny!

 

[MUPPETFAN1976]

#They'reBack!

Oh, let me tell you, it is good to be back after a 2-month hiatus!

Excellent show! Loved it! Great Return!
That song that Kermit and Piggy did was totally unexpected, but great song!

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Bill Barretta told me Peter Linz plays Gloria Estefan. Yay! Peter finally has a character on the show.

Well, hopefully that's a sign that we'll be seeing Walter soon.

 

[somethingofafan]

If it is destiny that Kermit and Piggy are meant to be together, I'm glad that they don't seem to be making Denise unlikable in order for that to happen.

 

[MuppetSpot]

Glad to read that Peter got to play a character. This was a good episode too for me.

 

[The Count]

Another thing to mention is the chuckle from 's reaction to Tweeting.
Sam: This bird shall not tweet! Tweeting is something reserved only for signaling danger or requesting nourishment from mother!

 

[minor muppetz]

So is this new head of network a true villain, or is he more a "designated villain"?

Well, hopefully that's a sign that we'll be seeing Walter soon.

He has been in the opening credits all season. The fact that he now has his own role on the show wouldn't improve the chances of Walter appearing.

 

[The Count]

Er, no...

Lucy Royce, the new head of the network is a rather non-character.
Pizza or Pashé is the branding guru that was introduced as an antagonist to Kermit and the rest of the gang.

Antagonist, yeah, that's the word I'd go with instead of villain. Hope this helps.

 

[LouisTheOtter]

I've been intrigued to see the reaction to this episode here on this forum, as well as Twitter and Facebook in addition to ToughPigs, The AVClub, Zap2It and Yahoo. I'm glad it's been largely positive (I'd guess that only about 20 per cent of the comments have been negative so far) and I hope that translates into improved ratings for both this episode and the rest of the season.

Honestly, though, I'm not sure that much has changed and I hope ABC hasn't overplayed its hand with the "Big Changes" taglines it kept using to promote the episode.

Watching "Swine Song," I felt like the writers and producers were standing at the side of my TV, excitedly pointing at the screen and repeatedly announcing: "See? We fixed everything! Isn't it great?" I realize that this episode was a bit of a mea culpa in terms of things that didn't quite work in the early goings of the series, and I applaud Kristin Newman, Bill Prady, the writers and everyone else for trying to work that into the show. I'm just not sure I found it all that entertaining.

I liked some of it. The minor tweak at the end of the opening theme was a nice touch. (I'm SO GLAD they didn't ditch the opening theme.) I'm pleased to see Piggy being open to involving more of the Muppets on Up Late instead of the sometimes-unhealthy boss-and-underlings relationship she had with everybody for most of the fall. The Kermit and Piggy fill-in number felt very warm and organic, especially Piggy's set-up line "Bobo, go get Kermit's banjo." Key and Peele, with whom I've always had a love-hate relationship, made the most of their brief cameo and got some solid laughs. And it does indeed look like the cast is going to find their groove together instead of tearing off in different directions. (After giving it some thought, I've finally decided that I like their impromptu scat version of the TMS theme and the way it prompted Kermit's revelation about how to improve the show.)

Also, nice to get a break from the "Scooter's mom" lines. They were starting to get as predictable and unwelcome as the references to Howard's mother on The Big Bang Theory (no disrespect meant to the late Carol Susi, of course).

I just felt like this could have been so much bigger and brighter. I like the concept of bringing backstage characters into the Up Late format but I'm not sure Pepe The Uber Driver and Bobo's Real Housewives dramatic readings were the best ways to kick-start that (especially after all the hype about beloved TMS sketches like Veterinarian's Hospital coming back). The introduction of the network president and Pizza/Pace just seemed forced (I found the actor playing Pizza/Pace a lot funnier in a recent voice role on The Simpsons). And after seeing Gonzo and (especially) Fozzie shine in so many episodes through the fall, it felt weird to watch the writers basically toss them to the side - that seemed to happen with a lot of characters this week, to tell you the truth. (By contrast, I can't quite grasp the excitement over Gloria Estefan The Penguin. I hope we won't see him/her/it dominate future episodes in the same manner as "Swine Song.")

Also: Denise and Kermit seemed to be having their most organic, realistic conversations of the entire series and then, BOOM! They're broken up! I'm not saying I didn't expect it sometime before the end of the season but it just seemed rushed, almost like the producers and writers were trying to placate the fans.

(Speaking of the fans: I know what the writers were trying to do in having the characters describe the variety-show gimmicks as "quaint" and Pizza/Pace sneering "Your audience is old," but neither of that landed very well.)

Still hopeful for the rest of the reason. I just wish more effort had gone into making the re-launch episode funny and entertaining instead of simply hitting the reset button.

 

[terrimonster]

Gloria Estefan was the highlight of this episode. I am not sure if anyone noticed this, but there was a ridiculous amount of product placement on tonights episode. Usually, they are subtle, like Kermit using a Macbook, but tonight, they were legitimately mentioning Dominoes, Pizza Hut, Chuck E Cheese, Little Caesars, Uber, Etsy, Apple (Siri), Shark Tank, Toblerone. I might be looking too closely at it, maybe some of these were NOT sponsors, but I just felt at some points the name dropping was a bit excessive....

It sounded product placement-y, but I think it's unlikely that Dominoes, Pizza Hut, Chuck E. Cheese, and Little Caesars are all sponsors. Uber/Etsy are just trendy right now, so I think those are just throwaways. But Shark Tank was likely on purpose.

Is this the first time we've seen the picture of Jimmy Dean on the wall at Rowlf's? Or is it just the first time I've noticed it?