BlakeConor14
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I have not seen any of these last 6 episodes because I live in England but this last episode looks amazing
It's easy to say that the mockumentary style didn't work so much as they were struggling with how to get it to work. The Muppets desperately needed a sitcom format somehow. I'd love it if we had a show that took place sort of like MFS. The Muppet Boarding House was a great concept that was barely used for an opening number. Imagine a show where they all had to live together. But I agree that they should have totally seeked out inspiration from 30 Rock, which was all but mockumentary style. Even post season 2 Parks and Rec where the show came into its own and stopped being the VR Troopers to The Office's Power Rangers. I can't blame them for trying something new. I'd rather they found a new angle for the characters than just mindlessly retread the old series. We've seen that before, and it didn't wok (except in comic form). I'll admit the show was rushed to pilot and rushed to production. There's only one chance to make a first impression. Had they started this months earlier, they could have hammered things out better.Yet I haven't addressed the biggest problem I have with this series, and it's one they aren't going to fix: I loathe the mockumentary angle. Absolutely despise it. I think it's horrifically limiting to these characters who have always existed in a heightened reality. There's less room for any sort of experimentation in the style of "Community" or "30 Rock", which fits these characters much more than "The Office", "Parks and Rec" or "Modern Family" does. It didn't hit me really until the show started airing, when I had that startling realization of, "Oh... wait every single episode will be shot like this. Oh god..."
Okay, so see everybody? I'm not the only one who feels like this show could have and should have gone in a different direction. And thank you, finally somebody whoi agrees with me about the mockumentary angle. It doesn't work for television, it just doesn't: movies are okay, such as those old Christopher Guest films and all, but it comes off very awkward on TV and it really takes you out of the story and makes it difficult to try to relate to or even believe in the characters. It's become to TV sitcoms what 3D was to movies for a while: an overused gimmick - once they find something that works (in this case, the mockumentary style of THE OFFICE), then everybody had to jump on board with it - that, or the "narration" style, which is really similar. What's even worse is that there's now an unwritten rule that single camera sitcoms are not allowed to have any sounds of laughter - live or simulated - and this is now something the networks are wanting to apply to their multi-camera sitcoms now too: CBS is going to try to film all of their multi-camera sitcoms without studio audiences or laugh tracks altogether now (which is ironic, because they were the ones who forced M*A*S*H to have a laugh track against the producers' wishes bck in the 70s). Sitcoms without laughter fall flat, they seem so ghastly and awkward, and quite frankly, based on some of the promos for some of these shows, the "jokes" or "gags" are so unfunny you almost can't tell you're watching a comedy . . . matter of fact, I honestly had no idea shows like DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, GLEE, ANGIE TRIBECA, or even that godawful GIRLS were supposed to be comedies, they never came off as funny to me.I'll be honest about The Muppets sitcom: I was on vacation in Florida when the pilot aired last September. Thus, I didn't get around to it until I got back home a week later. But I was reading nothing but scathing hot takes after another, which shocked me since this was supposed to be a revelation; a hotly anticipated new show that would see the characters on a weekly basis every fall, winter and spring for years to come. I also happened to be in Disney World, which was absolutely caked in Muppets promotions. They were really pushing for it.
So I got back home and I finally got to sit down to watch not only the first, but also the second episode. It was depressing because I found myself agreeing with all the bad press. The awkward adult humor, desperately edgy dialogue, mean-spirited pseudo-Hollywood satire... what was this?! How could it actually turn out this bad?! "Not your grandmother's Muppets" turned out to be a phrase that translated into watching some of the most uncomfortable nostalgia-driven entertainment the world has ever endured.
For awhile it wasn't getting better, then suddenly they actually starting to air decent episodes. I liked "Pig's in a Blackout", "Going, Going Gonzo" and "Single All the Way" for the most part. They were cute. Then the soft reboot happened, and the show returned to find itself again... but the two episodes tonight? Hey, they're starting to find it again. I would say that it's cute.
Yet I haven't addressed the biggest problem I have with this series, and it's one they aren't going to fix: I loathe the mockumentary angle. Absolutely despise it. I think it's horrifically limiting to these characters who have always existed in a heightened reality. There's less room for any sort of experimentation in the style of "Community" or "30 Rock", which fits these characters much more than "The Office", "Parks and Rec" or "Modern Family" does. It didn't hit me really until the show started airing, when I had that startling realization of, "Oh... wait every single episode will be shot like this. Oh god..."
And I do love "The Office" and "Parks and Rec" (not a fan of MF) but they were created with the format in mind. "The Muppets" just doesn't fit it, and unless they actually do (they won't), I think I'll only see this show as "cute" at best. The nostalgia angle they were aiming for in last night's two eps were the same vibe that made "Blackout" and "Gonzo" start to work, along with some better heartfelt dialogue like "Single All the Way". If a second season comes to be, I hope they continue this path: it'll definitely work in their favor. However I know that I'll most likely never love this show because as much as I love the Muppets, I can't help but feel this is akin to tying them down creatively. There's so much more that can be achieved with a Muppets sitcom... this is mostly hoping for a few good yuks and we're done. Maybe it's the fact that I don't really care about the romantic entaglements of Kermit, Piggy, Gonzo, Fozzie and etc. I'm not sure, but the only thing that makes me want another season is not to see them placed into a drawer again.
The Office became a hit simply because.... well, Seinfeld ended in 1998, Friends ended in the early 00's, and then the overrated, never funny, loud and obnoxious minstrel show "Will and Grace" ended as well. The early 00's weren't exactly a good time for sitcoms. We all know what awful genre of television rose up in the 00's, so need to mention that. ABC was pretty much swamped with terrible family sitcoms (I can't even think of the words "Hope" and "Faith" together without throwing up a little in my mouth). CBS's Raymond series was about to end, and Fox had minor successes here and there, but nothing solid and most were failures. The Office popped up at the right time and was praised because it was different. And while it did V.R. Troopers itself with Parks and Rec, the only other show to really copy the format exactly outside of it was Modern Family, but it made the show its own. It's a little on the formulaic side, though. Most newer shows are essentially just straightforward shot mini-movie style, like My Name is Earl, Malcom in the Middle, and the like.I honestly don't see how THE OFFICE became as big a hit as it was: it was such a bland and boring series anyway, but as I said, once it did become a hit, suddenly everybody had to jump on the bandwagon . . . but that always happens in TV, and has for years: once something new and different becomes a raging success, suddenly everybody has to follow suit and try to capture that magic for themselves.