The Muppets Episode 3 - Bear Left Then Bear Write

[LaRanaRene]

hey where did you see this interview i would like to read it or see it.

He linked it in the quote you just quoted.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Bob Kushell said in an interview that certain Muppets won't appear because they won't fit in with the show's intended realism

Realism...heh...hold that thought...

But the show does not plan to refer to events from earlier movies (11 in total, starting with “The Muppet Movie” in 1979)

Good point, must never refer to past successes. We wouldn't want the audience to notice that this show barely measures up by comparison.

"We have realized through experimentation that there are things that work in this mockumentary context and things that don’t"

Ridiculous, of course it could work! Just have the EM take some illegal LSD and start hallucinating talking vegetables. Yay realism!

 

[Blue Frackle]

I was going to say how stupid that quote was but he technically didn't say anything about talking vegetables or dancing chickens; just "things".

When your show is ran by a talking frog and a bear drives his car to work everyday you can forget anything you thought about realism.

 

[Ladywarrior]

Ridiculous, of course it could work! Just have the EM take some illegal LSD and start hallucinating talking vegetables. Yay realism!

or Kermit could always lick his third cousin again. XD

 

[Blue Frackle]

or Kermit could always lick his third cousin again. XD

One of the best lines in the show so far.

 

[Ladywarrior]

One of the best lines in the show so far.

the mental image it gave me was really hilarious.

 

[Drtooth]

Also why do people keep trying to compare this new Muppets to the 70s Muppet Show? Its like hello! Its 2015

No matter how much you can try and talk those sorts of nostalgic fans, they'll always have one problem or another with anything that wasn't directly made by Jim himself. They want the old show, fine. I'm sure they might have some of the rest of the episodes on fading VHS. But they want it to be made clear they don't like the show in the most certain terms possible. If you don't why the heck watch it? To pick out more things to complain about? It's like, they don't like any of the newer movies, they don't like any of the newer TV shows, everything constantly has to be compared to something from 30-40 years ago and ignoring the flaws in those projects, even defending them. I'm glad we're getting something new instead of a stale imitation of what they did before. We had that and they didn't like that either.

For the record a variety show format, ironic or not, wouldn't fly with viewers and I wouldn't doubt if they tried making the same exact show they did before it would fail on every level. That said, I really want to stress that this is their last chance, and if this show is successful, I'm sure it will launch something else old school fans would take issue with. If not, well... don't whine if there's not even a Kermit T-Shirt in the next 10 years.

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if the ratings slip has something to do with The Flash coming back. That really seems that it would be splitting the potential audience. But the same old fogeys watching NCIS (which I take back, is indeed a terrible show) and tweenyboppers still falling for The Voice (can anyone even name one winner from that show?) will be watching the same old crap they love so much.

 

[MuppetsRule]

Generalize much?

You do realize that the Muppets can make a show that isn't an exact copy of the original Muppet Show and still be true to the Muppet characters and personalities, right?

I haven't seen anywhere where people are complaining that the new show isn't just like the old show or wanting for an exact duplicate. I have seen people critical of the character of the individual Muppet characters however. It is possible to have the same zany, endearing Muppets from the original Muppet Show in a modern show. Instead, the creators of the new show seem to ignore the original Muppet characters and seem intent on making them whole other creations.

And IMO the ratings dip has more to do with the fact that the general public want the same old Muppets (not Muppet show, but Muppets and there is a difference) and tuned in to the first show expecting that. When they didn't get that, they went else where.

 

[Drtooth]

If that's the case, then screw it. You realize this is the same general public that didn't go see MMW and barely saw TM. Doesn't matter if they try anything new or anything the same, the public likes the Muppets in tiny little viral video sized portions, buys a T-shirt or a Christmas ornament, and then forgets about them. They'll watch one episode of the show, resign themselves to find fault with it because it doesn't fit in with the hazy memory of something they watched when they were 10. Thing is, the general public cares about the Muppets as much as 1990's girls who wore Tweety Bird shirts care about Looney Tunes shorts. They don't want to watch the show, fine. There's perfectly awful options that are of far lower quality that share the time slot to spite the fact they aren't completely satisfied.

As for the fanbase, that's the rub. Most of us want this to be successful because if they keep up a consistent level of popularity, maybe Disney will recognize them for a change. As it stands, Disney's essentially Frozen, Star Wars, and Planes (because they can't take the freaking hint that Planes wasn't nearly successful as they think it is). We don't want the Muppets to be on the Disney Afternoon/any movie that isn't in an anniversary year or getting a TV show or sequel (or worse, Saban owned cartoons that they can't profit off of yet they don't want the rights to revert back to), to barely get recognition other than a passing piece of merchandise. However, there will always be the unsatisfied bunch because every lousy fanbase has one. It doesn't matter what they say and how they say it, at this point it's just noise.

It's all "we want more Muppet movies, but not like this!" or "We want the Muppets on TV, but not like this!" And yet, if this show didn't happen and they just chucked the Muppets aside because said general public would rather watch "Hunger Games Lite," we'd be whining that Disney isn't doing anything with them. And then we get the whole "why do we have outside writers on these things" debate that falls flat because the same people who "get" the Muppets actually didn't because everything they wrote somehow manages to fall on the "worst Muppet Projects" list. The people who truly "got" the characters are either dead or no longer involved. Why must we expect that when what we'll get is the weaker episodes of MT? At best. Face it, outside of merchandising, legacy characters are fragile. The public pretends to care, and tunes out after one episode, the fandom can't decide if they like it or not, and those on the fanbase who do want nothing to convince everyone else they're right. Hence, why I can't stand fanbases. You can't keep them happy no matter what the heck you do, and if he owning company gets up, throws their hands in the air and moves on to something else, it's the company's fault for not caring enough about the project. And frankly, those kinds of fanbases are all welcome to their franchise's failure.

So yeah. If you don't like the show, go watch some YT uploads of the Muppet Show Disney didn't release. Just make sure to be quick to see them all before Disney pulls them down out of copyright spite.

 

[CensoredAlso]

As for the fanbase, that's the rub. Most of us want this to be successful because if they keep up a consistent level of popularity, maybe Disney will recognize them for a change.

That's the carrot you keep hoping they're dangling, but I don't see any evidence of that from Disney. And frankly, you shouldn't let a corporation hold your fandom and your passion hostage like that.

No matter how much you can try and talk those sorts of nostalgic fans, they'll always have one problem or another with anything that wasn't directly made by Jim himself.

They're just called fans actually. No need to preface it with "nostalgic" as though they're doing something wrong. That would be like if I referred to everyone who liked this show as "flavor of the month fans."

You just seem to keep assuming the fans are being bizarrely stubborn when perhaps, just perhaps, it's the franchise that needs work.

I'm glad we're getting something new instead of a stale imitation of what they did before.

So were a lot of fans when they heard about this show, I'm sure. But how long is "it's something new" going to last? The show itself has to be enjoyable for the majority of the public.

For the record a variety show format, ironic or not, wouldn't fly with viewers and I wouldn't doubt if they tried making the same exact show they did before it would fail on every level.

Based on what exactly? Vaudeville was dead and buried in the 70s. Half of Muppet Show's guest stars were of the Old School generation. But going back to those roots of show biz gave the show a timeless feel. Whereas a show whose only goal is to be modern and current is quickly going to become dated.

It's like Star Wars. Part of the appeal is that they harkened back to earlier adventure serials and familiar archetypes. Plus John Williams chose to use traditional orchestrations, as opposed to modern synthesizers, which would have made the films unwatchable today.

That said, I really want to stress that this is their last chance

So many other older franchises are still relevant today because their best work was kept in the public eye. Not because they kept trying to reanimate them into something unrecognizable.