The Muppets Episode 4 - Pig Out

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Now that we're seeing this softer side of Sam,I wonder if they'll mention his family again.

 

[ploobis]

I really hope the Ratings will get better by next week!

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2015/10/21/muppets-queens-buzz-doesnt-bode-well/74330428/

 

[beaker]

AGAIN, the difference is the big wigs at Disney love the Muppets. They own ABC. It'd be like if you or I were kazillionares, loved the Muppets and didn't care about ratings. Hoping a full season beyond the 13 commitment is announced soon, but I'm not worried. I know the majority of people left on Muppetcentral are very young, but there's a very long history with Disney and the Muppets.

Consider the fact Jim Henson was in talks to BUY the entire Disney corporation in 1984, and a full merger between the Muppets and Disney was suppose to happen in 1990 before his untimely passing.
http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/The_Walt_Disney_Company

 

[dwayne1115]

That 90's deal would have been sweet for both Disney and Henson. Disney would get not only the Muppets but the Fraggles and Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. For Jim he would be able to create not only new things for the Muppets, but also other Fantasy films as well.

 

[muppet maniac]

It's been a while since I've posted, but I have to say I'm enjoying the show so far. Can't wait until the next episode airs.

 

[Drtooth]

AGAIN, the difference is the big wigs at Disney love the Muppets. They own ABC. It'd be like if you or I were kazillionares, loved the Muppets and didn't care about ratings. Hoping a full season beyond the 13 commitment is announced soon, but I'm not worried. I know the majority of people left on Muppetcentral are very young, but there's a very long history with Disney and the Muppets.

There had better be a lot of love with this series at Disney then. This show needs to at least exceed the number of MT episodes. Probably won't even do that.

 

[CensoredAlso]

There's more than enough feedback for Disney to work with at this point if they want to bring audiences back. They'd do well to give this a read, for instance:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/22/arts/television/review-muppets-abc-kermit-ms-piggy.html?_r=0

"Mr. Lee’s pitch — “This is not your grandmother’s Muppets” — suggested a misunderstanding of what makes the Muppets special. They were never your grandmother’s — nor your parents’, nor your kids’. They belonged to all of us, always."

The first two episodes of 'The Muppets,' are sometimes funny and have flashes of the original’s charm. But they also reflect a definition of “adult” that could stand to grow up.

If this sounds like a ridiculous thing to say about a piece of fleece with someone’s knuckles visible through his cranium, so be it. Kermit and company are real, ******, as real as Walter White or Leslie Knope. Their character integrity is just as important, and crucial to that is their unironic sweetness, optimism and sense of fancy."

"It just, every so often, tosses a tiny stick of TNT into your fondest memories."

"This reinvention just feels a little overthought. “The Muppets” does not need to be snarky to be smart, and there’s nothing antiquated about joy. Mr. Prady and company plainly know their characters’ voices. Here’s hoping they let those voices lead them to something a little less adult, and a little more mature."

 

[Drtooth]

I'll agree that there needs to be a better balance, but it's just that "unironic sweetness" can turn into unadulterated syrupy saccharine if they're not too careful. Like I said before, LTS was just... diabetic. Especially Uma "kills people in Tarantino films" Thurman as that sugar coated sweetened fairy type character. Unless that was so unironic that it was ironic, it felt like she was there for a celebrity bump and little else.

The problem with most modern Muppet projects is that they either get the sweet or the crazy right. The 2 new movies got the balance as good as we're going to get it. VMX to an extent, but the jokes were far snarkier there than here. The telefilm I always complain about was just...dire and dark. Far worse than this show could ever be accused of. And need I speak of the preschool videos like Muppets on Wheels?

I think that, like most modern shows, the problem with the tone is they're building up, ever so slowly to those kinds of moments. There's hints of them here and there, but it feels like something has to play out first for it to shine. There's room for improvement in the show, though I think the one thing that desperately needs to be fixed is the pacing. Unless they're planting seeds to blossom in future story lines, they don't need a "C" plot if they don't have time for it. I'd say abandon those C plots and just focus on the A's and B's and have them fleshed out a little more. Who knows, we could certainly see the character development and closeness in those storylines if they have more room to breathe.

That said, ratings don't necessarily equal quality. I mean, AFV is still on the network. That's the lowest of the lowest common denominators and always has been. Other than the fact Youtube rendered it obsolete, I'm baffled by the show's popularity.

Not to mention that I'm sure whatever audience doesn't find this show acceptable on some level are crapping their pants over the Odd Couple remake. Shudder... I'm a big fan of the original sitcom. I share a birthday with Oscar's actor. I usually like to give things a chance before I complain about them, but I caught like 5 minutes of that and just...blehhh. It's not Oscar and Felix. It's Matthew Perry basically as every character he's ever played and a Poor Man's Niles Crane farting about every lame laugh track sitcom cliche. HOW is that the beloved remake? It's garbage. Total garbage.

I'm willing to accept some of this show's failure to reach audiences is in it's not being what made the Muppet Show special, but I just think most of it comes from any kind of Muppet TV show not being successful, and mainstream audiences (that is, outside of our little fanbase bubble) only like the Muppets when they do 1 thing every 10 years and disappear.

 

[Muppet Master]

AGAIN, the difference is the big wigs at Disney love the Muppets. They own ABC. It'd be like if you or I were kazillionares, loved the Muppets and didn't care about ratings. Hoping a full season beyond the 13 commitment is announced soon, but I'm not worried. I know the majority of people left on Muppetcentral are very young, but there's a very long history with Disney and the Muppets.

Consider the fact Jim Henson was in talks to BUY the entire Disney corporation in 1984, and a full merger between the Muppets and Disney was suppose to happen in 1990 before his untimely passing.
http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/The_Walt_Disney_Company

I don't if anyone has said this yet, but the muppets are capped at 13 episodes similar to How To Get Away With Murder, the producers are only making 13 so even if the ratings were huge, there would still be the same amount of episodes, probably because it is hard to make an episode of this.

 

[DARTH MUPPET]

I don't believe I reviewed this episode, I loved it the Karaoke was really funny loved the song from the last episode of the Sopranos!!!!!!!!!!!