The Muppets SPOILER Thread

[Drtooth]

TV movies are nothing to get excited about. The last one was rubbish, and the prior one did have some good in it, but was bogged down by Scary Movie style humor, dated references (who'd've thought only the line about missing Spongebob would've been the only to hold up?), and forced vertical integration of NBC shows and stars. We'd be seeing a lot more of that, frankly. Or something overly sappy like LTS.

And I'm not even going to speak on Kermit's Swamp Years...first of all, seeing as I never actually seen the whole thing, and secondly, while I usually like to watch and judge things myself, the word of mouth on it is terrible.

A TV show was the logical decision. It's not ABC's fault that audiences are fickle and the mainstream only likes Muppets (outside of t-shirts and coffee mugs) once every 10 years. And it's certainly not the fault of those who thought they'd try something new instead of making a lame retread of the original series. ABC and Disney are pushing this thing real good...duh nah nuh nuh nuh dah nuh nuh nuh..ooh push it...push it real good. The older viewers want their formulaic computer hackers fighting turrrrrists, the younger ones either don't want to watch anything not on a phone or at least only watched the show until The Flash came back (which, at least that show is respectable, I'll probably switch to that once the show's over). And those who actually wanted to see The Muppets only really wanted the exact same show. And part of them have valid complaints, the rest of them are just ticked off that Cookie Monster isn't singing Mahnah Mahnah with an aging celebrity.

 

[LouisTheOtter]

I've finally gotten the chance to watch the promo for "Got Silk?" and I notice that it opens with the announcement that "The Muppets are on EW's Must List!" What the...? When did that happen? Anybody know???

 

[Muppy]

I'm one of the few that likes VMX, MWOO, LTS and KSY. They're all guilty pleasures. I'd like another one to add to my collection.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

I'm one of the few that likes VMX, MWOO, LTS and KSY. They're all guilty pleasures. I'd like another one to add to my collection.

But usually when the Muppets have a tv movie that means they're not doing so well.

 

[Drtooth]

The string of made for TV movies happened under Henson because they were unable to get any bigger projects out there. I think we're all aware of how everything they've been trying the past few years were a hard sell. MWOO, for whatever I can say about it is exactly the path Henson would have taken the characters, and I don't think we'd want to see an increasingly worse level of unoriginal retellings where the Muppets played second, or even third fiddle to some C-list star. Under Disney in around 10 years, 2 movies, 2 specials, and a TV show which, one season or two, is still an accomplishment since it was... (get ready to cry your eyes out for the time difference) 20 years since MT.

Plus, frankly, I just can't get excited for another one shot TV special/telefilm that will take years to happen. I've been very patient with this franchise, even through the EMTV days. I remember the level of anticipation and hope after VMX only to hear about near misses until the follow up feature length television special. There was rumblings of a series of different television shows in between that time, one of them getting an actual presentation pitch. And our hopes were dashed when, after poor reception to that certain telefilm, Disney threw everything Muppety under the bus. That movie was a poor indication of what Disney could do with the characters, especially since they had no involvement in it and it was in production just before the sale.

 

[Muppet Master]

Whether or not I like these new episodes as much as before, this show better not get cancelled, if it does then it's basically the end, they tried movies and TV and if that doesn't work than we're done, what else are they going to do with the muppets, this sadly might end up being the reality.

 

[Muppy]

Whether or not I like these new episodes as much as before, this show better not get cancelled, if it does then it's basically the end, they tried movies and TV and if that doesn't work than we're done, what else are they going to do with the muppets, this sadly might end up being the reality.

They could always do more YouTube videos. Those usually get lots of attention. By the way, where are the Pigs in Space videos? Shouldn't they be out by now?

 

[Muppet Master]

Here's a behind the scenes photo.

Looks like we're getting Camilla back.

 

[Muppy]

Here's a behind the scenes photo.

Looks like we're getting Camilla back.

That picture looks amazing. Its perfect becuase it's showing what I want from the show. The Muppets doing things in their lives but with a muppety twist (in this case Gonzo is dining with Camillia while she is pecking at her phone). So much awesomeness is in this photo. I love it.

 

[Drtooth]

Whether or not I like these new episodes as much as before, this show better not get cancelled, if it does then it's basically the end, they tried movies and TV and if that doesn't work than we're done, what else are they going to do with the muppets, this sadly might end up being the reality.

I'd be a lot less worried if this were a Looney Tunes Show/Wabbit situation and ending the show would lead to another in a couple years. That's probably not the case.

But frankly, I shouldn't be this burned up about the show being all but cancelled, but I am. It's not the fault of ABC or Disney. They tried to promote the heck out of this series, and I believe if it was any other sitcom, they wouldn't even have aired the last 6 episodes until the summer months where they can dump them. And given ABC's history, they kept renewing The Drew Carey Show and Botched Eye Surgery with Fart Noises According to Jim specifically as summer dump month filler. The writers were trying to give the audience something new, then they tried to give them something familiar, and still the show didn't find an audience. The only thing I'll blame ABC for is thinking that moving the timeslot to not compete with New Girl (which baffles me how much it keeps getting renewed, it's not that good a show), only for it to backfire as Fresh off the Boat is a weak lead in (and it shouldn't be, but that's a HUGE rant I don't want to go into right now), and people stopped giving a crap about Agent Carter 2 episodes into this season. I'm wondering if overrated New Girl and actually dang awesome but put on a crappy time slot for a midseason pile of crap on Sunday Nights Brooklyn 99 are boosting that awful John Stamos "hey! He's old but doesn't look it" vehicle.

By all means, the fact they're no longer running against a singing competition (which is still a thing...thanks tweenagers) and they've addressed the complaints and caved into them, the show should have gotten at least a small boost in ratings enough to maintain. It didn't. Can't say regional primary coverage is helping the matters.