TV Alert: Jim Henson's Turkey Hollow on Lifetime November 21, 2015

[MuppetsRule]

It was good. Not great, but good. About what I'd expect from a Lifetime Network movie. Cute and entertaining

 

[fuzzygobo]

"Good" pretty much sums it up. Without the monsters, this could be one of the generic holiday movies Hallmark Channel keeps churning out.

 

[TheMuppetFan]

This one sentence sums it up fantastic: Why did you have to add smartphones to an good screenplay?

Here's my actual review: In the first few minutes, I'll have to admit, I was making fun of it because of the horrible acting. But, then when Mary Steenburgen came in, it seemed like everybody could suddenly do good acting. Alright, I think that Mary had one weak line at the end, where she stayed in one tone the whole time.

I LOVED the turkeys. They should have been shown throughout the whole movie.. I mean, 40 minutes in, and then we see our first glimpse of the turkeys. I didn't understand that. I liked the Thanksgiving scene at the end, where everybody was singing and playing instruments with the turkeys, even though that was in the teaser.

 

[minor muppetz]

This one sentence sums it up fantastic: Why did you have to add smartphones to an good screenplay?

I recently read somewhere that Jim and Jerry only wrote a treatment, not a proper script or screenplay.

I saw it last night, and thought it was okay. I was also surprised to see The Muppet Christmas Carol air on the channel afterwards. I hadn't read anything about that airing.

So is this a special or a TV movie? I thought it was going to be a special, but it is two hours long, and shot like a movie (though nearly every TV production seems to be shot more like a movie these days).

 

[TheMuppetFan]

I recently read somewhere that Jim and Jerry only wrote a treatment, not a proper script or screenplay.

I saw it last night, and thought it was okay. I was also surprised to see The Muppet Christmas Carol air on the channel afterwards. I hadn't read anything about that airing.

So is this a special or a TV movie? I thought it was going to be a special, but it is two hours long, and shot like a movie (though nearly every TV production seems to be shot more like a movie these days).

I personally thought that it was more like a TV movie, and I was also surprised to see The Muppet Christmas Carol on afterwards, as well. Oh, and I did not know that Jim and Jerry only wrote a treatment. I thought it was a full-on screenplay.

 

[MuppetsRule]

The Muppet Christmas Carol was on before and after Turkey Hollow. Turkey Hollow is schedule to air a couple more times. Not sure if Christmas Carol will before or after it again.

Fans have to keep in mind that this wasn't a theater release movie or even a prime network movie. Turkey Hollow was made for the Lifetime Hallmark channel and it fit perfectly with the type of holiday movies they air. I was surprised Ed Asner didn't make an appearance in the movie.

 

[D'Snowth]

My cable listings said this was supposed to air again at 12:30 today, so I tuned in, and I honestly couldn't tell what it was I was watching: all I saw was apparently a single mom on "vacation" somewhere in the deep south (I was assuming was inspired by Jim's delta boyhood) with a son who apparently didn't want her to return to New York for a new job, he wanted to stay where they are so he can see more of her: there apparently was also an old man who had apparently offered to sell her half his little store so they could be co-owners, and a security guard who apparently had a past with her. Then there was this little "bonfire" the whole town attended, which essentially a little outdoor Christmas festival of lights and such where the mom and security guard apparently reconciled, and we see a paddle boat pass by with Ed Asner as Santa.

The commercial breaks were long, and the movie itself was being played in brief spurts, not to mention how awkward the acting was, I was having trouble getting into it.

Then finally at 1:00, the squished-down end titles rolled, and it donned on me that I apparently saw the last "half-hour" of an entire differently movie. No wonder I had to try to guess what was going on . . . and I was wondering why I wasn't seeing Mary Steenbergen, or any puppets for that matter: again, the setting was the deep south (like where Jim may have grown up), so I was assuming maybe the movie was off to a very slow start, but no, it was an entirely different movie.

 

[kahvigirl]

The first I heard of "Turkey Hollow" was the graphic novel released last fall by Archaia illustrated by Roger Landridge. The cover to it looked more like Sesame Street monsters than the creatures in the movie. For a Lifetime movie I thought "Turkey Hollow" was pretty good. I do agree that there were a lot of ads. What is the running time of the DVD?

 

[Cookie Chris]

I first heard about Turkey Hollow rather late, which was from an advertisement on IMDb on Friday night. Overall, it was very enjoyable, though it doesn't reach the heights of the previous Henson-produced holiday specials like Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, A Muppet Family Christmas, and The Christmas Toy.

I noticed classic tropes that Jim Henson loves such as the bad puns (one was used in Ludacris's narration), a narrating character (Kermit narrated the Emmet Otter special), and the villainous businessman that the Muppet films frequently used (i.e. The Muppet Movie). The family with the mother divorcing and the father being too busy for his kids made for a sentimental, yet relatable contemporary family dynamic. Out of the human cast, Mary Steenburgen was the most valuable player. The villain was pretty nasty to hide the turkeys that returned to his farm so he could collect reimbursement money from Aunt Cly and her family. His sidekicks reminded me of Horace and Jaspar from One Hundred and One Dalmatians and the Wet Bandits from the Home Alone movies. The puppets were well-constructed in the vein of the creatures in Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, though sadly, there was not much of use of them in the storyline.

Finally, I missed Kirk Thatcher's cameo and overall, the message of the movie was about overindulgence and relatively condemning of fatting up turkeys (as said in the movie to 30 pounds) and eating turkeys for Thanksgiving. At the end, the family decides to eat a vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner with the sheriff and the creatures. It's not a message I will carry with me, but again, I enjoyed although the commercial breaks were too long. It was also nice to watch The Muppets Christmas Carol again; it has aged like fine wine into a classic film.

 

[Erine81981]

I thought it was a really good TV/Special Movie. I liked it for what it was worth. I would have liked to have seen more of the characters but I still didn't think it was all that bad. I wouldn't mind them doing another one. Like what about a Christmas one or something or maybe a Halloween version?

Anyone else agree or would it be better just to have another thanksgiving one?