Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie

[punkNpuppets]

it's obvious the gay pig was supposed to be a pig version of richard simmons.

well, because of that pig i'm afraid to show the video to my parents (we were all gonna watch it tonight, actually we might STILL watch it, i got it on tape)

 

[Sideroad]

Originally posted by sidcrowe
And Triumph the insult dog?

The lame bad puppet joke from Conan about a dog that defecates on and/or has sex with anything all the time?

If you're gonna put Kermit on the same screen with Triumph the insult dog, why not just throw Kermit into a dumpster and call it a day?

What, was the pets.com dog puppet too busy to do a scene instead

Unbelievable

Triumph is awsome! I thought it was great seeing triumph use his trademark line on Kermit Sure Triumph may be a sort of anti-Muppet but he probably would never be seen on TV if not for the Muppets. If he had humped Kermit I might have had a problem but the small cameo was nothing to get upset over.
We all have different tastes, I like Triumph you don't. He won't become a Muppet regular or anything so don't worry. I bet all the people over at Henson love Triumph.

 

[Phillip]

Actually, on Muppets Tonight there were a lot of sketches built around Howard. That is where he debuted. They were not shown in the US though, but they were in the UK and USA. Three minutes were cut from the episodes that aired on ABC in the US, and a little under four minutes were cut from the episodes that aired on the Disney Channel.

 

[JoyElectric]

Newbie alert!

I'm another Newbie, so bear with me. A little history: I am a Muppets-from-the-80s fan, born in the late 70s. Loved the first 2 Muppet Movies, liked the 3, ho-humed the 3rd and 4th, and liked the Muppets from Space one.

I wrote a long, rambling review over at IMDB with the title of "The Muppets Return to Form" so go check that out if you really want another opinion. But overall, I thought it was the Muppet's best since The Muppets Take Manhattan! Everyone I liked was back, even if voiced differently. They seemed to take the "New Scooby Doo" route to things: pretend certain detours never happened (Scrappy, Loss of major characters) and win both new and old fans with the formula that worked in the first place.

I thought some of the more "adult" things were out of line - Pepe's comments about the topless club and Scooter's cage dance. I may sound a little prudish, I know the Muppets have always had a few blink-and-you-miss-it jokes like that before, but these seems a little more in line with the Simpsons than the Muppets. Triumph the insult comic dog?? Isn't that like having Kenny and Cartman on Mr. Rogers? At least they scrapped the Snoop Dog cameo.

But, this is the most promising Muppet outing in awhile. It took awhile to notice that some of the voices were different, but with Fozzie out front-and-center like the good ol' days of the Muppet Show, it showed the new guys would make Henson Richard Hunt, and even Frank Oz proud. The Muppets are in good hands again. And for the record, I really like Steve Whitmore's Ernie and Kermit. Some else said this, but this is the first Muppet outing since Jim Henson died that I felt that there wasn't any attempts to hide the fact that the main Muppeteers were retired or no longer with us. Even Scooter and Janice made me smile, since they've been mostly background for the last 10 years.


For those who are interested, Ratings were okay. NBC had the most viewers Friday night, and the Muppets had the 2nd best rating of their time block.

 

[sidcrowe]

OK, watched it all TWICE. Let's go. (not a total hatchet job by me)

TOTALLY RUINED the mood with the goofball depiction of heaven. "Career suicide," cubicles...office politics. No, thanks.

I know religions are mostly patriarchal, but having God portrayed as a black woman was too much of a liberal indulgence for my liking. Especially a smarmy God, at that.

Continually going back to Whoopi and watching stuff unfold on a monitor was SPOILING it for me

Why did we need that? To do the It's A Wonderful Life thing. So, to do that, you needed a cornball heaven and a satirical God. Blechhhhh

I'd rather have talking stars or, Kermit could've fallen and dreamt the whole "never been born" thing.

The human actors didn't play it "straight," like Michael Caine did with the Christmas Carol. They didn't act; they MUGGED, like most performers on most kiddie shows.

The guy who said he was going to "oil your chair" to the female character. What? Did we need that?

I kinda take back my "dumpster" comment earlier, but still, including Triumph was more than the inclusion of a stupid and dirty character. It negated the integrity of the Muppet characters themselves

How can you expect the audience the respect and believe in these characters when you toss in Triumph? The writers should be sent back to film school.

Sure, the Muppets parody pop culture, but there was little of that here. Merely DROPPING NAMES is not parody. Having Whoopi say "Spongebob isn't on," will really date this thing. Ditto for the name-dropping Kermit phone calls, too. Ah, well, it's hardly a classic, so who cares? Go ahead and invoke a few minutes with "Fear Factor" and mention the non-issue of "Reality TV." Duh.....

It woulda been great if they hadda left out the cornball heaven, got REAL actors and omitted Triumph.

On the positive...

Great performances by Kermit and Gonzo; I love Mel Brooks (he would've been a better God, too); and it was great to have the whole gang present.

I got chills when Gonzo was singing his miserable song in the mall......then.......he goofed up the lyrics and then Kermit and the angel showed up and ruined the moment. Dammmit!!!!

Pepe: "When you can help your friends and get REVENGE ON YOUR ENEMIES, isn't that what Christmas is all about?:" Hilarious! I loved that

Sam at a rave with GLO STICKS! Super funny

It was pretty good, but it sure won't be taking its place next to A Charlie Brown Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas in the coming years, that's for sure.

Can anybody tell me why Robin was performed by somebody else?????????????????????????

 

[murgatoad]

Re: Newbie alert!

Originally posted by JoyElectric


For those who are interested, Ratings were okay. NBC had the most viewers Friday night, and the Muppets had the 2nd best rating of their time block.

Hm...I'd question "okay". Usually NBC wins every hour on Friday nights, thanks to "Providence" (which has been cancelled, BTW) and "Dateline NBC". But not last night. The Muppet movie lost out to "48 Hours" and "Hack" and barely beat a rerun of "America's Funniest Home Videos". Here's what the TV ratings site Zap2it.com has to say about it:

"Thanks to "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," NBC won Friday night with a 6.9 rating/13 share in households even though it only took the final hour of primetime. CBS was second with a 4.9/9, followed by ABC, 4.5/8 and FOX, 2.2/4

Among adults 18 to 49, NBC also led with a 4.1 rating. ABC averaged a 2.4, CBS 1.9 and FOX 1.4.

CBS started things off at 8 p.m. with "48 Hour Investigates" surgical procedures to lose weight (just in time for the holidays), 6.5/12. NBC was second with its movie "It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie," 6.0/11, while ABC came in third with "America's Funniest Home Videos," 5.2/10. FOX rounded out the top four with "The Brady Bunch in the White House," 2.3/5.

At 9 p.m., "Hack" held on to CBS' lead with a 6.0/11, ahead of the Muppets on NBC, 5.4/10. ABC went the comedic route with "The Drew Carey Show," 3.3/6, and "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" 2.9/5. FOX stuck with its movie, 2.1/4.

NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," 9.3/18, was the night's highest-rated show and easily won the 10 p.m. hour. "20/20" gave ABC a boost to second place with a 5.3/10, enough to beat "U2's Beautiful Day," 2.3/5, on CBS.


Ratings information is taken from fast national data. All numbers are preliminary and subject to change. "


Somehow, I think NBC expected more for its 10 million dollar investment.

 

[JoyElectric]

That's why I said "okay," not "knockout" or "in the toilet."

Also, understanding that people were actually suggesting that the Brady Bunch Movie might beat it out, that's not too bad...twice as many people watched the Muppets. Besides, NBC probably got enough milage out of the free publicity for Scrubs, Fear Factor, Conan, and whatever they could jam in to make it worth their while.

Plus, from what I've seen, the movie had nearly unanimous praise from critics, almost all of whom call it the Muppet's best in over a decade. I'd have to agree.

 

[FellowWLover]

Originally posted by sidcrowe

It was pretty good, but it sure won't be taking its place next to A Charlie Brown Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas in the coming years, that's for sure.

That is sure true! I attempted to watch it with my three-year-old only to end up turning it off and at her request! Waaay too much sexual innuendo and even slapstick violence IMO to make this a holiday classic.

I guess most adult Muppet fans like it that way, but I was sorry to see them take such a (I believe you said it) smarmy turn in what could have otherwise been a real treasure. There was a lot to like, but as Emileigh said to me, "This movie is not for kids... it is for grown-ups!" To which I replied, "Why do you think that?" She answered, "Look at it! Just look at it." Are the Muppets really going to be able to secure their future this way?

I was hoping there would be more of a balance, something for everyone if you will, without making it inappopriate for children. And my little child missed a lot of the references, yet a second grader would surely catch Pepe calling Joan Cusack "hot" and staring down her shirt. I was kinda glad I didn't convince my neighbors to watch with their families. I would be embarrassed now if they had.

 

[Misfit Toy]

Same here. I was embarrassed to watch it with my mom with all of the boob jokes and we're both fans of Muppets. Hmmm.........I really don't want to say anything near how I felt about the content of the show because I'd be burned at the stake by you guys...but the Muppets are NOT supposed to be so dirty- they're made of cloth and foam! That's sick hearing them talk about sex and cleavage and stuff. Ugh.

Yeah I do realize that parodying pop culture is something the Muppets have always done, but today's pop culture is so crude and stupid that it's really out of the Muppets' hands what they parody.
Maybe it's now a question if society today- can there be room today for a TASTEFUL little puppet show about a little green frog, a bear, a pig, a band, a dog, a few chickens, and a whatever? I don't think so. That said, maybe the Muppets, as Jim created them and as we grew up with, are dead.

It's a scary thought.

 

[beaker]

You guys bring up some *very* valid points. Yes it is gonna take some time to get used to the new 'edgy' muppet style(did you guys see Kermit on Craig Kilborn? Oh boy) and watching this I was thinking 'oh boy, some parents out there arent gonna be too thrilled'. Later I thought 'And people were worried about Snoop?'

Sure there was enough sex, drugs/alcohol, and offbeat inuendo to justify a tv-pg, but I think ever since Muppetfest(I'd feel blushed to even repeat some of the stuff from MF) there has definate been a decision to take it up a notch with what the Muppets can say.

But this isnt 1987 I realize, when MFC aired. This is a newer ADD audience, and if thats what it takes...I think though at the root of it all the Muppets are still who theyve been since the days of the Muppet Show. A tight knit concerned bunch of misfit friends looking toward their dreams and creaitivity.

People need to realize this is a new age in Muppetdom. From Israel to South Africa to Afghanistan to Russia the Muppets are more global than ever. I know people are complaining about the more frank sexual nature of the Muppets, but so what? Animal and Pepe's libido has been part of their schtick for awhile. There's now a Muppet with HIV. JHC is inching ever closer toward 'outted' Muppets, big deal. I dont think these things change the makeup or complexitie of the Muppets, I think it continues to offer a realistic reflection of life in general around the globe.