What's in store for the Muppets in 2012 article

[goldenstate5]

it won't be considered a flop, in any way. the truth is, profit IS what matters to studios, not total gross as much. i mean think about it, have any of the harold and kumar movies been actual big hits? yet they still keep making them because they're cheap and i guess they have their audience.

and also, forgetting sarah marshall, which everyone knows and considers to be jason segel's big hit, only made 63 million total. when i looked that up, i was shocked, because it seems to me that everyone knows that movie, i thought it must have been a huge hit. but because it only cost about 30 million, it WAS considered big. and because it got good reviews.

Being cheap was half the battle, being a huge hit on DVD was what won those sequels. And while we can be optimistic, there is absolutely nothing that explicitly states that this will be the case for Muppets. It either happens... or it doesn't. My fingers, obviously, are that it does.

As for television, let me refine what I said about Comedy Central: they would never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever pick up a Muppet TV series, at least a faithful and clean one. It's far too family friendly for their demographic, despite how clever the humor is. Yes, all ages can enjoy it and the older audience has a taste for it, but it's clean, which is the problem. The off-color jokes in "Oz" don't begin to touch what CC looks for in a show. Their animated shows, while enjoyable, are over-the-top to make up for the animation. It just would never, and won't work. It just isn't what they're looking for.

Even though I remarked earlier about a Muppet single-cam being costly, I would love to see one and how they would do it. Maybe a Muppet mockumentary? Or would that be too restrictive?

 

[zoebell]

if something has a fanbase and might be a hit, i don't see how being too "clean" would be a problem for them. networks want ratings, they don't care what kind of content draws it in. and not every show on comedy central is the same kind of thing. i don't personally think daily show/colbert is anything like the rest of their stuff. and they have all kinds of comedy on the channel

i don't see how you KNOW they wouldn't go for it- it'd at least be worth a pitch

 

[goldenstate5]

Channels have demographics, certain things that must meet their requirements. Comedy Central is an adult-based comedy network. The Daily Show/Colbert is very much adult and mature, both hosts swear and discuss very adult material in addition to high-brow political topics. Colbert even jokes around about how his show is supposed to be family friendly, when the irony is that it is anything but. The Muppets is a clean, family brand which quite simply doesn't meet their requirements. When pitching a show, you have to know your network and what your network wants. Yes, while they do express fondness for ratings, the shows never stray away from two things:

1) Being based on comedians and their standup
2) Adult comedy programming

I don't know exactly how much more I can stress that the last thing Comedy Central wants is a family friendly show. And fight it as much as you want, but the industry sees the Muppets as a family brand.

 

[beaker]

It is indeed the one that made the most money, but it sold less tickets because the tickets cost more now than they did back then. Even then, it did better than most of them.

Small screen is nice, but they need to have a theatrical film every so often. I'd hate to see just DTV projects because of a uniformly slow box office. And even then, Muppets is STILL the #1 family comedy. I'm sure we'll see a Happy Feet 3 and Arthur Christmas 2: Arthur Saves New Years, even though TRU will be clearing out BOTH toylines for years to come (they still can't get rid of Terminator Salvation, Planet 51, AstroBoy, and Star Trek... even though ST did well, the merchandise was a joke). Hugo will become a cult film, mark my words... but Muppets did well for a very slow period. Green Lantern made twice as much, sure... but it was a blockbuster summer film, it had a decent opening week, but the film didn't make nearly enough to cover the huge budget. TM made its up in less than a week.

The other kids films have been considered (at least domestically) flops... this one hasn't. And I'm sure it will hold up well until next month as well, albeit in the same way Puss in Boots is still making a mil or so a week.

I won't include Hugo with the glut of kids movie garbage, because it's a very well done love letter to early cinema even if I found some of it a bit boring in pacing. But I now have nothing but pure loathsome disgust at most of the cgi and cgi/live action hybrid films aimed at kids. For every MVA, Up, etc there's G-Force, Hoodwinked, etc. I wish more people liked stop motion like Coraline, Paranorman, Fantastic Fox, or traditional like Princess and the Frog and Spirited Away.

Im starting to have the feeling that the Muppets film was almost more of a playing to the chorus situation rather than truly bringing new people to the fanbase. Meaning a lot of families and parents who grew up with it brought their kids...but families who werent raised with the muppets and who take their kids to see garbage like smurfs or cats and dogs probably didnt see it.

Not that this site is a measureable macrocosm or measuring stick at all, but even here there wasnt much of an uptick in new or returning members. I think it unified the facebook college kids and grownups into the Muppets, but not sure if it could be considered a true new renaissance. That cultural impact and hardcore fandom will have to be earned slowly with a tv show

 

[beaker]

Kids will discover the Muppets through this movie the same way that kids discovered the Smurfs through their thing... I'm sure the fans made up the bulk of the audience, but I'm sure the more casual type that had kids brought them in. I can tell kids were probably screaming to see Happy Feet 2... but I can't find the kid appeal in Arthur Christmas, and Hugo doesn't seem like something young kids could sit through and not fidget. That's best appreciated by the 8-10 year old crowd. Other than that, it still is considered a family film and families are still seeing it. New Year's Eve's a chick flick girls drag their boy friends to... something tells me this will somehow surge a little said day (why it's opening up almost a month in advance is beyond me... probably to beat the humongous rush of other films), The Babysitter, frat boy college humor is probably going to see it's best week this week... Twilight we already explained... then we have the Muppets, followed by the abysmal Christmas movie Hugo and something else.

New Years Eve is the worst reviewed movie of the year, and possibly of all time for meta critic/rotten tomato scoring. Muppets is one of the top best of 2011 review wise. Just kind of funny.

The American public is stupid. Let's just admit this...Europeans have been saying this for awhile. Our hearts might be big sometimes, but the IQ of America overall seems dismally low. And this is reflected in the internet memes, commercials, pop music, humor, text talk, and many other things. Americans will believe anything the government says, buy whatever is advertised to them. So of course people will prefer Twilight and cgi garbage over The Muppets. TMS always played to a more higher brow imaginative tune.

 

[beaker]

Even though I remarked earlier about a Muppet single-cam being costly, I would love to see one and how they would do it. Maybe a Muppet mockumentary? Or would that be too restrictive?

Ive seen some traditional sitcoms and "Office" like shows considered one camera, but also some traditional sitcoms and "Office" like shows considered multi camera. Is there truly a difference?

 

[goldenstate5]

Multi-cams are built around existing, standing sets, utilizing multiple cameras to cover a shot, usually with an audience watching the filming and supplying a laugh track. Two and a Half Men, Big Bang Theory are multi-cams, How I Met Your Mother is, but lacks the audience. They can sometimes delve out of multi-cam format for specialized shots, but it's very rare.

Single camera shows are shot cinematically, like a short film. Scrubs, The Office, Parks and Rec, Community... all single cam shows.

 

[zoebell]

ok, well, what about the cartoon network? they have quirky, weird shows sometimes and a niche audience as well

 

[goldenstate5]

Both CN and Adult Swim have a different alternative style humor. While I wouldn't say that they would go for it, it's certainly more plausible.

EDIT: on the bright side, something was brought to my attention via twitter. At Disney California Adventure, Muppet Vision 3D is now advertised on the entertainment guide. http://twitpic.com/7skk0n

Why make note of it? Because, well, the very fact that they went out of their way to advertise a show that has been there and listed as a standard attraction for the past decade tells that Disney continues to shine the spotlight on the Muppets. Exciting!

 

[Drtooth]

New Years Eve is the worst reviewed movie of the year, and possibly of all time for meta critic/rotten tomato scoring. Muppets is one of the top best of 2011 review wise. Just kind of funny.

Good reviews don't equal box office success. Even then, all New Years Eve is just a lame chick flick. It's not exactly the time of year for dates just yet. It's going to sink like a stone the next 2 weeks. Really, it's like an entire summer's worth of movie blockbusters are coming out in 2 weeks alone.

So of course people will prefer Twilight and cgi garbage over The Muppets. TMS always played to a more higher brow imaginative tune.

I thought people DID choose The Muppets over CGI garbage... Twilight was only for teenagers that... well, it rhymes with corny. Let's leave it at that... and the boyfriends they drag them to.