Your Thoughts: Lady Gaga and The Muppets Holiday Spectacular on ABC

[SesameFever]

It was not that great my opinion doesn't matter I hate Gaga.

 

[Bannanasketch]

This review pretty much sums up my thoughts on this special.

This is my first post on this forum in a while. I should start coming back here more often...

 

[smalltimecrook]

Why is this forum becoming more and more negative as the days go by?

This is clearly a Lady Gaga special that got commissioned because her holiday special last year got great ratings and because she is massively famous and popular. Anyone thinking this was going to be a Muppet special with just a bit of Gaga is clearly deluded.

But remember a few years ago when nobody would have ever put the Muppets in a prime time Thanksgiving special on ABC with equal billing next to one of the (think of her music what you will) biggest names in music today? The best we could have expected is Kermit to duet on one song as a surprise guest or something.

And guess what? Now it can happen. And the Muppets were funny and current and had some terrific moments. In prime time. On ABC. On Thanksgiving. They weren't dull, lacklustre or too child-orientated like they were in many productions before the last movie. We got a taste of some Muppet Show wit. And I'm not saying it was perfect, but it was great fun and it should be exciting to fans. And if you hate Lady Gaga, then don't watch a Lady Gaga special thinking it will be A Muppet Family Christmas. And if you can't handle that some characters change a little with their new performers, then don't watch the new Muppet productions.

We're in a time where the Muppets are allowed to blossom again in a commercial and relevant way. Are we really just going to moan about everything because we've decided that it's time for Piggy to stop karate-chopping or because that one obscure background character we liked from a Muppet special from the 80s didn't happen to make an appearance?

Being a fan should be about taking joy from something, not about deconstructing everything to the extent that nothing can ever be more than a disappointment.

And yes, of course we shouldn't be uncritical either, but let's also be a little gracious.

 

[jvcarroll]

Why is this forum becoming more and more negative as the days go by?

This is clearly a Lady Gaga special that got commissioned because her holiday special last year got great ratings and because she is massively famous and popular. Anyone thinking this was going to be a Muppet special with just a bit of Gaga is clearly deluded.

But remember a few years ago when nobody would have ever put the Muppets in a prime time Thanksgiving special on ABC with equal billing next to one of the (think of her music what you will) biggest names in music today? The best we could have expected is Kermit to duet on one song as a surprise guest or something.

And guess what? Now it can happen. And the Muppets were funny and current and had some terrific moments. In prime time. On ABC. On Thanksgiving. They weren't dull, lacklustre or too child-orientated like they were in many productions before the last movie. We got a taste of some Muppet Show wit. And I'm not saying it was perfect, but it was great fun and it should be exciting to fans. And if you hate Lady Gaga, then don't watch a Lady Gaga special thinking it will be A Muppet Family Christmas. And if you can't handle that some characters change a little with their new performers, then don't watch the new Muppet productions.

We're in a time where the Muppets are allowed to blossom again in a commercial and relevant way. Are we really just going to moan about everything because we've decided that it's time for Piggy to stop karate-chopping or because that one obscure background character we liked from a Muppet special from the 80s didn't happen to make an appearance?

Being a fan should be about taking joy from something, not about deconstructing everything to the extent that nothing can ever be more than a disappointment.

And yes, of course we shouldn't be uncritical either, but let's also be a little gracious.

Those are all very good points.We're fans so we're going to pick things apart and there are many lost opportunities, but I'm glad this special aired. I give the content, as a whole, a solid C grade.

The truth is, fans really just want the show back. And if it ever does, just wait for all those criticisms. But that's okay if the comments are constructive.

 

[D'Snowth]

Again, I think part of the problem was the Muppets faded away into obscurity in the 2000s... then again, that probably wouldn't have happened (or, at the very least, the Muppets probably wouldn't have faded away as much as they had) if JHC didn't keep bouncing them around from company to company, who had no intentions of actually doing anything with them, only wanting to own them for the sake of owning them.

 

[MuppetGuy75]

It seems this special will go down in the Muppet history books as one of the most debated. Apparently, it was either really loved or really hated. Personally I thought the show was great! As mentioned by others here, it was basicly Gaga's show WITH the Muppets not the Muppets WITH Lady Gaga. That would have made a big difference with fans. I'm sure there were many who were already biased against Gaga and no matter if it had starred her, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, or Ke$ha, somebody would still complain. To me Lady Gaga IS a Muppet! She's larger than life and thinks out of the box and that to me fits well with them. There aren't many pop stars out there who write, produce, play an instrument, or sing live in concert as she does. She's very talented but I guess some get tired of her the off the wall antics. Someone mentioned that she was inappropriate for a Muppet special. Let's go back to the late 70's when Alice Cooper was a guest star on The Muppet Show. People tend to forget that it caused quite a controversy back then because he was the Marilyn Manson of his day who like Gaga, had a wild Rock N' Roll persona. He was deemed a devil worshiper because of the dark content he presented on stage but as always, you should never judge a book by it's cover. He's actually a very nice and laid back guy. And just like Gaga... it's all Rock N' Roll showmanship.
I understand what people said about the show being rushed or not enough holiday material etc. I agree there could have been more but for me, I'm just happy to see the Muppets on TV. They could have read the phone book and I would be happy! I think we as fans have reached that point where we look back and compare things to the time when Jim was there. That magic will never come back so I think it's best we just enjoy what we get when we get it. Not trying to be blunt but it's the truth! The Muppets had really faded from sight for such a long time and I'm really glad that Disney is doing what it is to bring them back into the spotlight. 90 minutes with them, Lady Gaga, and other guests on the special was great for me and I look forward to it being released on DVD (but I hope they release Muppet Show seasons 4 & 5 first)!

 

[littlepigeon]

Okay, here is from the perspective of a Gaga fan... I watched the Muppet special because of Lady Gaga, not the muppets. But I have always liked the muppets, so it was a double pleasure for me. I'm not such a big fan that I know all the muppets names or anything, but I enjoyed it. I didn't know they had a new movie, so that was a surprise and I'm sure tons of other "little monsters" were also watching and may now go see the movie because of it. I assumed this special was a vehicle for Lady Gaga to promote her new album-- I mean it is called "Lady Gaga & the Muppets..." I agree about the duet with kermit of "Gypsy" being a bit awkward. But kermit was so adorable, I didn't really mind. I know that Gaga has worked with muppets before, she used a giant fame monster muppet in her Monster Ball tour onstage a couple years ago. I think she is a big fan of the muppets herself. I loved the special, it was much more fun with muppets in it... In fact, I would like to see it again! This may have not been considered the best performance for the muppet fan base, but it drew in so many new watchers that would not have tuned in without Gaga.

 

[D'Snowth]

Yes, this was Lady Gaga WITH the Muppets, HOWEVER, the thing that some of us are trying to get across is that the Muppets took a serious backseat in the special: Kermit did an incredibly awkward duet with Gaga, and Piggy got her own number, but as others have pointed, for the other numbers, the Muppets were reduced to backup... in fact, in Gaga's first number, EM backed her up, then the rest of the Muppets joined in at the end, likewise, they joined in at the end of a later number, all the others were either Gaga solo or Gaga with the other celebrities. That's basically what we're saying: we knew the Muppets weren't going to necessarily be the driving force behind the special, however, with them receive equal billing, we weren't exactly expecting their usage in the special to be so limited either.

 

[minor muppetz]

A lot of people are saying that the Muppets were treated more like guests despite sharing the title with Lady Gaga. And while the non-Muppet scenes may be a little too long, I'd say that if the Muppets were just guests they probably wouldn't have had all those Muppet segments without Lady Gaga.

 

[Janice+Floyd<3]

It was absolutely mind blowing and amazing for me being a huge fan of lady gagas and the muppets! Two if my fav things together my life is complete! Haha my favourite scenes were the opening number and ending number and the scene were zoot mentions how he's been using the same wooden mouth piece in his saxophone for years that was hilarious! Very splendid for me indeed!