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

[minor muppetz]

In the scenes with the Electric Mayhem, I kept expecting Lips to say something, considering that last winter Steve Whitmire supposedly had Lips say something in a way that makes him know who the character is now. This would have been an opportunity.

I can't believe that Janice was mostly cut from the picture (depending on what TV you watch it on... my TV is widescreen but I still barely saw her). There's three members in front, three in back... Why have a bigger space between members in the back?

 

[D'Snowth]

There's really no reason whatsoever for this whole widescreen fad, especially TV... just because you crop out the top and bottom 25% of the picture doesn't magically make it "high definition" or something... that's like taking an old timey photograph, cutting off the top and bottom of it with a pair of scissors, and saying, "Look, now this photo is so much sharper and clearer!" Plus, you end up with one of three problems: the broadcast either has black bars on the top and bottom (which CAN easily be fixed by adjusting your TV screen to zoom, thus removing those bars), the broadcast is all squished in making everyone look like they tried driving inbetween two big rigs (SEINFELD has this problem on one of our local channels), or in the cast like last night the broadcast ends up getting the sides cut off to make it a fullscreen presentation (which everybody says is what happens when you don't watch something that's supposed to be naturally widescreen, but it's quite the reverse as I pointd out earlier).

You know what? Just read this; it gives the honest-to-goodness truth about widescreen and cropping:
http://www.ninjapirate.com/article/aspect-ratio

Now, I WILL say this: yes, Muppet movies DO tend to look genuinely better in widescreen, but it seems like Muppet movies are the ONLY movies that have the side cropping issue people seem to claim happens to all movies, which is completely not the case, as the above mentioned article will point out.

 

[Oscarfan]

There's a difference between cropping to widescreen and actually filming in widescreen.

 

[dwayne1115]

I wondered why it was filmed in widescreen as well, I could not even see Janice in the band inserts! I did not even realize she was there until someone on here said she was!

 

[jvcarroll]

In the scenes with the Electric Mayhem, I kept expecting Lips to say something, considering that last winter Steve Whitmire supposedly had Lips say something in a way that makes him know who the character is now. This would have been an opportunity.

I can't believe that Janice was mostly cut from the picture (depending on what TV you watch it on... my TV is widescreen but I still barely saw her). There's three members in front, three in back... Why have a bigger space between members in the back?

Everybody was framed perfectly on my screen. I think your settings may be off. I wish television sets made it simpler for consumers. The items pictured on the left are correct. Those on the right are manipulated by the zoomed settings. I suspect this is the issue you've been having:

Also, I noticed Zoot's eyes are much larger now. They appear to be that way in the new movie too. Just an observation. Hmmm...

There's really no reason whatsoever for this whole widescreen fad, especially TV... just because you crop out the top and bottom 25% of the picture doesn't magically make it "high definition" or something... that's like taking an old timey photograph, cutting off the top and bottom of it with a pair of scissors, and saying, "Look, now this photo is so much sharper and clearer!" Plus, you end up with one of three problems: the broadcast either has black bars on the top and bottom (which CAN easily be fixed by adjusting your TV screen to zoom, thus removing those bars), the broadcast is all squished in making everyone look like they tried driving inbetween two big rigs (SEINFELD has this problem on one of our local channels), or in the cast like last night the broadcast ends up getting the sides cut off to make it a fullscreen presentation (which everybody says is what happens when you don't watch something that's supposed to be naturally widescreen, but it's quite the reverse as I pointd out earlier).

You know what? Just read this; it gives the honest-to-goodness truth about widescreen and cropping:
http://www.ninjapirate.com/article/aspect-ratio

Now, I WILL say this: yes, Muppet movies DO tend to look genuinely better in widescreen, but it seems like Muppet movies are the ONLY movies that have the side cropping issue people seem to claim happens to all movies, which is completely not the case, as the above mentioned article will point out.

That's a funny article and it makes some good points, but there's more to it. I prefer to see recognizable film and television transfer samples that can be easily sourced because I'm certain that some of what is cited does go on more than we know. I've seen this butchery done to classic episodes of Law & Order and I don't like it.

Throughout the history of cinema there have been many aspect ratios and film stocks to accommodate them. You're right that the blacking out of the film negative is sometimes done in post production, but that is per the director's instructions much like a professional photographer cropping a photo to fit their vision. Most film is now shot and projected digitally so most of this is moot. I so miss the flicker of actual celluloid. That's the real crime.

Most directors of film and TV prefer widescreen because people naturally see in a panoramic view that covers our peripheral vision. (I'm talking about standard widescreen, of course. Nothing crazy.) It makes for a lush landscape rather than a confined box. Everything new is being shot and designed for widescreen without loss of quality. That wasn't always the case. Most modern films are also standardized for television's aspect ratio. Let's face it, most movies are in the theaters for less than a month anyway. They're being shot for the home entertainment market.

I prefer the wider screen too (so long as it's not crazy Lawrence of Arabia skinny), but I completely understand your angst about format changes. For decades, I special ordered many letterboxed films in order to accommodate the director's intended aspect ratio. These versions were relatively rare and they were not cheap. I'd often have to pay $50-80 more than pan-and-scan. That was a lot of cash to spend as a teenager. Ouch! LaserDiscs and DVD's later eased that pain a little by often offering bother versions.

I find it incredibly distasteful anytime I see an episode of classic television stretched into a widescreen. It's unwatchable to me. I love Lucy. She's silly enough. Syndication shouldn't treat her like Silly Putty! I'd rather have the vertical black bars on the sides.

The widescreen standardization began a decade ago. In fact, Joss Whedon shot the last two seasons of Buffy that way per the studio's request. However, he wanted the show's ratio to remain consistent so upon subsequent DVD reissues, he cropped out the extra widescreen bits and I don't fault him for it because that was his vision.

Someday screens will be projected holograms and there will be no box. The format ratio will no longer matter and artists will be free to choose their canvases freely. I hope there will be flying cars too. Shouldn't those have been invented by now? Anyway until that leap in technology happens, widescreen as we know it right now is probably here to stay.

 

[CrazyHarry]

I think they scalped Sweetums to make Gaga's wig.

I thoroughly enjoyed the show, though I was surprised they got away with some of Gaga's wardrobe (and with RuPaul). I'm not complaining, just surprised.

More Muppets!

 

[dwayne1115]

Here is the ratings for the show:

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/20...tacular-as-football-wins-thanksgiving/218857/

Not Good! Didn't A Very Merry Muppet Christmas, and Letters To Santa get really high rankings? Did not both of them air on Thanksgiving night on NBC? Looks like they need to do another TV movie for NBC...

 

[minor muppetz]

Not Good! Didn't A Very Merry Muppet Christmas, and Letters To Santa get really high rankings? Did not both of them air on Thanksgiving night on NBC? Looks like they need to do another TV movie for NBC...

Letters to Santa didn't originally air on Thanksgiving.

 

[dwayne1115]

Letters to Santa didn't originally air on a Thanksgiving.

Ok according to Muppet Wiki it aired on Dec 17, but the point I was trying to make was that the Muppets seemed to do better on NBC, or by themselves in a Tv show, or movie like setting.

I wonder if ABC had put one of the older Christmas shows, or movies on at that time slot if it would have done better.

 

[Scooterforever]

Sounds like most people either loved it or hated it, with legitimate reasons from both sides. The most prominent criticism seems to be that the Muppets took a backseat and felt shoehorned into the special. I think I'll give it the "Studio DC: Almost Live" treatment and just skip it. Hopefully as the Muppets regain their popularity we'll get more holiday specials like Muppet Family Christmas or Letters to Santa where the Muppets are truly the stars.