Your Thoughts: The Muppet Show Starring Sabrina Carpenter

[Grumpo]

To do some nitpicking in addition to my post above, Maya Rudolph choking on Beaker's eyeball in her throat will probably haunt my dreams for nights to come (maybe holding a bottle of window cleaner in her hand, too). Her aborted death and Beaker's empty sockets felt more like a punkish Kirk Thatcher than old good Jim Henson to me, maybe a nod to MT from the scriptwriters.

Popular opinion or not, I would sell my soul to have Steve voiceover Kermit, really. I tried the mute comparison again: sound off - and I see Kermit, sound on - and it's still an extremely talented stand-in (hope not too many viewers have this issue). Luckily, the things he says are really Kermity, scripted way better than what they did before, that helps.

Highlights: the opening sequence complete with Gonzo still doing something fresh with his trumpet, nostalgic end titles, Statler and Waldorf, Sam the bartender, another Queen hit by the Muppets, and 5 seconds of Swedish Chef which are very much worth it! And everything else, really.

Overall, a solid 8/10, let's have more of this, please.

 

[Randall Flagg]

I would sell my soul to have Steve voiceover Kermit, really.

As somebody who was around when Steve took over for Jim, it's always funny to see comments like this, since I still clearly remember the backlash Steve got when he took over. I remember being at a friend's house the day "Muppets Christmas Carol" came out, and his sister had just gotten back from seeing it. My first question was, "How was Kermit's voice?" and her response was, "Ugh...."

And then, of course, there was the Family Guy thing about "wrong-sounding muppets."

Of course, over time, we all got used to Steve's version, and that will be the case with Matt, as well (also, by the time Steve was doing it for The Muppets series, it was sounding a bit thinner and raspy, so I'm not sure he'd still be able to do it now, anyway.)

As for the special, I DVR'd it and look forward to watching it this weekend. I'm pretty much only hearing good things, which is a nice change when it comes to Muppet stuff these days!

 

[GonzoIsCool]

To do some nitpicking in addition to my post above, Maya Rudolph choking on Beaker's eyeball in her throat will probably haunt my dreams for nights to come (maybe holding a bottle of window cleaner in her hand, too). Her aborted death and Beaker's empty sockets felt more like a punkish Kirk Thatcher than old good Jim Henson to me, maybe a nod to MT from the scriptwriters.

Popular opinion or not, I would sell my soul to have Steve voiceover Kermit, really. I tried the mute comparison again: sound off - and I see Kermit, sound on - and it's still an extremely talented stand-in (hope not too many viewers have this issue). Luckily, the things he says are really Kermity, scripted way better than what they did before, that helps.

Highlights: the opening sequence complete with Gonzo still doing something fresh with his trumpet, nostalgic end titles, Statler and Waldorf, Sam the bartender, another Queen hit by the Muppets, and 5 seconds of Swedish Chef which are very much worth it! And everything else, really.

Overall, a solid 8/10, let's have more of this, please.

As somebody who was around when Steve took over for Jim, it's always funny to see comments like this, since I still clearly remember the backlash Steve got when he took over. I remember being at a friend's house the day "Muppets Christmas Carol" came out, and his sister had just gotten back from seeing it. My first question was, "How was Kermit's voice?" and her response was, "Ugh...."

And then, of course, there was the Family Guy thing about "wrong-sounding muppets."

Of course, over time, we all got used to Steve's version, and that will be the case with Matt, as well (also, by the time Steve was doing it for The Muppets series, it was sounding a bit thinner and raspy, so I'm not sure he'd still be able to do it now, anyway.)

As for the special, I DVR'd it and look forward to watching it this weekend. I'm pretty much only hearing good things, which is a nice change when it comes to Muppet stuff these days!

It took me YEARS to get used to Steve Whitmire, mostly because the writing was sometimes a little off. Eventually I got used to him, probably around the Muppet Tonight era. I couldn’t even watch the newer movies until then without feeling heartbroken. I came to appreciate the movies, even if I still prefer the original ones.

It was very hard on me because my dream was to work with Jim Henson. He died so young. I grew up in a family where my parents played Rainbow Connection at their wedding. My cookie jar was Cookie Monster. My favorite shows were Muppet Babies and the Jim Henson Hour. I still have tons of tapes of Jim Henson shows. For people like me, Jim dying at such a crucial time was a critical blow. He was set to change Disney. Things looked so promising.

So for us to get used to Steve Whitmire was extremely hard. Fans were in mourning. It is not really possible to come up with a modern equivalent celebrity who would be as devastating to lose. Still, we came to terms and mostly healed. Having Kermit change again has been difficult to handle, especially when it brings up painful memories of Jim's passing. As long as the writing is good, I can handle Matt Vogel, just keep the writing good, please. I do miss Steve Whitmire, of course. I grew up watching him play Rizzo, Sprocket, and Bean Bunny for one thing. I hope he can find a way to puppeteer again.

I don't know how I'd handle it if Gonzo changed voices though. That might rip my heart out.

 

[Grumpo]

@Randall Flagg, @GonzoIsCool -- Thank You so much, gentlemen!

Myself, as i said before, I remember being extremely sad, skeptical and suspicious when I went to see the MCC (i haven't seen the tribute appearance until much later), thinking "oh well there is no way anybody can"... but then it was "hey" and then "wow" and "i actually believe he's there" and finally "there's hope for the Muppets yet". I clearly recall being amazed that i could actually believe i see the "same person" Kermit i used to know on the screen.
It might have had something to do with the fact that i had zero expectations going in, and sure had a lot to do with the writing, after all we still had Jerry Juhl back then, but my acceptance of Kermit in MCC, MTI and MT was immediate, and very smooth (which i will be forever grateful to Steve for).

I guess it finally caught me 35 years later =( and i was looking for people who actually went through this experience back then.
Was it hard for you to watch Muppet productions back then? Was there something you said to yourself to make things easier?
Is it hard to see the change now? (@GonzoIsCool thank you for already answering that perfectly!)

Otherwise, let's hope for Matt's talent and good writing to work its magic over time for us.