The Muppets on ABC

[squeakyboots]

The new Muppet show that premiered on ABC last fall is returning from its hiatus tomorrow and supposedly with a new producer that will be carrying the series into a different direction that will be closer to the original Muppet Show.

Opinions of this series so far have been mixed but I'm personally enjoying it. (Though the negative reviews seem to mostly stem from people freaking out over Kermit saying "hell" despite that being the only instance of swearing I can recall.) I wouldn't say it holds up to the last two movies but I think it's a good show on its own merits.

I don't know if any other users here have been watching this series. If you've ever been a fan of the Muppets, I would say it's worth looking at.

And Muppets Most Wanted was brilliant. If you haven't seen that movie yet, do yourself a favor and watch it right now.

[ElectricAngel]

I followed the series and watched the first three or four episodes. Bear Right Then Bear Left was the last one I saw. I dropped out a bit of it since I was too lazy to download future episodes but I really enjoyed what I saw. It was different, but not bad in any way. Though with this news I am glad they are going for a more traditional route. I was thinking about this show today actually and wondering how they would justify the change. The Muppets love breaking the fourth wall so I assume something will happen with Ms. Piggy's show or they'll refer to ABC itself or something like that.

Also now that the show is going off hiatus I think I'll catch up on any missing episodes. I've been running dry of what to watch anyway.

[squeakyboots]

So the new episode aired a couple days ago and I've had the chance to watch it. You can definitely tell they're trying to ease into a new structure for their show.

The episode begins with all the Muppets returning to their office from a "vacation" when the show's producer arrives and tells them that their talk show has too much talking in it. She hires a brand manager that wants to completely sabotage and ruin the show with ecelebs and memes, threatening to cancel the show if the Muppets don't comply. Kermit doesn't want to do this and eventually comes to the decision to have classic Muppet Show style skits instead. Including skits with Pepe as an Uber driver and a dramatic reading from Bobo. Kermit and Piggy also sing a song together. The producer ends up liking the changes and the sleazy brand manager takes all the credit for it.

I personally thought this was better than some previous episodes. It looks like they're sticking with the motif of showing the Muppets in the office but less of their lives outside the office/show. We saw more of Up Late With Miss Piggy in this episode than any other so far. I'm looking forward to seeing where this new direction for the series leads which is hopefully towards a second season.

[Baar Baar Jinx]

Feb 5, 2016 4:59:09 GMT squeakyboots said:

I personally thought this was better than some previous episodes. It looks like they're sticking with the motif of showing the Muppets in the office but less of their lives outside the office/show. We saw more of Up Late With Miss Piggy in this episode than any other so far. I'm looking forward to seeing where this new direction for the series leads which is hopefully towards a second season.

So are the Muppets in this show supposed to be the same characters that starred in the original 1970s/1980s show? I mean, yes, they look the same, and act the same, and have the same names, but they seem to all know each other as employees on "Up Late with Miss Piggy", rather than having a pre-existing history. There's never any acknowledgement  of their prior work. Piggy not knowing most of their names is a running joke, which is in dissonance with their shared past. In the latest episode that you mention, they all join in to hum the theme from the original Muppet Show, but none of them makes any comment about the show itself, and Kermit never says, "Let's do skits like we used to back on our old show", even while situation seemed to demand such a statement. I'm not exactly sure what continuity (if such a thing even exists for the Muppets) this show is supposed to be set in.

[edge]

Supposedly the show is at risk for a potential cancellation.

I haven't caught any episodes, so I can't say if this surprising.

It's just a shame that The Muppets seem to be a dying brand.

[Baar Baar Jinx]

I'd be interested in some behind-the-scenes information on this show; it's far more ambitious, effects-wise, than the '80s Muppet Show. For example, there are several scenes where we see the full body of the Muppet with their limbs all moving independently, yet no evidence of a puppeteer or strings (in the old show, you could see limbs being manipulated with sticks). There was even a scene with Miss Piggy hanging from the ceiling with scarves and her face, arms and legs were freely mobile. Are they using animatronics or CGI for certain effects? Strangely I have found no information on that.

As to whether the show is being renewed, looks like it could go either way at this time ... apparently the numbers picked up for the last few episodes of the first season but that may or may not be enough to save it.