Disney Owns the Muppets, So NOW What?

[TGTheodore]

I'm anxious to see the one-hour Muppet "movie" tonight on NBC.

Disney has made no secret that now that they own the Muppets, they really aren't sure what to DO with them, or how to market them.

There's a slight gap in generations who are familiar with the non-Sesame Street Muppets.

Personally, I'd like to see a return of The Muppet Show, or a reasonable facsimile. Stars were RUSHING to get on that great show, and the writing was always tops. And since Disney and ABC are also together, the licensing costs would be be more nominal. And I think a Muppet variety show could be pretty refreshing these days.

In any case, the Muppet franchise is just too valuable to let linger too long.

How'd you like to see the Muppets marketed?

--Ted

 

[Hennessy Badger]

Yeah, I'm looking forward to it too!

I'm surprised that it isn't airing on (as you mentioned) Disney owned ABC, but network competitor NBC.

 

[Trekker4747]

Personally, I don't care.

The Muppets are VASTLY overrated.

 

[Cutter John]

The Muppets just haven't been the same since they sold their soul to The Mouse.

 

[Christopher]

The Muppets are far from overrated. If anything, these days they're underappreciated.

Unfortunately, they aren't what they once were. The Letters to Santa special was mediocre, sappy, and unfocused. I can't believe the songs were by the same Paul Williams who scored The Muppet Movie, because they were... well, mediocre, sappy, and unfocused.

And hardly any of the original performers are left -- just Dave Goelz and Steve Whitmire. Gonzo, Rizzo, Bunsen, and Zoot are the only Muppet Show-era characters who still have their original voices; everyone else (except for newer characters like Bill Barretta's Pepe and Bobo the Bear) has been recast. As mediocre as the songs were, I felt a wave of nostalgia every time Gonzo sang, because it was so refreshing to hear a Muppet character who still sounded like himself. (Although to his credit, Eric Jacobsen sounds uncannily like Frank Oz and does an almost note-perfect Fozzie. His Piggy is less successful -- the timbre of the voice is right, but the delivery isn't there.)

But that's just me being nostalgic. I could live with the new cast if the material were still good, and there has been some fairly good Muppet stuff in recent years. But if this is representative of what's going to happen to the Muppets in Disney's hands, then I have little hope for their future.

 

[Trekker4747]

Eh, just never been entertained by them. Ever.

They're... "funny"-ish. But I dunno, I never got the hooplah over them.

 

[TGTheodore]

The Muppet Show was one of the best written and performed shows of the 70's. The writing worked on many levels (like Warner Brothers and Jay Ward cartoons) and never talked down to the kids.

Grammy and Oscar winners clamored to be asked to host each week. (I believe three members of Monty Python hosted at one time or another). And numerous hosts said later that after a minute or two, they completely forgot the Muppets were ... well ... Muppets.

The first Muppet movie was charming, funny, hip and had a really great score. Subsequent movies were hit and miss but always had chunks of pure gold in them.

The earliest appearances of the Muppets in the late 50's and early 60's were groundbreaking and some sketches were downright avant-garde. ("Scrap-Yap", "Mah-na-ma-na", and sketches wherein something was threatening to eat Kermit.)

And the Muppets were briefly regulars on the first season of Saturday Night Live back in 1975. Not a good match stylewise, but they still had good material.

--Ted

 

[nx1701g]

I'm sorry to say that I found the show on Wednesday night to be uninteresting. It was a far cry from The Muppet Show I used to catch on Nick at Night or the brief remake in the 90s.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I mainly want to see the early Muppet specials like The Frog Prince and The Great Santa Switch on DVD. I loved those.

 

[TGTheodore]

I'm sorry to say that I found the show on Wednesday night to be uninteresting.

I've watched the first fifteen minutes, and I agree with you so far.

Poop.

--Ted

 

[Kryton]

Hmm...I recently discovered on an old recovered hard drive a digitized copy of the first episode of "Muppets Tonight". Might have to burn it to a disc and watch it this weekend.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

The Muppets are VASTLY overrated.

"There's one thing I'll say for him...he's consistent."

I'd like to see a return of the Wilkins coffee commercials, myself. Jim Henson's sense of humor at its most sophisticated.

 

[Kryton]

For anyone who hasn't seen Henson's Wilkins spots, here's a link to follow:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=wilkins+coffee&search_type=&aq=f

 

[John Picard]

The Muppet Show was one of the best written and performed shows of the 70's. The writing worked on many levels (like Warner Brothers and Jay Ward cartoons) and never talked down to the kids.

Grammy and Oscar winners clamored to be asked to host each week. (I believe three members of Monty Python hosted at one time or another). And numerous hosts said later that after a minute or two, they completely forgot the Muppets were ... well ... Muppets.

The first Muppet movie was charming, funny, hip and had a really great score. Subsequent movies were hit and miss but always had chunks of pure gold in them.

The earliest appearances of the Muppets in the late 50's and early 60's were groundbreaking and some sketches were downright avant-garde. ("Scrap-Yap", "Mah-na-ma-na", and sketches wherein something was threatening to eat Kermit.)

And the Muppets were briefly regulars on the first season of Saturday Night Live back in 1975. Not a good match stylewise, but they still had good material.

--Ted

I was a pre-teen in the 1970's and my dad was in his early 50's. The Muppet Show was our weekly favorite and he would roll with laughter at the humor. I loved it as well and when my son was about 7 I introduced him to some DVD's of The Muppet Show. He loved it as well. Who couldn't like characters such as Crazy Harry as well as Waldorf and Statler?

 

[JustAFriend]

After Jim Henson's untimely death, the Muppets lost all their appeal. The wit, irony and writing were all gone.

And Disney automatically drops everything down by 30 I.Q. points these days.

I was not surprised at the outcome...

 

[Corran Horn]

(Although to his credit, Eric Jacobsen sounds uncannily like Frank Oz and does an almost note-perfect Fozzie. His Piggy is less successful -- the timbre of the voice is right, but the delivery isn't there.)

Ah, so that wasn't Frank Oz. Saves me from wondering if there's something wrong with his voice, since Piggy sounded a little 'off' last night.

 

[Roshi]

The Muppet Show that I knew was sanely insane. If anyone knows what I mean.

 

[Kryton]

Why do we always come here?
That's what I'd like to know.
It's like a kind of torture
To have to watch this show!

 

[Mistral]

And now that tune is running through my head...

If Disney was smart they'd use the Muppets to spoof their own, classic, movie-length cartoons. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs re-done with Muppet insanity? I'd go see that!
(side note-one of the funniest Muppet Show eps I ever saw guested Brooke Shields as Alice in a spoof of Alice in Wonderland.)

 

[Rat Boy]

About the only thing that worked last night was the Beaker with Petra Nemcova bit. That and I because I kept picturing the director of the special as we'll all remember him: the punk kid on the bus in TVH, aka Vomit to us Caption Contest types.