Muppets Now, coming to Disney Plus July 31st.

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Muppets Now, coming to Disney Plus July 31st.

#1

Post by VG_Addict » Thu Jun 25, 2020 5:24 pm



Will it be better than the Muppets ABC show?

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Re: Muppets Now, coming to Disney Plus July 31st.

#2

Post by CaptHayfever » Thu Jun 25, 2020 8:30 pm

The ABC show was basically "The Office, but Muppets", so as long as they don't do that again, I'm thinking everything will be fine.

This was awesome, though:


And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

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Re: Muppets Now, coming to Disney Plus July 31st.

#3

Post by I REALLY HATE POKEMON! » Thu Jun 25, 2020 8:58 pm

Muppets Office sounds better than the sum of its parts.

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Re: Muppets Now, coming to Disney Plus July 31st.

#4

Post by Tonberry2k » Fri Aug 21, 2020 2:09 pm

Popping out of retirement to complain about the Muppets is super on-brand to me.

This new show is just.... cringingly bad. I don't know what is going on with the Muppets lately, but this isn't the direction they should go in. I'll use the Swedish Chef recurring bit as an example.

The sketch format is the Chef and a celebrity guest are supposed to have a cooking competition to make the same dish. The sketch doesn't know if it wants to be funny or informative as we go from long holds on the celebrity stirring something in a pot, to the Swedish Chef flailing around, chopping a bag of flower with a cleaver or something. In the end, the celeb has a great dish, the Chef doesn't, and the sketch ends. The jokes are weak, the timing is bad, and it seems like they've forgotten the hook of the character.

In the original Muppet Show, the Swedish Chef was not a bad cook. He was competent, but unorthodox, and the gag was that terrible, unpredictable things kept happening to him as he struggled to keep the segment on the rails. He's infinitely funnier as a victim than he is as a moron.

I also recently rewatched the 2015 Muppets show and it's not nearly as bad as I remember, and in fact, I enjoyed it quite a bit. It seems like a natural evolution of the Muppet Show format; Kermit is the only sane character, surrounded by giant egos and petty problems as he tries to get a show to air. Celebrities who have been ballooned into cartoon versions of themselves stop by every week. Every character has an upgraded role that parallels their old jobs on the Muppet Show; Piggy is now the star (as she always vied to be on the original), Fozzie is her warmup comedian, Statler and Waldorf are i nthe audience every night, Bunsen and Beaker do lighting and tech, Gonzo, Rizzo, and Pepe are the writing staff, Swedish Chef is craft services, the Electric Mayhem is the house band, Sam Eagle is Standards & Practices, Rowlf owns the bar they hang out at after work, etc. A lot of thought went into each character's new role, and each role fits them well.
The show also makes Pepe a good character and allows Scooter to finally come into his own as a character, and it's hilarious. The risque humor that has always been a part of the Muppets is finally updated to modern times, and skirts the line, just like it used to in the old days. Anything Uncle Deadly says or does gets right up to the line.
If you didn't like that show when it first aired, give it another go. I think it's worth your time.

See you all in another 5 years.

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