Seriously , I ’m asking , because I do n’t make out the answer . It ’s not that the jest are n’t funny — some of them were super curious , although last Nox ’s series premiere was definitely strike and lack . It ’s more that this whole concept is just wrong for the freaking Muppets . And then there ’s Miss Piggy . Sigh .
allow ’s back up a bit . The Muppets have in mind different things to different people , because they ’ve been around for so many decades at this point . These fuzzy marionette , which include spill animals as well as world and leftover fauna , are a mainstay of the child ’s show Sesame Street . But they also starred in The Muppet Show , an off - kilter Vaudeville variety show in the belated 1970s , where they did weird skits like “ Pigs in Space . ” And they ’ve had a long and extremely varying movie career , with amazing highs ( The Muppet Movie , The Muppets ) and low gear ( the 1990s ) .
But in general , the Muppets are associated with a certain gentle humor , and a good - natured goofiness . Sure , there ’s sometimes beastly slapstick , with Gonzo the stunt Muppet and his endless head hurt , or Beaker the perennial test subject for eldritch scientific discipline experimentation . And there ’s always been an edge of neuroticism to characters like Fozzy Bear , the dire comic .
In fact , the version of the Muppets that ’s come out outside Sesame Street has in general been a bit more “ adult ” and more or less edgier — as can be learn in Kermit the Frog , the main character who ’s able-bodied to sweep over between both creation . The Sesame Street Kermit is sweet-flavored and gentler , well known for singing about the difficulty of Being Green , while the Muppet Show Kermit is a more complicated and troubled character , including a long - running Romance language with the tempestuous and call for Miss Piggy .
So there ’s always been elbow room for different interpretation of the Muppets , even within the version that ’s had a long - run movie franchise .
Where this new Muppets tv show blend in ill-timed , I think , is in playing up the undercurrent of psychoneurosis and grownup self - loathing that was always present in The Muppet Show and the movies . And also , in grafting a much more self - aware , midlife - crisis - dash humor onto these fundamentally well - natured character .
In the new Muppets , we ’re still running a show — but it ’s no longer a variety show in an old dramatic art . Instead , it ’s a modern - day talk show , along the lines of The Tonight Show , with Miss Piggy as the legion . Which means that the show ’s lifeblood is not the theater , and the mishap of put on a show by the tegument of your teeth , but rather a more strict format of “ behind the scenes ” mishap on a regular goggle box show .
And right off the bat , the show is clearly referencing fairly recent mockumentary - style sitcoms like The Office , as well as the meta - idiot box clowning 30 Rock . This is not a carefree - but - chivvy theatre company , but a collection of exhausted and stressed - out TV producers , along with the talk show ’s house band ( Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem , of course of action ) plus Fozzy the warm up - up comic and announcer . And Miss Piggy , the virtuoso .
The result is a show that ’s much more “ real ” and less joyfully silly than anything the Muppets have ever done before , and it ’s kind of depressing to watch . Even though some of the jokes body of work as joke , they feel faulty , and kind of unpleasant , coming from the Muppets . There is a lot of uncomfortable humour in this episode , in which characters are face with their own inadequacies .
Take the main subplot , in which Fozzy Bear is date a human woman whose parents ( especially her Fatherhood ) are prejudiced against him because he ’s a bear . It ’s kind of a uncanny mish - mash of exceedingly funny and kind of weirdly shade - deaf . Like the father is such a dick after a while , you inquire why people do n’t just peck him in the head where ve he goes . And yet it all builds up to a scene where Fozzy ’s lady friend suppose it does n’t matter if her parents do n’t approve , she loves him . And Fozzy take a beat and says “ Yeah , that ’s not enough , ” and runs after the parent , still chasing their approval . It ’s really a funny moment … which completely destroy any investment I might ever have in the character of Fozzy or his relationship with this womanhood .
Oh , and Animal making a uncanny remark about “ too many adult female ” also threw me right out of the show . I do n’t want to think about Animal have a love life history .
A lot of stuff in last night ’s sequence is like that . The humor is both too “ edgy ” and ego - aware for the characters , and it ’s too willing to discombobulate the character under the bus for the sake of a joke . Even if it were room funnier , I would n’t need to tune in for this every week .
It ’s also disconcert to see them walk around , thanks to some novel VFX wizardry . But whatever .
And then … there ’s Miss Piggy . The big surprising reveal in this unexampled show is that Kermit has dumped the brassy diva for a younger , more subservient pig bed , who just brings him food and recite him how great he is . A lot of the mechanics of the sequence are about Miss Piggy being a incubus to work with — at one period early on , Kermit tells Scooter , “ It ’s too belated for me , save yourself ” before meet with her — and there are a stack of uncomfortable jokes about her weight and her physical coming into court .
The actual plot has to do with Miss Piggy immoderately vetoing her show ’s principal guest , the beautiful and gifted Elizabeth Banks . And it turns out she sort of has a good reason , but we only find that out after a whole episode about how she ’s an undue , demanding , psychotic , unattractive bitch who does n’t take care of Kermit the means his raw hog girl does .
And in this way , too , the show is taking something that the Muppets always had but manage with bouquet and gentleness , and turning it into something ugly and utmost . The solvent is a takeoff of a strong woman that borders on misogyny at times . Miss Piggy was always the subject of a lot of joke for her shrill , take personality , and her dominating nature . But this was always tempered with a lot of love and respect for the character , allowing us to express joy at her a picayune bit but still see why she ’s amazing .
And in retrospect , a lot of why Miss Piggy was able to get away with being a total bitch in her previous incarnations had to do with Kermit ’s love for her . Kermit loved her so much , and so visibly , that the audience had no selection but to make love her too . As Kermit himself says early on in this episode , when he was in passion with her , all her over - the - top doings seemed quirky and heady — but now it ’s just terrible .
The same can actually be said for the Muppets themselves . The lovemaking is gone , and all the things that were wizard and delightful about them suddenly start to seem just stinky .
connect with the writer at[email protected]andfollow her on Twitter @Charliejane
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