ABC's "The Muppets" series

Have you ever seen Swedish Chef in the 'Popcorn' video online?

 

I think the target audience is the people that grew up with the original show.

 

Ouch. The best humor on the show right now is the "adult" stuff. My favorite joke so far was Kermit talking about how the Electric Mayhem are always so happy...and LEGALLY now!

 

I'm hardly a prude, far from it, but I wouldn't sit down with my 6 and 3 year old to watch this show. Not because it's offensive, but most of the jokes would fly over their heads. This show is clearly aimed for the 35-65 year old demographic.

The magic of the original show was that you would sit down with the whole family and enjoy it as a family. There were jokes that the parents would enjoy (not "adult" oriented), and stuff the kids like. It was great.

Also, the characters are different. As others have already mentioned, they are way to cyncial and very "un-muppet" like. Yes, seeing the muppets getting drunk and singing karoake was hilarious (especially Pepe), but again, it was very different.

Looking forward to see what they do with the reboot.

 

One thing is sure about this new series: Pepe gets the best lines.

 

Not that those things were new to the Muppets for anyone who remembered them from SNL. Of course, their tenure on SNL isn't remember very fondly, either.

This isn't a new controversy, for anyone who recalls the brouhaha over Ren and Stimpy, Beavis and Butt-head or South Park. the "Oh, if it's animated, it should be kid friendly" argument. Though I'll admit it's more problematic when you take pre existing kids' characters and place them in an adult situation.

 

To me, the biggest problem is that ABC put The Muppets on at 8:00. If they put them on at 9:30 I doubt this would be a an issue.

 

Does anyone actually watch TV live any more? The episodes I've seen were TIVOed.

 

They want a return to good, wholesome, innuendo-free programs....like The Flintstones:

 

I think that would've been a better idea.

 

Yup .. they are taking a pretty great show and gonna screw it up .. America gets whimpified again.

 

It has nothing to do with it getting "whimpified". The Muppets are a wholesome franchise, always were. This new show is very different from what the Muppets are all about and the ratings are showing that people are not enjoying it (for the most part).

 

Yup, the original was way past my child TV show watching period, so, I'm out!

 

I wouldn't say this new show is vastly different from previous Muppet projects, especially recent items like "Muppets Most Wanted." In fact, this show is pretty similar to the 90s attempt at a Muppets TV show, which was titled "Muppets Tonight" I believe.

To the degree people aren't like the show, I would tend to doubt it's because it's too "risqué" or "adult", but rather because it's just not funny or interesting enough, and/or sustaining a Muppets TV series on primetime network TV isn't doable. It didn't work in the 90s for very long.

 

we had to pause it at that moment when it aired cause we were both laughing too hard.

 

I heard a lot of people found that Swedish Chef rap thing hilarious, but I didn't think it was that good at all. Whoever is doing the Swedish Chef these days is totally missing the mark on the mock Swedish thing as far as I'm concerned. Seemed to me that the idea itself was funny, but the execution wasn't.

I'm actually enjoying the show more than I thought I would. That is to say, I'm happy to watch it, even if I'm not laughing out loud. I thought I wouldn't bother at all.

 

Still love the guy who looks so much like Foghat (Floyd Pepper). And Animal. But I just don't get excited by the Muppets any more.

I do remember Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem singing
Her hair is in the closet
Her teeth are on the shelf
I put the good part in a bag
And go out by myself!

(!?!?!?!)
Can you say, double entendre?!?

 

Nice to see the Rainbow Connection close the last episode, too bad they used only the beginning and end

 

Isn't that guy the drummer in the Moopets?

 

Actually, I think the risque part is a major reason it's failing. The first 3-4 episodes had WAY too many sex jokes and too much emphasis on their dating lives and such. You didn't see that in the last couple of Muppet movies that were so successful. The premise of Miss Piggy doing a late night show is pretty good. They just need to stick to more situations and less sex & drug jokes!

Derek

 

I've only caught one episode so far, and it was the one with the karaoke. I was not prepared for how hilarious it was (especially those karaoke scenes).

 

Haven't seen any of them yet (not one episode), but have been letting them stack up on my DVR to hopefully binge watch over the holidays. Looking forward!

 

I thought Kermit's "once I licked my cousin and the walls started to melt" line was very funny. I like the adult Muppets.

 

Cancelled. A shame, as it seemed like it was just finding its feet.

‘The Muppets’ Cancelled by ABC »