Review of The Muppets pilot, coming to ABC
I am a huge fan of The Muppets. I watched the original The Muppets Show and all the Muppet movies when I was a kid, and my dad used to do impressions of Kermit and Fozzie for me. I think I am predisposed to like this show, but a great script and people who clearly love The Muppets themselves make me love this show.
Done in the style of The Office, The Muppets is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Miss Piggy’s late-night talk show. The whole gang works on the show: Kermit is the executive producer; Fozzie is the warm-up act and announcer; Scooter is the talent coordinator; Dr. Teeth and Electric Mayhem are the house band; Sam Eagle is the standards and practices suit; even Waldorf and Statler have permanent front-row seats.
The Muppets have done a very interesting thing: they have blended old and new in a funny, seamless fashion that should appeal to many different age groups. There are still some great, old-school “Muppety” jokes (“Their original name was Imagine Dragons.” “It still is Imagine Dragons.” “I know. They kept their original name!”) mixed with “grown-up” humor, like an ongoing joke with Tom Bergeron, or Fozzie’s girlfriend introducing him to her parents.
There was only one new Muppet in the pilot episode: Denise. She is Kermit’s new girlfriend, head of the publicity department, and she is also a pig. Maybe it is because, in my heart, Piggy and Kermie will always be together, but I don’t like Denise. She just doesn’t look like she fits in with the rest of the crew, and she doesn’t have a unique personality like Gonzo or Rizzo. In fact, in the pilot episode, Denise didn’t even interact with anyone other than Kermit.
The Muppet Show is the show I am most looking forward to this fall. The pilot was great; I imagine it can only get better from here.
The Muppets premieres September 22 on ABC.
