The Muppets are puppets with a bit of a history, to say the least. The original “Muppets” Show aired in 1976 through 1981, spanning five seasons and 120 episodes. The show chronicled the misadventures of the Muppets, using a mock variety show format, featuring
a mixture of on-stage sketches and acts, and wacky behind-the-scenes happenings as the Muppets comically struggled
to keep their show intact.
The show was massively successful, and the Muppets have been a hearty franchise since
— spawning well over 30 new productions, spanning from feature films and televisions series, to smaller TV specials and direct-to-video shorts. The franchise has seen a more recent resurgence in the mainstream, with two major feature films being released recently, in 2011 and 2014, each seeing moderate success, and likely opening the door for this new ABC television series.
The Muppets, at least in the movies and shows I’ve seen, tend to have a somewhat self-aware bend. The original series was built around two layers of jokes, structured acts taking place on stage, and mayhem behind stage. The 2011 movie went another layer deep, and focused on the Muppets trying to get the crew back together and refinance their show.
This trend continues
in the new series, this time taking the form of a self-aware mockumentary series(a style similar to “The Office”, to which which the show’s title pays homage), centered around the Muppets working as the cast and crew of a late night show starring Miss Piggy–
a format that suits the Muppets much better than you’d expect at first. The mockumentary style creates a really natural outlet for the series
to present itself, and poke fun
at other series using the recently popularized style in the process. Focusing on a late night show creates a stage for some brief acts and skits, vaguely evocative
of the original series, and more importantly, creates an easy context to justify having weekly celebrity and musical guests.
The result
is all right. The show feels more like a perfectly average sitcom, just with Muppets characters. This does work in the show’s favor, the Muppets all retain their personalities, giving the show a really vast number of characters to work with, more than the average sitcom, easily. There’s also something inherently funny about seeing the Muppets in a more adult show like this, it gives the jokes a bit of a wacky edge that they’d be missing if the show starred humans. That does beg the question, will that novelty wear off quickly, leaving the show a muppet colored sitcom within a few weeks, or will the show rise above that and become something more unique?
My main problem with the episode was that everything about its format and humor felt totally sterile. It embraces the mockumentary style a little bit too whole-heartedly, leaving it feeling more like “The Office” with muppets than I’d like, and I’ve heard most of its jokes in some form or another before. The characters saved it, but the show will need to kick things up a notch, ideally embracing a more “muppets” sense of humor, and being slightly more satirical of its format, if it hopes to remain fresh.
As it stands, I wouldn’t watch any more of “The Muppets”. I did more or less enjoy the first episode, but it was more a matter of novelty than anything. Outside of that, the show is perfectly generic. It’s hard to say whether or not the show will improve at all, the muppets themselves certainly provide room for better content, but the first episode left me feeling more cynical than anything. That said, I think it is worth giving a fair shot, I didn’t love it, but it certainly does feel like something that someone out there will really like. I’d recommend trying it for yourself.