The re-engineered take on The Muppets arrived amid great fanfare when it premiered back in September on ABC. This new program would be the highest-concept iteration of the already-pretty-savvy Muppets yet: Set behind the scenes of a late-night talk show involving the Muppets, The Muppets was imagined as a parody of a parody, a satire of the wave of mockumentaries such as Modern Family and The Office that have come to dominate the sitcom landscape. Much to the disappointment of ABC executives, the inside-baseball perspective on show business failed to connect with an audience, and most critics rejected the hip ‘tude of these Muppets in favor of the lovably goofy wocka-wocka Muppets of yore. So, for the six episodes slated to air following the show’s holiday hiatus, ABC completely overhauled the show, ousting showrunner Bob Kushell and installing Kristin Newman as his replacement. Around this same time, co-creator Bill Prady clarified his intentions to shift focus on the show, promising that the last run of episodes would be quite different than those that had come before.
A new article from TVLine explains just how The Muppets will get its act together, and of course, they’re going about it in the most meta way possible. When the show returns to the airwaves on February 2 at 8/7 central, a new “brand guru” character will join the cast to revamp the fictitious Up Late With Miss Piggy and act as an avatar for the network suits angrily handing notes to the flagging show. The character will poke fun at the corporate culture of #branding and #synergy by suggesting approaches through which the show can “make old things relevant,” such as bringing YouTube personalities aboard, or offering interactivity during the show. The most significant change, however, will be the total retooling of Miss Piggy. Making her more relatable and sympathetic is of the utmost importance to the branding expert, who sends her on a “restorative trip to Argentina,” magically erasing her anti-Kermit stance that’s alienated so many viewers.
It’s a clever move, and fitting with the self-aware nature of this show. It’s been done before, too, and to great effect — one of Arrested Development‘s funniest, sharpest episodes introduced a PR consultant tasked with making the incorrigible Bluth family softer and more relatable to the public. But if the problem with viewership was linked to the insular show-biz-ishness of the scripts, then doubling down on the self-reflexive commentary could be a dangerous move. But it’s like Kermit’s always said: It’s not easy being postmodern.
