People often have a fixed idea of what Jim Henson’s Muppets are and what they are always supposed to be — which is typically what the Muppets were when they were children. But the only real constant has been the Muppets’ adaptability. In 1976, Jim Henson chose the then-popular variety format for The Muppet Show. In 1984, the Muppets got animated and became Muppet Babies, introducing the characters to another generation of kids. 1989 brought The Jim Henson Hour, which featured segments that felt as though they were playing off the MTV generation’s obsession with music-video countdown shows. And in 1996, more than six years after Henson’s death, Muppets Tonight premiered as a part of the TGIF lineup, mimicking The Muppet Show‘s basic premise. In between and after, there have been movies and specials where the Muppets have recreated The Wizard of Oz and A Christmas Carol and been rebooted by Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller. In 2015, we now have adult Muppets with adult problems that talk to the camera in a show that has, perhaps wisely, chosen to use the mockumentary format. Sacrilege and cynicism, some have cried, but beyond some risqué jokes, these are still your Muppets, as much as they ever were.
Launched by Big Bang Theory co-creator Bill Prady, who also cut his teeth working alongside Jim Henson on The Jim Henson Hour and co-wrote the heartbreaking Muppet tribute to Henson following his death, The Muppets still centers around Kermit’s never-ending effort to put on a great show. This time, however, it’s a late-night show hosted by Miss Piggy, but the show isn’t really the story here. Instead, it’s Kermit’s exhausting existence as a producer. We see him wrestle with his star’s ego, deal with mundane production problems, and be disappointed by his writing staff while trying to juggle his complex personal life. Kermit is essentially playing Liz Lemon while everyone else is playing the cast of The Office, providing talking head interviews and generally going about their lives in full-view of the cameras.
Kermit and Miss Piggy are no longer together, and he is dating another pig, Denise (as you probably already know). Unsurprisingly, this makes things a bit more tense than usual between the oft-sparring now ex-lovers and current co-workers. Their spat over Kermit’s decision to disregard Piggy’s feelings and keep Elizabeth Banks on the show powers the pilot episode and eventually puts the pair on a more steady plain.
Kermit and Piggy’s antics also largely push the other Muppets from the screen in the pilot, apart from Fozzie, who carries a B-story about meeting his human girlfriend’s family. Moving forward, The Muppets will have to find a way to work other characters like Gonzo, Rowlf, Rizzo, and the rest into the show in a more organic fashion, allowing them to interact with Kermit and each other while giving them more than one or two lines, lest they want the show to feel repetitive. Establishing a strong ensemble that can carry weight and drive a show’s comedy is probably the biggest challenge that faces The Muppets. There is no “Pigs in Space” or other sketches looming in reserve to give smaller characters a chance at bat. The Muppets could also, a la 30 Rock, use a Jack Donaghy, or at least a constant human for Kermit to play off of, sometimes clash with, and vent to. To use another frustrated producer comparison, Kermit is Dave Nelson from NewsRadio and he needs a Jimmy James.
Currently, this is an enjoyable show with enough slapstick humor to make it feel familiar, and enough well-disguised adult humor to play to parents while kids roll their eyes while not quite understanding the punchline. Can that adult humor be a little jarring to Muppet purists? Perhaps, but if this is where the characters need to go to stay relevant, then so be it. These might not be your Muppets or my Muppets, but as long as they still belong to someone, that’s all that matters.
I’ve seen the word “depressing” thrown around about this show for reasons that I can’t explain. When I think of depressing in the context of these characters, I think of the late ’90s and early 2000s when they seemed, at best, creatively adrift, and at worst, hidden away in a closet somewhere. Wrong-sounding and even wrong-seeming Muppets are, in fact, better than no Muppets at all, and with a rich tradition of trying these characters out in new situations firmly established, maybe we should all take a breath and give this latest bold reinvention a chance.
