I really want to like the muppet on ABC. I watch that show by twos and threes every few weeks on Hulu so I can take advantage of that commercial free benefit I pay $12 a month for. I sit there and man, I am ready to laugh. Kermit bounces up to the Kraft Services table in the opening to kick-start each episode and I am ready to relive those glorious days of old.
I remember 1976 when The Muppet Show premiered in the States (it was originally produced for and broadcast in Great Britain, which I didn’t know at the time but makes sense looking back). The promotions featured Kermit and a few other muppets who I didn’t recognize. I just figured they were holding back the other big guns – Ernie & Bert, Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster, The Count – for the show. Big Bird never seemed like a true muppet; he was character – like H.R. PufnStuf. Well, maybe not quite like PufnStuf but you get my meaning. That’s when I learned the difference between Sesame Street and The Muppets. Sesame Street is for the morning. The Muppets are for “when it’s dark outside.” They come on after Dad picks up Mommy from the train station. Mom and Dad watch the Muppets too. This is grown folk stuff.
The show came on a Thursday night (I think) after The Wacky World of Jonathan Winters, instantaneously making it my new favorite hour of television ever. Catchy theme music – going for the variety show schtick. I’m with it; I watch Carol Burnett. But who is this fuzzy bear? What’s up with that George Clinton stuffed animal band? The floppy dog seems cool because he sounds like my Uncle Lou but what’s the deal with that pig? When did Kermit become H.M.I.C.? Is that Millie the Helper from The Electric Company giving Fever all over the stage?
Mom, can I stay here till they come back on next week?
It was slapstick for kids, urbane for adults, sardonic for everybody in between. It was quick in pace, old in rhythm. A vaudeville show shined up for a 70s audience delivered by Panasonic horse and buggy. I ate it up. It was so ridiculously funny. And as the years went on and the seasons changed along with my octaves, my belly laughs turned into wry smiles that became belly floppers only after the delicious subtext set in. That’s too high brow. Better put – I cracked the fuck up then cracked the fuck up even more the next day when I really got the joke.
I followed the entire crew from the series to the movies. I liked the movies but none of them really gave the Muppets a real stage – a literal stage – from which to shine. The films quickly bogged down to a core group of 6-7, forgoing the large ensemble for the grand finales. So when I heard they were returning to television for a new sitcom, I was stoked. Of course they’re not gonna do what they did before so let’s see what they got.
Mockumentary? Stale, dated concept but new for the Muppets. Backstage world of a late night talk show? Nobody’s doing The Larry Sanders Show these days because nobody did it better but – it’s new for the Muppets? Office mishaps and wackiness? The Office was a hit in England, then was a hit over here; The Muppet Show started in England then a hit over here so if history serves……
This one started here. That can’t be a good sign. I mean, the writings okay, it’s kind of funny. Whatever charm it has is strictly because of the Muppets and our history with them. It borrows on that just enough to get you to the point where they want to explore something new about or with the characters. The problem is that what it’s exploring isn’t that interesting. Isn’t that comical. Isn’t worth watching. The Muppets have done their best work within the square tube – The Muppet Show and Muppet Babies are undeniably two hallmarks of great television in the 20th century.
I watch the muppets on Hulu and I want to like it. I’m giving them the whole season for the funny. I’m waiting.
My butt’s gone numb.
— Len ‘Cruze’ Webb