An in depth look into their personal lives is coming to ABC this fall and hilarity ensues
The Muppets are characters who have had a long career. They began with The Muppet Show that aired from 1976 and 1981 and made them all stars. They starred in films in the 1970s and 1980s like The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper and The Muppets Take Manhattan. In 1984 they were seen as kids in Muppet Babies and the show was a huge hit and ran for 6 seasons.Then in 1992 the whole cast returned for A Muppet Christmas Carol which starred Michael Caine as Scrooge and became a holiday classic. A few years later they all returned to TV with Muppets Tonight which introduced a few new characters but it only lasted 2 seasons and overall didn’t get much positive buzz.
In 2002 It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie was released on ABC which was a retelling of It’s A Wonderful Life from the perspective of Kermit the Frog when after a rough night wishes he was never born. It stars David Arquette and Whoopi Goldberg and brings some important messages kids and adults can benefit from. A few years later in 2005 The Muppets Wizard of Oz came out and told the well known Wizard of Oz story in a way kids could understand. Miss Piggy got to play a new kind of role here and is a wonderful movie all Muppet fans should see.
After this there were a few made for TV specials but again nothing really huge that was going to put them back into the spotlight. This all changed though with the release in 2011 of The Muppets. It starred Jason Segal and introduced Walter a lovable but simple new muppet character. The movie revitalized the whole series and did very well in the box office. A few years later Muppet Most Wanted came out which starred Tina Fey, Danny Trejo and brought a brand new villain who wanted to cause all kinds of havoc for these close friends. It was a good film and a fun sequel but was missing the magic the 2011 film had that made it so good.
Now ABC is bringing The Muppets back in a way they have never been shown before. This new show is going to be a sort of reality series that will give fans a few into their personal lives outside of the studio. Fozzy is dating a new woman who is a human and shockingly Miss Piggy and Kermit are no longer together. Kermit has found a new girl and the cast is as zany as ever. This is the first time people will get to see this side of these well known characters and yet it is hard to say if this is a good plan or not.
I saw the pilot and I have to say it was alright. It was not terrible but it didn’t blow me away either. The show is definitely different and there are some great pokes at the overdone reality genre. The cast is glad to be back together again and Kermit and Miss Piggy are sure to bring lots of drama this season.
The pilot gets 7/10. Fans will find some good things here, but those unfamiliar with the past series may be confused. There is not that much shown in the pilot and this leaves a lot of unanswered questions. I want this show to do well and be a success but it is hard to say if this is possible or not yet. Guess audiences will find out when this show premieres September 22, 2015 on ABC.
Check out the trailer below:
https://youtu.be/pfJkusicBa4