TV Alert: "It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie" on CW Monday December 2

[Daffyfan4ever]

I'm watching this right now, and they cut out the entire Crocodile Hunter scene. So those seeing this for the first time suddenly saw Fozzie looking like the Grinch without knowing why.

Yeah. I didn't watch the televised version because I remember last year how many cuts they made. It probably wouldn't be any different this year because of airing on a different network and having to cut out NBC references and other things they might think would violate copyright laws. I'd much rather stick with the DVD and watch it in its entirety.

 

[D'Snowth]

I doubt really it's copyright laws or anything, it could very well be a case of network rivalry.

 

[Slackbot]

And perhaps making more time for commercials.

 

[Drtooth]

I doubt really it's copyright laws or anything, it could very well be a case of network rivalry.

It would be a pretty idiotic move to not erase references to a rival network, especially one like NBC/Universal that has to promote everything they can everywhere they can. Chances are, if you see something done by NBC or Universal, they'll wind up promoting themselves somewhere. Any Universal movie, they have to go on the Today Show (Land of the Lost -ew- and Get him to the Greek). Any NBC show has to cross promote another NBC show or a movie. Apparently, the Minions were on Biggest Loser, and that's not even the most tasteless thing about the show. To set the record straight, I freakin' love those things, but their cartoon presence on an oh so "inspirational" show (read "completely and utterly sensationalized) makes it even more of a garish eye sore that backhandedly makes fun of fat people.

Speaking of Minions, there is an aside I'd like to mention. When ABC (curiously) got the rights to air Despicable Me, they edited out the NBC logo on the Time Square Jumbotron (one of Gru's conquests).. and frankly, that made the movie better.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Well, you kind of make a good point. But some of the best parts were the NBC references. Maybe it would have been better to air that one exclusively on NBC, so this wouldn't be a problem.

 

[Muppet Master]

The first time I watched It's A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002) was 12/2/13 which is this airing on The CW which I hardly ever watch. Some scenes made little sense until I actually went and got the 2010 DVD. Most of all the fact that after Rizzo, Rowlf, Scooter, Animal, Robin, and Janice persuade Kermit to go get Miss Piggy that they left out a whole hilarious "Scrubs" scene that's semi-crucial to the plot. So a little later in the film where Piggy comes out of a dressing room and remarks something about "pastel M&Ms" I was a little confused. Another big mishap is when Fozzie goes to give the money to Bitterman and is green. To someone who's never seen the film before and watches it on The CW and it's lost probably 5 minutes from its original airing I knew nothing about the whole crocodile scene and the part where he turns green until I watched the DVD. Also one small remark I got a kick out of was when Kermit said NBC was out of control and he has the logo on his foot was chopped. Overal The CW executed the cut-out scenes amaturely or about as well as Gonzo ate the tire in the Juliet Prowse episode of TMS. In the end even with some scenes cut out I throughly enjoyed the film on The CW. Now here's what I think of the actual film... one of the top 5 best muppet film ever! One thing this film has an advantage on is character proportions with the muppets. Kermit is the lead which was a bold move. Gonzo, though he's awesome, is in a supporting role which is a role that fits him better compared to being "The Big Cheese" in MFS. Miss Piggy has semi-prominence as well, much better than her lackluster, but still fine small role in MFS. The biggest improvment in character proportions (and personalities in this case) is Fozzie Bear. From 1992 through 2002 before this film Fozzie was DUMB! He wasn't really as innocent as he was dumb. In MCT he was dumb, and the same goes for him in MTI and MFS. Also he only had a beefy cameo in MCC, a small supporting role in MTI, and a small supporting role again in MFS, not to mention he was only in 6/22 of the episodes of Muppets Tonight. But this film saw him in a whole new light. Not only was he not dim-witted, but he had a main role, a role he hadn't had since 1987. Also Rizzo works better in a small supporting role than a main one, Robin does extremely well in semi-prominence, Bunsen and Beaker have beefy supporting roles, the list goes on. The best thing about the CT of the film is the revival of Richard Hunt's classic characters; Scooter and Janice. Both characters who either made cameos or weren't in the muppet productions at all throughout the 90's had great roles. Scooter had a real supporting role and Janice had 3 whole lines! Also to a lesser extent Rowlf got 2 full lines in tbe film, a step up from "an audiable OOGH in MFS which I never heard. Johnny and Sal were hilarious in supporting roles, and Lew Zeland had like 4 lines. The only problem with CT was that Zoot and Dr. Teeth didn't have lines, and also I wish they didn't delete Bobo's scene though he did have 3 lines. One thing I liked about this film were Jerry Nelson's characters which were all (besides Lew) performed by Nelson for one of the final times. No not Ghost of Christmas Present, Mad Monty, or Ubergonzo, no! Real Nelson characters from TMS. Robin has a good beefy supporting role, Statler has some spotlight time, Pops has a quick scene, WITH DIALOUGE!, and Floyd at least got to laugh better than some of his other roles *MCC*. Overal this movie is fantastic with great songs, good CT, awesome rendition of IAWL, and I really liked the alternate reality scene. I jsut can't figure out why this received negative criticism (besides too many god scenes), because personally I like this better than MCC, mostly because IAVMMCM has better CT and more muppets.
IT'S A VERY MERRY MUPPET CHRISTMAS MOVIE (2002) (FINAL RATING): .3/