Seeing the palisades Muppets has totally rekindled my love for them (and has also emptied my wallet at the same time LOL). Here in Australia, Muppets Tonight is played duing the week and (until recently) The muppet Show was played on the weekend. I made/make an effort to watch both and bring back memories.
I is only now that I realise how TERRIBLE Muppets Tonight was/is. Most of the characters are bland and the writing is C-grade. Clifford is a good character, but not as the host (which shows that the marketing people dont always get it right). Others like Jonny & Sal, Bobo, Pepe & Rizzo are good, but almost every other new muppet could have been improved.
The theme song is quite good, but the pupptry in it seems messy & un-planned. In comparison, The 'muppet show' theme was AMAZING.
If (when) a new muppet show is created, there are some things they MUST get right. First off, bring back all the classic characters - they looked awesome, are easily recognisable and all have unique & interesting personalities (something clearly missing from the majority of the cast of MT). Next, the show must be aimed at adults (as with the simpsons). Skits like Muppet Labs, Pigs in Space & Vet Hospital can (and SHOULD) remain, but they need to be written well. Also, quite often with the original muppet show, the musical numbers were merely songs with puppets being shook around in an attempt to make them look animated - this is very boring. They were only successful (in my eyes) when either somethign crazy was happening or the song was good (as with mahna mahna).
My reason for writing this? With the news of the Hensen family buying the show, there is a good chance of a decent new show being done (I hope). I was hoping we could gather our thoughts and offer whoever is involved our feedback on the topic.
for example, i sometimes read that people want a new show with muppets, fraggles, dark crystal &/or sesame street characters in it. That is a bad idea - first of all, I hope they never combine cookie monster, oscar, big bird and elmo with fozzie, gonzo, sweetums & piggy. To have two distinct 'casts' of puppets sends out the message that Sesame Street is for children & TMS is for adults. As for fraggles etc, they are a different show altogether.
I am really interested in hearig what people think worked and didn't work for the muppets.
I is only now that I realise how TERRIBLE Muppets Tonight was/is. Most of the characters are bland and the writing is C-grade. Clifford is a good character, but not as the host (which shows that the marketing people dont always get it right). Others like Jonny & Sal, Bobo, Pepe & Rizzo are good, but almost every other new muppet could have been improved.
The theme song is quite good, but the pupptry in it seems messy & un-planned. In comparison, The 'muppet show' theme was AMAZING.
If (when) a new muppet show is created, there are some things they MUST get right. First off, bring back all the classic characters - they looked awesome, are easily recognisable and all have unique & interesting personalities (something clearly missing from the majority of the cast of MT). Next, the show must be aimed at adults (as with the simpsons). Skits like Muppet Labs, Pigs in Space & Vet Hospital can (and SHOULD) remain, but they need to be written well. Also, quite often with the original muppet show, the musical numbers were merely songs with puppets being shook around in an attempt to make them look animated - this is very boring. They were only successful (in my eyes) when either somethign crazy was happening or the song was good (as with mahna mahna).
My reason for writing this? With the news of the Hensen family buying the show, there is a good chance of a decent new show being done (I hope). I was hoping we could gather our thoughts and offer whoever is involved our feedback on the topic.
for example, i sometimes read that people want a new show with muppets, fraggles, dark crystal &/or sesame street characters in it. That is a bad idea - first of all, I hope they never combine cookie monster, oscar, big bird and elmo with fozzie, gonzo, sweetums & piggy. To have two distinct 'casts' of puppets sends out the message that Sesame Street is for children & TMS is for adults. As for fraggles etc, they are a different show altogether.
I am really interested in hearig what people think worked and didn't work for the muppets.