Muppets Tonight what went wrong?

I really loved Van Nutter in both MT and in MFS Brian just really seemed to be having a whole lot of fun with him and just going off the wall. I love Brian as a prefromer anyways he brings a whole lot of energy to every prefromace

When MT had a character or sketch that worked, it REALLY worked. I really wish Brian would freelance for Disney now and then, so we'd get Sal and VanNeuter back. Those characters were brilliant. VanNeuter's scene in MFS is my favorite bit of the movie... my second favorite bit? Johnny and Sal cutting Gonzo's cake. Third? Everything with Bobo.

The new characters totally salvaged MFS.

I LOVED mt. I think it's way underrated. There are some hysterical bits in it. Some of my most cherished childhood memories are watching mt on tape with my mom and my aunt. BUT if i had to pick something i didn't like i think some of the guest stars act like they couldn't have cared less some times and they really phoned their performances in. My second gripe would have to be the lack of fozzie and piggy and other classic muppets.

Me too, but I'd like to point out that it's been widely sourced that the Muppet performers normally work freelance, whether it be for Henson, Sesame Workshop, or even Disney. I'm sure there'd be no problem if Brian wanted to perform for Disney. But I'm sure he's more interested in working for his own company (it would be great to see a new interview with Brian Henson, commenting on the situation).

Any comments I could make about MT must be taken with a grain of salt, because I missed the second season (it wasn't shown on Canadian TV and I didn't have cable at the time) and I've only recently started digging up some of it on YouTube.

That being said, my feelings about MT are summed up by a 2001 interview with Carroll Spinney in which he recalls a disastrous puppet performance that he delivered in the '60s and adds that Jim Henson came backstage afterwards and said, "I liked what you were TRYING to do."

And they really tried. There are days that I truly feel bad for everyone involved in MT - particularly the writers and the Muppeteers (of every vintage) and especially Brian Henson, who had the impossible task of both fiercely protecting and yet simultaneously enhancing his father's legacy only six years after Jim's death.

Occasionally, they nailed it. I got a grand charge out of some of the newer characters, especially Johnny Fiama and Sal (at their best in the Tony Bennett and Martin Short episodes IMHO), Bobo, and Pepe (believe it or not, I actually miss Seymour sometimes). Bits that should arguably have died in the script room - "Great Moments in Elvis History" and "Thor, God of Thunder" - turned out to be laugh riots. Even Andy and Randy, one-note characters whose jobs were to be thick and annoying, had their moments. (I wish I didn't giggle hysterically when one of them called Sandra Bullock "Miss Buttocks." I honestly thought I was more sophisticated than that.)

Whether they involved newer characters or beloved classic favourite, some of the MT moments are firmly lodged among my all-time favourite Muppet bits (yes, ranking ahead of much of the Jim-era content). Jason Alexander freaking out at the cast during the Hercules Poirot spoof; Whoopi Goldberg losing it when the rats sing Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry" too fast; William Shatner on the plane with Piggy; Sandra Bullock and Kermit updating "Mahna Mahna"; Michelle Pfieffer on "The Muppet Dating Game"; Cindy Crawford on "The Kermit The Frog Club"; Gilbert Gottfried winning a date with Kermit; Mickey Dolenz interrupting Bobo's retro '60s flashback ("I'm A Believer") to avoid paying his retro '60s alimony (I STILL can't believe that line!!!); Kermit's "Once In A Lifetime" and "Dancing In The Dark"; and, seriously, the entire Martin Short episode (climaxing with his finale with Statler and Waldorf).

I'm not blind to MT's problems, though. The first wave of Muppet recasts hasn't yet occured, so we had to settle for Animal being the only Electric Mayhem holdover (and minimal doses of Fozzie and Piggy) and a feeling that a lot of our old friends were missing all the fun. The show had such a frenetic pace and was more of a flat-out comedy than TMS, so we missed a lot of the softer, tender moments with the characters - no Ben Vereen singing "Pure Imagination" or Rowlf singing "What A Wonderful World" to a real puppy here. That had more to do with the overall tone of pop culture in the mid-to-late-'90s - the variety show format was pretty much toast and we were collectively more interested in laughing at ourselves (and each other) than stopping for a poignant moment.

I wish I could say I liked Clifford. I didn't. He seemed forced. I had a little trouble with Kermit's background role. And, as has been mentioned previously, a lot of MT's direct pop-culture spoofs had too many appearances (Bay of PigsWatch, Deep Dish Nine, Seinfeld Babies) or shouldn't have even made the show.

But I'm still glad they tried, and I look forward to having the time to see the entire run of MT someday. And I think anybody attempting to bring the Muppets back to a regular TV slot should look carefully at MT, not simply to avoid making the same mistakes but to remind themselves how well the Muppets work when the writing, the chemistry and the intangibles all blend together. This happened on MT far more often than we realize.

I agree with a lot of what you say (and you're not the only who laughed at the "Sandra Buttocks" moment. On paper, it doesn't really sound right, but the end result is actually very funny). One thing that you mentioned, too many heavy doses of the pop-culture spoofs. I agree with that, but Seinfled Babies only made one apperance on the show.