what if The Muppet Movie was basically a 90-minute Muppet Show?

[minor muppetz]

I have been wondering recently, what if, instead of showing how Kermit first met the other Muppets and went to Hollywood, Jim Henson chose for The Muppet Movie to be just like a regular episode of The Muppet Show, only with an extra 60 minutes in lenght? Do you think it would have been as successful?

Do you think that the movie would have had the same sets, or would the backstage and other theater sets be rebuilt and made to look more realistic (like how the Sesame Street set was rebuilt in both SS movies)? Would the movie have shown more areas of the theater, like a concession area and restrooms?

I wonder if such a movie would have had just one guest star, or if it would have had multiple guest stars. But at least there would have been time for all of the recurring sketches to be included.

Food for thought.

 

[MartyMuppets]

That is a very interesting thought to ponder. I think it may well have been very successful had they chosen to do it like that.

 

[rexcrk]

Hmmm... interesting idea. I guess it COULD have worked... I would've liked to see other areas of the theater, that would be really cool.

 

[BobThePizzaBoy]

To a certain extent, I'd really consider IAVMMCM a sort of TMS: The Movie, but a theatrical film that was just a long episode of TMS would probably be a bit hard to sit through. I'm sure it would be a great film but unless the plot was good enough, it would be a bit odd just to have an hour and half variety show you get on TV for free.

I could see better sets for the film, maybe 360 degree sets. It'd be cool to see other areas of the theater, but the show seems to give the feel that we do see all of the theater at some point during the show's run.

Keep in mind I am not criticizing your idea minor muppetz, it would be a great film nonetheless.

 

[minor muppetz]

To a certain extent, I'd really consider IAVMMCM a sort of TMS: The Movie, but a theatrical film that was just a long episode of TMS would probably be a bit hard to sit through. I'm sure it would be a great film but unless the plot was good enough, it would be a bit odd just to have an hour and half variety show you get on TV for free.

I also think of It's a Very Mery Muppet Christmas Movie as a movie version of The Muppet Show, but I was specifically asking about what might have hapened if The Muppet Movie was like a regular episode of The Muppet Show. And that christmas movie is still quite different because it takes place during the course of multiple days as opposed to one night.

But if The Muppet Movie was done like an epsiode of The Muppet Show (taking place during showtime only, with onyl 15 seconds before the show starst and a few seconds after), I wondeer if the Muppets would have made it a very special edition of the show or if they would have treated it like any show (to the viewer each episode is 30 minutes, but who knows how long each show is in the Muppets reality?). Maybe the Muppets could have thrown a very special show, maybe with more celebrities. Perhaps there could have been a plot involving J.P. Grosse threatening to cancel the show unless audience reaction is good enough.

Keep in mind I am not criticizing your idea minor muppetz, it would be a great film nonetheless.

I didn't take any offense. Actually, I wasn't saying that there should be a 90-minute Muppet movie that should be the length of three TMS episodes. But if Disney did decide to make such a movie (and note that I said "movie" and not "special") it should probably be made-for-tv or direct-to-video. Though I guess The Muppet Show Live could also be considered an expanded episode of The Mupet Show.

 

[David French]

I think it would have been a dreadful idea and would never have worked.

There had been quite a few UK TV shows that had been made in to films pre-1979 and the bulk of them were just old scripts being re-hashed for the big screen. Even today you see film versions of TV shows re-hashing old scripts and thinking no one will notice.

Jim Henson made the right idea in making a movie - a proper movie.

 

[Drtooth]

There had been quite a few UK TV shows that had been made in to films pre-1979 and the bulk of them were just old scripts being re-hashed for the big screen. Even today you see film versions of TV shows re-hashing old scripts and thinking no one will notice.
.

One of them was a Monty Python film that only reused older segments to try to promote the show to other countries. Sort of like what they were doing with the 1966 Batman movie.

I don't think it would have been bad had they done movie specific material. I always wanted to see a Muppet skit movie sort of like some of the Python films, in which there was a collection of different skits around one theme. original music mashed up with some Muppet performances of other songs. Something like that.

 

[minor muppetz]

There had been quite a few UK TV shows that had been made in to films pre-1979 and the bulk of them were just old scripts being re-hashed for the big screen. Even today you see film versions of TV shows re-hashing old scripts and thinking no one will notice.

Really, I hadn't noticed. Can you name any recent movies of TV shows that have remade old scripts? The Simpsons Movie didn't seem like it remade any episodes.

 

[BobThePizzaBoy]

Really, I hadn't noticed. Can you name any recent movies of TV shows that have remade old scripts? The Simpsons Movie didn't seem like it remade any episodes.

The Mr. Bean movie (the first one, not Mr. Bean's Holiday) re-uses a lot of skits from the show within it's story. But I'm not sure about any other movies.

 

[David French]

The Brady Bunch, Dad's Army and Are You Being Served? films are three very good examples.