BW Media Spotlight

Sorry, it was the best recording I had available when I started the article. Pretend someone recorded it from the audience…though how they got some of those views would be beyond me.

So on Wednesday ABC aired the pilot for a new version of The Muppet Show, as well as streaming it on Disney+, and given how long it was since they had a movie about saving the theater (I need to watch that one but I’m assuming they did because happy ending) it’s about time they got things started again. Unfortunately, this show had a lot of things going against them when this aired:

• It would have been airing opposite The Masked Singer. Fate stepped in because Fox’s coverage of a NASCAR race ran an hour long, pushing the other fabric covered performers to an hour later. We watched part of it because my dad and I really enjoy The Masked Singer and I’m guessing the rain-covered speedway had something to do with it. I’ve seen longer driveways than the race track they were using. We ended up watching How It’s Made until the show finally came on. Called who was going home but not who the celebrity was.
• One of the executive producers was Seth Rogan, the same guy who screwed up The Green Hornet and gave us one of the cringiest Christmas specials possible.
• It’s produced by Disney, who bought the “performer” Muppets while Sesame Workshop (formerly the Children’s Television Workshop but now all they do is Sesame Street related stuff) bought the “street” Muppets. Disney’s history of ignoring what the previous owners did and wanted only to screw everything up has been chronicled from Lucasfilm to Marvel Studios, and they already fired Jim Henson’s chosen successor as Kermit because he dared to expect the character be done correctly. Meanwhile, Facebook has a story going around about how Frank Oz, Jim Henson’s friend and employee, called him out on a sketch that wasn’t authentic to the Muppets, and Jim agreed with him. Disney doesn’t not seem to follow that logic.
• Disney’s handling of the Muppets lately has been controversial. In addition to the successor firing, the Muppets showing at Disney parks hasn’t wowed anyone and they shut down an attraction Henson himself worked on. Meanwhile, the only major appearance they’ve done lately are ads for travel site Booking.Com.
• Also controversial is general Disney content. Their take on the Muppet Babies lacked the edge of the Saturday morning cartoon and put Gonzo in a dress, which is what Disney does these days. They play too safe in the wrong areas and push social engineering over their stories, and people are picking up on it that aren’t in the culture war discussion field.

So I was expecting not to like this new take, but I had to give it a fair chance anyway. How was it? Well, I’m not joining Statler & Waldorf, so they must have done something right.

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