Anyone who knows me is well aware of my adoration for this group of cloth characters and their brand of humor. It only stands that I would have one of these blogs using one of their many enterprises. Sadly, this is from one of the shorter live Muppet shows (which you can blame the Mouse for the per-emptive cancellation - I really don’t get why Disney bought the Muppets when they don’t use them for anything good).
For those who missed this one: “The Muppets" was a late night, mockumentary sitcom about a late night talk show hosted by Miss Piggy and produced by her ex-boyfriend Kermit the Frog, think of it as “30 Rock” meets “The Office”. The other Muppets plays supporting roles as the shows writers and staff (save for Statler and Waldorf who sit every night in the audience making fun of the show for some traditions must be upheld). This concept also gave them the opportunity to easily insert human guest stars such as Elizabeth Banks, Dave Grohl, Mindy Kahling, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, and Joseph Gordan Levitt. The plots were mostly satirical humor, but the relationship between Kermit and Piggy actually was used for a small amount of drama that somehow worked in the format. But greatest of all was the use of Uncle Deadly as Piggy’s wardrobe manager and shoulder to “hi-ya” to.
Quick side note: Uncle Deadly, who those who don’t know, was a character created for the Vincent Price episode of the original “Muppet Show”. He was meant to be suave and creepy. Re-imagining him as a fashion guru was possibly the best idea the writers of this show had because the further you get into the episodes, the more amazing his lines are. To this day, the Uncle Deadly twitter account gives biting fashion advise and lets claws out.
Image property of Disney - Uncle Deadly with Gloria Estefan the penguin
This episode focuses mostly on Kermit and Fozzie Bear. Fozzie’s job on the show is to warm up the audience with jokes, then announce Piggy’s entrance, but he wants to be a part of the writing staff (which is led by Gonzo, Pepe, and Rizzo). Kermit spends the first first minutes of the episode avoiding Fozzie because the bear has written a skit so bad, he doesn’t even know how to spin it a form of constructive criticism. Most of all, he’s worried Fozzie will want the stinker script performed on the show. In hopes of sparing his friend’s feelings, Kermit lies saying that Fozzie should take time to flesh out the skit into a movie script because he thinks would make a better motion picture.
Fozzie, out of trust and love of his friend, takes this advice literally and quits the show to work on a movie full time. Kermit reveals the truth in hopes of getting Fozzie to take his job back, but this also backfires. Fozzie becomes determined to prove Kermit wrong and that he can write a fantastic film by going into the woods with no supplies. His logic is that bears should be inspired by the great outdoors.
Interestingly, while all of this is going on the actual writers on the show are having a conversation about whether the President lives in the White House or the Wide House, to which Gonzo responds that if they’re having this talk, maybe they shouldn’t be writing political humor. A write what you know joke! You don’t hear those too often.
SPOILERS ALERT: In the end, Kermit tells Fozzie they will put the skit on the air, pointing out that they can edit and work on it together to make it camera ready (and not stink). This is what Kermit should have done in the first place. Constructive criticism people! Never just tell a writer that something sucks. These are artist. Artistic personality can be broken very easily. There have been times I’ve thought of wandering into the woods and stealing campers food in justification of my own work that other have told me was bad. Okay, not quite that, but I might try it next time. You can just outright reject something, especially a first draft. There is always something good within a piece of writing that could be worked on.
And now - back to watching the Muppets.
Image property of the “Mouse”. Here’s Fozzie and Kermit discussing the script at Rowlf’s bar