Tag Archives: Gregg Mettler

The Muppets S01E10 – “Single All the Way”

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single all the way muppets
The Muppets – “Single All the Way”
Story by Gregg Mettler and Nell Scovell
Teleplay by Bob Kushell and Dave Caplan
Directed by Matt Sohn
single all the way muppets
The Muppets and Christmas are like peanut butter and chocolate, hence the wide variety of Muppet Christmas specials and films over the years. So it is only natural that we get an entry in the television series, fittingly involving the Muppets producing a Christmas special. Of course, things begin to go wrong as the Muppets are always situated on the rim of disaster. The episode manages to both have some of the best relationship writing in a season with very uneven relationship handling, as well as some of the regular worst relationship writing. We get in informative and heartfelt discussion of Kermit and Miss Piggy’s past relationship, but we also get Fozzie having drama with his girlfriend despite Riki Lindhome not appearing in this episode.

The Christmas Show has two disasters happening at once, first Mindy Kaling is their special guest and is supposed to perform a song, except her singing makes those singing dogs cds sound talented. The more important disaster is Fozzie’s girlfriend Becky broke up with him that morning, which is a big problem as he is being Santa Bear, and no one wants a Santa who is crying and wailing in front of children. Before you can begin complaining about sadsack Muppets, Sam the Eagle is seen putting up mistletoe in a strategic spot to try to sneak a kiss from Janice. We know that won’t work out the way it is intended, so let’s focus on the main stories.
single all the way muppets
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The Muppets S01E05 – “Walk the Swine”

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Walk the Swine Muppets
The Muppets – “Walk the Swine”
Story by Dave Caplan and Steve Rudnick
Teleplay by Gregg Mettler and Nell Scovell
Directed by Randall Einhorn
Walk the Swine Muppets
After spending an episode becoming more relatable, Miss Piggy returns to having a feud with a celebrity, though the twist this time is Reese Witherspoon ends up looking just as bad as Miss Piggy as they argue on a charity construction site, which is damaged as they get into a physical altercation. The story is Piggy is upset with Reese as Witherspoon beat her out for a part in Walk the Line, for which Reese won an Oscar. Piggy brings it up on the show, blames Reese for bringing it up, and then continues to be competitive by claiming that she also does work for Habitat for Humanity like Reese, and will also be at a construction site that weekend just like Reese.

Piggy dresses up super cute for the construction job: a pink helmet, pink bedazzled hammer, and stiletto work boots. She’s surprised there are no paparazzi (after mistaking the surveyor as one) and calls them in, and then picks a fight with Reese about who is the harder worker. Piggy reveals she was raised on a farm, and to her credit she does end up working harder and faster than Reese (aided by karate chopping 2x4s!) Reese and her continue to bicker, which turns physical and ends up knocking down the entire side of a the house frame, all caught on camera by the paparazzi that Piggy called in.

This becomes a PR disaster, and Miss Piggy actually cries in her dressing room over this. More humanization of Miss Piggy is a good thing! She and Kermit decide the best way to fix things is to get Reese back on the show and apologize. So they do, and Reese apologized to Piggy, after which Piggy apologizes. With an elaborate music and dance number where she apologizes by song and by rapping, ending with an awesome dropping of the mike as she proves she is the best at apologizing.
Walk the Swine Muppets
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The Muppets S01E04 – “Pig Out”

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Pig Out The Muppets
The Muppets – “Pig Out”
Story by Bob Kushell and Dave Caplan
Teleplay by Gregg Mettler and Nell Scovell
Directed by Randall Einhorn
Pig Out The Muppets
One of my criticisms of The Muppets in the previous episodes was they made Miss Piggy incredibly unlikable. To the point where it became a mystery why anyone has anything to do with her. “Pig Out” solves this problem by providing us with a Piggy who people want to be around and enjoys the company of her fellow Muppets – largely because they enjoy her access to famous people and famous people parties. While that might not seem like something good, it actually turns out great with Piggy genuinely enjoying her success with her crew, and the crew enjoying being around her. A welcome change from Piggy getting into random feuds with celebrities over tiny things or fighting with Kermit while obviously being wrong.

The episode is filled with a lot of little touches that add to the fun, with a special focus on the Swedish Chef, who acts as the caterer for Miss Piggy’s Show. During one of the interview scenes, we see him in the background licking the various pastries and then putting them back on the pile to eat. He later presents Swedish sushi to Piggy, and it looks as gross as it sounds (she passes). During the karaoke montage while the gang is partying, Swedish Chef breaks out “Rapper’s Delight”, which was awesome.
Pig Out The Muppets
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The Muppets S01E03 – “Bear Left Then Bear Writer”

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Bear Left Than Bear Writer Muppets
The Muppets – “Bear Left Then Bear Writer”
Story by Dave Caplan & Gregg Mettler
Teleplay by Nell Scovell & Steve Rudnick
Directed by Randall Einhorn

Bear Left Then Bear Writer is a mixed bag episode, the storyline exploring the Kermit/Fozzie friendship is supported by two very weak B-plots, producing a show that has what may be the best long joke in the series so far, but makes us wander in the wilderness too long to get to it.
Bear Left Than Bear Writer Muppets
Kermit and Fozzie’s friendship isn’t really harped on that much in Muppets fiction, even though the two are always depicted as best friends. They just are friends, so an episode that gives some depth to the friendship is a welcome thing. We see Kermit’s reluctance to tell Fozzie the truth about his awful skit, first trying to hide from Fozzie, then lying so much Fozzie thinks he should quit his job and become a movie screenwriter, running off to the woods to work. Of course Kermit has to go bail him out of the latest jam, but not before we see via slideshow Kermit explaining how Fozzie helped him get out of a funk when he was striking out in getting Hollywood work.

The b plots are: Gonzo doing online dating, only he used a photo of the lesser Hemsworth brother on his profile and is meeting the lady, Debbie, later that afternoon. They use the Muppet influence to get Liam Hemsworth into their plot to do a switcheroo, except Liam decides he wants Debbie all for himself. They try to lead you away from the obvious conclusion by making Debbie a Muppet as well, but that wasn’t enough, and we get sadsack Gonzo as our payoff. =(
Bear Left Than Bear Writer Muppets
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