The Muppets S01E10 – “Single All the Way”

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.
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The Muppets S01E06 – “The Ex-Factor”

the ex-factor the muppets
The Muppets – “The Ex-Factor
Story by Bob Kushell & Steve Rudnick
Teleplay by Nell Scovell & Emily Wilson
Directed by Randall Einhorn
the ex-factor the muppets
Kermit’s new girlfriend Denise finally reappears on the show, and she is a big Kristin Chenoweth fan, which is convenient because Chenoweth is a guest on the show today (Uncle Deadly is a bigger fan, though!) Denise charges over and introduces herself despite Miss Piggy being right next to Chenoweth (Denise introducing herself several times because she’s so nervous) Miss Piggy is annoyed as you might expect, and Kristin realizes who Denise is after she leaves.

Denise’s birthday is tomorrow and Kermit has no idea what to get her (he wasn’t going to get her anything, because she said not to get her anything, and is advised by everybody present about that being wrong!) Panic ensues because he’s bad at gift-giving. Everyone’s suggestions for gifts are expectedly terrible, not only are most of the Muppet characters hopelessly single, but now many of them have their own personal romantic failings on the show, so they are extra hopeless.

Scooter takes Kermit to one of those paint your own ceramics stores so he can make a gift himself. Scooter is very very very familiar with the store, going there a lot, especially when his mom is seeing her boyfriend. Scooter even has his own custom smock with his name on it. Kermit paints his first date with Denise, but after some criticism of his art talent from Scooter, it’s tossed in the whoopsie bin.
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The Muppets S01E05 – “Walk the Swine”

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.
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The Muppets S01E04 – “Pig Out”

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.
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The Muppets S01E03 – “Bear Left Then Bear Writer”

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. =(
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Lean away from the Lean In movie!

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[adrotate banner=”1″]Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In: Women, Work, And The Will to Lead has been optioned for a film, in a move that becomes less surprising when you realize Nell Scovell has been set to write the script, as she co-wrote the book with Sheryl Sandberg. Scovell has vast industry connections, being a veteran television writer and director, so its a natural that she would know enough people with money to get a film done, despite the fact the book doesn’t really have a story narrative. But I really don’t have a problem with the insider connections or lack of existing narrative aspect of this deal.

What I do have a problem with is Lean In. Lean In is painted as a pro-feminist book to help women in the workplace achieve all sorts of goals, that’s become a “movement” based on selling the Lean In brand. But it’s not quite what it claims to be. As articulated by others with much better feminism credentials than I, Lean In is basically a co-opting of feminism in a packaged and controlled form. A sort of faux feminism, that ultimately doesn’t really do much of anything except draw attention away from actually recognizing and solving issues.

My problems with Lean In aren’t that Sandberg is rich or white or cis or likes business stuff or that she wrote her story without consulting every academic feminist with letters after their name. None of that is ultimately important when it comes to what feminism is: Everyone being equal regardless of gender. But Sandberg’s book isn’t the vehicle for that change.

The biggest problems swooped in when Lean In switched from a book to a foundation. The book spends much of its time telling women to do more for work so they can get more at work, in addition to all family responsibilities. Much of the suggestions are unrealistic for all but those that are wealthy enough to afford the free time to put in more time. The book strives to be apolitical, not really addressing how things in society can be changed to help women, putting everything on the women to succeed themselves (or as part of their “Lean In” groups!)

Gender issues are political. Every day politicians make decisions that affect women. Gender issues have affected many major elections, for example Republicans who can’t shut up about rape:
Todd Akin and “legitimate rape”, Richard Mourdock saying pregnancy from rape was a “gift from God”, Wisconsin State Assembly member Roger Rivard saying “Some girls rape easy”, congressional candidate John Koster talking about “the rape thing”, Rep. Steve King saying he’s never heard of a child getting pregnant from statutory rape or incest, Rep. Joe Walsh ignorance in medical advances: “There’s no such exception as life of the mother,” Walsh told reporters following the debate. “And as far as health of the mother – same thing. Advances in science and technology. Health of the mother has been, has become a tool for abortions any time and for any reason.” All of those politicians lost except Rep. Steve King, and Mitt Romney and the Republican leadership had to condemn and condemn their own people, who refused to step aside. Black women were the deciding voice in the Virginia governor’s and attorney general’s races. Wendy Davis became a folk hero due to her filibuster against abortion restrictions and has moved on to running for governor. Sandra Fluke’s testimony on birth control became a lightning rod of ignorant comments and hateful statements from professional pukes. This isn’t an issue that can be separated from politics like a spaghetti strainer.

So of course Lean In honors a Republican Congresswoman with a voting record that’s historically anti-woman. Because Lean In isn’t about feminism, it is not about empowerment. It’s about a brand. A brand that doesn’t pay female interns (until outcry forces the matter!). A brand they can control, and tell women that empowerment is just working harder, not social issues. A brand that makes you feel good, but ultimately does nothing. A brand that can disrupt real advancement for women because that might interrupt the Boy’s Club in charge of much of Silicon Valley.

They even have competition from Makers, a brand that wants to reset the agenda for women in the workplace in the 21st century.” yet can’t be bothered to invite any labor union leaders to its fancy workplace meeting. Never fear, Sheryl Sandberg was invited, because there’s nothing more incestuous than the boards of Silicon Valley companies.

So, yeah, I think the movie will suck.