The Muppets S01E08 – “Too Hot to Handler”

Too Hot to Handler Muppets
The Muppets – “Too Hot to Handler
Story by Margee Magee and Angeli Millan
Teleplay by Shane Kosakowski and Franklin Hardy
Directed by Matt Sohn
Too Hot to Handler Muppets
The Muppets returns with another episode about Muppets having relationship issues, but for once it isn’t because there are a bunch of sadsack Muppets being sad sacks full of sad sacks. In fact, Scooter finds exactly what he wants for a relationship, except that is just too much for him to handle!

Scooter is enthralled by Chelsea Handler, which is handy because she’s a guest on Miss Piggy’s show that night. She even seems to be looking for a nice dork like him. Uncle Deadly points out Scooter would just be a boy toy, and I’m not sure Scooter seems to understand what that term means. This gives Scooter the confidence to go ask Chelsea out on a date, but he manages to cause a big mess while trying to act cool and calm while doing so. Luckily for him, Chelsea is cool with dating him, anyway.

Fozzie is planning to ask his girlfriend Becky to move in with him after dating for a whole 12 weeks. This makes Kermit nervous, as he thinks Fozzie is moving too fast and doesn’t know Becky that well. He suggests they double date at trivia night at Rowlf’s, a contest Becky always wins. Kermit’s attempts to get Becky to reveal any hidden secrets through casual conversation backfires into finding lots of bad things about his own girlfriend, Denise. But Kermit also witnesses Becky looking at her phone while hiding under the table, and is convinced she is cheating in the trivia contest. He knows he can’t confront her right now, but needs to expose her to save his friend from someone who is dishonest.
Too Hot to Handler Muppets
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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.
Walk the Swine Muppets
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The Muppets S01E01 – “Pig Girls Don’t Cry”

Pig Girls Don't Cry The Muppets
The Muppets“Pig Girls Don’t Cry”
written by Bill Prady & Bob Kushell
Directed by Randall Einhorn

I am a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuge Muppets fan, so of course this will be the series I’ll be reviewing as it airs from now on, as Sleepy Hollow decided to go on a sophomore slump that cratered deep into the ground, along with my interest in the show. After a successful movie and a less than successful movie, the Muppets return to tv with their new series, The Muppets. It’s done in a pseudo-documentary format in the same vein of The Office, except instead of Jim and Pam (or Tim and Dawn), we got Frog and Pig!
Pig Girls Don't Cry The Muppets
Miss Piggy is hosting a late night talk show (which means as of this show airing, only female late night talk show host is a pig Muppet played by a guy, as Samantha Bee’s show doesn’t premiere for a little while longer!), Fozzie is her sidekick/announcer/insult target, Kermit is the executive producer, Gonzo is the head writer (with Pepe and Rizzo), The Electric Mayhem is the house band, Sam the Eagle is working for ABC’s standards and practices, Scooter is a talent coordinator, Bobo is a stage manager, Swedish Chef does the catering, other Muppets do background work on the show, and Rowlf is supposed to own the bar they all hang out at after work (not show in this episode!)

The show gained a bunch of viral buzz due to the announcement of Miss Piggy and Kermit’s breakup, and Kermit subsequently dating a new pig named Denise. The fallout was hilarious, even if we are totally Team Miss Piggy here at TarsTarkas.NET. The breakup is the worst part of the series, even if I understand that they did it in order to have an actual romantic plot with the main characters. It lead to a huge group of people upset because the Muppets are being given actual romantic plot lines, and the plot lines aren’t the ones that are classically associated with the characters. But as a fan of Kermit and Piggy together, it is sad, and will take some getting used to. (And we all know they will be back together by season 2!)
Pig Girls Don't Cry The Muppets
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