The Muppets S01E09 – “Going, Going, Gonzo”

January 31, 2016ByTars Tarkas

The Muppets – “Going, Going, Gonzo” 109
Story by Shane Kosakowski and Franklin Hardy
Teleplay by Jordan Reddout and Gus Hickey
Directed by Randall Einhorn

While the last episode was a high note, this episode turns into one of the worst of the season as it jumps back the quality and just ends up disappointing. Gonzo acts out of character while Scooter gets some development in being more brave and bold that he should have gotten before last week’s episode when he actually did something brave and bold, dating Chelsea Handler. Luckily, the day is saved by the sidegag stories, from the ridiculousness of Miss Piggy’s special branded water – Piggy Water – that comes complete with a lipstick mark on the bottle rim and far more calories than you’d expect from water.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the special guest on Miss Piggy’s show, and him and her have a duet while chaos reigns backstage, causing a giant moon set piece to swing wildly on stage. The set piece also snags Gonzo, who is flung around on the roof out of control until he crashes. Normally, Gonzo would be up for something like that, thinking it was awesome and wanting to try it again. Instead, Gonzo starts moping about the stunt that got away, and how he might die before doing a dangerous stunt that might kill him because he was too afraid.

Kermit can help, and convinces Miss Piggy (who is getting a new ridiculous nose muscle electric shock beauty treatment) to have Piggy Water sponsor Gonzo’s stunt and do it on the show. There are a few stipulations, and Gonzo is now officially The Great Gonzo Brought To You By Piggy Water, and must answer the phone with that name, and wear a suit with Piggy Water branding plastered all over it.

InTelevision Reviews

The Muppets S01E06 – “The Ex-Factor”

January 6, 2016ByTars Tarkas

The Muppets – “The Ex-Factor”
Story by Bob Kushell & Steve Rudnick
Teleplay by Nell Scovell & Emily Wilson
Directed by Randall Einhorn

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.

InTelevision Reviews

The Muppets S01E05 – “Walk the Swine”

January 3, 2016ByTars Tarkas

The Muppets – “Walk the Swine”
Story by Dave Caplan and Steve Rudnick
Teleplay by Gregg Mettler and Nell Scovell
Directed by Randall Einhorn

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.

InTelevision Reviews

The Muppets S01E04 – “Pig Out”

January 2, 2016ByTars Tarkas

The Muppets – “Pig Out”
Story by Bob Kushell and Dave Caplan
Teleplay by Gregg Mettler and Nell Scovell
Directed by Randall Einhorn

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.

InTelevision Reviews

The Muppets S01E03 – “Bear Left Then Bear Writer”

October 15, 2015ByTars Tarkas

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.

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. =(

InTelevision Reviews

The Muppets S01E02 – “Hostile Makeover”

September 30, 2015ByTars Tarkas

The Muppets – “Hostile Makeover”
Story by Bill Prady & Bob Kushell
Teleplay by Dave Caplan & Gregg Mettler
Directed by Randall Einhorn

The Muppets returns with a strong followup to their pilot episode, and without the burden of the setting up the premise and the uncomfortable dating reality, they can get right to the wacky jokes and hijinks ensuing.

Miss Piggy is on the rampage lately, because she doesn’t have a date for an upcoming award show. Kermit has the solution: set her up with Josh Groban and have some peace at the office. This works a little too well, as now Josh Groban is in a position to offer suggestions for the show. Suggestions Miss Piggy is more than happy to force Kermit to implement, even if they mean the show’s quality nose dives into the crapper. Laurence Fishburne has a hilarious cameo complete with some sick burns (sick Fishburnes???) on the state of Miss Piggy’s show. That is enough for Kermit to step into action and try to de-Groban the area.

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