My Thoughts on Muppets NOW

Hi, everybody! As some of you may know, I am a big Muppet fan, almost as big as Walter. Today, I will be talking about the Muppets first-ever streaming series, Muppets NOW. Much like The Muppet Show and the ill-fated Muppets Tonight before it, Muppets NOW is about the titular group of dogs, frogs, bears, chickens, and whatevers putting on a sketch comedy show. Scooter, Kermit's gofer who looks a bit like Arthur, rushes to upload new sketches on time while various shenanigans happen, from a computer virus threatening to delete all the sketches to having Statler and Waldorf as the test audience. Some of the new sketches include...

LifeSty(le) With Miss Piggy, in which the titular pig offers lifestyle tips with help from Uncle Deadly, Taye Diggs, and Linda Cardellini.

Økėy Døkęÿ Køøkïñ, in which The Swedish Chef competes against famous chefs. This is my favorite sketch on the show because it feels like something that was actually supervised by Jim Henson.

Muppets Field Test, in which Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker test experiments. Luckily for Beaker, he is no longer the test subject.

And Pepe's Unbelievable Game Show, in which Pepe the King Prawn hosts a game show in which anything goes.

As I am typing this, there are only 6 half-hour episodes, and so far, the show is much better than any Muppet production from the 2000s, though no where near as good as The Muppet Show. In other words, it's okay. Here are some tips I have on improving the show.

1. Add musical numbers. As far back as Sam & Friends in 1955, the Muppets were known for singing (or in the early days, lip-synching) to popular songs. What Muppets NOW is missing are musical numbers, which the Muppets and guest star would sing along to back in the day. I know music licensing is a bit of an issue, so how about having the Muppets sing not just public domain songs, but also Disney songs, from Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf to Into the Unknown. Heck, there were even moments on the original show in which the Muppets would sing Disney songs, like When You Wish Upon a Star, Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Da, Never Smile At a Crocodile (a deleted song from Peter Pan), and hilariously, It's a Small World.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL1y5w3PROE

2. More Kermit. When Jim Henson pitched the second Muppet Show pilot in 1975, one thing that stands out was the lack of Kermit. Instead, the pilot was hosted by a yellow drowsy-looking Muppet named Nigel.

However, he had little charm and personality, and Nigel was considered too wimpy as a host for when The Muppet Show got picked up by Lew Grade. Instead, the show would, of course, be hosted by Kermit the Frog. This was special because the frog now had a home: As the show runner, host, and boss of the Muppets, Kermit could finally become an extension of Jim Henson, who had a very similar role with his team, while also being able to get angry and yell, something Jim never did. Before the Muppet Show, all Kermit did was make appearances on Sesame Street, some specials, and late-night talk shows.

Kermit demonstrating the letter W on Sesame Street.

3. Have Cheryl Henson as a consultant. Cheryl Henson is Jim Henson's second oldest daughter, only behind Lisa, and even worked on projects with Jim such as The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and Song of the Cloud Forest. With Cheryl on board, Muppets NOW could feel like something that Jim and his writing partner Jerry Juhl worked on, while also feeling contemporary.

4. Remove Joe from Legal. Joe the Legal Weasel is a new character introduced in Muppets NOW. He's a lawyer weasel that is best described as a cross between Sam the Eagle and Pache (a human character, pronounced pa-chey) from Bill Prady's The Muppets. I personally don't like Joe because I find him boring, and his design looks out of place for the Muppets. He looks like an extra from Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas!

Anyway, what I'm saying here is to remove Joe from Legal and replace him with Sam the Eagle, but with the same personality and traits he had on The Muppet Show and Muppets Tonight.

5. More consistency with the guest star. What made The Muppet Show and some of Muppets Tonight memorable was the guest star interacting with the Muppets. Whether it was Elton John singing 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart' with Miss Piggy, Star Wars characters invading the Swinetrek (the Pigs in Space ship), or even  (aka Prince) singing to Pepe and Seymour (an elephant who was friends with the prawn in their early days) the breakfast menu for the KMUP cafeteria, the Muppets always relayed on a human star to play off of, one that was different each week. I know that there have already been some guest stars on the show, like Seth Rogan, Danny Trejo, Aubrey Plaza, and Al Madrigal, but they each only contributed to one segment.

And that concludes my thoughts on Muppets NOW. With not having to worry about ratings or time-slots, the show might stand a chance and become the next big thing.