What If ... The Muppets

I'm crossing the streams a bit here, as I did a Muppets post last week, and I have another What If post coming up next week, but this is the case where something got into my head and just kept nagging at me.

As I stated previously, I'm not a fan of the new premise of The Muppets on TV. How could it be improved? Well, what about a talent show? I know that "America's Got Talent" is an NBC show and not on ABC, but that's kind of the set-up I had in mind.

Picture this: Sicily, 1931 ... wait, sorry. Senior moment there. (And thank you to the two of you that laughed at that.)

Picture this: A nation-wide talent show hosted by Gonzo, who gets involved in some of the acts (much like Nick Cannon). The judges are Fozzie (the nice one), Piggy (the harsh one), and the celebrity guest of the week. Behind the scenes we have Kermit wrangling everything, and dealing with the various personalities in order to get the show running properly.

Statler and Waldorf would be in their standard box in the audience, Bobo would be security, Rizzo and Pepe would be in the booth directing things, and we could have various Muppets on camera. Rowlf and The Electric Mayhem would come out to provide musical accompaniment to some of the acts.

In this way we update The Muppet Show to modern day, but we also keep the variety acts that made up some of the best bits.

I expect I'll be seeing my contract as show runner for this new concept in the mail any day now.

=========================
Like what I'm doing here on the blog and podcast? Why not check out my Patreon Page to see how you can help me do more? http://www.patreon.com/TheHammerStrikes

The Muppets - A Reaction

As I write this, we have seen the first episode of the new Muppets TV show. You all heard what Michelle and I were hoping for before sitting down and watching it, but we just couldn't get a time to sit down and record a reaction, so I'm going to do that here. That reaction is, overall, disappointment.

One of my big problems with Muppets Tonight was that it was a little too disjointed. Where as The Muppet Show had an overall theme for each episode, beyond the guest star, Muppets tonight was just a bunch of sketches strung together, held together only by the guest star. This show is the complete opposite of that. There are no sketches, at all. It's just one big plot, broken up by the "reality show interview" segments. It's like they looked at The Muppet Show and threw out everything that worked.

It's not a horrible show, to me at least, so I'm going to give it some time to find it's feet and see what happens. If I drop watching it, I won't be surprised, though. It's just disappointing that they took all the potential they had after The Muppets and wasted it with ... this.

For another perspective, check out the Instant Reaction episode on Muppets In Character.

=========================
Like what I'm doing here on the blog and podcast? Why not check out my Patreon Page to see how you can help me do more? http://www.patreon.com/TheHammerStrikes

Muppet Babies Syndrome

I recently started listening to Trentus Magnus Punches Reality and in his first show Magnus defends Smallville. I've only seen a few episodes of the show myself, so I'm not qualified in commenting on the quality of it. I do agree with him that the premise of the show is the journey to becoming Superman, so having Clark put on the suit before the last episode doesn't make sense. One thing that I do have a problem with, and not just in this show, is what I call "Muppet Babies Syndrome."

What's that, you ask? That is the trope that we see, in TV and comics mostly, where just because characters know each other as adults, that means that they MUST have known each other as kids. Muppet Babies, Smallville, Flinstone Kids, A Pup Named Scooby Doo, etc, etc. All of these shows show horn in characters from other versions that, if you think about it, shouldn't be there.

Let's look at a typical person's life. They have friends growing up, that live near them and go to the same school. Fine, no problem. When they grow up, they go to college/get a job and meet new people. People that they didn't know as a kid. The older you get, the more people you meet. Some become closer to you than those you grew up with, some don't.

To take a character, like Superman, and say that EVERYONE he ever met in the comics knew him, at some point, before he put on the suit makes NO SENSE! You want Lana Lang, OK that works. Lex Luthor? I'm not a fan, but there's precedent there. Lois Lane? Um ... alright, if it make story sense. Green Arrow, Aquaman, Batman, and the ENTIRE Justice Society? Nope, sorry, I'm drawing the line. Superman was the hero that inspired others to become heroes, not the other way around.

Of course, the biggest problem with this is that DC then said "Wow, this show is successful. Let's bring all of that into the comics!" That was one of the things that made me stop reading the Superman comics. When Clark Kent runs into Lexcorp Tower claiming that he can talk to Lex since they grew up together, and I can pull out an issue where they first met, years after Superman made his debut, and no Crisis was involved, you lose me.

Please keep in mind that I have no problem with alternate takes on things. I can compartmentalize characters. Christopher Reeve =/= George Reeves =/= Brandon Routh =/= Tim Daly =/= Henry Cavill =/= Dean Cain =/= Tom Welling. Each exists in their own universe and doesn't affect the others. When they do bleed over, though, especially when they change the comics just because of this show/movie/whatever is popular and not for any valid story reason, that I don't like. Of course, I'm not buying new(er) comics any more, so it's kind of a moot point.

Let me stress that these are MY hang-ups. This is why I don't read the comics any more or watch Smallville. They have nothing to do with the products themselves by more my mentality. I know that I'll get annoyed by them, so why put myself through that? If you like this stuff, as Magnus obviously loves Smallville, good for you. We don't all need to like the same things.

OK, I just had to get that off my chest. We now return you to more light-hearted fare.