Muppets Mayhem

9/10

This Muppets limited series(?) on Disney+, has aspiring music executive Nora Singh (played by Youtube personality Lilly Singh) overseeing Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem recording their first album.  

I have to admit that I was surprised that they were creating a show specifically about the band from The Muppets Show and other projects (without even other Muppets characters like Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, etc.) Don't get me wrong, we all like Animal (performed by Eric Jacobson), but the band as a whole were mostly background characters that were good for a few jokes but never had strong characterization. (Quick, how many of you remember what Lips (Peter Linz) the guy who plays the trumpet looks like. How many of you even remember there was a guy who plays the trumpet?) Plus, it doesn't help that their groovy rocker attitudes make most of them, except again for Animal, too similar. It's like if you made a Peanuts show that only featured Franklin, Pigpen, and Frieda, the girl who boasted about her naturally curly hair, had their own show. There just isn't enough about their personalities to make one feel confident they could flourish on their own.

I was so pleased to see how wrong I was. First of all, the creators were smart enough to put all the weight on the Mayhem. Like The Muppets Christmal Carol was really Michael Caine's Scrooge's story with the Muppets, this show makes the wise choice to make this Nora's story with the Mayhem. She brings the story and they bring the comedy.

This is weirdly like Ted Lasso. Having possibly learned from the recent The Muppets and Muppets Now which felt more mean-spirited and jaded than classic Muppets (it's like they asked themselves, "Hey, what if we made Miss Piggy more toxic?! Surely there can never be a cap on that?!) this one is fully positive with supporting messages for the children. The humans are surprisingly fleshed out by Muppets standards. The band members are more simple, naturally but more characterization have been given to the them than ever. They may've made Sgt. Floyd Pepper (Matt Vogel), the one with the big red moustache, become a contender for Fozzie and Beaker's positions as the Muppet most likely to evoke an empathetic response.

Doesn't hurt that the show is pretty funny. It kinda feels like earlier Muppets films where some of the jokes did feel they were aimed at both adults and children in what is a family friendly affair. The show manages to make drug jokes and jabs at similar content without ever being specifically about drugs and such. (However, there are two movie references that I'm surprised Disney+ plus greenlighted. Parents, be prepared for your kids asking what that R-rated movie the Muppets mentioned was.) It is possible adults may get more out of this than children. Some kids, especially younger could get bored by the more dialogue-heavy pacing.

Though I'm mostly unfamiliar with Lilly Singh, I thought she was pretty good for someone without a lot of acting experience. She makes for a fine straight man having to deal with the unintentional antics caused by the band. Saara Chaudrey also entertains as Hannah, Lilly's social media influencer sister. There are also a lot of celebrity cameos, some of which you may be pleasantly surprised by.

Props should be given to the Muppets performers. Dr. Teeth (Bill Barretta) and Lips particularly have this liveliness to them. Needless to say, Animal, oh he of simple words, is the most entertaining of the characters. All the band members are entertaining, but there is one flaw to Janice's voice. As the hippiesh one, she's always been fun, but her voice has always been a man trying to sound like a hippie or valley girl, which works fine but when there's a lot more of it, the voice kinda ingratiates. We also get a new Muppet in this (there are surprisingly few Muppets other than The Mayhem; maybe it was to keep the focus on the band or maybe they were trying to save money) that I won't spoil, but is a fun design and character.

Highly recommended. This is honestly one of the strongest Muppets products out there.

Muppets Now- Season 1

 

7/10

After the failure of the more older audience-leaning The Muppets on ABC, the popular puppets are being returned to format for a more typical tone and variety format. In this, the Muppets are hosting a bunch of viral videos with the framing device of Scooter (performed by David Rudman) editing and downloading them. It's no original Muppet Show, but it's generally entertaining.

On average, the segments are fun. The Swedish Chef (Bill Barretta) in particular remains as funny as he ever was. Doctor Bunsen Honeydew (Dave Goelz, the last OG Muppet performer) and Beaker (Rudman) have become modern day Bill Nyes. Rather than do the regular made-up science experiment gags, here they're infotaining as they perform actual science experiments. They're surprisingly engaging as things are set on fire, launched, etc..  This show carries over the one element from The Muppets: Uncle Deadly (Matt Vogel) as Miss Piggy's sarcastic personal assistant. He works wonderfully off of her; the one Muppet who understands her enough that he can push buttons without evoking her wrath. Scooter also serves as a great straight man having to deal with everyone else's eccentricities. 

There's also a pretty healthy heaping of guest star appearances throughout.     

However, this show could've been stronger. Unlike the Muppet Show or even Muppets Tonight, which constantly came up with new material, Muppets Now basically uses the same limited number of sketches. Plus, there are very few attempts at new Muppet characters, preferring to coast with what they've got. Going back to Muppets Tonight, they may not have quite nailed the Muppet Show formula, but at least they experimented with new faces. Also, you barely see some of the more popular Muppets, such as Kermit (Vogel), Fozzie (Eric Jacobson), Animal (Jacobson), and Gonzo (Goelz). Rizzo's not even in this. First they ditch him in the recent Muppet films and now this. What's with the Rizzo hate?!    

Though this doesn't go far as the The Muppets, there is a negativity. Sure, in the Muppet Show, characters would get hit, blown up, eaten, etc., but they mostly felt like a good group. Here, a lot of characters feel more selfish. Honeydew has always been self-involved in his pursuit of science, but here he seems intentionally cruel to Beaker. Miss Piggy (Jacobson) gets more skits than any other character, which was a mistake. She works better when she's not the one in charge. When she is, it's just a bunch of poorly written ego jokes. She's not quite as toxic as in The Muppets, but she can still be unbearable. Also, the sidelined Muppets all seem to be the nicer ones. 

At six episodes, this is a quick watch. I think your kids will have a good time. As for adult Muppet fans, I can't say this this is required viewing. I'd rank this above The Muppets but a little below Muppets Tonight, which left more of an impression and at least gave us Pepe the Prawn.