Why didn’t The Muppets work? Recently, puppeteer and long-time Jim Henson collaborator Frank Oz spoke with Variety about the cancelled ABC series.
The comedy followed Kermit the Frog, Gonzo, and the rest of the Muppets crew behind the scenes of the fictional talk show Up Late with Miss Piggy. Last year, ABC cancelled the show after one season.
In the interview, Oz admitted he only saw “15 minutes” of The Muppets and didn’t feel it was true to the characters:
I felt the show wasn’t true to the characters. There was a purity in each character that was vital. I felt that purity was being moved around to areas that didn’t feel right.”
He later added:
My brothers, my sisters, were in there [as the puppeteers]. They did the very best they could. But essentially, they were working with scripts that other people wrote. They had to do it the way it was. If it was given more air and they trusted the performers, as we had air, it would have come alive more. Those abilities, to riff and be smart enough, weren’t appreciated.”
What do you think? Did you watch The Muppets? Why do you think the show didn’t work?
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