ABC loves the Muppets — well, the network kind of likes them. ABC has ordered three more installments of the Tuesday night series, bringing the freshman season tally to 16 episodes. Other news shows have received full season orders for 22 episodes. So, is this good news or bad news?
Set in a mockumentary style, The Muppets follows the lives of the crew behind talk show Up Late with Miss Piggy. As you might expect, diva Miss Piggy is still driving Kermit the Frog and the rest of the gang crazy. The Muppeteer performers include Steve Whitmire, Eric Jacobson, Dave Goelz, Bill Barretta, David Rudman, Matt Vogel, and Peter Linz.
The series started out strong in the ratings, registering a 2.87 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 9.01 million viewers for its premiere. Unfortunately, the second episode saw a drop of more than 30%. Combined, weeks three and four fell another 30%. This week’s installment saw a bit of growth in the demo and held steady in viewership.
When The Muppets was announced last May, it was billed as a “limited series” with the network having plans for another series to take over mid-season. Had the comedy’s ratings been better, ABC execs surely would have made room for a full season of The Muppets. This order for three additional episodes order seems like a marginal vote of confidence at best.
What do you think? Do you like The Muppets? Are you glad that ABC has ordered three more episodes or do you think it should have been cancelled instead?
I love love love this show! It’s sweet and clean and innocent but still laugh out loud funny! Don’t cancel it! Don’t!
I really enjoy the Muppet Show. There’s always a couple of jokes in each episode that make me laugh out loud. It’s true some jokes miss their mark but all in all, I find the show to be current on the humor, (Deadly asking Kermit if he cashed in his CVS points to by a gift for Denise? C’mon!!) and in their plot stories. The guests are very strong. ( Could’ve focused on Pentatonix longer too) Please keep the show on your schedule!!
We love the show. Don’t cancel it!! I hate that they cancel shows I enjoy. It’s funny and we’ll written. Not liking fresh off the boat.
I love the muppets! My 14 year old sister even watches it please don’t cancel this is a great show and I would love to see more people on the show like Justin bieber
I really enjoy the new Muppet show. It’s got enough jokes for the little ones and well as some zingers for us adults! My 28 year old son watches it too — as a matter of fact, he’s the one who told me about it! I hope to enjoy it for many more years, it’s a very well written show!
I really love this show. Please don’t cancel the Muppets.
I think the muppets should have Blakeley Shea on it from The Bachelor.
this is one of the only shows that can be watched by ages 11 – 74, my family is proof of that!
COME ON ABC! This is good entertainment. Give it a full season to build an audience.
I love the show. It is one of the few programs that I not only watch, but watch live. What is wrong with some lighthearted humor and sweet characters? Does everything need to be a reality show or some over-the-top drama (which seems to be staples at ABC)?
It’d be interesting to see what kind of shows are watched by those who are so negative towards The Muppets. This show is refreshing, clean, clever, and so different from other programs. The Muppeteers/voice actors bring so much life to each character.
But, like 2011 Muppets movie alluded to, people would rather watch crass garbage than something pure. Enjoy yourselves, sheep.
I will share my opinions:
1. It is hard to remake a great classic like the original Muppets.
2. Second, I do agree on Kermit and Miss Piggy’s characters.
3. There a lot of people that really don’t like The Muppets.
4. The movies that were made after the original series were awesome! And this is just such a deviation of the originals.
I’m 42 and my daughter is 11 and we absolutely love this show! I totally enjoy watching this with her, it’s almost like watching a soap opera without all the EXTRA stuff she shouldn’t see. She didn’t know anything about the Muppets until now.
Kill the show now!! It’s not funny for kids and it’s not entertaining for adults. This would be like remaking gilligans island with Kanye. Lol. Actually Kanye is like gilligan. Run with it execs!
The show is plain awful. Miss PIggy’s been turned into a total *****, and Kermit is now pretty much a douche. The truth is, the nostalgia that’s been keeping the show afloat has deflated week after week. As for the tiny uptick last Tuesday, I think the World Series actually helped the show – the Fox comedies weren’t on, so a few people tuned over to ABC to sample what was there. We’ll see if those viewers stick around, but I doubt it.