I'm a fan of the Muppets and I liked the Muppets tonight,so I don't feel I'm overly sentimental or stuck in the past. But if you are going to revive an old show you'll need to capture some of he magic that the made the original a success. They did so with Star Trek after they figured it out. The magic of the Muppets was a combination of a Rebellious anti authoritarian, witty adolescent type of humor. A bit like Monty Python but without the black, gore and nastiness. Then there were the characters that were really well thought out and often very complicated without seeming so. And then there were first rate puppeteers, who could really play those characters like first rate actors/comedians. This new series has none of that. The puppetry is stiff and mediocre. The lines aren't delivered that well, and the puppets don't come alive. Everybody could do puppetry on that level. But worst of all they take well established and loved special characters and make them kind of normal, and boring. Animal speaks whole sentences and shows depth. That basically destroys everything that made him fun. Your not supposed to feel at ease with Animal. He has only pure in the moment cave man emotion. He doesn't speak, he utters emotions in terms of two words max. Sex,food,Drums and violence, that's Animal. You don't know where he's been and you don't know where he's going. You don't ask. That's what makes him fun. All these characters are kind of maimed by this show. If they think we need a new kind of muppets to fit these times, let them at least create new muppets for it. As for me, I don't like "these times" anyway.
Review of The Muppets.
