The Muppets Mayhem Goes From Great to Unwatchable | Some Boi Online
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- Опубліковано 8 лип 2024
- The Muppets Mayhem somehow simultaneously provides the best and worst Muppets content we’ve had in years. There’s a good foundation with that 70’s and 80’s vibe, but suffers from some frankly awful acting and an obsession with social media.
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0:00 - Introduction
1:14 - Episode 1
5:25 - Episode 2
10:08 - Episode 3
14:28 - Episode 4
19:17 - Episode 5
25:27 - Episode 6
27:22 - Episode 7
29:51 - Episode 8
35:52 - Episode 9
38:45 - Episode 10
42:50 - Conclusion
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I agree I loved the first half of the series! But I hated the last few episodes.
The Muppets is just one of those properties that shouldn’t be modernized with technology and TikTok. It doesn’t work, they are supposed to be timeless.
Glad it's not just me! I've never experienced such an abrupt drop in quality during a really promising series.
Ain't broke don't fix The Muppets were perfect without being modernized
@@itzorin600 The Muppets have ALWAYS been modernized. The Muppet Show was created because variety shows were very popular at the time, Muppets take Manhattan really shows as an 80s movie, especially with Miss. Piggy, man did the 80s hit her hard and during those times and the 90s, early 2000s and 2010s, the Muppets always kept with the most popular stars and latest trends.
So yeah, sorry that whole “the Muppets don’t need to be modern” argument doesn’t really work cause they have ALWAYS tried to be modern.
If the Muppets were supposed to be timeless, then Miss Piggy’s outfit wouldn’t have evolved to match the fashion trends of the eras and the Muppets would never interact with whatever celebrities are popular during that decade.
The Muppets are timeless because they are adaptable and are parody current trends.
@@Musiclover19 exactly! People always complaining about the muppets being modernized but this isn’t the first time muppets has been modernized look at muppets tonight. If you don’t want muppets to be modern then stop asking for muppet content and let it retire.
Kermit said it best on SNL "When ever someone goes to see The Muppets they think too themselves gee I can't wait to see the humans"
Classic 🤣
Is there a link of him saying that?
@@tavvyprods1275 It's the episode were Jason Segal host im sure you find a clip of it on UA-cam
I find it was crazy how after 40 years of doing nothing with Lips This show made him a fan favorite overnight
Indeed, Lips was fantastic. The "Maybe he DEAD" line is one of my favourite moments in the show 😅
@@SomeBoiOnline When he was kidnapped and thrown out the window i was dead
@@SomeBoiOnline “Lips said you died”
That was another great one 😂
Yeah me too! I don't remember much of Lips back in the day as a kid but now he's a rockstar. lol
Kermit crying out “I wish I’d never been born!” from that Very Merry NBC Christmas special is surprisingly fitting for the state of the present Muppets content considering they are under modern Disney.
46:07 I can’t stop replaying this clip.
My favorite part was how they provided some backstory for Dr. Teeth, Floyd, and Animal. These guys are some of the oldest Muppets, debuting in the Sex and Violence Pilot Episode of The Muppet Show. So it's great to get some extra layers and details about their background and how they met after so many years.
Steve never should have been fired. While he wouldn't have been involved in this as much since Lips never said a lot I like to think Kermit might have appeared if he was still doing him.
Whilst I'm not sure Kermit would've been a necessary cameo in the show, I'd still of course have Steve back as Kermit in general.
@@SomeBoiOnline I'm really curious what he have to say about this. Frank too.
Tahj Mowry is the best thing about this show because he's been a veteran sitcom actor since he was practically a baby, and held down his own show for Disney called Smart Guy under the age of 13. Plus his sisters are the famous child actress twins Tia and Tamera of Sister Sister fame. Talent runs in their family. Credit should go where credit is due in regards to Tahj. Whereas Lily was a mid social media 'comedian' who has been accepted with open arms by old/corporate media for whatever reason and pushed as a comedic actress when her main acting experience has been in 3 minute random humor sketches that appealed typically to people under 13
I think the show was really ambivalent. Some moments where really well written, while other parts where just straight up cliche and almost cringe. It felt like two writers wrote this. One of them trying their best, while the other one is a second grader that thinks they are trying their best.
Ambivalent is a *very* good word to describe this show! I loved some aspects and found other parts hard to watch (hence the title), there was no in-between come to think of it...
I think it was trying to be cliche on purpose. It's a typical underdogs make a comeback. That's part of the campiness and part of the joke.
I totally agree that the trendy stuff is a bad thing, but... isn't the show agreeing with you on that front? You're supposed to get upset about them all falling into the pit of social media and doing popular things. For the most part, the reason why it doesn't seem that way is because of (from what I know) the executives at ABC not realizing JJ's character is meant to mock them. It's always been their fault for not getting the Muppets, even since 2015.
I think they probably just either ran out of ideas or different writers wrote the first and second halves.
Or some executive meddling happened in between.
That's the thing, I'm getting mixed messages on that front. At one point the show seems self-aware of the trendy modern stuff, which I liked the concept of. But towards the end of the series, the online aspects are suddenly all treated as positive and form the conclusion of the series.
@@TheGerkuman trust me, i won't get into how i know this but it's definitely the execs
Honestly, when you talked about that horrific falcon scene I cried out loud because I literally thought the same thing, it was SO CRINGEY.
I'm so glad it's not just me 😅 In addition to being hard to watch, the whole falcon thing is just never mentioned again, rendering the scene completely pointless.
After watching the whole series, I didn't care about any of the human stuff the whole time (although I was absolutely shocked that they portrayed a die hard fan in a positive light, saying that he knew how to use the Mayhem when some random exec didn't. That was the last message I expected from Disney, although it's absolutely true). Everything modernized was bad, but I liked that they pretty much brought it back in the end. Basically, the Electric Mayhem themselves were mostly great. Everything Nora related was bad. Everything else was fine at best.
That's pretty much how I feel about it too. Come to think of it, if Moog was the main character and the story was him going against execs to keep the Mayhem true to themselves - that already sounds like a more streamlined and enjoyable narrative to me.
@@SomeBoiOnline That sounds infinitely better. And honestly, the muppets are the only IP that Disney owns who are self-aware enough to actually make that kind of commentary. Unfortunately, the message (if that's what the message was supposed to be) got a little lost in translation.
I love the audacity of Disney firing Steve Whitmire for speaking up on behalf of genuine Muppet fans, while at the same time hiring an actual racist in the form of Lilly Singh.
How is she racist?
As someone who actually agrees with you, I want to tell you that while I don’t have any ill will against the modern Muppet performers but I can’t get into most of them. This makes me wish Jerry Nelson didn’t die, Steve Whitmire, Frank Oz and Kevin Clash would still work with the Muppet crew and that Disney didn’t buy them out completely from the Hensons.
@@tavvyprods1275 you sure about Kevin Clash?
@@KiloCreates0_0 Yep.
@@C-Rex1 The number of racially disparaging comments she has made is embarrassing
This show was great! Loved every episode, nice to see this show centered around The House band.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Muppets Mayhem was a weird experience for me because the levels of quality was so inconsistent. I love the episodes where we learn more about Floyd, Dr. Teeth, and Animal, it felt like it came from people who cared about these characters and the Muppets in general. I didn’t mind Nora that much as she felt like the glue that was keeping the band together and finishing the album and it didn’t feel like she didn’t care about them, but she never really did anything too interesting throughout the episodes but nothing that bad until episode 8. This is probably an unpopular opinion but I actually enjoyed episode 5 and it’s weird marshmallow scene, it felt random and silly but to me it felt like a short story break to just have some fun Muppets madness. But I do agree the last 3 episodes did slightly ruin the show and the characters. I don’t understand why anyone thought the muppets being in Virtual Reality Minecraft was a good idea and the band separating because of social media of all things feels extremely unnecessary and I wonder if that was because of Disney or the creators wanting a big ending, but it didn’t work for me. I wish the last episodes could’ve been focused on Janice and Lips and giving them more backstory, but maybe they’ll do that if there’s ever a Season 2. There are some great parts about Muppets Mayhem, and a lot of it felt like it came from people who cared, but the last episodes felt like it came from Disney wanting follow the trends rather than following what made the Muppets great. I really enjoyed the video, and thanks for reading my long comment!
Glad you enjoyed the video, yes I'd agree that the quality was incredibly inconsistent. Some really enjoyable moments and then other parts that were hard to watch.
I wish we can just get a series that focuses on the Muppets Only. That’s one of the reasons why ABC’s the Muppets one of my favorite things to happen involving the Muppets
Honestly?
I like the idea of Nora's character, because it feels like a subtle commentary of sorts.
She's a representation of the corporate powers-that-be that are always trying to make the characters something that they aren't, and Moog is the fans voice of reason to just let them be.
She eventually succeeds in " modernizing" the Mayhem, but it nearly destroys the band until Animal gets them back together.
I do agree that JJ was a completely unnecessary addition, and it really did feel like they didn't really know whether or not they wanted to make him an antagonist or just a well-meaning guy who was oblivious
Definitely, did like the idea that her character represented corporate modernisation, whilst Moog stood for keeping the band original.
The thing is, watching the collapse of the band slowly over the series becomes unpleasant to watch, on top of making Nora's character dislikable.
They then make a U-turn at the end to try and present the phones / social media in a good light, which just didn't sit right with me after the events of the series.
@@SomeBoiOnline I think if another season comes they'll be able to kill all of the negative traits of Nora and maybe just have be Moog's partner-in-crime of sorts.
I also don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with their being modern conveniences in a muppet production especially since they are apart of the 21st Century.
I just took it that you can have that stuff, but don't become obsessed with it or have it be your only reason to exist like Nora's sister.
@@SomeBoiOnline I feel like episode 3 should of came much later on in the season then, because it shows the impact of how Animal is pretty much what keeps the band together, and maybe have Nora realise that what she was doing was wrong during the scene where the band members breakdown in tears about Animal being missing.
Quite possibly. That episode and the band breaking down in tears was easily the highlight of the series for me. Really funny stuff with an emotional undertone.
@@SomeBoiOnline That's ironic how Nora represents corporate modernisation when I'm pretty sure that's exactly what Disney themselves are. Talk about hypocrisy 😒
I don’t wanna be the one to say it, but I’m convinced this series would be better if they recasted and or rewrote the main lead. I honestly enjoyed the other performances.
Quite possibly, It's one of the few times I've actually struggled to like a character and was genuinely confused as to why every other character seemed to adore her.
I'm on episode 5 and so far I must say the parts with the muppet characters are pretty decent, but the human characters are just so bland and obnoxious. They all just feel like pointless filler to add "drama" or "life lessons" or something. Like just let the muppets do their things, they can have plotlines too.
Exactly my thoughts.
Loved how they got to work with Minecraft but...
If i was ever in that virtual concert with those vengeful fans:
I would go on Creative mode
Spawn 15 Wardens
Play the 1812 Overture
And grab some popcorn to watch the chaos unfold.
You do make some good points. That Minecraft stuff in particular made no sense and Tahj Mowry was definitely the best human actor in this.
However, I still generally enjoyed it.
Yeah I generally enjoyed it too, especially the first few episodes.
1. I do agree with him on the fact that this is a series about humans and the Muppets, when it’s supposed to be about the Muppets and humans. Disney has almost always struggled with this, and when they don’t, they still can’t manage to make good Muppet content.
2. Using a former child actor as Moog (he was Teddy on Full House) is a good idea, he developed a sense of humor at a young age.
3. I personally think the use of bubbles in “Can You Picture That” scene is a throwback to the original Muppet movie. Using real bubbles would most likely confuse the CGI.
oh and i have to mention, that is minecraft, modern minecraft looks like that now, it has full animations, with no audio
Ah, that would make sense considering I haven't played Minecraft in almost a decade 😅
I feel like you’re being way too harsh on the show, I loved it. It’s the best Muppet production since Muppets Most Wanted, possibly even The Muppets (2011). The only episode I didn’t like was episode 8, “Virtual Insanity.” I actually really loved episode 5, “Break On Through.”
I loved Weird Al’s cameo, and it was perfectly in touch with who he is. I loved the Metallica needledrop (they’re my favourite metal band of all time) and Floyd’s cactus friend.
I really wanted to like it, but I just found many of the characters dislikable and the plot points uninteresting. The actual Muppet aspects were generally entertaining until the end of the series.
@@SomeBoiOnline Actually, the Muppets were okay in the last episode, I liked how Floyd was a jingle writer.
If the series gets a season 2 they should make Johnny Fiamma and Sal to join the band and have Clifford taking revenge on the band through their whole tour by sabotaging them. (Kind of like with Constantine from Most Wanted)
I would like to see them to integrate some of the more obscure 90's / 2000's Muppets into future projects, that would be cool to see.
I feel like the mandolorian filter on the camera really doesn't work at all for a Muppet show, it ruins the Henson magic of the characters.
30:06 this is exactly why Disney's Muppet projects should be known as "Disney's The Muppets" and the phones always show up like they never knew how to yse them smh
I would probably say muppets mayhem is definitely a love letter to the muppets franchise I love how they managed to flesh out the electric mayhem particularly Floyd and Janice characterisations in this series I even love how they managed to give lips a personality and character considering how obscure he is literally the only thing I remember him from was the great muppet caper and even then he did little in that film so it’s nice that we get to see more of what he’s like the only things I really didn’t like in this series was definitely the human characters these are probably the most generic, forgettable and a little unlikeable human characters in the muppets franchise so yeah while it did have its problems with the human cast the stuff that muppets mayhem does right it does amazingly like fleshing out the electric mayhem and tons of references to previous muppet shows and movies
It seems pretty much everyone's in agreement with that!
Call me cheese, but i geunelly love the entiry series, every joke HAHAH I do agree that JJ was a completely unnecessary addition, and it really did feel like they didn't really know whether or not they wanted to make him an antagonist or just a well-meaning guy who was oblivious. although I must also admit that the last 3 arguments are not well written, but I did enjoy it a lot
Yeah his character definitely seemed a bit aimless and confusing, glad you still enjoyed the series though!
And it seems Disney agreed, they have cancelled it.
I didn't feel like Lily Singh's character connected to any of the Muppets (like - I don't think I will get over Joan Rivers and miss piggy together in the makeup scene or linda ronstadt singing with all of the muppets around her) (and certainly not with me - I didn't like her character at all) and I felt like Episode 1 was "meh" but I really enjoyed the series overall because I loved the easter eggs (pizza twins, mallory gallery, baseball diamond, croonch star cereals, etc), the celebrity cameos, jokes (Animal/Floyd/Zoot were so classic funny) and I thought it provided an interesting moral look at the music industry and social media. I also felt like the True Colors cover worked really well - it gave me goosebumps. Complaints: I didn't see why Rowlf or Rizzo couldn't have at least made cameos - both of them had performed with the Mayhem at times. I also got really bored with the Dr. Teeth's parents story - I didn't think we needed that much backstory. But, I am a die hard Muppets Fan and really hated the Muppets Now catastrophe and appreciated the genuine Muppets vibe to this one.
2:38 Frank Oz said Animal has 4 things on this mind drums food, sex, and pain.
That’s four things
How can you dislike the Weird Al cameo? Come on man 😕
I don't think it was bad, in fact it was probably one of the most creative cameos and I love the initial Lion King reference. It's just that the effects weren't great and it featured in an episode that completely lost me.
Maybe it’s nostalgia, but I really did like it. Couldn’t stand Nora at first and even at the end she annoyed me but I loved everything all the Muppet characters actually did and Moog felt like he was a representation of what the fans really want from The Muppets and The Mayhem.
Glad you enjoyed it, those were the same aspects I liked too.
@@SomeBoiOnline I think we had the same issues based on what you said in the video. I actually think the difference was were we sat on weather the good out weighed the bad for us. For me it did. And for you it did not. Both opinions are fair. I just hope they did well enough that we get more Muppets projects because it would be an absolute shame if they don’t do more with what I consider to be one of the best franchises out there, when it’s respected and when creative control is put into the hands of Muppet performers. The memory of Jim Henson needs to live on and I’d like to see more in the spirit of the original Muppet show.
Wow! Thank you for such a succinct and watchable rundown of the entire series. You also didn't fall into the "UA-camr reviews" trap of looping the same footage every two minutes.
You are correct that Lilly Singh is very much Lilly Singh, and while seeing her as an unlikeable "protagonist" with a character arc instead of a Rey Palpatine-type superwoman is refreshing, it's hard to understand how Disney can be so blind to her overall unpopularity among audiences (to the point of having paid actors as audience for her late night show). Was Tahj Mowry not enough?
Disney's biggest fallacy is thinking The Muppets ALWAYS NEED humans to guide The Muppets; they don't. The Muppets can handle themselves just fine; why does the series need to infantilize a canonically (and literally) half-century old band? The backstory of the band is welcomed, but the humans are totally unnecessary and self-serving to those creating the show.
Maybe the positive reviews will encourage more Muppets content, but let's hope Disney doesn't come away from this thinking, "NORA NORA NORA!"... but they probably will.
You're very welcome, I tried to be thorough and cover the whole series using all of the appropriate footage, which took some time but thankfully seems worth it.
Some good points, completely agree that a more Muppet-focused approach would be great to see in future... So watch Disney make a "NORA" spinoff featuring no Muppets 😂
@@SomeBoiOnline Also, regarding your point about the last half of episodes feeling like a different team than the first half; the first two episodes were written by the executive producers (including Muppets veteran Bill Barretta and Goldbergs creator Adam F. Goldberg). However, episodes 3 through 10 were dumped on writers with zero Muppets writing experience or limited writing experience in general; this show was one writer's FIRST CREDIT and only the fourth writing gig for another writer. Further, episodes 3 through 10 generally had a single writer who did not write any other episodes, which explains the disjointed vibes between episodes; there was no traditional "writers' room" and the dreaded "mini rooms" were used (a practice which the current Writers Guild strike is trying to end). It is sad that Disney front-loaded the series to get you hooked only to treat the back half like an afterthought.
I liked this show. The Muppet characters were hilarious, but I found the human characters lacked chemistry.
They should've solely made the focus on the Muppets & kept the humans as cameos.
I think the incessant screaming from Penny Waxman (Yes, that's her name) over Dr. Teeth is a jab at when Yoko Ono was screaming over John Lennon and Chuck Berry singing during a 1972 show and when the sound engineer had to turn off her microphone. Makes sense because this show has a vibe from the 1970s' when The Muppet Show debuted and when John Lennon broke up from The Beatles and did his solo career with Yoko and met one of his rock and roll idols.
28:20 You’ll have had to watch Get Back to get the joke of the entire episode.
I binged watched the whole series and I actually liked it the whole way through. I guess I enjoyed it because I like watching the Muppets. It's interesting to listen to your take on it. I've been excited to hear of your review on it.😄
I definitely enjoyed the Muppet aspects of it, but feel it got dragged down by the human characters towards the end. Glad you enjoyed regardless!
I'm kind of shocked that they not only referenced meet the feebles but made it sound like that they're not part of the same universe
God I’m so glad you said what I was thinking about Nora SHE LITERALLY IS LILY AND THAT’S WHY I DIDN’T LIKE HER
At least Stanler and Waldorf knows how bad this really is.
Somehow, Lilly Singh returned.
don't get disneys constant urge to make the muppets more "modern". I don't think the higher ups or even the writers for muppets mayhem or muppets now realize the appeal of the muppets is that their humor and characters were always timeless and could be in any time period. Constant references to social media are just cringy and shows out of touch it is. The show just should've been the electric mayhem going on a road trip meeting other wacky characters and getting into crazy situations without all these tiktok references and social media stars dragging it down. we need the jason segal movies crew back
Absolutely, couldn't agree more!
Good review! I haven't watched The Muppets Mayhem, but sad to see it missed much of its potential. The Electric Mayhem were always some interesting side characters in previous Muppet media, so it was interesting to hear we'd get more insight into their characters outside of Kermit and the gang.
Yeah, this push towards having things be trendy and "modern" just never gels well with the Muppets (I'm wondering if this was a Disney decision). It seems like there are glimmers of classic Muppet mayhem (no pun intended), but the human characters just kind of get in the way of telling the band's story. I've always thought modern Muppets just lacked the heart and soul of what made the original Muppets great! To see much of that stripped away is saddening as this seemed to have potential to bring back what made the Muppets enjoyable.
I'm curious if there was a different writing team involved for the last six episodes that would explain the tonal shift of the series. I'm wondering what possessed them to just stray further away from classic Muppet antics in favor of focusing on a non-compelling "protagonist". Honestly, it is a shame they fumbled at the second half of the series as it would have been great to see more of the origins story of the Electric Mayhem!
Thanks! Yes I was incredibly torn, as there were some really strong character moments from the band themselves which I really enjoyed. The deeper dive into their lives was tantalising, but then as you say, the human characters seem to get in the way and the series went off on a tangent.
So what your saying is you think disney is going in the right direction with what they gave in this series, but they just need to take away leading human roles and reduce the use of phones?
I think having simply better actors would've greatly enhanced the show, but the Muppets could easily carry it themselves. The phones could work for throwaway lines and gags, but social media became the central focus of the series - which didn't work for me.
@@SomeBoiOnline Thinking about it more, the series left us on a pretty good cliff hanger (As made a habit by the band). So if they do make a second season, they will find ways to improve. The performers have said in the past that it takes them about a season to find their footing, which is close but not quite there yet in this series.
Your channel is criminally underrated holy shit...I enjoyed the video and I have to agree with your review
Thank you, that means a lot!
32:45 This feels like a parody or a out of context clip from twitter it feels so out of place in a Muppets tv show lmao
I loved the whole show. Don’t over think it, it’s The Mayhem! I loved the tripping episodes!
Thanks to this show I have even more reasons to hate Lilly Singh.
(BTW: great review and analyses. All solid points.)
Thanks!
I’m watching the show right now, I REALLY can’t stand Nora 😡 and I’m so glad that they made Penny ( Nora’s boss ) a muppet because I think the humans are really boring 🥱
Agreed, I liked Penny's character at the start of the show.
I felt like this whole series was just the muppets trying to prove that if you let them do what they do best then they can make something amazing but some of the other characters are like the people who want to modernize them which so far hasn’t worked so well.
This is based on the Beatles documentary on Disney+ I just want to let you know I thought it would be a cool fact
In general the more human focus there is in a Muppet project the less I like it. My favorite recent thing they did was the Haunted Mansion special.
Aaaand the show's just been cancelled.
Haven't watched the show yet because of how hit and miss The Muppets have been since, well the 1st Jason Segel movie. But even after watching this review I'm completely up for seeing Tahj Mowry bouncing off of the band
38:46 Is that Animal's Anger Management session leader???
Well i didn't mind the Trendy stuff and The Human acting was Okay, I Really Enjoyed the Show and the Soundtrack was Fantastic.
Glad you enjoyed it, the soundtrack was excellent!
I’m interested in seeing more of the bands backstory especially Floyd’s I think the show is great!!!!!
You keep saying modern Muppet productions try too hard to be hip and trendy.I would argue the Muppets had trendy stars mixed with old school stars when it originally came out. If they had iphones in the 70's they would have used them and made jokes about them.
When people talk down about “modernizing” the Muppets, they somehow forget that the original Muppets Show was modern for its time. It was literally like SNL, even down to the celebrity cameos. If the Muppets refused to adapt, they would have faded into oblivion by the 90s.
Was excited for the show and was planning to watch it soon but when this video appeared on my reccomended and I saw Lily Singh on this video's thumbnail i was "Oh shit............."
By all means watch the show and make up your own mind, but let's just say Lilly Singh isn't exactly a highlight...
@@SomeBoiOnline her presence alone is what's gonna make it hard for me to watch
Wouldn’t mind a cut of this show that was just the Muppet parts. Could watch it in like what, 30 minutes?
Would be interesting to see if it'd work!
I cannot believe they actually menchioned the Feebles with Peter Jacksons.
me too i think my eyes are becoming so swollen, i might not be able to open them again, which might not be a bad thing
😮
As a Minecraft fan I say: Minecraft part was cringy AF!
The graphic overlay of the calendar in episode 7 was purposely done because the whole episode was a spoof on the Beatles get back documentary
Yeah I get that, but feel the graphic overlays the Muppets use always look cheap and not particularly realistic.
There was actually a Jim Kermit doodle in there.
@@SomeBoiOnline it did look cheap 😂
Does anybody know of any fanmade Muppet projects that are better than whatever Disney’s thinking up?
I enjoyed this show quite a bit, but yes, episode 8 is very controversial, and I’ll say that it’s got ups and downs, more just because the electric mayhem hold it together. However, I would say that “We are one” is my favourite song from the series. Would never watch it again on the show as it was just terribly cringy, but I would listen to it constantly on Spotify, as I am doing over and over!
I probably glossed over the songs quite a bit, but they were a really good aspect of the series and I love that an actual album was made!
Very controversial? How?
i thimk episode 8 was truly one of the cringiest and most infuriating things ive seen from the muppets. Especially the minecraft scene -_-
I really enjoyed the show except for Nora until the phone episode. I still finished it but it ruined the show for me.
I similarly enjoyed it to begin with, but it feels almost tarnished by the later episodes.
Before i hear you out i want to say i hated how this version of the muppets tried to handle the showbiz aspects of them and barely got into it when they had the best characters to satirize that angle and they instead wedged in a strange love story instead.
I actually enjoyed the whole series. Sure some episodes were kind of cheesy but considering it's the muppets I loved all of it for what it is and enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed the episode where Janice created her cult and her followers...yikes...that was crazy. Loved the series. A+++
Can we talk about that lips is the best character in the series and zoot is right next to him
Zoot and Lips definitely provided some of the best comedy throughout the series.
@@SomeBoiOnline I'm so happy that lips got some love zoot is just zoots but lips however he got connections and he just became the next boomhauer
I was on the fence on this (I dont get my hopes up too high these days), but Disney clearly still has no idea how to write for the Muppets. And I'm not crazy about the human cast except Taj Mowry; it sounds weird to say, but some actors work better with Muppets than others, and that seems to be the case here. I rewatched Happytime Murders recently, and you can tell the human cast fits really well alongside the puppets, and it looks like it was a blast to make. Asking a major corporation like Disney to write a show for what's essentially a large community theater puppet troupe does not good entertainment make.
Yeah I can understand where you're coming from, Tahj Mowry definitely gelled well with the Muppets, whilst Lilly Singh did not - but that's also to do with their characters I think.
Bill Buretta the puppeteer for many of the characters wrote for this.
@icecream hero yes, but who was in charge of casting, the Muppet team or Disney? I don't have problems with the writing, but most of the human cast felt too stiff compared to other productions where the Muppet team had more creative control, even as recently as Muppets 2011 and Muppets Most Wanted
@@CinnamonGrrlErin1 I don't know one of us needs to do research on that. How do you know they had more creative control on Most Wanted and Muppets 2011. I think you are making assumptions because you enjoy these movies.
@@CinnamonGrrlErin1 I think the show was fine. I'm not saying it's perfect but most of these criticisms were awful. 1) "Why are the Muppets referencing social media they are trying too hard to be hip and trendy." If iphones were around in the 70's the Muppets would have used them. Also they are parodying bands and bands uses social media nowadays. Its a silly complaint. 2) Didn't Nora learn to stop lying. Change doesn't happen right away. Her arc was to learn to trust the band more and she eventually does. I like that she is imperfect. Also her heart is in the right place.
I really enjoyed the muppets in this show, but the human characters definetely started to cause it to drag. I personally would have prefered if they had an alternative girl as the manager character. There's just something about them not being managed by a rock dude or girl just seems off. I'd of killed for a modern goth girl or punk dude
Yes I enjoyed the Muppets too and don't think fhe lead was a great casting choice.
@@SomeBoiOnline I didn`t know much about about Lily, but my girlfriend IMMEDIAT ELY called her out for being cringe on youtube. That`s how irrelevant she is on here. I don`t even know her, and whoever does, doesn`t like her. I had no idea she had any presence on youtube
Well I like this show, I knew some people were probably gonna get mad at the phone stuff but hey I laughed at every single episode😂
Glad you enjoyed it all, there are some good comedic moments sprinkled in there.
I turned it off when I seen Devil Worshiper Lil Nas X. This is Disney
I had fun.
But I strongly disagree on the whole "superfan" thing.
That was justifying toxic and aggressive behaviour and brushing it off as quirky and harmless, for an audience of primarily kids.
That's not the message you should send into the world.
The show has problems the used of the internet and that Nora’s relationship drama being its biggest but I still enjoyed. It had a lot potential I wish it wasn’t cancelled. My favorite part is the gag with Zoot with end credits.
There's also actual Muppet performances in episode 4. Nice.
watches in the middle of the video and..
MUPPET SHOW- :D
Fun fact: A couple of years before this show came out, I watched the Paul Simon episode on Disney+.
Looking back on that very night, I was actually surprised to see Paul's episode and the Star Wars episode in the 4th episode of this series.
I definitely agree with episode 8 unlike the drug episode, I couldnt stand the fanbase war scene. In my op if ur gonna make social media or game references for the love of god don't be specific unless you wanna express a specific time period.
I actually hated this series right from the get-go; I couldn’t even bring myself to watch the second episode! Safe to say I was massively upset, but I hope that whatever Muppet projects come afterwards, they do not repeat the same mistakes.
Man that's disappointing I really wanted this to be good
Can we stop trying to force the muppets to be trendy seeing the "haha look at them being introduced to modern thing oh haha" kind of humor really takes me out of it
Also are people scared of using color in shows/films now seeing these characters look so washed out makes it look so dull
Guess I'll stick with the haunted mansion special for a decent modern muppet production
Same, I'm always hoping for the best in these characters. I challenge Disnsy to not include a mobile phone in the next Muppets project, even if it was used ironically here, I'm just tired of it. Colour grading doesn't usually bother me, but this show just looked unnaturally washed out.
"Can we stop trying to force the Muppets to be trendy." If iphones were around in the 70's they probably would have used them. They were always trying to be trendy and old school at the same time.
If you watch Muppets productions from the time of their conception to now you can literally see them evolving with the times. 😂 Do you really want the Muppets to be stuck in the 70s with the same clothes, nearly nonexistent celebrity cameos (because many of the celebrities from the 70s are dead), outdated references to events, and the same jokes?
The Muppets have always stick to trends, the difference is that now so many people have gotten jaded and needlessly cynical about anything trendy so the Muppets being adapted is now seen as bad. The Muppets haven’t changed in this regard, it’s some fans that have changed.
It's not so much the mobile phone itself but trying to capitalise on social media to such an extent, which is mostly toxic and bad for kids these days. Which fair enough, the show acknowledges, but then back-pedals on.
As with any TV show, I want some escapism - to see them doing stuff in the real world, which you can do whilst still acknowledging the phones, but not having the plot revolve around them.
Bottom line is that I didn't enjoy watching those elements onscreen, watching people glued to phones just doesn't translate well into entertaining TV in my opinion.
The Electric Mayhem is awesome! That Moog fellow should be the one producing their album. And I think the old Muppet lady is possibly a reference to Yoko Ono.
I could not stand Nora. And IDK if it’s just me, but at times it felt like the Mayhem were written to act stupid to make Nora look good. The scene with her petting Animal was cute but that was like the only time I liked her
I have not seen the show, but a little IMDB sleuthing indicates that Episodes 5-10 were directed by the same two people but NOT Matt Sohn (Kimmy Gatewood and Robert Cohen), with the sole exception of Episode 7, which Sohn did direct. More crucially (re: jokes not landing and odd characterization, motivation, focus, et al.), the WRITERS for Episodes 5-7 have either: ZERO previous professionally credited writing experience, significantly less writing experience, or underwhelming filmographies. That doesn't necessarily mean they are bad writers, it just means they are not terribly experienced--and definitely NOT experienced re: writing for the Muppets (I wonder if any of them had even heard of Jerry Juhl before taking this gig).
Only the season finale returned to the same writing trio as the pilot (with one of those three having almost no previous publicly listed writing experience), and by then they had to tie a bow on ALL preceding material, both good and bad. I wonder if all the episodes were written in advance, or in situ? Seasons of TV aren't usually developed piecemeal (episodically speaking), and if you don't plot out a strong, consistent season arc, you get tonal inconsistency.
I suspect that the show was rushed through narrative development, had only a limited degree of involvement from Bill Barretta (the only quasi-original Muppet Performer in the writers room for any amount of time, mainly contributing writing to just the pilot, Episode 2, and the finale), and they burned up most of their best quality fuel in the first half. Which meant they had to limp through the second half, letting (mostly) neophyte writers and a second team of directors take their shot. Unfortunately, it sounds like that strategy did not work out terribly well.
I think I'll pass. Hire Frank Oz as the Executive Producer of all things Muppets, find (bring back) some writing staff who actually knew Jim Henson and the original Muppet Performers personally, and workshop the CRAP out of every future project via a thorough narrative pre-production process that DOESN'T prioritize bleeding edge cultural relevance as conceived by late Millennials or Gen Z producer-types. Find the soul and QUALITY CONTROL (that is, craftsmanship) of the Muppets again, and maybe I'll vote "yes" with my wallet.
Am I crazy to think that Animal crushing on Nora of all people is weird? It would be a funny idea if he did this with any woman he met but Nora doesn’t seem to be his type
It was weird to me because not only that, but Nora just seemed an unpleasant person in general, so I don't get half of the characters "crushing on" her.
After finally finishing the series today, I have to say I see what they were doing with Animal’s crush. I think I take it now as him trying to be nurturing to someone who’s been the nurturer her whole life but yeah Nora just is unpleasant
If they did try to go for a Crush gimmick with animal, I think as a call back to how he chased women back in the day, they could have him change up his crush every now and then rather than fixate on one.
Did they just steal a joke from role models?
I think this series was supposed to be a commentary on how Disney had been handling the Muppets since they got ahold of the property:
At first, Nora is a good representation of Disney's efforts in trying to revive the Muppets. She strives to achieve her dream of becoming big in the music industry, but she always has to do things her way. She tries to "modernize" the Electric Mayhem, changing them into something she thinks is trendy and popular without really trying to get to know the band members or to understand what makes the Electric Mayhem great in the first place. She neither listens to the advice of loyal fans (Moog) nor does she accept the financial help of people/companies (JJ) unless she herself recruits them. Nora's main goal from the first episode isn't to give the Electric Mayhem the love and attention they deserve, it's to make money to keep the record company she works for alive. She sees Moog--who can be seen as the voice of loyal Muppet fans--as just some geek who has nothing better to do with his life. She views people like her boss, Penny Waxman, and JJ as these tyrants who want to stand in the way of music (or something) when really, Penny probably just wants to finally retire, and JJ just comes across as a guy who just wants to help some old friends now that he has the financial power to do so.
^^^This can be seen as a take on how Disney will often make unnecessary changes to certain properties they own in order to appeal to a newer/wider audience when what they actually end up doing is turning the property into something bland, distasteful, and even unrecognizable. Disney also doesn't really like to partner up with other brands, but rather claims ownership of them. If you're not working FOR them, you're competition.
The stakes are often little to nonexistent, the only tension coming from Nora's fear, anxiety, and stress. She wants to impress the band, but the Mayhem is just simply happy to be there. She wants to save the company, but she refuses an offer if it only hurts her pride. JJ could've used his power to trick Nora into dating him, or to formulate some get-even-more-rich scheme that turns the record company into some boring tasteless business, but he was willing to keep the company as is and even offered Nora a position of power. Yet Nora still expresses this need to make herself feel important.
I will say that I wish they showed us more of Nora's backstory rather than told us all about how much she struggled to raise her sister, I think it works fine if Nora is seen as a stand-in for the Disney company rather than as an individual, but that's just my take.
While it could've worked to have Moog be the main (human) protagonist and Nora be the villain, I think it would've gone against what the show was seemingly trying to do. The whole purpose of the series is to show how nostalgia doesn't need to be modernized and changed into something it's not in order to appeal to people when it's perfect just the way it is. I think Muppets Mayhem was trying not to just commentate on what Disney was doing to the Muppets, it was aiming to teach Disney a lesson through a humanized persona than paint them as a cartoony, evil-corporate villain.
What I think happened was that somebody from Disney realized the connection between Nora and Disney, and said "We can't let the people think negatively of us in any way! We need to change this!" and that's why she show ended up turning into a Disney Channel original.
That's a very good analysis, if these points were laid out more clearly in the show I could appreciate what it's trying to do.
So is the show bad? I want to watch it but now I kinda feel bad about it. :P
To me it's a mix of good and bad, but absolutely watch the show yourself and form your own opinion in it. Some have clearly enjoyed it more than others.
@@SomeBoiOnline Cool! Besides, I'm only watching this because my dad is a huge fan of the muppets. He's loved it all his life!
Sorry to hear you didn’t like this show. Personally I liked it and I think for the most part it’s a step in the right direction but I completely understand your criticisms. For starters Nora can honestly get pretty unlikable at certain points. I get they do this to make her realize the error of her ways and to make it right in the end of I feel like they should’ve executed it better tbh. Moog was also a pretty great character and I do wish he was the main character as well after watching your review. I mean afterall he’s the one trying to make sure the band stays faithful to their roots and keep them together. Also yea episode 5 felt like a waste. Sure there are some good jokes in there but it all feels very slow and dragged out to the point where I was like “What is the point of this” also Lilly Singh’s acting in this episode made me cringe. And when they introduced the social media aspect of the show I was worried as FUCK. I’ll say this when they’re self aware and make fun of how bad social media is it’s solid but when they try to be trendy……..yea let’s just say it doesn’t work out very well. Now stuff like Lips hosting a TEDTalk now that’s funny but stuff like making Animal a TikTok star is just AUUUGGGGGGGGGH 💀☠️ I will say that him being tired from doing the TikTok videos was funny tho I’ll admit. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again you don’t need to modernize the Muppets they’re timeless and when you do you kinda lose the charm of the characters and pretty much just date the show. It didn’t work in stuff like Muppets From Space, Muppets Wizard Of Oz, and Muppets Now and for the most part it doesn’t work here. Also the whole social media section of the show feels like it grinds the pacing to a halt and it feels very tedious. Although I do like how the message of how Nora is trying to modernize the band while Moog is trying to make sure they stay faithful to how they always were and once Nora modernizes the band it ends up destroying them. Something that Disney REALLY needs to understand lol. In fact that whole part of the show feels like it’s directly shitting on how Disney had handled the Muppets recently and I love it 😂🤣 The soundtrack is also great. I love the covers they do ESPECIALLY Rock N Roll All Nite. I always imagined the Electric Mayhem singing that song so to see them open the show with them singing that is GREAT. The new song are also great too. The humor is also for the most part great too. It perfectly captures the zany Muppet humor we come to expect. Every band member has a lot of great jokes ESPECIALLY ZOOT he is the highlight of the show honestly and same for Lips. The thing I was most excited about this show tho is getting to know the Electric Mayhem better since in the past (aside from Animal) they were mostly side characters so seeing them being given some depth, fleshing them out and showing their backstories is PERFECT. I love how they show more of Dr. Teeth’s insecurities, His parents and how he met Floyd, Floyd taking care of Animal since he was a baby, Janice having a long lost sister and even Animal is given some depth with how he felt abandoned by the band so he goes off and pursues being a chef. Also love how they show his backstory with him as a baby. I do wish they show how Dr. Teeth and Floyd met Janice, Zoot and Lips but oh well. Also love how Zoot and Lips get more screentime here and that’s great since they’re some of the funniest parts of this show. Also the celebrity cameos are great. Now in the first two episodes I liked them but I felt like the human characters got too much screentime but thankfully by episode 3 there’s more screentime of the Muppets. I also love how episode 7 is basically a parody of The Beatles Get Back. Probably one of the best episodes of the show tbh. Overall despite its flaws The Muppets Mayhem is a delightful and fun series with great songs, humor, celebrity cameos, characters and references. Despite some cliché human drama that feels like it came out of Disney Channel and some dumb attempts at trying to be hip and cool this is a really fun series and I hope it pushes Disney to make more Muppets content and rest the Muppets more as a brand. Overall a solid 8/10.
I definitely liked some aspects but I didn't feel it all worked by the end, though there were some steps in the right direction for sure.
@@SomeBoiOnline If Nora had less screentime and more screentime with The Electric Mayhem do you think you would’ve liked it better?
I'd imagine so.
There were definitely some Velma vibes with everyone simping on Nora for no reason. She wasn't successful, charming or competent and isn't even that attractive.
Were we watching the same shows. *Muppets Mayhem:* Her sister most certainly wasn't kissing her butt they had a falling out. Also Moug the Electric Mayhem band is accepting of everyone. *Velma:* All her classmates hated her and her own father even insulted her. Velma isn't well written but you don't need to make stuff up. 3 people isn't everyone.
I would have watched it maybe if it lasted longer but since it got cancelled I'm not going to bother.
Yeaaaah, again, it’s the same humor we’ve seen from the Muppets lately. it’s not funny or witty and overall gets very annoying over time. They should’ve made this a special movie or something instead of a TV series, because it really lost steam.
That's a pretty good summary. There's a few odd moments of gold, but they're lost amongst the 5+ hours of repetitive jokes.
@@SomeBoiOnline exactly! I think the Muppets needs to go back to the old British routes this is too American for them lol. And what made the 2011 movie work is that the Muppets were incorporated into the modern day industry rather than the modern day world itself, constantly referencing social media, and influencers, instead of modern actors and movies like both the 2011 reboot and its sequel, seeing animal being a social influencer is painful because because there’s no spin on how that affects the movie industry, he’s just a random social influencer and it’s painful to watch.
As a British guy who adored the 2011 movie I'd have to agree! Painful is definitely the word that comes to mind...
@@SomeBoiOnline what makes it more sucky, is the fact that it could’ve worked but with Minecraft coming into the show, it’s pandering. For a show that tries to “not change the muppets” they’re doing a really good job doing that, I just wish Jason sega comes back because he actually is a muppet super fan.
For me, this show was definitely a mixed bag. While it definitely has its moments, it suffers from an unlikeable main character and the writing isn’t too strong. Most of the jokes did not land for me at all and the show often feels like it’s too on the nose with its writing. The show goes out of its way to explain jokes or character motivations or themes at an excruciating level and it does it multiple times about the same thing. The show simply lacks subtlety, everything has to be spelt out to the audience (and even then, some aspects like JJ still come off as confusing). And while I didn’t think there was a sharp decline between the first and second half while watching, the second half was weaker in hindsight, going in too hard on the internet and social media which ultimately comes off as cringy and desperate in this show.
The show could have been good and there are some good moments here and there but it unfortunately misses the mark and it continues to prove to me that Disney has no idea what to do with the Muppets. It is pretty cool that they made an actual album to coincide with the show though.
Good analysis!
The irony of the part of every day joke is that is has worked in the past. It's an old joke. And yet somehow the Muppet series botches it.
That was a moment where I felt the performance couldn't really carry the script, which was good at that point.
REPENT
Wow, that's a lot to unwrap...
I'd be curious to see if Lily Singh has a writing credit on this, because as you said, she's playing herself. What's she's saying and doing makes her come off as stuck up and completely lacking self awareness. It's like she thinks she's funny, but she's really not. Also shown in how the all of the Muppet characters like her for some reason; we're told she's great and that everyone loves her, even though in reality she's unbearable. Again, no self awareness, either by her or the show writers.
The documentary episode I think was more a reference to the "Get Back" documentary Peter Jackson made about The Beatles than the ABC show. The old lady muppet screaming in it was a reference to Yoko Ono's screaming. It wasn't funny when Yoko did it, it's not funny now.
And the fact that they redid the putting the band back together trope, the social media thing, heck, even doing the song "True Colors" again, shows that they have no new ideas, and even though the previous things they tried didn't work, they went back to them because they have nothing else. The best parts were when they referenced The Muppet Show, but everything Disney has done with The Muppets so far has done that. They're trying to remind the audience of when The Muppets were good. Rather than being able to create anything iconic, they keep falling back on, for lack of a better term, memberberries.
And the drug trip...yikes. I think Henson would be appalled by all of this. I doubt he could have conceived that someone would ever do that to his characters. One of the reasons why I never bought Disney+ and why I've been avoiding the company lately is because everything they have been making has been like this; poorly written, unfunny, un-selfaware, current trend chasing corporate tripe. The creatives in charge of Disney right now lack that very thing, creativity.
Sorry, this is a lot, but as a lifelong Muppets fan, I really needed to vent.
Some good observations there, I felt the need to "vent" after watching it too so that's completely understandable. It's frustrating and sad when something you usually find enjoyable is anything but.
"We are told she is great and everyone loves her." Not true. We are told " The Electric Mayhem is the most accepting group and loves everybody. Even Nora." Also Nora has a falling out with her sister. "Henson would be applauded by the drug trip." He wanted to name the Muppet Show Sex and Violence. I don't think he would be.
Poorly written???? You clearly never watched the Ghost and Molly McGee or Moon Girl and DevilDinosaur. Those shows are very well written.
Nora ❤animal 😊
No
@@mackerelles9999 😔 but she is very beautiful
Honestly I really liked it but I respect your opinion