The Muppets: Pig's in a Blackout
November 11, 2015 3:25 AM - Season 1, Episode 7 - Subscribe
Kermit is forced to go on a yoga retreat where he runs into a stressed-out Jason Bateman; things go from bad to worse when Scooter is left in charge of the show.
I was going to complain about the lack of Pepe, too, but they only have so much time per episode and so many characters to cover, and I was pleased to see the return of the Sam-Janice story. Oh, Sam, I, too, have known the pain of unrequited love!
Another good bit with Bobo ("stage lights and helicopters are pretty much the same thing"), and Big Mean Carl too. And Sweetums! ("Toilet's clogged!")
I thought this was almost as good as last week's ep, but missed it by just a hair. I'm kind of worried now about the departure of the showrunner.
posted by briank at 5:08 AM on November 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Another good bit with Bobo ("stage lights and helicopters are pretty much the same thing"), and Big Mean Carl too. And Sweetums! ("Toilet's clogged!")
I thought this was almost as good as last week's ep, but missed it by just a hair. I'm kind of worried now about the departure of the showrunner.
posted by briank at 5:08 AM on November 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
"There are no jeggings. All we have now is hope."
I've got to say, I don't like seeing Muppets nodding along to some silly a capella number. They should be performing a silly a capella number. And where are the pigs and the penguins?
The Rainbow Connection was a nice touch at the end. I'm not crying, you're crying! Shut up!
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 5:25 AM on November 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
I've got to say, I don't like seeing Muppets nodding along to some silly a capella number. They should be performing a silly a capella number. And where are the pigs and the penguins?
The Rainbow Connection was a nice touch at the end. I'm not crying, you're crying! Shut up!
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 5:25 AM on November 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
So... something about Scooter's line about Patrick Dempsey, plus his apparent dating difficulties brought up last week (or so)... Is Scooter maybe in the closet?
And the moment Kermit started strumming the ol' banjo, I lost it. All the feels.
posted by dnash at 7:19 AM on November 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
And the moment Kermit started strumming the ol' banjo, I lost it. All the feels.
posted by dnash at 7:19 AM on November 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
Uncle Deadly steals the episode again with just a few lines.
posted by drezdn at 8:04 AM on November 11, 2015
posted by drezdn at 8:04 AM on November 11, 2015
I liked this episode. It also somehow felt right compared to the first 2-3 episodes.
Still, if they're going to embark on a musical number, they need to do it all the way, not just snippets and outtakes. (Cutting off Rainbow Connection at the end was fine -- our brains will all fill that in for us. But why pay Pentatonix to come on and then show less than 30 seconds of them performing? And why aren't any Muppets performing WITH them?)
(I mean seriously, a GIANT part of the magic of the old The Muppet Show was the artist performances and sketches that showed actors in a theater company putting on a performance. We see them on stage, we see them behind the scenes not being what they are on stage... It's not that difficult really.)
They're slowing finding a tone for the show that old timers like me will find acceptable. It's a shame they can't also recover the feeling of magic.
Kermit's puppeteer needs to win an Emmy at this point. That frog has been more interestingly emotive over the past 44 minutes of this show than many human actors are across an entire season.
posted by hippybear at 11:13 AM on November 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
Still, if they're going to embark on a musical number, they need to do it all the way, not just snippets and outtakes. (Cutting off Rainbow Connection at the end was fine -- our brains will all fill that in for us. But why pay Pentatonix to come on and then show less than 30 seconds of them performing? And why aren't any Muppets performing WITH them?)
(I mean seriously, a GIANT part of the magic of the old The Muppet Show was the artist performances and sketches that showed actors in a theater company putting on a performance. We see them on stage, we see them behind the scenes not being what they are on stage... It's not that difficult really.)
They're slowing finding a tone for the show that old timers like me will find acceptable. It's a shame they can't also recover the feeling of magic.
Kermit's puppeteer needs to win an Emmy at this point. That frog has been more interestingly emotive over the past 44 minutes of this show than many human actors are across an entire season.
posted by hippybear at 11:13 AM on November 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
Où sont les cochons et les manchots d'antan?
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:45 PM on November 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:45 PM on November 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
How do they not have YouTube performance clips for each episode with the songs locked down? I would have clicked and quite possibly paid for a pentonic (sp) cover of rainbow connection with a video featuring Kermit. They should be doing a music video web episode outtake for each episode with that much talent.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 2:44 AM on November 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 2:44 AM on November 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
You would think that a company like Disney, who owns both ABC and The Muppets, would have enough media savvy to realize things like that music video idea or to do something clever with that domain shown in the last episode or other similar missed opportunities.
What is ABC offering from this episode? A very awkwardly edited more-complete-but-still-not-the-full-song video of Rainbow Connection from the end of the show.
posted by hippybear at 3:24 AM on November 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
What is ABC offering from this episode? A very awkwardly edited more-complete-but-still-not-the-full-song video of Rainbow Connection from the end of the show.
posted by hippybear at 3:24 AM on November 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
I got a little lump in my throat when they were telegraphing that Scooter might be gay, because Scooter was gay, as the right hand of late Muppeteer Richard Hunt. If we're going to do the Muppets as adults in 2015, undoing the de facto erasure of the queer subtext of a creative empire that spoke volumes to those of us who couldn't be fully ourselves in our Muppet-loving youth is an amazing start. Wrapping it with "Rainbow Connection" makes me feel like it wasn't an accident. May have been, but I'll believe what I believe and enjoy the moment.
posted by sonascope at 1:11 PM on November 12, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by sonascope at 1:11 PM on November 12, 2015 [5 favorites]
In the previews for next week, Scooter talks about dating Chelsea Handler and how she was too handsy for him. Take that as you will.
posted by briank at 3:34 PM on November 12, 2015
posted by briank at 3:34 PM on November 12, 2015
Holy shit this was by far my favorite episode so far, and I've been really enjoying this show.
The A.V. Club complained that the Jason Bateman stuff fell flat, because it didn't fit Kermit's arc. I completely disagree. Bateman playing, essentially, Michael Bluth at his absolute worst was a welcome addition to everything, and it all makes sense Kermit wasn't going to find peace at the retreat to begin with. Once Bateman shows up, that's a weird form of relief for him, because handling bizarrely demanding assholes is Kermit's wheelhouse. Plus Bateman's reading of, "Don't ask me what your character wants. You're a flying monkey. Just shut up and sing. That's what I tell 'em." makes that already funny line so, so much funnier.
Scooter's storyline reflected my own life right now so perfectly that it was something like Catharsis. The cold open was as if the writers challenged themselves to write a 30 Rock sequence and succeeded. Uncle Deadly and Big Mean Carl continue to be amazing scene-stealers.
I loved this so hard. It was their "Tracy Does Conan." More of this, please!
posted by Navelgazer at 11:18 PM on November 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
The A.V. Club complained that the Jason Bateman stuff fell flat, because it didn't fit Kermit's arc. I completely disagree. Bateman playing, essentially, Michael Bluth at his absolute worst was a welcome addition to everything, and it all makes sense Kermit wasn't going to find peace at the retreat to begin with. Once Bateman shows up, that's a weird form of relief for him, because handling bizarrely demanding assholes is Kermit's wheelhouse. Plus Bateman's reading of, "Don't ask me what your character wants. You're a flying monkey. Just shut up and sing. That's what I tell 'em." makes that already funny line so, so much funnier.
Scooter's storyline reflected my own life right now so perfectly that it was something like Catharsis. The cold open was as if the writers challenged themselves to write a 30 Rock sequence and succeeded. Uncle Deadly and Big Mean Carl continue to be amazing scene-stealers.
I loved this so hard. It was their "Tracy Does Conan." More of this, please!
posted by Navelgazer at 11:18 PM on November 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
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But great performances from Deadly (THIS IS ON YOUR HEAD, BOY!, LOOK AT ME, PIGGY! They're... gone), Beaker, Scooter, and finishing off with Rainbow Connection (LEARN A NEW SONG!)
Another great display of pupeteering with Kermit. His expression when Piggy was dropping up and down the elevator and then his fingers in the new age camp and playing the banjo were fantastic.
posted by lmfsilva at 4:42 AM on November 11, 2015 [1 favorite]