Watch the Pitch That Convinced ABC to Reboot 'The Muppets'
Ever want to see the pitch that convinced ABC to reboot The Muppets? The wait is over.
Following the series public debut at Comic-Con, ABC has released the 10-minute pilot presentation creators Bill Prady, Bob Kushell and Randall Einhorn filmed that reset the beloved franchise.
First announced in early April, producers had about a month to create a script for the reboot. The new series finds Kermit getting the gang back together again for a new show, offering a look at their personal and professional lives as they reunite for a late-night talk show hosted by Miss Piggy.
"The whole show takes place behind the scenes at Up Late With Miss Piggy," Kushell told fans at Comic-Con of the faux show that airs behind Jimmy Kimmel. Kermit is Piggy's executive producer; Gonzo is her head writer, along with Pepe and Rizzo. Scooter is the talent coordinator. Fozzie is Piggy's on-air sidekick; Bobo is the stage manager and Sam Eagle is the head of broadcast standards for the network; while the Swedish Chef is also in charge of craft services and Rowlf owns a tavern across the street from the studio where he plays piano.
"The trick of the show, if it works, is to show the Muppets in our world. There's no barrier between the world they're in and the world we're in," Prady said, noting that Einhorn is carefully shooting the series like a documentary.
Check out the 10-minute presentation, above. The footage screened to overwhelming adoration at Comic-Con. Kermit, Piggy, Gonzo, Fozzie and their friends — as well as the original "Muppeteers" behind them — received a rare standing ovation at the July 11 panel.
Kermit The Frog and Miss Piggy announce split ahead of 'The Muppets' relaunch
Much-loved TV puppets Kermit The Frog and Miss Piggy have announced their split ahead of a reboot of Jim Henson's famous The Muppet Show.
Set to debut on ABC this autumn, the show – rebranded as The Muppets – will be the furry creatures' first primetime series since the late '90s. According to its recently released trailer (watch below), the series is being conceived as a "contemporary, documentary-style show" which will apparently "lift the lid" on the Muppets' personal lives and romantic relationships for the first time.
Ahead of its September premiere, the show's main two characters have released a joint statement via Facebook confirming their break-up. "After careful thought, thoughtful consideration and considerable squabbling, [we] have made the difficult decision to terminate our romantic relationship," the messages begin.
"We will continue to work together on television (The Muppets/Tuesdays 8pm this fall on ABC) and in all media now known or hereafter devised, in perpetuity, throughout the universe. However, our personal lives are now distinct and separate, and we will be seeing other people, pigs, frogs, et al. This is our only comment on this private matter… unless we get the right offer. Thank you for your understanding."
'The Muppets' Boss Explains Why He Broke Up Kermit and Miss Piggy
ABC's The Muppets shocked fans across the globe Aug. 4 when Kermit and Miss Piggy formally addressed their romantic split with a statement to the press during the Television Critics Association's summer press tour that went viral.
The relationship between the iconic characters will be one of the new facets of ABC's upcoming Muppets revival from executive producers Bill Prady (The Big Bang Theory), Bob Kushell (3rd Rock From the Sun) as the series will feature Miss Piggy hosting her own late-night talk show, with Kermit and company also on board. The entire process will be filmed documentary style for The Muppets, with the series also focusing on the personal lives of characters including Fozzie, Gonzo and company. (The trailer for the series, released in May, also revealed Kermit and Piggy's split.)
So why break up one of pop culture's most beloved couples? To hear Prady tell it, he was simply following the characters, a skill he honed while working alongside Chuck Lorre on TV's No. 1 comedy, CBS' The Big Bang Theory.
"One of the places it came from is Eric Jacobson [Piggy] and Steve Whitmire [Kermit] have done press with them for the past however many years and they always get asked about their relationship," Prady tells The Hollywood Reporter. "Because there has been no ongoing place to tell that story, they've been caught in this, 'Well, it's complicated' kind of place."
Prady, who started his career working with Jim Henson, noted that the idea of splitting the couple up came after he watched an interview with Kermit and Piggy to support one of the recent Muppets movies.
"Just listening to it, I said it sounds like they broke up. They're being really evasive. Then Bob Kushell said, 'What if they're broken up?' and it seemed to make sense with what I saw when they were interviewed," he noted. "It seemed like that couple that was putting up a public face but there was something going on."
Prady liked the idea and immediately started thinking about questions like why and what could have gone wrong between them.
"We started talking about it and I said Piggy probably wanted to be 'Brangelina' and wanted to be a public couple — and Kermit is a quiet fella from Mississippi who probably likes a night at home," he said. "I thought about other couples I know where one or both people in the couple are famous and the challenges they face and the difficulty they have of having a public persona of going out in the world and being recognized and how that affects your relationship. I said, 'Boy, I think it's entirely possible that they broke up and that they both had a good reason.' "
The ABC series, set to debut in the fall, will also likely put the spotlight on Kermit and Piggy's actual break up. "We might in the first episode even see the break up that maybe there was a paparazzo shooting it while it happened a year or so ago," Prady said.
The producer, who will split time on ABC's The Muppets and CBS' The Big Bang Theory — which both film on lots in Burbank — hopes the series will be able to produce a full 22-episode season. He's approaching the storytelling on both shows in the same fashion: by following the characters rather than plotting out the entire season in advance.
"One of the things I learned from Chuck Lorre is to get out of the way of your characters," he said.
The Muppets debuts Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 8 p.m. on ABC.
'The Muppets': Kermit and Fozzie Have Candid 'Conversation' About Working With Exes, Late-Night TV
ABC is hoping The Muppets — and their personal lives — are able to captivate both a new and returning audience who grew up with the Jim Henson franchise. The new series features familiar faces Kermit the Frog, his now ex, Miss Piggy, and BFF Fozzie Bear as well as a cast of returning favorites and new arrivals as the comedy explores the Muppets' personal lives as they mount a late-night talk show hosted by Piggy.
Here, Kermit and Fozzie open up in a candid "conversation" with one another about working with your ex, how personal the new Muppets will get and how Up Late will compete with the likes of Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert and company.
Fozzie: Kermit, tell me: What's it like working with your ex?
Kermit: Extremely challenging. Working with Miss Piggy has always been like an Olympic event; now it’s all that — plus the X-Games.
Fozzie: How are you still working on the show? I always heard that the producers are the first to go when a "shomance" goes bad.
Kermit: Shomance? Fozzie, where did you get that? You’ve been reading The Hollywood Reporter again, haven’t you? Good grief. … All I know is that I am the executive producer of her talk show, Up Late With Miss Piggy, and that I serve at the pleasure of the network and Piggy. So far, I’m here.
Fozzie: How has your split with Piggy impacted how you approach her with notes for the show?
Kermit: When approaching Miss Piggy with notes, I now use a 20-foot-pole. OSHA said the 10-foot-pole just wasn’t enough anymore.
Fozzie: Do you and Piggy have an understanding about bringing other people you're dating around on the set?
Kermit: No, we do not have an "understanding" about bringing people we’re dating to the set — or, pretty much, anything else. We take it one unpleasant incident at a time.
Fozzie: With the cameras following our personal lives, too, how much will we find out about your breakup?
Kermit: Absolutely everything, I’m afraid … very afraid … petrified.
Fozzie: Is there any part of your life that's off-limits to the documentary crew cameras?
Kermit: Nope. Cameras everywhere. When you agree to a documentary show, always read your contact very, very carefully.
Kermit: What about your personal life: What will we learn about you?
Fozzie: On this show, I bear it all! Get it? Bear it all? Bare it all? … I still got it, right?
Kermit: You sure do, Fozzie. By the way, what's the one thing about you that you don’t want the behind-the-scenes documentary crew to reveal?
Fozzie: My male pattern balding. Oh dear, I just told you and everyone who reads The Hollywood Reporter, which means I revealed it. … Hoo-boy. I guess that means nothing’s off limits.
Kermit: Why are you so fascinated with my relationship with Piggy?
Fozzie: Well, I don’t really understand it. Why did you split up? Come to think of it, why were you together in the first place? It’s all very confusing.
Kermit: Agree. So, Fozzie, I hear you’ve started dating a woman … and she’s a human. What do you think of dating outside your species?
Fozzie: Becky [played by Riki Lindhome] is great. Her family is still getting used to me, but she and I are on the same page. Well, maybe not the same exact page, but we are in the same general nonfiction. As for dating outside my species, it is a challenge. I don’t know how you did it for all these years. Humans are tough; I can’t even imagine dating a pig.
Fozzie: What topics are off-limits on Up Late?
Kermit: Nothing is off-limits. Our rule is to do anything that’s funny, entertaining, audience-grabbing and that makes Miss Piggy look very good. It’s a tough job.
Fozzie: How are you trying to make Piggy's late-night show different from the competition?
Kermit: Our show is the only one hosted by a pig. And our host is not named Jimmy. You probably shouldn’t print this, but I heard a rumor Stephen Colbert makes his staff call him Jimmy backstage.
Fozzie: Who is your dream guest star for Up Late?
Kermit: Oh, we’ve already had several guest star dreams come true: Reese Witherspoon, Elizabeth Banks, Josh Groban, Imagine Dragons, Laurence Fishburne — to name just a few. But we’re always looking for new dream guest stars who’d like to have once-in-a-lifetime experience of being interviewed and sharing the stage with Miss Piggy. Funny thing — when we have a guest star, once in a lifetime is usually all they can handle.
Fozzie: How many viral videos will we have to produce to compete with the likes of Jimmy Fallon and company?
Kermit: I’m not sure exactly how many viral videos we’ll need to produce. Chip, our IT guy, is currently running data to see what the cut-off number is for competing with the likes of Fallon and company.
Fozzie: Would we ever feature any other late-night hosts on Up Late?
Kermit: Absolutely. We’d love to have Jimmy or Jimmy or Stephen on Up Late. Heck, we’re already in talks with that guy who does the local access cable show in Burbank. But, that’ll only happen if he promises to leave the parrots at home.
Fozzie: How timely will our opening monologues be?
Kermit: Extremely timely. On every show, the Up Late writing staff — Gonzo, Pepé and Rizzo — wait until the very last minute to write the monologue. And in many cases, in most cases … the opening monologue is not written until after the show is over, if even then.
Fozzie: Will Piggy ever do any on-the-scene bits the way Jimmy Kimmel does?
Kermit: Yes. We’ll go anywhere and do anything as long as it’s funny, entertaining, audience-grabbing, makes Miss Piggy look very good … .and we can get there on the MTA bus.
Kermit: Not to be insensitive, but will you be updating your comedy to reach today’s audiences?
Fozzie: Updating? What do you mean? Oh, like topical references? Sure, I’ll do those. Say something topical and I’ll come up with a joke.
Kermit: One last question: Do you think your role on Up Late and in The Muppets could launch your career to a new level? If so, what are your hopes for your future in show business?
Fozzie: It’s showbiz, anything can happen. But the most important thing is I’m still working side-by-side with my best friend in the whole entire world … you.
One Million Moms thinks the new Muppets is too gosh darned sexy
Quote:
Forcing The A.V. Club to confront a new, terrifying reality where we actually kind of agree with One Million Moms on something, The Daily Dot brings word that the mom-jeans-and-sensible-shoes-clad offshoot of the American Family Association has launched a petition expressing its displeasure with ABC’s new “adult” Muppets series.
But while The A.V. Club objects to this aspect of The Muppets because we refuse to report on the tabloid relationship drama between two pieces of felt, One Million Moms apparently doesn’t want to have to explain to its 1.87 million kids (14.6 million, adjusted for Duggars) what a double entendre is:
The best kiddie entertainment always appealed to adults too. Looney Tunes, Bullwinkle, SpongeBob, and, yes, the Muppets all had material that went over the heads of children, with no harm done.
_________________ "It's only rock & roll, but I like it!"
My wife prefers to belong to the the group Hot Mess Moms rather than One Million Moms. If the HMM put down their vodka long enough to take up issue, then we may have a problem.
_________________ Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons because, to them, you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.
The NY Times review in today's paper, based on the first two episodes, declares the show "disappointing, [but] not hopeless." However, ever joke they reference makes me laugh. Gonzo pitches a new show, Dancing With the Czars, featuring "Catherine the Great Dancer" and "Ivan the Terrible Dancer." That's funny!
_________________ "It's only rock & roll, but I like it!"
The NY Times review in today's paper, based on the first two episodes, declares the show "disappointing, [but] not hopeless." However, ever joke they reference makes me laugh. Gonzo pitches a new show, Dancing With the Czars, featuring "Catherine the Great Dancer" and "Ivan the Terrible Dancer." That's funny!
Both of the reviews of the new network season that I've heard on NPR singled out The Muppets as the one bright spot in the new season.
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