It’s a universally-acknowledged fact that you can never spend too much time with Jim Henson’s greatest, most-beloved creations, the Muppets.
And by “universal” I mean, of course that I long ago decided that I cannot have too much of Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Rowlf the Dog, Gonzo, and of course Animal, in my life, and that this must, by definition, mean that everyone else is of the same mind.
The good news that this isn’t some kind of weird delusion on my part.
The two movies that brought the Muppets back to the forefront of public consciousness – they of course never left the everyone’s affections – The Muppets (2011) and Muppets Most Wanted (2014) did very nicely at the box office thank you very much while enjoying much-deserved critical acclaim, news that Fraggle Rock was going to be made it into a movie was met internet-wide delirium, and now the announcement via The Hollywood Reporter that The Big Bang Theory‘s co-creator Bill Prady is writing a script for what’s known as a proof of concept revival of the Kermie and the gang on network TV has everyone most happily excited.
And singing The Muppet Show theme song with all the gay abandon and stage-stealing brio they can muster.
Prady, who unsuccessfully tried to bring the Muppets back to the small screen before beginning work on The Big Bang Theory – the now-Disney owned Muppets last appeared in Muppets Tonight in the mid-’90s – will be joined by Bob Kushell (3rd Rock From the Sun) who will act as the showrunner if the show goes to a series order, something which is apparently quite likely if the proof of concept does well at screenings in May.
The show, according to The Hollywood Reporter, would follow a reasonably familiar variety show path although with a few differences this time around:
“Sources say the concept for the presentation includes the regular cast of characters created by Jim Henson — Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo and Animal, among others — gathering at ABC Studios for a meeting about the new Muppet Show. However, the show won’t move forward unless Miss Piggy signs on, and her current relationship with frequent love Kermit is on the rocks, preventing the show from getting off the ground. Early plans call for two celebrity cameos — including Miss Piggy’s current co-star — as well as new roles including Fozzie’s girlfriend and her parents.”
Of course, now that word is out that Gonzo could be shooting from cannons once again and Fozzie could be telling his Dad-worthy jokes once again mean that everyone is weighing in with an opinion on the idea.
One person whose opinion is worth listening to on the matter is Joe Hennes, Muppets expert and ToughPigs editor, who, quoted in an article on Mashable, had this to say on what the new series should be aiming for.
“Yes, there should be plenty of references to the old series. But too much of that will make us compare the two shows, and it’s a bad, bad, bad idea to go up against anything that the powerhouse team of Jim Henson and Frank Oz did. The best way to keep the Muppets relevant is to keep them moving forward.”
Featured in a Mashable post 9 things The Muppet Show reboot needs to succeed and satisfy on TV, he noted that the series needs to be funny mixed with the heart that the Muppets are known for, need plenty of celebrity guests, plenty of music and self-deprecating humour and surprises, plenty of surprises.
Given that Prady got his start working for Henson in 1982, most notably writing for The Jim Henson Hour until a year after his boss’s still much-lamented death in 1990, and earned an Emmy nomination for The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson in 1991, there’s a very strong chance that he, like Jason Segel with his celebrated cinematic revival of the Muppets, will more than ably both pay homage to what the Muppets have been and are, while taking them into the future and keeping them gleefully relevant for modern audiences.
All we can hope for now is that Disney doesn’t dilly-dally around and gets Kermit and the gang back onto our small screens as quickly as Muppet-ationally possible!