"A Muppets Christmas: Letters To Santa" Talkback (Spoilers)

[The Penguin]

The Muppets are back on NBC for another Christmas special. Catch the all-new special tonight at 8 p.m. ET!


http://www.nbc.com/Movies_Specials_More/Happy_Holidays/images/photos/scet/2411/NUP_132312_0118.JPG"A Muppets Christmas: Letters To Santa"
Wednesday, December 17, 2008 @ 8 p.m. ET/7 CT on NBC
When Kermit and his pals accidentally stop some letters from being delivered to the North Pole, they set out on a race against time to make sure three kids have a merry Christmas after all. Joining the felt-and-foam cast are live actors Whoopi Goldberg, Sopranos favorites Tony Sirico and Steve Schirripa, Harry Potter regular Richard Griffiths and child actor Madison Pettis (The Game Plan). Paul Williams, who penned songs for The Muppet Movie, has also written tunes for this latest adventure.

[Leviathan]

My favorite part was probably seeing the Swedish Chef (with a phony mustache) working at an ITALIAN restaurant, with a close second being Bunsen, Beaker and the girl.

And hey, it's nice to see Rowlf SING again, and hear Dr. Teeth utter more than an incidental word or two.

[HEATXZ]

Great Muppet Christmas movie:anime:
My favorite parts was Beaker with a woman and Fozzie getting arrested for Bad jokes XD

[Mandi-chan]

I hate to say it, but I was pretty disappointed with this one...I actually though it was kinda bad at some parts.

It was far too kiddy to me, it felt more like something that Sesame Street should have done.

I have a few favorite moments: Beaker's girlfriend meeping like he does, Gonzo and Fozzie's duet, Bunsen cutting in so he could dance with Beaker *awwwww!* (is it just me, or did Bunsen look a little different?), the pigeons, Gonzo going through the metal detector, Piggy's hairstyle in the final scene (it looked really nice on her).

The plot just seemed thrown out there, with little to no effort put into it for me.

[speedy fast]

I liked the special. It was perfect (aside from the lack of a lot of characters who didn't appear, but a lot did). I liked the sequence where Beaker wishes for a girlfriend (and hey, Bunsen actually invented something that didn't backfire on Beaker). The musical numbers were good, too.

I did think that most of Statler and Waldorf's comments were predictable (well, the punchlines, anyway). By now I guess it's hard to give them unpredictable punchlines, though when the post office sent the Muppets back home, I expected Statler to refer to them as "junk mail".

Does anybody happen to know who performed Robin and Floyd in this special? Floyd sounded alright, though I don't think it was Jerry Nelson (though Nelson did perform Floyd's voice, uncredited, in the first Studio DC special, and fans were thrown of funtil it was confirmed). Robin didn't sound right, though, and I couldn't identify the performers voice.

It was also funny near the end when the Muppets arrived at their neighbors apartment, and a Muppet turkey brought a prepared turkey for dinner. And it could just be me, but I feel like that shot of the Muppets at the end was similar to the ending shot of Muppets in A Muppet Family Christmas.

I hope that the songs all make their way to a CD someday.

[HomeMoviesFan]

People have said it better than me:


My favorite part was probably seeing the Swedish Chef (with a phony mustache) working at an ITALIAN restaurant, with a close second being Bunsen, Beaker and the girl.

Although...


I hate to say it, but I was pretty disappointed with this one...I actually though it was kinda bad at some parts.

It was far too kiddy to me, it felt more like something that Sesame Street should have done.

...

The plot just seemed thrown out there, with little to no effort put into it for me.

Consider this: it was announced last July, and was airing on NBC, and not ABC. It wasn't even produced by Disney, who OWNS them! Clearly it was a rushed product that should've had more time allowed in pre-production. And to top it all off, it's strictly aimed for children!

It had a few bright moments (like quoted above, also add in the banter between Nathan Lane and the most underrated Muppet ever, Bobo), but the cameo stars whining that they're stuck on the naughty list? The overall sap-drenched attitude to the whole production? Uma Thurman's over-acting? It screams kiddy special, and the performers and writers knew it. For the love of God, they actually talked directly to the children watching at the end of the special! ("Say it to them, Kermie!") It doesn't get more obvious than that.

So what's the problem with it being targeted towards little tykes? Because it's the Muppets. The Muppets are edgy and witty, without being crude or too childish all at the same time. They're the family brand of Jim Henson's franchise factory, and the closest to adult that you'll ever get. Seasame Street is the one that is the toddler brand, the one that's strictly aimed towards kids. If they want to appeal directly to children, then bring Elmo, Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch out, not Kermit, Gonzo and Fozzie. Sure, every now and then you'd get Pepe giving a nudge to the adult viewer with his Quagmire-isms, but the nudge shouldn't exist. The entire special should appeal to both children and adults, like the TV Xmas movie that aired on NBC six years ago did. (yes, this one (http://www.platypuscomix.net/hollywood/misfit17.html)) Heck, even the horrible Oz movie did a better job at its appeal towards older viewers.

Hey, I got a few laughs out of it, and the songs were nice enough. I'm just glad this isn't a true representation of the Disney Muppet brand, which is starting to get a big push. I'm hoping (and Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a good indicator) that Jason Segel's interpretation of the Muppets skews older than this one did...

[speedy fast]

Consider this: it was announced last July, and was airing on NBC, and not ABC. It wasn't even produced by Disney, who OWNS them! Clearly it was a rushed product that should've had more time allowed in pre-production. And to top it all off, it's strictly aimed for children!

Actually, I noticed that the Walt Disney Pictures (or was it Walt Disney Television?) logo appears at the very end, after the Muppets Studio logo. So Disney was involved (even if Disney only distributed the movie).

[NewcomerDC]

I skipped this special due to finals, but it seems like this should've been on Disney Channel last night since this is more of one of the Christmasy titles the network needs this time of year. Plus with Cory in the House going under, some people might still wanna get a chance to see Madison Pettis before she moves on into working for another company.

[AdamYJ]

I liked it. Wasn't great, but it had its moments.

What's interesting to notice while watching this is realizing how much more of a star Gonzo has become in the whole Muppet works since Muppet Christmas Carol. The fact that it was his goal to get the letters delivered and all that. He used to just be this weird little performance artist who'd get booed off stage on The Muppet Show. Also, his whole schtick seems to have gone from being really weird to being kind of weird but really big-hearted (which is probably why he seemed to make a surprisingly good Tin Woodman in Muppets Wizard of Oz).

[DisneyBoy]

So I missed the first 2/3ds of this, and only came in during the airport sequence with Uma and Nathan Lane. I really thought they got a little too dark with the frisking and whatnot. That's stuff kids could actually see in an airport, and it's not funny, at least not to me.

Fozzy's new voice was utterly terrible. Not really close enough, even when he was singing. Either the old guy has an old voice or the new guy has no voice. Not good enough. Don't even get me started on Statler and Waldorf, who sounded...reimagined to say the least. Piggy and Kermit were okay, and Gonzo was, at least to me, the same voice he's always had.

The girl in the story (Claire?) was scene-stealing the whole ending by beaming into the camera and I wanted Jane Krakowski to knock her aside, Elaine-style for being such a greedy snot. The songs were okay, though...Santa was a little disturbing since I've seen that actor in roles as the greedy mean fat British man (Witches possibly?)

How was Whoopi? Did Jane get more action at the start of the flick?

And it could just be me, but I feel like that shot of the Muppets at the end was similar to the ending shot of Muppets in A Muppet Family Christmas.

I don't know if it was intentional, because AMFC had a much larger set and you could see ALL the Henson creations in it...but that lost shot did get me nostalgic for a viewing of AMFC. LOVE that special. Did anyone catch that Cool Turkey dude from AMFC hugging the chef in the last number of this new special?

[speedy fast]

I skipped this special due to finals, but it seems like this should've been on Disney Channel last night since this is more of one of the Christmasy titles the network needs this time of year.

Or maybe it should have been produced for ABC Family, as part of The 25 Days of Christmas. Speaking of that, I wonder why The Muppet Christmas Carol doesn't get shown there. Same with A Muppet Family Christmas (though I don't know whethr Disney has tried to negotiate with Henson over the use of Fraggle Rock characters for broadcast or video).

[DarthGonzo]

I've read a lot of positive things about this special but...I dunno...I had a hard time watching it. It was painful. Lame storyline, weak songs, weird character casting (why in the world is Gonzo so dang mellow all the time now?) and just a hollow, soul-less feeling all around. It doesn't help that I watched this in high def, where everything looked a little too clean and sterile.

Definitely not a fan of this one, I'll stick with Muppet Family Christmas.

[80's guy]

I miss out on this.

[Light Lucario]

I thought that this was a cute special. It wasn't quite as good as A Muppet Family Christmas or A Muppet Christmas Carol, but I thought that it was good enough. My favorite parts were when Kermit and his friends had to hold onto a wing of the plane, Beaker having a girlfriend who sounded like him and Fozzie and Gonzo's song near the end. I agree that it probably would have fit better on ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas instead of NBC. Overall, it was a fun special. It wasn't perfect, but there were good moments throughout the whole hour for me.

[Bloody Marquis]

I've read a lot of positive things about this special but...I dunno...I had a hard time watching it. It was painful. Lame storyline, weak songs, weird character casting (why in the world is Gonzo so dang mellow all the time now?) and just a hollow, soul-less feeling all around. It doesn't help that I watched this in high def, where everything looked a little too clean and sterile.
Yeah, it just felt too bland to me. But still, it was nice to see the Muppets again.

[Wounded_Dragon]

So was this why no new Law and Order aired?

[The Penguin]

NBC brings back A Muppets Christmas: Letters To Santa for a second year. Catch it tonight at 8 p.m. ET and again at the same time on Saturday, Dec. 19.

Today is also the last day to register for toonzone's "A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa" DVD Giveaway (http://toonzone.net/contests/contest.php?ID=20).


http://www.nbc.com/Movies_Specials_More/Happy_Holidays/images/photos/scet/2411/NUP_132312_0118.JPG"A Muppets Christmas: Letters To Santa"
Friday, December 4, 2009 @ 8 p.m. ET/7 CT on NBC
Original airdate: December 17, 2008
When Kermit and his pals accidentally stop some letters from being delivered to the North Pole, they set out on a race against time to make sure three kids have a merry Christmas after all. Joining the felt-and-foam cast are live actors Whoopi Goldberg, Sopranos favorites Tony Sirico and Steve Schirripa, Harry Potter regular Richard Griffiths and child actor Madison Pettis (The Game Plan). Paul Williams, who penned songs for The Muppet Movie, has also written tunes for this latest adventure.