The Muppets/WMG

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


The movie was a test balloon for a revival of The Muppet Show, and now that it's been a success that show will be green-lit.

It'll just be called The Muppets, however, since to actually call it The Muppet Show would be courting disaster as far as the comparisons it would bring.

  • And the first guest will be Jason Segel, who Walter will mistake for Gary. Other early guests would include: Jack Black (who would spend most of the episode planning revenge on Miss Piggy for kidnapping him), Neil Patrick Harris (and it would be pure concentrated awesome), Whoopi Goldberg (because she is probably the biggest celebrity collaborator alive when it comes to Muppets), and (sadly) Justin Bieber (throws up).
    • An alternative about having Jason Segel as a guest would be playing with the idea of Jason and Walter being really similar. Including confusing the two the whole time, having Walter (or Jason) doing Jason's (or Walter's) act and maybe some body swapping at Muppet Lab.
      • And of course, the first sketch of the revival would be a remake of "Mahna Mahna".
  • Other guest would be Lady Gaga and the other ton of cameos from the Movie which didn't make the cut.
  • Musical guests would include Zooey Deschanel and Randy Newman.
  • More ideas:
    • William Shatner. One of the most likely guests, seeing him with the Muppets would be pure awesome. He could hijack the Swinetrek in his Captain Kirk persona just like the Star Wars stars did and even perform a Bohemian Rhapsody mashup since both he and the Muppets covered the song.
      • While we're "on trek", George Takai will appear too!
    • Yoda, for a second Star Wars episode (of course Yoda would appear). If Frank Oz returns to perform/voice Yoda, he could also perform his Muppet characters again (if Yoda's CGI) or prerecord his characters' voices for Eric Jacobson to perform them to (if Yoda's a puppet, which is more fitting given the nature of the show and Frank's history with it). Oh, and of course Dearth Nadir would return.
    • Frank Oz himself, as a sort of in-joke (remember how Jim Henson appeared in A Muppet Family Christmas?). In-universe, he'd either be the performer of various Captain Ersatz puppet versions of his characters, or would only be known for performing Yoda.
    • Bruce Campbell. See below.
    • Since she's a Virtual Celebrity, Hatsune Miku (in CGI), depending on how much Crypton wants to push marketing for her American release (which means she'd speak English, with some Gratuitous Japanese). The subtitler from Pöpcørn could return (possibly even as a full character) for her Japanese songs. A Gorillaz episode could operate on a similar principle.
    • Bret McKenzie, as an excuse to perform songs from the movie again.
    • It's quite likely that Jason Segel and the rest of the movie's creative team would run the show and Do It For The Art, like with the movie. They'd probably avoid having tween stars such as Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber (as mentioned above) as guests in order to preserve the show's reputation. However, given some Executive Meddling from Disney and Seasonal Rot, we'd see quite a few Disney stars (and yes, Justin Bieber). It'd be Studio DC all over again, unless the creative team decides to make it work.
    • Various not-widely-hated artists and musical groups, such as the Foo Fighters, Maroon Five, Katy Perry, Feist (who appeared in the movie), and others. I can see Cee Lo Green and will i. am. performing too.
    • Amy Adams, similar to the Jason Segel idea above. She'd perform songs both from the Muppets movie and Enchanted, dressed as Princess Giselle for the latter (and since Disney owns the Muppets, the homage could probably go quite deep).
    • Samuel L. Jackson. Just like William Shatner, this would be pure unadulterated awesome. Maybe both Mace Windu and Yoda could be in the new Star Wars episode, or Dearth Nadir could appear with Sam playing Mace. He could also do a PG-rated parody of the various memes from Snakes on a Plane (most likely quoting the "melon farming snakes on this Monday-to-Friday plane" TV edit line verbatim).
    • Elmo. Admit it, you knew they'd push for it eventually since he was originally supposed to be in the movie. Though Executive Meddling could get in the way, probably to remind the general public that The Muppets/The New Muppet Show/whatever is supposed to be a family show, not a kiddie show.
      • Elmo is owned by the Sesame Workshop in New York. He was prohibited from appearing in The Muppets because of that fact, so an appearance is unlikely.
    • John Ratzenberger and the stars of Pixar's movies. It'd be logical considering that both are owned by Disney and both teams are proud of their art (at least currently, especially in the Muppets' case). Pixar and Muppets Studio seem to be on really good terms (the Toy Story Toon airing before The Muppets, Pixar doctoring a script for the movie, Statler and Waldorf appearing in Presto, etc.). Someone even wrote a clever fanfic about the idea.
    • The Simpsons (in puppet form from "The Fight Before Christmas", as a recursive parody). Sure Why Not?
    • A new Muppet to spoof James Lipton from Inside The Actors Studio will appear in a new talk show segment, where he interviews guest stars. One of the guest stars will be........ James Lipton.
    • More guests: Martin Short, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Anne Hathaway, Melissa McCarthy, Tina Fey, Natalie Portman, the cast of Glee, the cast of The Big Bang Theory, Steve Carell, Johnny Depp, the crew of a Cirque Du Soleil show, and Tom Selleck.
      • Hey, didn't Jim Parsons appear in the movie...? He could make a guest appearance by himself too.
    • Steve Martin will return!
    • The Mane Cast of My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic, animated in 2D.
      • This would probably depend on Muppet Studios' relationship with Hasbro and The Hub, and how well they could handle the episode without making it look like an ad for The Hub or a blatant attempt to pander to bronies and Internet hipsters. If not, they could throw a few brony jokes in the below "Fozzie tries to be hip" episode, where Fozzie ostentatiously proclaims his newfound MLP fandom and it comes off completely wrong (he ends up liking the show because of all the sparkles and rainbows instead of the plot and humor, or watches G3.5 by accident or something).
    • Sora, Donald Duck and Goofy (CGI). If we have a Muppets world in an upcoming Kingdom Hearts game then Disney would probably do this to plug the game. They'd probably be video game characters from the video game world in-universe.
    • The theme song will either be a re-cover of the one from The Muppet Show, Life's A Happy Song, or a completely new one. This time, the Muppet who plays the trumpet for the Couch Gag won't be Gonzo, but Walter. In the pilot episode, he will almost play the note on the trumpet before his cel phone goes off- his mom calls him while seeing him on TV!
      • Actually, the theme song will most likely just be a re-filmed version of the regular Muppet Show theme, as covered in The Muppets. Because Gonzo was the one who played the trumpet in the movie, he'll probably do it again I can see Walter's whistling interfering with Gonzo's trumpet gag in one episode, though.
    • It could also be fun to think of the premises for some of the episodes:
  • FUND IT!!!!!

Statler and Waldorf will save the Muppet theater

A shot in a few of the trailers shows Tex Richman confronting Kermit in front of a counter indicating that they have ALMOST raised ten million dollars. Statler and Waldorf will betray Tex in a Heel Face Turn 35 years in the making.

  • Maybe they think it's so bad, they don't want to stop heckling it?
    • Jossed. They don't attempt to save it, but appear pleased to be heckling the Muppets in the ol' theater again.
      • In the Junior Novel Version, when it's needed just one dollar to save the theater, Statler and Waldorf gave that one dollar after deciding Walter's act was worth it.
      • Statler and Waldorf don't get a Heel Face Turn in the movie, but Uncle Deadly does.

The Muppets will sing "Just One Person" and we will all cry.

The song was one of Henson's favorites, and the Muppets performed it in their tribute special as well as at his memorial service. In the main trailer, Kermit says, "Maybe you don't need the whole world to love you; maybe you just need one person," and later on tells the Muppets he believes in them. This dialogue seems primed to set up the song.

Waldo S. Graphic will show up in a "sequel."

Waldo was a Muppet experiment by Henson: a completely digital Muppet who can be controlled live by an actor. In this day of CG films, you'd think he would be seen today, but his last performance was in the Disney theme park attraction movie Muppet-Vision 3D in the 90's and he has never been used since!

  • Jossed.

If this brings about a new show, Walter will become a new recurring character, thereby moving to Los Angeles and performing as a job.

Walter does become an official member of The Muppets so he's certainly staying with them and performing with them. Unless something happens to him or there isn't a new show its confirmed.

  • Considering Walter is basically the alter ego of Jason Segel, if he's the producer of this thing, is basically confirmed.
    • His act would be "Whistlin' Walter", and he'd perform skits like Jerry Lewis all in pantomime, save for whistling, and some vocal noises. FUND IT!!!

The Muppets disbanded because Kermit went depressed

This is why I think Kermit being depressed in the movie is a stroke of genius: it explains everything. The Muppets disbanded, because Kermit went depressed after Miss Piggy left, because Kermit wasn't paying attention to her. Nobody was able to fill the frog's shoes and everything just fell apart. It also explains why some Muppets would be angry at him, why he became a Hollywood recluse and why he has a Hollywood mansion that wasn't designed for one frog. (It's not his mansion. It's Kermit and Miss Piggy's mansion.)

The movie was made and then somebody told to the producers that the movie has to be an hour and half long, forcing them to retool the script.

The junior novel version actually has all the scenes from the trailers which went deleted.

  • The movie was originally three hours long. It was cut somehow to one hour and 45 minutes. Almost half the time!

The movie takes place in a universe in which Sesame Street doesn't exist.

Even if it had been years since the Muppets performed together and the show had been largely forgotten by then, you would think that Kermit would still be at least somewhat recognizable by way of his making semi-regular appearances on Sesame Street.

  • Then again, there have been cameo appearances by Sesame Street characters in previous Muppet movies (it's assumed that this movie falls within the same continuity as the others) so who knows?
    • Half-Jossed: They wrote an Elmo cameo in which they try to invite him to the telethon, but a bunch of lawyers tell them no. And that actually happened: a bunch of lawyers tell them no, for the movie.
  • This is supported by the fact that the Sesame Street gang and the brand is owned by another company, so of course the movie would act like it never existed.

Gary and Walter are the product of an Interspecies Romance.

One of Gary and Walter's parents was a Muppet and the other was human. Considering Miss Piggy believes that she and Kermit are biologically compatible (they'd produce tadpoles), it doesn't seem too far-fetched.

  • You can see two sets of (human) hands during the height-measuring sequence. Doesn't rule anything out, though; those may not be their biological parents (at least not both of them).
  • Alternately, both parents could be Muppets. The human hands belong to the next-door neighbors, who assisted in the measuring process because Gary was born human and soon grew so freakishly tall, Mom and Dad couldn't reach his head!

There will be an extended edition on the DVD release.

They just can't leave out all the good stuff they cut from the plot without us getting to see it, besides there would probably be too many scenes for a 'Deleted Scenes' reel.

  • Jossed, but the Bluray will include deleted scenes and the extended version of Tex Richman's song.

Had Walter chosen "Man" in the "Man or a Muppet" song, he would have become a human played by an real actor.

He was a Muppet until then because that's where he was meant to be.

  • Well, we do get to see a reflection of a human Walter played by Jim Parsons...

Muppetism is the result of a Genetic Mutation.

It is directly stated that Walter and Gary are biological siblings (they also even look related.) I'm putting it out there that Muppetism is a genetic mutation because most Muppet characters are animals, hence the mutation is normal for all animals and apparently plants too. So when some of your genes are mutated you do not become a X-Men but a Muppet.

  • It's possible this means its treated as a birth defect, which might explain why nobody calls attention to the obvious differences between Walter and Gary, out of a desire not to be insulting. There might also be mental effects, explaining simultaneously why they're all so nuts and why Walter had needed Gary to look after him until now.
    • It might also explain Walter's... quirks, like his refusal to believe that Turkey is a real country.
      • You don't believe that nonsense, do you?
    • Hey now, don't go hating on Fabricated-Americans.
    • In an interview, Kermit actually list insanity as one of the defining traits of a Muppet. So, if you are a Muppet, you are insane by default. Which means the Mental Effects of this WMG are practically confirmed.

If there's a revival of the Muppet Show, the continuity will be based on the promotional material and not within the movie.

In the promotional material, Walter actually has no brothers (at least not confirmed) and he's actually playing a character which coincidentally is called Walter as well. He knows Jason Segel as Jason Segel the actor who plays the brother of Walter the character. Also, Kermit has said in interviews several times that one the movie and the other is the "real" life. I'm guessing, out of respect of the Muppeteers who probably didn't like what was erased out of the continuity from The Muppets Take Manhattan to this movie (except Bobo and Pepe), that the new show will have the continuity of the promotional material instead of the movie per se. This will be kind of easy- Walter just has to not say anything about his past and the rest of the Muppets don't have to say anything about the time they were separated and that it!

  • This makes sense - The Muppet Movie is also a movie in-universe, except it's made clearer by actually being shown as such. The "actor" Muppets (in the promotional material) are probably meant to exist in "our" world, and The Muppets is either a work of complete fiction or a dramatic retelling of how they got their theater back. FUND IT!!!!

Until very late into development, Walter and Gary were best friends and roommates, but not brothers.

Some promotional material refers them as such, but most telling, in "Life's a Happy Song" Mary laments that Gary is "always off with his friend." So the decision to change this relationship may have occurred well after the songs were recorded.

The majority or entirety of the movie is a Self-Insert Fic by Walter, and the Muppets never get back together.

Starting from his meeting with Kermit (or earlier), nothing actually occurred how Walter portrayed it. In actuality, the Muppet Theater was demolished, Gary and Mary ended up enduring a messy break-up (because Gary was trying so hard to make Walter feel better after the trip turned out badly), and Kermit stayed sad and alone for the rest of his life. I really hope this one isn't true.

Tex Richman was already suffering from brain damage

Early on in the movie Kermit offhandedly mentions him to be a philanthropist. But considering the lengths he goes to at the end of the film this seems to clash a bit. Maybe before his first appearance he suffered brain damage that made him more malevolent and robbed him of the ability to laugh.

Gonzo mentally snapped while the gang was walking away from him

Didn't his expressions seem more manic when he was on the roof? And who would blow up his own business when he could fund the telethon?

  • He mentally snapped before the first season.
  • It's Gonzo, and Gonzo does crazy things. This wouldn't be far from his character since the past decades, and Kermit probably knew him enough to know they wouldn't stand a chance at getting money from his company.

Possibilities for The Muppets 2

What if they decide to do a direct sequel to The Muppets rather than a standalone movie? It could be fun to think of what kinds of things they'd put in it...

  • Now that we all know who Walter is, the movie will focus almost completely on the Muppets as main characters, instead of being a Human-Focused Adaptation trying hard not to be one. Gary and Mary will definitely appear again; considering that they're going back to Smalltown while Walter stays with the Muppet gang, though, their role will probably be reduced. However...
  • A (major or minor) plot point will be Walter arranging a surprise wedding for Gary and Mary on The Muppet Show.
  • The sequel will probably open with a straight-up episode of The Muppet Show, the same way that the first movie had one during the final act. The opening number will be "Life's a Happy Song", this time performed as an actual opening number for the show by most of the main Muppets. It'll be a cover of the opening version from the first movie, with some of the lyrics changed - such as the "Life's a..." part, which would be modified to allude to the quirks of the various Muppets singing the verses.
  • The main villain will be Tex Richman's businessman son (who inherited his father's inability to laugh), upset that his dad has gone insane (read:happy-go-lucky) thanks to the Muppets. He will continue what Tex started, trying to end the Muppets' careers and their brand name.
  • Tex's son will probably send the Muppets to jail after finding out that they kidnapped Jack Black, which was pretty much a deleted scene from the first movie. In their absence, he has the Moopets replace them, and they put on a twisted, insane and depressing version of the Muppet Show. Dave Grohl (the Moopets' Animal replacement) might perform a Heel Face Turn and help bust the Muppets out of jail (or alternately Tex himself may do it), at which point Tex's son will cross the Moral Event Horizon and try to outright kill our felt friends!
  • During the movie's ending, the aforementioned wedding will finally happen (with Walter and/or Kermit as best man), complete with a big musical number by the Electric Mayhem. Then, when Mary is asked if she will take Gary as her husband (and all that jazz), she'll reply with "Hugga Wugga!"
  • And it'll kick off a montage of celebrities singing "Hugga Wugga" over the end credits with the Hugga Wugga beast (probably performed by Eric Jacobson) and the other aliens from its sketch, similar to the first movie's ending.
  • We'll get more original songs, and some old favorites (like "Movin' Right Along" and "Bein' Green") will return. Probably even an Award Bait Song over the end credits, either a remix of a new song, a song from the first movie (probably "Man or Muppet"), or a classic Muppet song (Weezer and Hayley Williams' cover of "The Rainbow Connection" would have been perfect for this).
  • Along with Hugga Wugga, even more old Muppets (recurring and One-Scene Wonder) will return, such as Angus McGonagle (the Argyle Gargoyle), Annie Sue, the Flying Zucchini Brothers, Bean Bunny, Clifford, Andy and Randy Pig, and more.
  • In order to appeal to hipsters, Disney executives will demand that Pepe be given a bigger role. Thanks to competent writers, this will turn out to be a good thing.
  • If the same creative team is involved, it'll be an Even Better Sequel, correcting some of the (minor) complaints about the first movie.
  • Robin the Frog will be a major character, and it will feature "Uncle Kermit" having to come to terms with his coming of age as one subplot.

The Muppets decided to kidnap a celebrity due to their past experience.

Think about it. In the original show, it's likely that, unbeknownst to Kermit, the Muppets (likely led by Gonzo or Piggy) went and kidnapped Chewbacca for the Star Wars episode to lure Luke and the droids to the Muppet Theater and avoid having an episode with a gargling Scotsman as the guest star. They did it then to avoid having a dud of an episode, and they did it again to let the episode run in the first place.

Tex Richman considered drilling into the oil from the side, but the maze of utilities in Los Angeles made this next to impossible.

(Not OP) Not likely, he explains in his Villain Song that he just wants to piss off the Muppets. He was probably using the oil drilling as an excuse.

  • (OP) in the deleted scene villain song. Not in the one in the movie.

Beauregard is actually a robot, powered by the Muppet's ability to work together

He's been frozen since the Muppets stopped working together, and only started moving again when they started to assemble. That's why he's been at the theater all this time, but not kept it clean.

The United States has its own Large Hadron Collider in the Muppets universe

It's obvious from the background that Bunsen and Beaker are working at the LHC, which is in Europe (on the border between France and Switzerland) - then when they need to get Miss Piggy everyone points out that "you can't drive to France" which if they had been to the LHC they would have done already.

The song "Me Party" was written by Beaker.

It's actually titled "Meep Party".

Back to The Muppets
  1. ↑ which would probably be represented in-universe as something generic like "Melvin and the Turkey Gang" or something like that


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