The Scrappy/Puppet Shows
Examples of The Scrappy in Puppet Shows include:
- The Muppets have a few:
- Some fans see Pepe the Prawn, who debuted in Muppets Tonight as this (those who don't see him as an Ensemble Darkhorse, that is). A big part of that is that they see Pepe as taking the focus away from the classic characters, and that his basic shtick is flirting with women and making pop cultural references. Plus, Pepe could be much better due to his odd design - he's a rod puppet with four arms, which could have a lot of humor opportunities; seriously, could you imagine Animal playing the drums with four arms? Unfortunately, two of them are almost always kept in his pockets out of view. Lots of wasted potential there.
- Same problem with all the new characters in Muppets Tonight, like Seymore, Johnny Fiama, and Bobo. Don't even get us started on Spamela Hamderson, who seemed to be the unholy offspring of Miss Piggy and David Hasselhoff. The big mistake the show made (and the biggest reason it failed) was putting far too much emphasis on them and demoting the old favorites to extras. In the fans' minds, all of them were Muppet wanna-bes trying - and failing - to steal the spotlight.
- One newcomer deserves especial remark. Fans were upset enough to learn that Kermit would no longer be the show's emcee, but Clifford wasn't the best choice. He was a decent character when he appeared on The Jim Henson Hour, where he was a suave, laid-back guy with Cool Shades who played the bass, and had a Lovable Coward personality. On Muppets Tonight, however, it all changed. After being roped into the job (which nobody wanted, Clifford being saddled with it because he was on the phone with his wife when everyone else had ran from the room to avoid volunteering) he started wearing suits and ditched the sunglasses, his dialogue became boring and forgettable, and he degenerated into more of a Dirty Coward. In fact, it seems he became nothing but a generic late night trying to emulate someone else but failing miserably, much like Jay Leno had, but worse. He returned later for a few movies with his old personality and fashion sense, but by then, the damage had been done.
- Gorgon Heap. Need a joke where a big Muppet has to eat a smaller one, and this guy was the one who usually filled that role. Problem is, that was all he ever did, he was a one-joke character, and that one joke got stale after a while.
- Robin, Kermit's little nephew on the original show. Likely the smallest Muppet who was a recurring character, Robin's whole routine is that he is a naive, innocent little kid. That might have worked if he were a character on Sesame Street (for the target audience, anyway), but for The Muppet Show - where the focus is more on dry snarky wit - it just makes him annoying.
- Elmo of Sesame Street. Again, Your Mileage May Vary; most of the target audience (little kids) has always loved him, but a lot of adults who grew up with Sesame Street dislike the fact that Elmo has gotten so popular that the last fifteen minutes of every show is devoted to him (at the old Jump the Shark website, reviewers almost unanimously agreed that his introduction caused the show to Jump the Shark).
- Back to The Scrappy