| The Muppet show is back.
Disney is once again planning to make a film with puppets from the “Muppet Show”. The film, whose name is yet to be declared, will be made by the same team that made the comedy “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”: producer Nicholas Stoller and script writer and actor Jason Siegel
Moreover, both of them have the experience of working with puppets: the character of Siegel in the film “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” wrote the script for the puppet musical “Dracula”
It was for the first time in the year 1979 that Kermit and company appeared on the silver screen in “The Muppet Movie”. The last film named “Muppets from Space” from this series was made in the year 1999.
It is to be noted that the Empire Film Group is working on the project of making a film on the biography of the creator of the “Muppet Show” Jim Henson.
Muppet Show history:
Several feature films were made with the participation of the characters from "The Muppet Show": "The Muppet Movie" (1979), "The Great Muppet Caper" (1981), "The Muppets Take Manhattan"(1984), "The Muppet Christmas Carol" (1992), "Muppet Treasure Island" (1996), "Muppets from Space" (1999), "It's a very merry Muppet Christmas movie"(2002), "Kermit's Swamp Years" ( 2002), "The Muppets' Wizard of Oz" (2005) &"The Muppets" (2011).
Animated serial for children "Muppet Babies" was telecast from 1984 to 1990, in which the same characters were shown as kids.
Muppets appeared in the program by Jim Henson "The Jim Henson Hour", which was telecast in 1989 on channel NBC. In 1996, after the death of Henson, muppets returned to television in the program "Muppets Tonight". The program repeated the classical format of "The Muppet Show", but only in the contemporary style "Late Night". Guest stars such as Michelle Pfeiffer, Sandra Bullock, Pierce Brosnan were also invited to the show. Puppet Clifford was the host. Loads of new puppets were added in this program. Production of the program was stopped in 1998.
The world famous comic puppet show, which was telecast for the last time in 1981, once again may be aired in the spring. So, the fans, in the near future, may see Kermit, Miss Piggy and other favorite characters on TV.
Characters can be revived thanks to the new film studio "Disney", writes the Telegraph. In this film, the script for which is written by Jason Segel, the star of films such as "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and "Knocked Up", the "Muppets" are reunited to save their studio for the last presentation. The fact is that Segel is not only a famous actor but also a writer, specializing in youth comedy movies – the scripts mentioned before are his handiwork.
"The Muppet Show" history:
Puppets - muppets, created by Jim Henson, were originally characters from a children's program "Sesame Street". After deciding to produce his own show, Henson recorded two pilot productions: in 1974 - The Muppets Valentine Show with actress Mia Farrow as guest star & in 1975 - "Muppet Show: Sex and Violence". The main hero was Kermit the Frog, which is already popular on "Sesame Street".
The first episode of the legendary serial was run on September 27, 1976. In the original show, Kermit, which was given the title of the most famous frog in the world, performed the functions of a musical show manager, trying to maintain a semblance of order in the chaos reigning around him, desperately avoiding the sexual harassment of Miss Piggy. Guest celebrities participated in each of the series. Among the guest stars were: Charles Aznavour, Sylvester Stallone, Peter Ustinov, Marisa Berenson, Twiggy, Steve Martin, Rudolf Nureyev, Elton John, Alice Cooper, Christopher Reeve, James Coburn, Roger Moore, Brooke Shields and many others. In 1978, the serial received the Emmy award as " Outstanding serial in a Variety, Musical and Comedy genre". Five seasons (120 half-hour episode) were produced within a span of five years. The last episode was aired on June 1, 1981.
Segel, well-known to American television viewers in the comedy serial "How I Met Your Mother", some time ago already admitted to a special love for "Muppets". Back in early August, he, in an interview with National Post said: "For me, Kermit was the first impulse in childhood to become an actor. For me, he was the first Jimmy Stewart, the first Tom Hanks. My film career took off with him".
At the same venue, for the first time, he said that he was working on the script for a film about the Muppets and hopes that the production will begin by next spring. “Our aim”, - he said, “is to revive the serial of early 1980's. I do not understand these films, which are specifically made for DVD. People performed in an original serial. There was a lot of laughter, energy and joy in the serial. We want to revive this spirit in our new movie".
Obviously, Segel talks about the three feature films, which were shot after the close of the series "The Muppets take Manhattan", "The Muppet Christmas Carol" and " Muppets from space". In addition, famous characters of the series have figured in several spin-off shows, including the "Muppets Tonight" in 1996.
If the new film runs successfully, then this will definitely open up the opportunities for the continuation of the television series, a script for which is also written by 28 yr old Segel. |
Disney is releasing a set of The Muppet Show figurines as Star Wars characters. Kermit is dressed as Luke Skywalker,
Miss Piggy as Princess Leia, Rizzo the Rat as Yoda, and so on.
