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ABC’s Tgif programming block had viewers hoping for Friday nights to watch their favorite sitcom.

Over the years, many people believed the acronym stood for “Thank God It’s Friday.” However, in a new interview, Jim Janicek, who help create the programming block, clarified that the letters stood for “Thank Goodness It’s Funny.”

“We were talking about things like the ‘Friday Fun Club,'” Janicek said on Pod Meets World about the names they considered before Tgif. “There’s a whole list somewhere I probably could dig up, but I remember that one. You know, ‘It’s Friday Night.’ Lots of little short-isms.”

Janicek recalled that the network’s executives were initially worried that using Tgif would cause problems with a chain of restaurants.

“We did our first animation, which kinda was more childlike, with a little mouse called Friday the Mouse. We were animating that with a guy...

Unfortunately, only a few sitcoms can stand the test of time. These shows still have a very active fan base, and the jokes still manage to make the audience laugh, even if they are dated. Thus, it's fair to say that certain sitcoms are timeless and will always reign supreme in the ever-competitive world of primetime television.

However, in the age of nostalgia, some sitcoms are returning to the small screen. Whether the show reunites a ragtag group of friends or offers the characters the chance to start again in a new setting, audiences are often pleased to see their favorite sitcom get a new lease on life. However, some reboots struggle to hit the mark and just leave hardcore fans feeling bitterly disappointed.

The Format of This Reboot Was Just Too Confusing Arrested Development

Starring hit comedy stars like Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, and David Cross, Arrested Development centers around the dysfunctional Bluth family.

Exclusive: Halle Stanford, The Jim Henson Company’s longtime President of Television, is relaunching her company, 7 Crow Stories, as she embarks on a new chapter in her career as an independent producer and writer. As part of this new venture, the Emmy winner has signed a first-look producing deal with The Jim Henson Company, where she has worked as a producer and executive for the past 30 years.

Under her 7 Crow Stories banner, Stanford will develop a variety of live-action and animated projects for The Jim Henson Company for preschool, family, and primetime audiences, continuing to prioritize entertaining, impactful, and imaginative content across a wide range of genres. Previously announced projects include the primetime fantasy series Goblins with Norman Reedus, the primetime animated series Lore Olympus, based on Webtoon’s digital comic series, and the older kids’ animated series Adrenaline Lemmings. Currently, Stanford is also attached to develop a future production of Fraggle Rock.

Boldly betting that society as a whole hasn’t turned against the concept of reuniting the stars of an old movie for an artistically-bankrupt Super Bowl commercial, Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan just recreated the most famous scene from When Harry Met Sally, this time, in the name of selling mayonnaise.

Of course, they made sure to tease the “iconic” reunion on social media first, thereby ensuring that fans would inevitably be disappointed and enraged by the 60-second Hellman’s ad.

The commercial finds Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal (who seemingly found his missing sweater) once again dining at Katz’s Delicatessen. This time, instead of making a point about how men can’t tell when women fake orgasms, Ryan seems genuinely aroused by her sandwich? That’s weird.

“This one’s real,” Crystal notes, later adding, “I’m competing with a condiment.” Oh, and Sydney Sweeney is there for some reason,...

Quick Links What Was Aliens in the Family? Why Aliens in the Family Never Lived Up to Dinosaurs Why Shows Like Aliens in the Family are Worth Revisiting

Jim Henson’s Dinosaurs may have been a groundbreaking '90s sitcom, but what came next was downright bizarre. The 1990s were a golden age for sitcoms, delivering unforgettable hits like Seinfeld, Friends, and Family Guy. At the same time, it was an era of experimentation, where studios aimed to push creative boundaries or build on past successes, sometimes with mixed results. One of the strangest attempts to recapture lightning in a bottle came from the Jim Henson Company. Their odd follow-up to Dinosaurs couldn’t have been more forgettable unless it included a visit from the Men in Black. Yet, as strange as it was, this short-lived sitcom offers a fascinating look at the evolving climate of '90s television and...

Even all these years later, people still love the original 1970s Muppet Show — with the exception of all of those episodes featuring “negative stereotypes,” and also that one where the guest hosts were a creepy as hell mime couple.

But there is seemingly less affection for Muppets Tonight, the ‘90s Muppet Show reboot that aired for just two seasons (first on ABC and then the Disney Channel). In its defense, Muppets Tonight was the only TV show that gave us legendary comedian Don Rickles dressed as Kermit the Frog and Coolio dressed as Steve Urkel in the same episode.

Weirdly, one episode of Muppets Tonight ended up being more controversial than the later series in which Fozzie Bear dates a human woman, and was yanked from the schedule to avoid offending the public. The 1996 episode featured host Sandra Bullock appearing in a variety of typically wacky Muppet sketches, including comedic riffs of her own films,...

One of the biggest issues that the Nu Trek era of shows has had to deal with is the constant nonsense that has come with Alex Kurtzman leading the way. It seems like he wants to do everything he can with the franchise but make a good Star Trek series. Either they're too dark, stray too far from the point of the series, or are just flat-out un-Trek-like.

He seemingly got it right with Star Trek's Prodigy and Strange New Worlds but even then, they aren't perfect. Specifically Strange New Worlds, each season Kurtzman seems to let the showrunners put in some whacky nonsense that just takes the fandom out of it. Sure, it may appeal to a nice portion of the fandom, but most fans don't like the gimmicky episodes.

In the first and second seasons of the show, the creators and writers came up with a half-baked "fantasy" episode,...

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Throughout its 12 season and 12 year run, Chuck Lorre's blockbuster CBS sitcom "The Big Bang Theory" played host to a ton of guest stars, from several "Star Trek" veterans to the late James Earl Jones and the legendary scholar Stephen Hawking. According to an oral history of the series, though, one particular Oscar winner, Sandra Bullock, had to turn down a role in the series finale, "The Stockholm Syndrome," due to scheduling conflicts.

In Jessica Radloff's 2022 book "The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series," executive producer Steve Holland revealed that the show's creatives tried to book Bullock for a short cameo opposite Kunal Nayyar's character Raj Koothrappali in the episode, but she wasn't available, so "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" star Sarah Michelle Gellar stepped in. So, what was the scene in question?...

In recent years there’s been a great deal of ink spilled on the topic of declining attention spans among America’s youth.

It’s tough to quantify or verify such a phenomenon, but if this trend is as real as its loudest alarmists say it is, then there are many possible causes:

Most folks with even a shred of self-awareness would concede that the constant siren song of social media and other smartphone-related diversions has at least somewhat diminished their ability to focus on a single task for an extended period of time.

(Photo by Files/Afp via Getty Images)

And while these temptations have (allegedly) had a negative impact on productivity in schools and offices, they’ve also impacted the entertainment industry in ways both subtle and obvious.

Yes, we’ve spoken before about the decline of family hour in front of the TV and the ways in...

Beloved actor, writer, and comedian Joe Flaherty, known for his memorable roles in iconic sketch comedy series such as Second City Television (Sctv) and Freaks and Geeks, has passed away at 82.

The sad news was confirmed by Flaherty’s daughter, Gudrun, through a statement to Variety, expressing the family’s grief over the loss of a remarkable talent.

“After a brief illness, he left us yesterday, and since then, I’ve been struggling to come to terms with this immense loss,” Gudrun said.

She continued, “Dad was an extraordinary man, known for his boundless heart and an unwavering passion for movies from the ’40s and ’50s. His insights into the golden age of cinema didn’t just shape his professional life; they were also a source of endless fascination for me.”

“In these last few months, as he faced his health challenges, we had the precious opportunity to watch many...

The first "Pigs in Space" segment of "The Muppet Show" occurred in the third episode of the show's second season, the one hosted by Milton Berle. "Pigs in Space" sought to lampoon all of the most popular sci-fi tropes of the day, most notably "Star Trek," which was exploding in popularity at the time thanks to endless syndication deals. The segments took place on board a pig-shaped vessel called the Swinetrek, which was commanded by the handsome Captain Link Hogthrob (Jim Henson). Miss Piggy (Frank Oz) played First Mate Piggy, and the ship's chief medical officer was Dr. Strangepork (Jerry Nelson). The "Pigs in Space" segment was so popular, it appeared in 32 episodes of "The Muppet Show" through its fifth season. The segment was revived for the short-lived 1997 series "Muppets Tonight," where it was called "Pigs in Space: Deep Dish Nine: The Next Generation of Pigs in Space."

"The Muppet Show...

Tony Bennett has passed away at the age of 96. The legendary singer died in New York on July 21, his publicist Sylvia Weiner told the Associated Press. In 2021, his family revealed that he'd been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease five years earlier. Bennett released his final album, "Love For Sale," in 2021, a collaboration with Lady Gaga. He performed his final shows at Radio City Musical Hall in August 2021 with Gaga by his side.

Bennett was born Anthony Benedetto in 1926 in New York's Long Island City. Bennett served in the Army during World War II before diving headfirst into his musical career. He had his first major success in 1951 with the single "Because of You." His signature song was 1962's "I Left My Heart in San Francisco." Bennett rose to fame during that era, but his career began to flounder during the 1970s.

The singer suffered a near-fatal cocaine overdose in 1979, after which he turned his career around.

Disney Plus is adding to its library all the time. The rest of July has a number of great new titles on the way, plus August promises to deliver many popular movies as well. Let’s skip ahead to the future, though, and look at what’s to come on the streaming service in September.

Obviously, at this early stage, the list is a little on the sparse side, but there will be plenty more titles announced closer to the time. As it stands, however, there are a few major new additions coming to the site that fans will want to check out when they arrive.

To begin with, the first day of the month brings 2017’s Cinderella live-action remake, starring Lily James as the titular rags-to-riches heroine and Richard Madden as her beloved Prince Charming – or Prince Kit, as he’s called in this version. Also featuring Cate Blanchett...

Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of TV critics two questions and publishes the results on Tuesday.

This week’s question: What’s your favorite puppet character on TV of all time? Why?

Allison Keene (@KeeneTV), Paste Magazine

Given my lifelong love of Henson productions, most especially the Muppets (and all related movies), it’s no surprise that I’ve become fully obsessed with “The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.” But to pick a favorite puppet? It’s nearly impossible. I have to pick two. Ok, three. It’s important that they’re all represented!

For one: Deet, a Gelfling. The heart and soul of the series, so sweet, so cute. One of the series’ writers revealed recently that Deet is based off of the way his girlfriend talks about horses. It fits; Deet is pure goodness and joy, but she’s also strong and brave. Two: Hup, the...

The Happytime Murders trailer is here. This thing is very much red band and totally Nsfw. More so than anything you're likely to see for a wide release movie. You've been warned. Shockingly, this comes from the mind of Brian Henson, son of Jim Henson, but this is not in any way what you might expect from a name like that. This trailer proudly boasts that the same guy who directed Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island and Muppets Tonight is responsible for this debauchery. And you're not ready for the debauchery in store.

This first footage for The Happytime Murders is in no way messing around. Puppets getting blown to pieces, puppet prostitutes, who happen to use the term "rotten cotton," which has disgusting but kind of hilarious implications. This thing is so very Nsfw that it's hard to believe it even got made. Let alone from the son...

The Muppet Show was a huge success in syndication back in the 1970s but the follow-up series Muppets Tonight ran for two short seasons before being cancelled by ABC in 1998. Is the public ready for another Muppet TV show? Will this one be cancelled or renewed for a second season? Stay tuned.

Set in a mockumentary style, The Muppets follows the lives of the crew behind talk show Up Late with Miss Piggy. Diva Miss Piggy is still driving Kermit the Frog and the rest of the gang crazy. The Muppeteer performers include Steve Whitmire, Eric Jacobson, Dave Goelz, Bill Barretta, David Rudman, Matt Vogel, and Peter Linz.

The ratings are typically the best indication of a show's likelihood of staying on the air. The higher the ratings (particularly the 18-49 demo), the better the chances for survival. This chart will be updated as...

ABC

After being off the air for nearly 20 years, the Muppets are back on television! The gang’s last show was Muppets Tonight, which was cancelled by ABC after only 10 episodes. Now, after a whole bunch of successful movies and a great 2011 reboot, the network is finally trying again with a more adult oriented, 30 Rock style series, The Muppets.

Anticipation for this show has been extremely high because, well, they’re the freaking Muppets. Millions of people have fond memories of growing up with them, and because of that, making a new show is tricky business. It has to honor the legacy of what’s come before while doing something different, and from the get go, half the audience is already skeptical that it won’t be as good as the Jim Henson era. So can it live up to the hype, and even more than that, can a Muppets TV...

I grew up watching the Muppet Babies, loving the whimsy of the odd, but relatable creatures although always frustrated that we couldn't see Nanny's face. Then, Muppets Tonight debuted during my freshman year of high school and I started to really understand the joys of a variety show only later for that to be enhanced by finding clips of The Muppet Show on YouTube. Also, I adored 2011's big screen The Muppets in fact Man or Muppet is still in heavy rotation on my iTunes. So anytime there is a new addition to the Muppets Universe, my inner-child takes notice. However, as details of their new TV show also confusingly called The Muppets started being revealed, that inner child beganto feel left out. The idea was to reinvent the Muppets in a more real-life, adult sitcom yes, a real-life, adult sitcom, starring felt puppets.

Two episodes were provided prior to broadcast.

Following last year’s somewhat middling reaction to Muppets Most Wanted, the titular gang returns this fall with a mockumentary spin in ABC’s The Muppets, which aims to provide viewers an inside look at the day-to-day life of everyone from Kermit to Rowlf as they scurry to keep Miss Piggy’s new talk show from going up in flames. Succeeding largely thanks to the kinetic energy that the mostly felt-infused cast brings to the screen, along with an irreverent spirit that stays true to the franchise and a penchant for the bizarre, the new show is funny, boisterous, adorable, charming and damn near irresistible.

Following a very public break-up (and one of the most ingenious ad campaigns in recent memory), Kermit has found himself in a bit of a pickle: he’s now the lead producer of his ex-girlfriend’s popular talk...

It has been 34 years since “The Muppet Show” and 15 years since “Muppets Tonight”. That's a long time since the last live-action Muppet show. And it’s been 22 years since the last episode of “Muppet Babies” aired on Nickelodeon. Let's all take a minute to feel old... So when ABC announced they were reviving the show for the 2015-2016 season, it was a welcome surprise. But how would the Muppets fit in to a 21st century world? Variety shows are a thing of the past. Into that entertainment vacuum, Reality TV has taken the reigns as king. So it seems obvious in hindsight that “The Muppets” would explore and lampoon all the tropes of that ever-present genre. From the official press release: The Muppets return to primetime with a contemporary, documentary-style show. For the first time ever, a series will explore the Muppets’ personal lives and relationships, both at home and at work,...

After a successful return to the big screen with 2011's The Muppets and last year's sequel Muppets Most Wanted, The Muppets are returning to the small screen with a new TV series from The Big Bang Theory co-creator Bill Prady and Anger Management writer-producer Bob Kushell. ABC has ordered a comedy pilot presentation for the new Muppets TV series, which Deadline reports will be set behind-the-scenes of a late-night talk show. Both Bill Prady and Bob Kushell will executive produce, with Bob Kushell serving as showrunner, should it get picked up to series.

Disney-owned The Muppets Studios is co-producing with ABC Studios. Disney bought the Muppets character rights back in 2004, but this is the first we've heard of a new Muppets TV series. Of course, the franchise first started on the small screen with several of the characters appearing on Sesame Street when it debuted in 1969, before creator Jim Henson...

Don’t tell Miss Piggy, but Kermit is getting back together with his first love — television.

TVLine has learned that ABC is developing a reboot of The Muppet Show, with Big Bang Theory co-creator Bill Prady co-writing and exec-producing.

RelatedMay Sweeps Scorecard 2015: Weddings, Deaths, Breakups, Sex, Resurrections, Firings and More!

The network is slated to shoot a pilot presentation later this month under the working title Muppets 2015. Details of the plot are sketchy, but TVLine has obtained the following logline: “The Muppets excitedly gather at ABC for a meeting about the new Muppet Show. However, the show will not...

Before Jim Henson’s Muppets became movie stars, they headlined their own sketch comedy series in The Muppet Show, which aired for five seasons (beginning in the mid-1970s). Since then, Kermit the Frog and company have been no strangers to the small screen, having appeared in such programs as Muppet Babies – a 1984 animated spinoff featuring the Muppets as infants – as well as Muppets Tonight, a show released back in the mid-1990s, that resurrected the Muppet Show variety entertainment format.

Walt Disney Pictures brought the Muppets back to theaters in 2011, with the aptly-titled The Muppets. As far as franchise relaunches go, it was a success, bringing in $165 million in grosses worldwide and earning strong reviews from ...

Click to continue reading New ‘Muppets’ TV Show May Be on the Horizon

The post New ‘Muppets’ TV Show May Be on the Horizon appeared first on Screen Rant.

The Muppets make their triumphant big screen return this week in Muppets Most Wanted, a continental caper that sees Ricky Gervais's villainous Dominic Badguy (it's pronounced Bad-gee!) and Kermit's evil doppelgänger Constantine use the gang as cover for a series of elaborate heists.

With that in mind, Digital Spy staff reminisce about their favourite Muppets below. Scroll down further to cast your vote in our poll and have a say in the comments thread.

Statler and Waldorf - Catriona Wightman, Entertainment Editor

Inside, we're all grumpy old men - which is why Statler and Waldorf are the best thing about the Muppets. Their balcony-based banter never fails to amuse, even when their jokes are pretty much terrible ("They aren't half bad", "Nope, they're all bad").

Statler and Waldorf - and Waldorf's wife Astoria, who's basically Statler in a dress - say what we're all thinking, never fail to be terribly rude,...

The folks at io9 drew up a list of the 12 worst Muppets. It should disturb and haunt you, but not because the list is correct: It berates quirky and forgotten Muppets when their weirdness often represents more than what meets the eye. Surely there are annoying Muppet qualities, but that's the joy of the Muppets: They are annoying. To condemn their grating qualities is to misunderstand what makes them cool and even defiant. Tina Fey shakes her head in contempt. So without further ado, I'm defending the 12 "Least Wanted" Muppets. I'm already so flustered and squawky that you'd think I was voiced by Frank Oz. 1. Pepe the Prawn Latin stereotypes abounding? Perhaps. But Pepe the Prawn's exasperated, self-conscious behavior is more reminiscent of the wonderful Telly Monster than anyone else. You don't hate Telly, do you? Wow. Maybe you hate Telly. And are you telling me you can resist that frantic,...

Press Release:

Syfy Greenlights Jim Henson’S Creature Shop Challenge (working title) From The Jim Henson Company, Showcasing The Creation Of Elaborate And Awe-inspiring Life-like Characters Brian Henson To Judge New Reality-competition Series Coming To Syfy In 2014

New York – October 8, 2013 – Syfy greenlights an eight episode order for Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge (working title), a competition series featuring ten aspiring creature creators competing to out-imagine one another in a series of challenges where they will build everything from mechanical characters to whimsical beasts, bringing high-end inanimate creature designs to life. The contestants compete for $100,000 and the opportunity for the job of a lifetime – a contract working at the world-renowned Jim Henson’s Creature Shop™. The announcement was made today by Mark Stern, President of Original Content, Syfy.

Brian Henson serves as lead judge on the series. Henson is the Chairman of The Jim Henson Company and the Creature Shop.

Muppet Treasure Island

Directed by Brian Henson

Written by Jerry Juhl

Starring Tim Curry, Kevin Bishop, Jennifer Saunders, Billy Connolly

It is, admittedly, strange to criticize a movie adaptation of a well-worn classic for being too faithful. Some movies, of course, are too stuck on the books or plays they’re adapting, unable to break free from the tethers of the previously written word. But most often, we want our movie versions of beloved stories to be very much like those stories. Otherwise, what’s the point? Sometimes, however, the more faithful an adaptation is, the less successful it is as a movie. We have to remember that a book and a movie may tell the same story, but they can never tell it the same way. This point got lost in the shuffle during the Harry Potter franchise, but it’s pertinent: whatever experience you had reading those books,...

Los Angeles -- Jerry Nelson, the puppeteer behind a delightful menagerie of characters including Count von Count on "Sesame Street" and Gobo Fraggle on "Fraggle Rock," has died. He was 78.

Nelson, who suffered from emphysema, died Thursday night in his Massachusetts home on Cape Cod, the Sesame Workshop said Friday.

"Every description of his characters describes Jerry as well," said "Sesame Street" executive producer Carol-Lynn Parente. "Silly, funny, vulnerable, passionate and musical, for sure. That voice of his was superb."

Although he'd been in declining health for some time "his attitude was never bad," Parente said Friday. "He was always so grateful for what he had in his life."

"We're having a rough day on the Street," she said.

In a tribute posted online by the nonprofit Sesame Workshop, Nelson was lauded for his artistry and the "laughter he brought to children worldwide" with the Count and other Muppet puppets including Sherlock Hemlock,...

Los Angeles -- Jerry Nelson, the puppeteer behind a delightful menagerie of characters including Count von Count on "Sesame Street" and Gobo Fraggle on "Fraggle Rock," has died. He was 78.

Nelson, who suffered from emphysema, died Thursday night in his Massachusetts home on Cape Cod, the Sesame Workshop said Friday.

"Every description of his characters describes Jerry as well," said "Sesame Street" executive producer Carol-Lynn Parente. "Silly, funny, vulnerable, passionate and musical, for sure. That voice of his was superb."

Although he'd been in declining health for some time "his attitude was never bad," Parente said Friday. "He was always so grateful for what he had in his life."

"We're having a rough day on the Street," she said.

In a tribute posted online by the nonprofit Sesame Workshop, Nelson was lauded for his artistry and the "laughter he brought to children worldwide" with the Count and other Muppet puppets including Sherlock Hemlock,...

The Muppets

Stars: Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Animal, Walter, Jack Black | Written by Jason Segel, Nicholas Stoller | Directed by James Bobin

I’m a Muppets fan, I have been since I was a kid. I even loved the late 90s series The Muppets Tonight, which I remember wasn’t a hit with fans at the time. Of course there have been some missteps in Muppet history – the last being Muppet Wizard of Oz in 2005 – but then the Muppets always bounce back don’t they? They do, and that’s what The Muppets is all about. But who knew it would take them so long.

The plot of The Muppets is simple: Oil tycoon Tex Richman buys the old Muppets Theatre, which is now in disrepair, with plans to knock it down and drill for oil on the site. However his...

Just before the release of The Muppets movie last November, it was announced that NBC had ordered a script for a brand new television series titled The New Nabors (in homage to late Andy Griffith Show actor Jim Nabors), a single-camera sitcom about a family who are aghast that their new neighbors are Muppets. Not too much seems to be known about the show, but the script is being written by John Hoffman (Good Boy!) and John Riggi (30 Rock). The Muppets made appearances on various programs in their early years, including The Jimmy Dean Show, Saturday Night Live, and obviously Sesame Street, before Incorporated Television Company in the UK gave them a shot with The Muppet Show. Since then there have been feature films, television movies and one brief program, Muppets Tonight, on Disney Channel. But what can one expect from a new Muppet-centric program in this modern age? Here...

When it was announced that there would indeed be a new Muppet movie, I had equal feelings of elation and dread. I grew up on The Muppets, be it reruns of The Muppet Show, their first three feature films – The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, and The Muppets Take Manhattan – or any number of television projects, like A Muppet Family Christmas, or even Muppet Babies, which still seemed to keep much of the magic that made the group so darned lovable. After the death of creator Jim Henson, there were ups (A Muppet Christmas Carol) and downs (Muppets from Space, The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz ). So it’s not hard to understand why many of us fans were more than a little skeptical about a new feature film. That being said, I was glad to find that The Muppets not only met, but also exceeded any expectations I had.

With The Muppets out in UK cinemas on Friday, Terence looks back over the history of Jim Henson's much-loved creations and their subversive comedy...

The Muppets, depending on where you live, are about to return or have returned to the big screen, with that wonderful new blockbuster paradigm of a movie that is both a reboot and sequel (or prequel) at the same time.

Simply titled The Muppets, the movie stars and is co-written by Judd Apatow regular, Jason Segel. The original songs are written by one half of Flight Of The Conchords, Brett McKenzie. The traditional Muppet movie roster of celebrity cameos includes the likes of Sarah Silverman, Zach Galifianakis and Neil Patrick Harris.

So: are the Muppets getting a little edgier this time around? If you look at the history of the Muppets, not really.

Right from the start, the Muppets (much like Bugs Bunny, Popeye and...

The Muppets

Stars: Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Animal, Walter, Jack Black | Written by Jason Segel, Nicholas Stoller | Directed by James Bobin

Before I go any further in this review let me say this: if you have any interest in seeing The Muppets don’t read on, in fact don’t read any reviews. Go see the film as it was clearly meant to be seen – cold. Then each and every surprise will hit you in the same way it did me. Trust me when I say you will love The Muppets, but you didn’t need me to tell you that right?

But if you want to find out what I thought about the film read on…

First off, I’m a Muppets fan, I have been since I was a kid. I even loved the late 90s series The Muppets Tonight,...

Throughout the month of December, TV Editor Kate Kulzick and Film Editor Ricky D will review classic Christmas adaptions, posting a total of 13 each, one a day, until the 25th of December.

The catch: They will swap roles as Rick will take on reviews of classic television Christmas specials and Kate will take on Christmas movies. Today is day 13.

A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (2008)

Directed by Kirk R. Thatcher

Teleplay by Hugh Fink & Scott Ganz

What’s it about?

A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa is a hour-long Christmas special starring the Muppets, which first aired on December 17, 2008 on NBC.

Geared exclusively toward a younger audience, the plot involves the Muppets mistakenly intercepting three letters sent by children to Santa Claus after they get thrown out of the post office for causing too much “Muppet” mayhem. When Gonzo realizes the post office has already closed, he and his friends...

Welcome to The CoF Weekend Preview where we take a look at what’s going on this weekend in entertainment. Check back Monday for the last City Strip of the year. Check out the The City of Films Fall & Holiday Movie Guide to see what else is coming out over the next few weeks to round out the year.

Hugo – IMDb – Rt (97%) – Trailer

You can check out my review here where I called it “The Greatest Love Letter To The Movies I’ve Ever Seen”. I’m going to see it again before it’s on home video. It will be good on Blu-ray I’m sure, but the whole experience is made for the big screen. Check it out!

The Muppets – IMDb – Rt (97%) – Trailer

It’s time to light the lights…because The Muppets are back! They are as clever and charming as ever from what audience and critics are saying,...

Jim Henson puppet show in development for new primetime series with NBC after first film for a decade opens in the Us

It's time to put on makeup, it's time to dress up right – The Muppets could be returning to television in a new primetime series.

Us broadcaster NBC has ordered scripts for a new series about a family who live in Palm Springs and discover their new neighbours are The Muppets. A new Muppets film – the first for a decade - is about to open in the Us and is due out in the UK in February.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the new Muppet TV series being developed for NBC is called The New Nabors and is being made Jim Henson Studios in association with Universal Television.

It will be written by 30 Rock executive producer John Riggi and John Hoffman, who will also executive produce alongside Jim Henson's daughter Lisa.

Anxiously awaiting the arrival of The Muppets movie? Why not join us as we take a look back at all the other films to feature Jim Henson’s characters…

If you’re as enthusiastic about seeing The Muppets as we are, you’ll almost certainly be excitedly waiting for its release in November. And if you’re a resident of the UK, you’ll have to wait until next February, which is a terrible injustice. You might have heard us moaning about this before.

To tide us over until then, we’ve provided a handy guide to the history of the Muppets’ big screen adventures, starting with their classic debut from 1979…

The Muppet Movie (1979)

The first cinematic outing for the Muppets is an excellent piece of work. The film follows Kermit as he travels to Hollywood to become rich and famous, meeting the rest of the Muppets along the way...

If I told you that there was a documentary about a Jim Henson Studios muppeteer who has been responsible, for the last many years, for breathing life into one of your childrens' favorite characters, and I also told you it was quite excellent, you would likely expect one of two things. You would either expect it to show the kind of man the parent in you hopes he is -- a charming, humble lovely man who just wants to make kids happy -- or to show the kind of man the cynic in you expects he is -- a drunk vulgarian who loves strippers and hates children in a way that would put Shel Silverstein to shame.

Being Elmo introduces us to Kevin Clash, the man responsible for Elmo. Growing up as a kid outside of Baltimore, Clash fell in love with puppets on "Captain Kangaroo" and "Sesame Street" and,...

Good Sunday everyone, this is The Sunday Lunch, HeyUGuys’ excuse to let down our Movie News blogging hair and enjoy the lighter side of movies.

This week’s Sunday Lunch funny comes from a clip that Jon Lyus sent me which put the biggest smile on my face.

It shows Jim Henson, being voiced by Kermit the frog, showing how to make puppets out of anything and then giving them more of a personality than those muppets from Big Brother.

It’s 15 minutes long and is just wonderful to see Jim Henson in action, he’s a true genius. Check it out below.

The clip of Jim Henson working his magic gave me a taste for anything Muppet so I’ve hunted down some of the best Muppet clips for your viewing pleasure and it proves what a brilliant and universally loved program the Muppet Show was.

Muppets do Bohemian Rhapsody,...

"Muppets Bohemian Rhapsody" debuted on the Muppets' newly inaugurated YouTube channel just three weeks ago. But nearly ten million views later, it already feels like a signpost that we'll look back on fondly -- a goofy capper to a rotten decade, a bridge to whatever lies ahead, and perhaps a future time capsule, a reminder of what it felt like to be alive at this strange time. It's a pop culture upper in a league with two classic bubblegum chart-toppers that heralded the shift from '60s darkness to '70s hedonism: John Lennon's "Whatever Gets You Through the Night" and the Captain & Tennille's cover of "Love Will Keep Us Together."

There's no world-shattering depth to those songs, just a straightforward reassurance that even though times are tough, as long as we're capable of having fun, things aren't quite as bad as they seem. "Muppets Bohemian Rhapsody" and the...

Machinima.com, flush with cash after recently raising $3.85 million in capital, has announced the Machinima Comedy Lab, where the site is bringing on fifteen traditional TV writers, each to develop a comedy web series pilots. The series will be greenlit for up to four episodes each before they decide whether to further produce the series. Amongst the list veteran writers selected are Writers Guild of America West president Patric M. Verrone, Family Guy scribe Mike Rowe and a number of former staffers on The Simpsons. The full list: * Chris Cluess: Mad TV, The Simpsons, Cheers * Bill Freiberger: Drawn Together, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, The Simpsons * Eric Horsted: Boondocks, Knights of Prosperity, Futurama * Ken Keeler: Futurama, The Simpsons, Wings * Stacie Lipp: King of Queens, Roseanne, Married With Children * Christina Lynch: Wildfire, The Dead Zone, Unhappily Ever After * Peggy Nicoll: WordGirl, Daria * Bill Oakley: Mission Hill,...

"It's time to play the music. It's time to dress up right. It's time to raise the curtain on The Muppet Show tonight!" Over 30 years ago, Jim Henson's Muppets took the airwaves by storm and debuted in their own original-run syndication variety show (the first of its kind in history). The series was a smash success around the world and ran for five seasons, and spawned feature films, TV specials, new television series and a slew of merchandising.

Though The Disney Channel's and ABC's 1996-97 Muppets Tonight series met with an early demise, there have been rumors about a new Muppet show for several years. Concepts have included a host of diverse ideas, from an edgy Fox variety show to an ABC mock reality-show competition to find America's Next Muppet. Now, so many years later, it looks like Kermit and friends may finally be headed back to their roots.

It's...