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The Muppets and holiday entertainment go hand-in-hand with a rod attached to it. Obviously, there’s The Muppet Christmas Carol, which some would say is the greatest adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic story (the worst being that musical with Kelsey Grammer). And then there was A Muppet Family Christmas, which teamed up the Muppet Show characters with the Sesame Street gang — only to have it all ruined by a bummer of a teaser for Nightline.

But the Muppets also starred in a number of other holiday specials, including a musical show with John Denver and A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa. Yet, while all of those shows mostly kept their shit together, the 2002 TV movie It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie went to some truly weird places.

Okay, first of all, the most notorious aspect of this movie, which we’ve talked about before, is that it popularized the “Muppets did 9/11” conspiracy theory.

Jim Henson’s Muppets mesh so well with Christmas. Crazy and chaotic as they are, the characters are just one big family. They are a collection of personalities that reflect Henson’s optimism. And what is Christmas if not a madcap holiday that promotes optimism and family? It’s no surprise that before and after Henson’s death, his felt creations have been in countless Christmas-related films and shows.

We here at Den of Geek have decided to rank these Christmas entries from worst to best. In terms of ground rules, we’re only going with the baseline Muppet stuff. There are a million Sesame Street Christmas things and we’re not touching them. Same goes for Fraggle Rock and Muppet Babies. We’re focusing on Kermit’s crew, stories where Kermit is the host, and one case where one major Muppet makes his debut.

But now let’s get things started.

This sequel to the Jason Segel-starring The Muppets feels his absence in what is a hodgepodge of espionage and mistaken identity

• Will Muppets Most Wanted bring out the Animal in you?

• Muppets Most Wanted is released in the Us on 21 March and in the UK on 28 March

The last Muppet film, released in 2011, was really something special. Yes, it was funny and irreverent, but it also had tremendous heart. By painting Kermit and company as washed-up and out of favour – neatly referencing their succession of substandard vehicles in the 90s and noughties – and charting their subsequent triumphant comeback, it had an emotional sophistication that was entirely unprecedented. It was like watching a Capra film, albeit one that happened to gleefully reference the invention of the fart-shoe.

After watching Muppets Most Wanted, it's clear that this was all down to its writer and star. He's nowhere to be seen this time around and,...

New York — The Muppets may have taken Manhattan, but they're getting a spiffy new home in Queens.

Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Bert and Ernie of "Sesame Street" fame, the stars of "Fraggle Rock" and other puppets, costumes and items from throughout Muppets creator Jim Henson's career have been donated to the Museum of the Moving Image, which is building a new gallery to house them, the institution announced Tuesday.

Encompassing almost 400 items ranging from original puppets to behind-the-scenes footage, the gift is a boon for the 25-year-old museum, which saw attendance skyrocket during a temporary exhibit in 2011 and 2012 of Henson's work. And it fulfills a cherished goal for Henson's widow and collaborator, Jane Henson, who died last month at 78.

"She loved the Muppet characters as though they were part of her own family," and the actual puppets themselves were very special to her, one of the couple's daughters,...

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 -- New episodes: Happy Endings, Don't Trust The B in Apartment 23, Private Practice, NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, Vegas, The Voice, Take It All, Parenthood, Raising Hope, New Girl, The Mindy Project, and Hart of Dixie. Specials: Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town (repeat) and A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (repeat). Repeats: Ben and Kate.

Below are the fast affiliate ratings. The "demo" refers to the viewers in the 18-49 demographic. The percentages represent the change since the previous original episode. (Percentages aren't given for reruns or specials.) "Millions" refers to the total number of viewers.

To see past ratings for a particular show, click the show's link. The show pages are updated with the daily final ratings when they become available. Those pages include percentage changes in both the demo and total viewership, in addition to season averages...

Christmas specials seem to be taking a hit this year. ABC’s broadcast last night of the 1970 stop-motion Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (1.7/5) fell 23% from its December 1, 2011 airing. On the CW, A Muppets Christmas: Letters To Santa (0.4/1) cratered 56% from its November 30, 2011 airing. (Last week, CBS’ Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer was down 28% from 2011.) With 17.51 million watching, CBS’ NCIS (2.8/8) drew the most viewers Tuesday night, but the show fell 22% from its last broadcast two weeks ago. NCIS: La (2.6/7) was down 10% from the 2.9/7 of its November 27 show. Both shows hit season lows. Vegas (1.5/4) followed, down 6% from two weeks ago, a series low. On NBC, the one-hour live semifinal results on The Voice (3.5/10) was flat with last week’s show. Airing as a strip this week, Howie Mandel’s Take It All (2.3/6) was up 5% over the 2.2/5 of Monday’s show. Ending NBC’s primetime, Parenthood (2.0/6) was up 11% compared with last week, matching its...

Fast National ratings for Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012

The usual suspects -- "NCIS" and "The Voice" -- led the way in Tuesday's ratings, giving their respective networks victories in total viewers (CBS) and adults 18-49 (NBC).

NBC also got a little boost from the last "Parenthood" of 2012, which matched its season high in adults 18-49, and night two of "Take It All," which was up a tick over Monday's premiere. "The Mindy Project" was also up slightly for Fox, but "Hart of Dixie" slipped a little in viewers on The CW.

CBS scored a runaway win in viewers, averaging 14.25 million along with a 9.1 rating/14 share in households for the night. NBC (8.1 million, 5.1/8) was the best of the rest. ABC came in third with 4.1 million viewers and a 2.5/4. Fox (3.4 million, 2.1/3) took fourth, and The CW trailed with 1.25 million viewers and a 0.8/1.

NBC posted a 2.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic to lead the way.

The CW has teased their plans for holiday installments of 90210, Arrow, Gossip Girl, Hart of Dixie and The Vampire Diaries. They've also shared information about their numerous holiday specials: A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa, Prancer Returns, It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, Noel, The Happy Elf, Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, Christmas is Here Again, Second Star to the Left, and Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

The CW's Holiday Highlights

Wednesday, November 21:

Two-hour Movie

"Planes, Trains and Automobiles" (8:00-10:00p.m. Et)

(Content Rating Tbd) (HDTV)

Steve Martin And John Candy Star - Neal Page (Martin), a high-strung advertising executive, meets Del Griffith (Candy), an eternally optimistic, overly talkative, well-meaning, but clumsy shower curtain ring salesman who seems to live in a world governed by a different set of rules.

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...

Filed under: TV News

'Smash' has booked film star Uma Thurman for a multi-episode guest arc.

The midseason drama -- about the creation of a Broadway musical based on Marilyn Monroe's life -- has cast Thurman as a "famous and somewhat difficult movie star" who flirts with the idea of starring in the theater production. EW reports Thurman will appear in five episodes of the much-anticipated NBC series.

Thurman is best known for starring in Quentin Tarantino's big screen projects like the 'Kill Bill' franchise and 'Pulp Fiction,' which scored her an Oscar nomination, but she's not altogether new to TV. Her last small-screen cameo was in the 2008 TV movie 'A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa' and, before that, she won a Golden Globe for her work in 2002's 'Hysterical Blindness.'

 

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Lamest Twist: The only thing shocking about Sunday’s “big reveal” on Dexter was that nobody on the writing staff had the foresight to realize how ridiculously predictable it was.

Sudsiest Developments: Only a few short months after becoming General Hospital’s headwriter, Garin Wolf was bumped in favor of Ron Carlivati, whose current soap, One Life To Live, finished taping two weeks ago and last airs in January. Also joining Gh? Oltl’s former executive producer, Frank Valentini, replacing longtime Gh Ep Jill Farren Phelps.

Biggest Conflict: Despite our general disdain for shameless product placements, the hilarious and heartfelt way in which Parks And Recreation continues to handle Ben and Leslie’s relationship has earned the show a pass on Thursday’s not-so-subtle advertisement for the “Li’l Sebastian Plush.” Well, that and we really really want one.

Quote Of The Week: “”Talking strategy with Brandon is like talking...

On TV this Wednesday: A really big tree grows in Manhattan, the Shat hits the Psych, Soup‘s on… a new night, and more. With ABC in repeat mode and the CBS dramas riding the pine, we’ve singled out 11 programs to keep on your radar.

8 pm Survivor: South Pacific (CBS) | Sit down and wrap your brain around this teaser: “A castaway tells a bold lie in hopes of gaining favor with his tribemates.” No, really. A strategic lie. On Survivor!

8 pm Christmas in Rockefeller Center (NBC) | Co-hosted by Today‘s Al Roker and Savannah Guthrie, the 79th annual tree...

If, like some of us here, your television is permanently stuck on The CW... have no fear! The network is getting into the holiday season this year.

That rhyme was unintentional, but we're going to leave it alone. It's positively jolly.

Black Friday is scary enough, what with people getting trampled to death in Walmart, so The CW is holding the "Supernatural" mid-season finale until the following week and giving us a little bit of Christmas cheer instead.

Tune in on Nov. 25 at 8 p.m. for "Grandma Got Runover By a Reindeer," a one-hour special based on the classic tragic Christmas song. It's about a boy who is determined to find his missing grandmother and prove that Santa is real before Christmas Eve.

Then, at 9 p.m., they'll stick with the reindeer theme and air Drew Barrymore's "Olive, The Other Reindeer." "After mis-hearing a radio broadcast about Santa canceling...

Ruby Rose first made my radar when she hogged all the screentime in a special about coming out with Matthew Mitcham. But I can’t deny the MTV Australia VJ is a charismatic lady. And as an out and proud lesbian, she’s a heck of a role model for gay youth. Now she’s on the cover of FHM, the first out lesbian to do so.

The U.S. Mint has had some misprints on their fancy new $100 bills. So now they’ve had to quarantine 1.1 billion of them until they can be sorted. That’s a cool $1 trillion just sitting there.

Vanity Fair caught up with Pj Bloom, the musical mastermind behind Glee. A lot of interesting things there, but one quote stands out. Bloom may have been responding to a question about the Christmas album, but his answer is fairly universal, “I’d respond by suggesting subtlety...

Welcome to another edition of TV or Not TV where I think I really am Better Off Ted.

Last season, when Better Off Ted had it’s original 13 episode run, I didn’t give the show very much of a chance beyond the first two episodes. This really isn’t a commentary about the quality of the show itself mind you. I have a lot of television to watch both recreationally and professionally so you I’m sure what you are getting at here. There is a lesson to be learned here becuase, as with any show, you really have to get past the first six episodes before you decide whether you are going to stick with it or not because any show needs this time to flesh out their characters.

Thanks once again to the amazing world of online viewing and last week’s premiere I went back and...

Lifetime has an Army Wives marathon all night. At 8, ABC has Dreams Come True: A Celebration Of Disney Animation, followed by new episodes of Ugly Betty and 20/20. CBS has a new Ghost Whisperer at 8, then new episodes of Medium and Numb3rs. NBC has A Muppets Christmas: Letters To Santa at 8, followed by new episodes of Dateline and The Jay Leno Show. Fox has two new episodes of Dollhouse. PBS has a new Washington Week at 8, then new episodes of Now and Bill Moyers Journal. MyNetwork TV has a new Smackdown! at 8. Food Network has Paula's Southern Christmas at 8. Hallmark has the movie The National Tree at 8. Also at 8: Disney has a new Wizards of Waverly Place, then a new Suite Life on Deck. At 8:30, Cartoon Network has a new Ben 10: Alien Force, followed by a new episode of The Clone Wars. At 9, The CW has Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer...

The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced the nominations for The 61st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards this morning. NBC comedy series 30 Rock lead the way with 22 nominations with the HBO telefilm Grey Gardens with 17 nominations and last year's winner for Best Drama, Mad Men, with 16 nominations. Take a look at the complete list of the nominees below.

Outstanding Voice-Over Performance

American Masters - Jerome Robbins: Something To Dance About - PBS - Thirteen/Wnet American Masters - Ron Rifkin, Narrator

Family Guy - I Dream of Jesus - Fox - Fox Television Animation - Seth MacFarlane as Peter Griffin

Robot Chicken - Robot Chicken: Star Wars - Episode II - Cartoon Network - ShadowMachine - Seth Green as Robot Chicken Nerd, Bob Goldstein, Ponda Baba, Anakin Skywalker, Imperial Officer

The Simpsons - Eeny Teeny Maya Moe - Fox - Gracie Films in Association with 20th Century Fox Television...