Fixing The Muppets

I've been thinking about what's been wrong or missing with ABC's "The Muppets.".

Miss Piggy - I know her persona has taken on a life of its own over the past 40 years, but I really don't remember a setting in which Miss Piggy lived on another stratosphere from the other characters, like what's been built up for here in this series. Knowing the characters, it almost makes it unbelievable. In the first episode, Fozzie calls her, and she asks "Is this the guy in the hat?". And it was a big part of the episode where she got invited to join the gang after work.

Kermit and Piggy - I don't think it was necessary to break them up. There was enough tension between them for all these years to continue through this series. There was a lot of internet buzz, but it didn't seem to help the series, and I wonder if it actually hurt the series. It makes another element that's just not believable. And how many episodes was it even a factor? Two? And so much was made of Kermit's new girlfriend and she only appeared in episode 1. This whole plot line could have been lost without damaging the franchise. While I'm here, what happened to Gonzo and Camilla?

Celebrities - It's overdone. At least that's my opinion. If you rely on celebrity guests, unless you are an actual talk show, it just shows that what you have isn't strong enough on its own to sustain what it needs to be. I get that on a talk show-within-a-show, it's bound to happen, but they really need to lose the ones that don't stem from that setting (Laurence Fishburne; Ed Helms; who else?).

The show within the show - Taking these characters, who we've basically known to be performers (when they're not telling another story in movies such as "Muppet Treasure Island") and now performing every day jobs around the office. It also seems unnatural. There's been a place for almost everyone (where's Walter?), some very natural and some not. But I think this could have been handled a different way.

Look at the 2 recent movies. They put on a Muppet Show telethon and then a world tour of the Muppet Show. Fans probably wanted this to be just a new season of the old "Muppet Show". THAT should have been the show within the show. Take the old show, but instead of showing backstage hi-jinks with "real" performances, turn it into behind the scenes of the old show. Kermit as Executive Producer and host and everyone contributing as a writer and performer, and maybe a celebrity guest host. Then you can explore their lives outside of that show.

Having gone with this wouldn't be as much of a shock to the system, and I think would have helped this show in critical reviews and ratings.