TV Review: The Muppets-“Bear Left then Bear Write”

A few weeks ago, I was concerned about The Muppets return to TV. The new, “edgier,” Muppets were a new concept and one I wasn’t supremely comfortable with. I don’t know if I just had to adapt, but the third episode of the series, called “Bear Left then Bear Write” was a pretty good time.

There’s a few story lines crossing paths here:
1. Miss Piggy needs to embarrass guest Christina Applegate because she indirectly made a fool out of Piggy.
2. Gonzo sets up a online dating account using Liam Hemsworth as his profile picture
3. Kermit lies to Fozzie about his a sketch the bear wrote and they get into a fight about it.

Of the three, the second and third were the best. I didn’t particularly care for Miss Piggy’s revenge saga, and it just wasn’t that interesting. The Kermit/Fozzie angle definitely played on the strengths of the long time bromance that goes back decades. Plus, we got to see a sedated Fozzie Bear at the end, which was worth the price of admission alone.

Additionally, Gonzo’s tale of daring dating brings in Liam Hemsworth for real, which in turn makes what one would think is a predictable ending not so predictable. I applaud that.

It’s still too early to call it, but as a fan of The Muppets since….forever, I am beginning more and more to like their return. The first episode was a little tough to take, but as time progresses, the strengths begin to shine through, and the characters that we know and love are really there. We just needed to rediscover them in a different light. Let’s hope that this set of Muppets can balance their “edgy” vibe along with their long term innocence just as well as they did in this episode.

Quick note-there needed to be WAY more Nick Offerman.

Rating: 8/10

The Muppets are lighting the lights every Tuesday night at 8:00 on ABC

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Logan J. Fowler is a senior writer and video game editor on Po-Break.com. He contributes his thoughts every week for Trailer Tuesday and has his own column called “A Link to the Past.” Logan’s “kid at heart” nature has led to his discussion about pop culture that many geeks love to talk about, including superheroes, Super Mario Bros., Pixar, and Muppets, among other things. In addition, one of his first pieces for the site, “Top Ten Comic Book Movies,” was picked as a “Freshly Pressed” piece by WordPress and remains one of the site’s most well-read articles. Currently, Logan works as a Special Education Instructional Assistant at Roosevelt School in Manville NJ. He graduated from Wagner College in 2005 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and in 2007 with a Master of Science in Education Degree in Birth-6th Grade Literacy. He also holds a Teacher of Students with Disabilities Certification from Rutgers. Many of Logan’s friends have said that he moonlights as Spider-Man but this is so not true. Wait, are those police sirens I’m hearing?! Gotta go! -thwipp-
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