‘The Muppets: A Retrospect’ by Ivor Casey

HAVING recently seen the big screen revival of the terrific The Muppets I have discovered a whole new respect for the fifty plus old puppets. The big budget backing from children’s entertainment giant Disney has helped springboard the Muppets into a whole new generation with a reboot of the long loved franchise. It was a franchise which appeared to be fading into the depths of TV and movie history with the last big screen outing having not only happened thirteen years prior but having also proved to be a flop.

In 1999 Muppets From Space was apparently rushed to get a Summer release and despite its budget of $24m it only managed a return of about $22m. This seemed to mark an end for the felted figures of frolicking fun with only a few middling to fair TV movies subsequently made over the next six years. These included Kermit: The Swamp Years, It’s A Very Merry Muppet Christmas and The Muppets Wizard of Oz. This was a far cry from when The Muppets had dominated TV ratings during the late 1970’s with their series, The Muppet Show. However, the Muppets have had an enduring legacy going as far back as 1955 when characters such as Kermit The Frog first graced television on the Sam and Friends show.

Created by Jim Henson, who was also later involved in Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock, the characters began to emerge gradually on various TV shows and specials throughout the 1960’s and early 1970’s with the lead being Kermit The Frog, voiced by Jim Henson himself. However, what would become a defining ensemble of characters was yet to appear. In 1974 a pilot called, The Muppet Valentine Special and another pilot the following year titled, Sex and Violence, set the stage for a brand new series. With much offbeat and madcap good cheerful humour, often aimed at adults as well as children, The Muppet Show began a series run in 1976.

Other than Kermit, the main characters which took centre stage included Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, The Swedish Chef, Rowlf The Dog, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker, as well as the cynical yet hilarious pairing of Statler and Waldorf. The shows usually revolved around a variety style TV broadcast, with many musical numbers, a glimpse behind the scenes and the regular appearances of a famous guest star. These guest stars often included some of Hollywood’s leading and legendary performers such as Peter Sellers, Peter Ustinov, Vincent Price, Sylvester Stallone, John Cleese and Roger Moore.

The format was set and the Muppets saw themselves mixed up in adventures and obstacles in which to overcome, combined with the on and off romance between Kermit and Miss Piggy which goes on to this day. The show ended in 1981 but the Muppets had already lit up the big screen at this stage with their first celluloid appearance in 1979 with the The Muppet Movie which was followed by The Great Muppet Caper in 1981 and The Muppets Take Manhattan in 1984. The movies were great successes and continued to bring the Muppets to new generations, entertaining both children and adults alike.

Jim Henson sadly passed away in 1990 at the age of 53 and some thought this would mark the end of the Muppet franchise and the voice of Kermit. Nonetheless, puppeteer Steve Whitmore proved an excellent replacement for many of the characters which might have died with Jim. 1992 saw the release of The Muppet Christmas Carol in a wonderful retelling of the classic Charles Dickens novel. The Muppets kept on going and in 1996 they reunited for TV with Muppets Tonight. However, this was when the future of the loveable creatures began to go awry. The same year saw the release of Muppet Treasure Island and while it did get good reviews and a reasonable box office draw, the TV show was soon cancelled after two seasons, failing to prove to be as big a hit as their original series. With some faith still intact, a further movie went into production (Muppets From Space) but this proved to mark the end of their big screen appearance for the time being.

It would take a decade before a dedicated fan, actor Jason Segel, involved himself in a pitch for a new Muppet movie. Along with Nicholas Stoller he wrote a script for a reunion, simply titled The Muppets. It was considered a bit of risk, with critics unsure what to expect but it was a chance worth taking. The film marked the big return of the cuddly characters to the big screen and it was received incredibly well by both critics and fans. The movie itself proved to be a huge financial success, raking in over $150m making it the most successful Muppet movie of all, sparking renewed fascination with decades old good family entertainment.

The most recent film saw The Muppets reuniting to save their old studio by staging a telethon. It makes for the most ideal reunion as the muppets bond and collaborate in the face of adversary. The film itself is also more than just a nostalgia trip and reflects the modern humour of today while still keeping within the realms of acceptability for the target audience. As somebody less in favour of computer generated images I also found it deeply refreshing to see a new movie relying on good old fashioned puppetry. The Muppets, new and old, are everlasting and timeless. They help remind us of a time of innocence which in these turbulent times is something a lot of us desperately seek. They are cheeky, charming and cheerful with a strong message of togetherness, friendliness and happiness. With plans of a sequel already having been announced I am hoping to see a whole new age of Muppet madness roll in, to entertain, amuse and delight us all.

– Ivor Casey

(First published in 2012)

‘Remembering Super-soap Dallas’ by Ivor Casey

TODAY it may seem like one of those old shows deliberately avoiding an integral examination of society and class or the subordinate. However when the oil-baron super-soap Dallas first hit TV screens over 40 years ago it did manage to break down barriers for popular culture, besides bringing its audience into unequalled escapist fantasy.

In Spring of 1978, a five episode pilot was screened and after proving popular the first season was commissioned to begin in September. Lasting 13 years Dallas became the most successful television series of all time, gaining over 350 million viewers world-wide. Its plots and success made news headlines and it became one of the most talked about entertainment sources for a decade. Especially with the “Who Shot JR?” plot which set the trend for all TV cliff-hangers since.

It is now seen as the foremost example for academic critique of American cultural imperialism and hegemony, with its original series referred to as ‘a cheap TV show dumped on developing countries’. Nevertheless Dallas did and still does manage to help people put aside their troubles for an hour and see the fun side of extreme wealth, or maybe even the actually unglamorous side as the wealthy constantly appeared to be up against some troubling experience after another. Nothing like it had ever been on television before and never had a weekly series been an event. Revolving around the feuding Ewing and Barnes families Dallas incorporated everything desired for a passive entertainment TV show, with greed, power, murder and deceit. It was clearly politically incorrect and it certainly favoured chauvinism, but it managed to break some social barriers, even if it didn’t use the platform it held for many positive and constructive reasons. In Ireland conventional parents and priests ridiculed its content as blasphemous for its high pitched sexual innuendo, too liberal for TV. However, its massive popularity here conveyed an ever changing Ireland. Its main reason for such hype and controversy was the sexually rampant and shrewd businessman, JR Ewing, played by Larry Hagman, who is reported to be reprising his role in the upcoming series. It was JR and his company, Ewing Oil, that became the centre focus for the show as it emphasised how successful businesses can achieve. With ferocious greed, back-stabbing, ruthlessness, walking over your own mother to get ahead, the show detailed key ingredients of corporate success. JR was a corrupt, evil and manipulative womaniser but this made his character all the more appealing.

It could be found that an ideology representing capitalism and self made millionaires, glorifying the so called ‘American Dream’, suggested to the viewers around the world that you could have whatever you wanted, once you worked hard for it under a Capitalist system. Dallas was followed by similar dramas such as Falcon Crest and Dynasty which followed a parallel pattern. With regard to social themes, while Dallas stayed away from racism it failed to ever include a main character of any minority group or race other than Anglo – Caucasian men and women. The main characters were the apotheosis of the white, heterosexual, western male. It can be argued that the series was mainly about the oil business but that it also managed to cover topics not common in TV dramas prior to this and included stories, if only ever briefly, involving homosexuality, affairs, mis-carriages, ill-health, down syndrome, divorce and extra-marital sex. A two hour episode in 1980 dedicated a story to the matriarch of the drama, Miss Ellie, played by Barbra Bel Geddes, being diagnosed with breast cancer and having to undergo a mastectomy. However, possibly the most ever current of social issues raised in the series was the alcoholism of JR Ewing’s neglected wife, Sue Ellen, played by Linda Gray. One particular plot line, which highlighted the effects of alcoholism at its very worst, showing its victims on the brink of death, helped raise the show above the candy floss delights of wealth and power. Sue Ellen was frequently shown as the down trodden and unfortunate wife of an evil man.

Nothing has replaced Dallas with its original and classy technique of mixing glamour and wealth with tension and grandiose suspense. Although most soaps are cheap and fatuous, with low production values, Dallas was shot like a movie. Dallas was expensive, hard-hitting and intriguing entertainment, with very little as equally stylish made since.

– Ivor Casey

(Amended from article first published in 2011 announcing the return of Dallas to TV screens, which was broadcast between 2012 – 2014)