Is it time for Kermit to retire?

can the muppets succed with Kermit retiring or staying i would love a weekly Muppet show but i think that kermit can't be involved

there are post here asking what happed to the classic characters i think we need new charcaters to stand up and lead well the old ones fade away into there glorie i think lingering Miss Piggy and Fozzie, gonzo and Kermit are tarnishing thier images

I can't imagine a Muppet Show without Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, or Gonzo. It just can't be. There'd be no viewer intrest. Everyone would be wanting to see those characters, and instead they'd be stuck with Rizzo, Clifford, Pepe, Animal, and Scooter, running the show. And I don't think any one would watch it. But that's just me.

Oh, I totally agree with you...Prawn Cracker.

kermit cannot leave the Mupept Show. Sure he has become a little too, well, nice and almost charcterless(ish) but all he needs is a return to Muppet Show Kermit and he's back! I mean..no Gonzo...No Fozzie? No Piggy?

*shakes head*

Not happening.

We already tried having a different host (clifford) and it didn't work. Note, the show was cancelled.

Beau

Kimp, they already basically tried that with Muppets Tonight and, well, you see how well that went. 3 episodes on ABC, the rest went to the Disney Channel only so they could show the remainder of what they shot. Don't get me wrong, I loved Muppets Tonight...but, without Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, Animal, and all the rest you don't have The Muppets...you have some other license that's not called "Muppet." That'd be like Fraggle Rock coming back without Gobo, or Sesame Street cancelling Big Bird and Oscar, not to mention no more Ernie, Bert, Grover or Cookie (which have made a glorious comeback). Why even have Mother Goose Stories for the kids without Mother Goose? It wouldn't work.

Fozzie Bear said:

Kimp, they already basically tried that with Muppets Tonight and, well, you see how well that went. 3 episodes on ABC, the rest went to the Disney Channel only so they could show the remainder of what they shot.

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Actually, 10 episodes were shown on ABC. The show as first taken off the air after 6 episodes, but then ABC brought it back during the summer for 4 more episodes. Only three of the episodes produced for the first season (heather loclear, paula abdull and pierce brosnan) were not shown on ABC.

Not being a big fan of Steve's Kermit, as a fan, I feel Kermit already has retired when Jim died. I'm slowly getting used to it, but sometimes I question would it be better if Kermit died with Jim? Or is this new Kermit better then no Kermit at all? I love Steve, he's a tremendous performer, but performing Kermit (or any character for that matter) isn't just about mimicking his voice, it's his personality too. In all honesty, Steve is getting closer and closer to getting Kermit's voice down; I've actually had to really listen once or twice to make sure it was him; but the personality needs to be worked on. I doubt however that a new Muppet show could survive without Kermit (mainly because of popular demand and star power) so for me; this a real catch 22.

I think the fact that we all regularly post in threads about how we miss Rowlf and Dr Teeth and Janice and Scooter and the rest and mourn that they were not recast at the time is testament to the idea that any Kermit is better than none at all...

I like Steve's Kermit; I think the writers are the ones who need to learn who the characters are. The performers...especially those who worked WITH Jim Henson...know the characters. Performers can only do so much, and then they answer to the directors, who are following the writers' leads with their own vision.

Minor Muppetz, thanks for that info!

Fozzie Bear said:

I like Steve's Kermit; I think the writers are the ones who need to learn who the characters are.

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Hear, hear. Guys, lay off the performers. They can only do what they are told/written, unless they adlib and they don't get away withthat so much these days.

Hey, I never knocked Steve, in fact I said he was a tremendous performer, you've misunderstood. I agree, a lot of it comes from the director and the writers, no argument here; but Kermit isn't always being written for or directed. Interviews in particular require the performers to adlib and come up with answers on the spot. A tough job no doubt; which is all the more reason to try and get more familiar with a characters personality and act and respond more like the character and not one's self. That can also transend into performances as well, and if you think an actor of any kind is a mindless robot that just moves and speaks when and what he's told, you're sorely mistaken; the performer has some say (admitingly sometimes less, sometimes more depending on the writers/directors) in how to perform. I don't think for one minute that the JHC or Disney is wreckless with the Muppets but rather understand that figures such as Kermit are iconic, but that doesn't mean that they don't acknowledge the performer behind them and what he or she brings to the performance, recognizing what the performer has already accomplished with a character. In other words, they may write and direct more towards what they feel Steve has done with Kermit and who he's help mold Kermit into, rather then who Kermit was when Jim performed him.