Muppet Babies (2018)

Rootin Tootin' Sheriff Showdown:

Nothing in this interested me. 1 star.

The Trouble With Chickies:

I'm disappointed we went to Planet Koozbane and the show couldn't be bothered to show us a Koozbanian as seen on The Muppet Show.

Also while the spaceship had SOME design elements from Pigs In Space, the fact that they didn't simply use THAT ship is a disappointment. 1 1/2 stars.

Episode Overall: 1 1/2 stars.

Phantom Of The Dollhouse:

The Scooby Doo homage was fun, and Jill's Phantom disguise was pretty cute. But Jill is still pretty much the worst. It is to the cartoon's credit that she isn't automatically forgiven for her behavior, and has to come to the conclusion she was wrong on her own. The show doesn't usually do that for the babies' mistakes. 3 1/2 stars.

Tarzanimal:

They did that again here with Animal, which is great. I like that Tarzan looks like Sweetums, and IS Sweetums in the fantasy (although the end makes me question if Sweetums himself is actually present or not).

To be truthful, when I was little, Animal was one of my least favorite Muppets on The Muppet Show. I thought he was a little too wild and dangerous. He scared me a bit. This is probably why the Baby version on the old cartoon was made into an extra cute infant so as not to frighten toddlers. I question this show aging the character up for that reason, but this is a good thing to explore for rowdy kids in the audience they couldn't do if Animal was as tame as he was on the old cartoon.

Cute. 3 1/2 stars.

Episode Overall: 3 1/2 stars.

Scooter MVP:

It was fun to see Pepe on the scribble-pad device. But I would have actually been more tickled to see him as a Baby.

Beaker's reaction to remembering his previous game of marshmallow dodgeball with Sweetums was priceless.

Predictable, but decent. 3 stars.

Rizzo For Mayor:

I suppose in 2021 it's a good idea to get kids to be wary of and recognize political b.s. as young as possible. But it sure as hell isn't pleasant to watch. 1 1/2 stars.

Episode Overall: 2 1/2 stars.

Oh My Gourd:

I like Miss Nanny's costume. You can see her head (sort of).

Jack sure is cute.

Beaker making his eyes big was funny.

Cute. 3 stars.

The Curse Of The Wereanimal:

The Werechicken at the end was funny.

Gonzo is mixing up monster lit. Van Helsing is Dracula.

I laughed at Gonzo telling Kermit "Good luck, buddy!"

Also cute. 3 stars.

Episode Overall: 3 stars.

Moon Muffins:

Steve Whitmire has been long fired (truthfully deservedly) and has no clout left in Muppetland, simply because he abused it. But I like to think that if Whitmire ever saw this show's version of Rizzo, he'd be rightfully furious. Rizzo is to Whitmire what Rowlf was to Jim Henson: A highly personal character Muppet Studios is not in any hurry to recast for that reason. But Rizzo the puppet was a bit of a cipher and the kind of character who played best as a second fiddle to someone else. This show? Portrays him as conniving and selfish as a cartoon rat. His visual appearance gives off the same sex offender vibe as the Chuck E Cheese rat. Chuck E Cheese creeps me the hell out. He's for kids who think Ronald McDonald is a LITTLE bit creepy, but simply doesn't leer quite enough. Nothing says safe, wholesome family environment like a leering rat. What parent would trust their kid with this creep? There are bodies buried beneath the mousehole.

But this show's Rizzo is just as big a creep, with just as big a leer, and no real redeeming qualities, or even interesting facets. I like the idea that Rizzo will probably live on beyond Whitmire at some point. But this show is doing completely wrong by the character.

Also should go without saying I'm mad that the spaceship doesn't look enough like the one from Pigs In Space. 1 star.

Muppet News Flash:

I have a theory. This show is one of those dumb preschool shows that is SO dumb, that it never actually teaches its audience something it doesn't already know. What Fozzie's like, "Duuuuuh, what's exaggeration, Miss Nanny?" if most kids at home don't think he's a dope, I'd be shocked. And that is a poor way to run a kids' show. Frankly that sort of thing was systemic in the 1980's, but it sure as hell isn't acceptable in 2021. Henson Productions used to deliver the best preschool shows 20 and 30 years ago. Now this show proves they deliver some of the worst.

Muppet things of note: The Muppet Newsman appears (non-Babyfied) and Kermit is wearing a similar trenchcoat and fedora to his reporter get-up from Sesame Street. I'm figuring it might not have been identical due to rights issues with the likeness. But I Got What They Were Going For.

The cartoon still sucked though. 1 star.

Episode Overall: 1 star.

Eagle In The Middle:

Raspberries ARE super fun.

I liked Sam in the cartoon.

Pretty good. 3 1/2 stars.

Rizzo's Space Race:

Rizzo is such a little turd. 1 1/2 stars.

Episode Overall: 2 1/2 stars.

It's A Wonderful Elf-Bot:

That was tiresome. Every episode of this show is so predictable and repetitive, that the new ones feel like reruns I've seen a hundred times before. 1 star.

A Merry Litter Christmas:

And I could simply use the above review verbatim to describe THIS cartoon and it would be equally accurate. And so it goes. 1 star.

Episode Overall: 1 star.

Mitzvah For Miss Nanny:

Miss Nanny is Jewish! Neat.

And of course the photo of her family only reveals their feet. Because that's how dumb this universe is. 3 1/2 stars.

Winter Sport-a-thon:

I'm noticed that a lot of Gonzo's problems wind up being due to embarrassment or shame with the other babies. As the show's resident gender questioning character that's either a really bad message, or the best and only real message possible. I haven't decided yet. 2 1/2 stars.

Episode Overall: 3 stars.