What I’m Watching: The Muppets

The Muppets: Season 1, Episode 7 “Pig’s in a Blackout” (B+)

There’s no arguing that Kermit is stressed, but he does have a lot to deal with at work. Having him freak out and have to go away for some rehabilitation presented an entertaining opportunity for Scooter to take charge of the office in his stead. Things did not go well at all, and the extent to which disaster was created was impressive. Miss Piggy getting stuck in the elevator and Fozzie stepping in without looking were among the more entertaining parts. It was nice to see Scooter was able to figure out ways to make the show work, utilizing candles to light the set and then hiring an acapella group to come in and do the music. I like that, all antics aside, a show is put on every night, and there’s not much skimping on that. Statler and Waldorf harmonizing was a nice treat, since it gave them a chance to do something other than their admittedly entertaining heckling. Kermit’s time spent away was predictably much more stressful than it was supposed to be, and a big part of that was due to Jason Bateman. It’s interesting because Bateman usually plays an honest, well-meaning guy who gets caught in unfortunate circumstances around stupid people, but in this case he was all about manipulating Kermit. Asking for him to use his connections so that he could make his next project on the cheap was low, and throwing Kermit under the bus when he got caught using Jason’s cell phone was even ruder.