Praise to ABC's The Muppets

I was not sure what to make of this new "The Muppets" as I never really like "Muppets Tonight," which was on ABC in the 90's was like a televised "The Muppet Show" but it was quickly cancelled. And I think the downfall of that show as that the host was not Kermit. Anyway, in this format, it is much like the single camera comedies like "The Office" which my friend Natasha calls "The Muppets meets the Office." They said it would be more 'adult' and I was weary to that comment but it somehow works. It is cute and cuddly for kids and they make jokes to fly over their heads and adults get. It has delicious innuendo. For example, Bobo the Bear says "[Muppet Mayhem] are always happy." "Yeah, legally now," Scooter responded. Another example, Zoot wakes up in a meeting. "This is meeting? Well, Hi, I'm Zoot." Floyd tells him, "Different kind of meeting."

Bascially the plot is that the Muppets run Miss Piggy's new late night talk show. Kermit is the EP, Gonzo, Rizzo and Pepe Prawn are writers, Sam Eagle is executive of standard and practices, the Muppet Mayhem are the band naturally, Fozzie is Miss Piggy's sidekick, Statler and Wordolf are hecklers in the audience, Swedish Chef is the charterer, Scooter is the Casting Agent, Uncle Deadly is in charge of wardrobe, and Rowlf runs a bar across the street. I think the comparisons to "The Office' should die down with more focus on Miss Piggy's talk show. If anything it is like "The Larry Saunders Show". Kermit has a new girlfriend that is a pig too. The whole idea of Kermit and Piggy breaking up as a PR stunt was tried back in the 90's but because of Jim Henson's death, it was forgotten. Now it is the basis of the show. Some fans think the will get back together and some fans think they won't. Executive Producer Bill Prady (Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men) used to write for the Muppets under Jim Henson and might be using some of Jim's ideas or the spirit of them, not ripping off. He even worked on a  pilot for another muppets show that didn't work out...

Guest Stars have been hit and miss, some we actually see in the talk show, most of them are behind the scenes, the majority of them play themselves so far. The guest stars so far in the past five episodes are Elizabeth Banks, Tracy Anderson, Tom Bergeron, Imagine Dragons, Josh Groban, Laurence Fishburne, Jay Leno, Lea Thompson, Reza Aslan, Christina Applegate, Nick Offerman, Liam Hemsworth, Ed Helms and Reese Witherspoon. I hope it lasts many seasons. What I fear is that Kermit and Piggy will become bitter characters. Piggy is already at high diva levels.

This is how the movie was suppose to be dont get me wrong, I liked the movie. Frank Oz even said it was too sweet. I agree. I think Muppets Most Wanted failed because it was a trite plot.

Controversy

http://tvline.com/2015/09/22/muppets-abc-controversy-mature-perverted-humor/

W.I.T.s Academy Mini Review

"Every Witch Way" is over after four seasons, each season ran in a course of a month. It aired at 7pm on Nickeldeon and was filmed in Miami. "W.I.T.s Academy" is a spin-off starring Emma's sidekick Andi (Daniella Nieves) and the only other two characters carried on from "EWW" is Jax's little sister Jessie and Agamemnon, the head of the Witches Council. It is written by former General Hospital writer Catharina Ledeboer and it shows. It isn't as 'shock' telenovela like Every Witch Way with twists and turns but it moves smoothly Episodically without much plot or villain. It isn't over but after its first two weeks, "W.I.T.s Academy" (W.I.T.s stands for Witches in Training) has made a cute impression. The cast, which is mostly kids, are endearing and young Miss Nieves and Todd Allen Durkin have enough experience and it shows. Since there are more witches in this series, there is more special effects, mostly teleporting and magic spell trails.

Some Spin-offs change their main character which was a minor character in the original series, Andi hasn't changed much but she is more realized, she indeed still tomboy-ish and fixes machinery. Like any 'Girl' series, Andi has a rival in Ruby, an annoying childish character. As many of the teenagers are in charge of children witches/wizards, Ruby is the most irresponsible. Cameron is the head boy and the kiss butt. Luke is the cute potential boyfriend for Andi. Andi had a boyfriend in "EWW" that was a zombie. Aggie is more caring and symphetic. Anyway this series is promising. 

Dream Cast: Magic School Bus

Magic School Bus was a series of books focused on science and became a cartoon in the mid-90s, Ms. Fizz was voiced by Lily Tomlin and she was the teacher who took her class on a magic school bus that defied science to show science. I thought of casting kids but kids grow up too fast and if you guys see this years later, it wouldn't make sense. So I decided to cast young adults in a sequel movie, they are little older and Ms. Fizz tracks them down to teach them one last lesson before they graduate for High School and she retires.

Vanessa Beyer/Ms. Frizz

Vaness Beyer (Saturday Night Live) has the right amount of energy and comedy timing to portray the eclectic Ms. Frizz. Her pet chameleon Liz can always be played by CGI and it's a non-speaking character. The bus also does not speak.

Dorothy Ann

She was the one that always said "According to my research." Dove Cameron from Descendants and that twin show on Disney Channel. 

 Carlos

He was always making bad puns. Tyler Alaverez of Every Witch Way. Fans have paired together Dorothy Ann and Carlos, I'd pair them together, where Carlos is more fun-loving and Dorothy Ann is stricter.

Keesha

Keesha was smart and came up with solutions. Riele Downs from Henry Danger.

Phoebe

She was new to their school and always said, "At my old school." Willa Fitzgerald of MTV's Scream has that sweet aproachable-ness. 

Ralphie

The dense jock. I'd go with Adam Devine as a retained (held back) Ralphie, who was a chubby kid who grew up to be a jock. Adam Devine is best known for Workaholics and Modern Family. He also voices Pizza Steve in Uncle Grandpa on Cartoon Network.

 Arnold

He was the scary cat who always wanted to leave. Robert Capron (Rowley from Diary of a Wimpy Kid) was a ginger and chubby but he's now older and slimmer, with glasses, he can draw sympathy as Arnold. 

Tim

He had zero personality on the show, in my dream movie he would be the level-headed one, the voice of reason. I'd pick Tyrel Jackson Williams from Disney XD's Labrats. 

Wanda

She was the pushy one. She would leap before thinking. Arden Cho plays the shy and nervous but kickass Kira on Teen Wolf.

Janet

Arnold's trouble-making cousin. Ariel Winter (Modern Family's Alex) will be 18 next year but could still pass a teenager. This role would be different that intelligent and snarky Alex as Janet, I imagine more as a tougher troublemaker, maybe even a sexy one. 

Dream Casting: Captain N: The Game Master

Captain N was a 1989-1991 animated series that incorporated elements from Nintendo games. It starred a teenager named Kevin who gets sucked into Videoland to aid Princess Lana (exclusively for the series), Simon Belmont of Castlevania and other games, Megaman of the Megaman games, Kid Icarus (Pit from the Kid Icarus games), and semi-anthropomorphic Gameboy. They fight against Mother Brain of Metroid, Eggplant Wizard (villain of Kid Icarus), King Hippo (villain of Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!) and Dr. Willy (Megaman villain). If they did this again, the characters might change as the most popular Nintendo characters these days are (besides Mario) Link (from Zelda), Pokemon, Donkey Kong, Sonic, Metroid, Kirby, etc. Well for old times sake, I'll 'dreamcast' the originals and a few others. I wouldn't add Pokemon because it is such a huge world, I wouldn't use Link and Zelda because Nintendo has said they don't want a Zelda movie since Link is supposed to be the gamers. I couldn't have Gameboy or even a DS because a DS couldn't have that sort of personality a Gameboy had in the cartoon. 

Captain N
I had a crush on the actor who played the live-action Kevin in the beginning, he just shot that one scene and was uncredited so never seen him again. In reality, a gamer like him would not be a football jock with a letterman jacket but a nerdy guy. These days there are cute nerds or adorkable guys. Zachary Gordon from Diary of a Wimpy Kid is now 17 and I think he'd do a great job, he's handsome but accessible. Instead of a Nintendo gun, he could have the Wii U controller.

Princess Lana
Lana was passive as a princess back in the late 80's but occasionally kicked a little butt. I don't like those princesses that kick butt, over sexualized but have no personality either. So I would want an equal to Captain N, a fighter, flawed but with personality and not helpless. I guess I'd go with Bella Thorne (Shake It Up, Scream Queens) but I'm sure in a few years, she'll be as forgotten as Miranda Cosgrove.


Simon Belmont
Simon was portrayed as stuck up and selfish in the cartoon, maybe he can be more of a silent warrior. In his last game, he had red hair and was a brute while in the cartoon, he was portrayed as an adventurer. I would like to see Taylor Kitsch who played John Carter, everyone gave him a bum rap but I think he'd do a good job.


Kid Icarus
He was portrayed as a plucky guy in the cartoon and small. Pit in the current games is portrayed much bigger. I would change him to be female but I am sure purists wouldn't like that. This one I couldn't come up with an actor.

 Megaman
He was portrayed as small and a kid in the cartoon, in the games and his own series, he is much taller and a little older. In this incarnation, I would see it as an aggressor and competitor to Captain N, a nick on his shoulder, a sort of teenage plucky guy. That's why I'd pick Josh Hutcherson (Hunger Games). He is cute, short, and a great actor, plus I wouldn't want him to be CGI or motion capture but be in the same suit.

Samus Aran
I was not going to use Samus of Metroid but I was going to use Donkey Kong but I realized we had too many males and not enough females. I would want Samus to have her own movie but maybe this could launch her into her own movie like Avengers has. Rita Volk would be a good choice, she plays Amy on Faking It on MTV. Samus appeared in a Captain N comic and he had a crush on her, I would like to see a love triangle between Samus, Kevin and Lana.


Kirby
This character would be CGI. I would add him as the 'cute' character. He was popular in the 90's and popular again. I would see him as a silent character.

Mother Brain
The main villain of Metroid and main villain of Captain N, she would obviously be CGI, a great voice would've been Joan Rivers but who would also be good is the voice of Ursula from the Little Mermaid.. Pat Caroll.

Eggplant Wizard
Kid Icarus' villain, he was a slapstick sidekick in the cartoon. I decided not to use King Hippo as the game Mike Tyson's Punch Out is pretty much forgotten. He of course would be CGI. Michael Donovan did his voice in the original and still does voices for stuff like Ninjago and Lego Star Wars so I don't see why he couldn't do it again.

King Dedede
Villain of Kirby, sometimes collaborates with him but I can him taking King Hippo's place as Eggplant Wizard's sidekick. He of course would be CGI. I would like to see Matthew Moy (Han from 2 Broke Girls) as his voice.

Dr. Willy
Megaman's villain, he can be the evil scientist sidekick of Mother Brain. I don't know why but I would picture super handsome John Slattery from Mad Men.

Humans Original Swedish series compared to British/American AMC/Channel 4 version

Humans (2015) is a joint British and American production from AMC and Channel 4, adapted from the original Swedish series Real Humans (2012) which lasted two seasons. I have seen the first season and part of the second of the Swedish series but without subtitles so I might miss some parts.

Both series deal with Synths/Hubots, robots that co-exist with humans and are helpers (nannies, cleaners, etc.) but there are more active A.I.'s along with Leo, who is a hybrid thanks to his father, the creator of the Synths. Leo is on the run with his 'siblings,' Synths that are aware with one killer Synth. Anyway, some things are rearranged. This contains spoilers, where Leo doesn't reunite with his 'siblings' in the original version. The main family, the Engman family didn't help out the active Synths while the Hawkins did. Dr. George Millican's (William Hurt) counterpart Lennart Solberg in the Swedish version was related to the Engman family but he did have his Hubot Odi, same name in both versions. Also D.S. Pete Drummond is a mixture of two characters, of Leif Andree, who had a wife who was into her Synth/Hubot but he wasn't a detective. 

There was much more characters in Real Humans and a lot of storylines were shorten and dumped in Humans. For example, the conscious Hubots have more storyline of hiding from people. Also Roger's wife Camila, which is Peter's wife's counterpart has a longer storyline about being with her robot and she has a friend that is married to her robot. Also there is a whole subplot of Odi being with traffickers and criminals. 

 Leo Eischer/Leo Elster

In Real Humans, played by semi-famous Sweish actor Andreas Wilson and in Humans, semi-famous Colin Morgan (Merlin). Both handsome fellows who their fathers David were robot creators. Leo drowned and was saved by their father and was made into a hybrid. He sought his siblings. In Real Humans, Leo died in the end of season one and didn't reunite with Mimi/Anita. Mimi/Mia was his mother figure.

Mimi/Mia/Anita

Both were named Anita by their families. Both were mother figures to Leo. Both were made to have other programs to replace them. I am not sure about season 2 of Real Humans but Anita did not turn back into Mimi in season 1. 

Inger Engman/Laura Hawkins

Both heads of households, both lawyers, both uneasy about Anita. I am not too sure about Inger because I don't know Swedish and didn't see the show subbed. Laura eventually gets on the side of Mia once she sees it for herself who she is. 

 Hans Engman/Joe Hawkins

Both brought Anita home. Joe had sex with Anita while I don't think Hans did. The Engman family was all blonde while the Hawkins family is mixed when Joe is ginger, Laura has reddish-brown hair and all their kids are brunettes but Sophie is dirty blonde. 

Tobias Engman/Toby Hawkins

Both teenage boys, both had a thing for Anita. But Toby was more innocent as Tobias actually felt up Anita in Real Humans and saw her naked. 

 Matilda Engman/Matilda Hawkins

Both are eldest child of the family. Both hackers but Mattie is much more so in Humans. Both hacked into Anita. In Real Humans, Matilda worked at the supermarket where Odi broke down.

Sofia Engman/Sophie Hawkins

Both the youngest, both bonded with Anita.

Lennart Solberg/Dr. George Millican

Both elder men who have a robot named Odi. Lennart was related to the mom Inger in Real Humans while unrelated to the Hawkins in Humans. Both are given rougher female model robots to replace the broken down Odi. George worked for Leo's dad David and has more connection to the Synths. In Humans, he is played by William Hurt and is killed. As of season 1, Lennart was alive. 

Odi

Lennart's beloved but broken down Hubot. He is stolen and reprogrammed for criminals which continues into season 2 of Real Humans. In Humans, he is just abandoned and returned to George, he had memories that helped George.

Roger/Ove/D.S. Peter Drumond

Engman's neighbor Roger works at a Hubot warehouse and lives with his wife Therese and step-son Kevin (who has his own plots) in the beginning of the series. Camila then begins a relationship with her hubot Rick. She moves out. In Real Humans, he is a detective and only alludes to his wife Jill with being with her Synth. Peter almost has a relationship with Karen. Peter is a combo of Roger and Ove, a detective in Real Humans.

Niska

In Real Humans she is the leader of the conscious Hubots and killer. In Humans, she worked as a prostitute, was a killer but then resentful for it. Even sort of bonds with Sophie. Humans' Niska is a mix of two Hubots from Real Humans, as another was a prostitute. 

Max

Both followed Leo around but in Real Humans, Max did not have free will yet and was destroyed. In Humans, Max does have free will and sacrifices himself for the others. 

 Bea Novak/Karen Voss

Both are detectives that turn out to be robots that were designed to look like Leo's dead mom. In Humans, she betrays the other conscious robots. In Real Humans she does speak to Niska from time to time. In Real Humans, she bonds with Roger and in Humans, she sort of has a connection with Peter, Roger's counterpart.