Muppets Mayhem nods to their decadent past while embracing their sweetness.
FLOYD PEPPER: “You know, we ain’t seen you since that night in Wellington, when we met the Feebles.”
PETER JACKSON: “Yeah it was a bad night. Two of them are in witness protection. The rest are in prison.”
As I watched Episode 8 of Muppets Mayhem last night on Disney+, the second that Peter Jackson appeared in a cameo, I held my breath. Could it be? Could Jackson’s spectacularly unhinged, depraved satire of The Muppets, his second movie, sandwiched between cult gorefest classics Bad Taste (1987) and Dead Alive (1992), Meet the Feebles (1989), possibly be acknowledged by the official Disney owned Muppets universe? Squeeeee! Yes indeed! What an amazing Easter egg, something that probably 99% of the viewers had no clue what these Feebles are. If The Muppet Show, which aired from 1976-81, implied a subtext of danger, chaos and debauchery, Meet the Feebles lifted the rock to expose the grimy underbelly, stuffed the maggots and muppet fluids into a crack pipe, and smoked it. While some audiences who associated the Muppets with the childhood innocence of Sesame Street were likely traumatized by the hard drugs, Vietnam flashbacks, violence, kink, and, yes, Muppet fluids, others gleefully reveled in the fun.
And yet, while some may complain about the Disneyfication of the Muppets since the 2005 acquisition, I’m thoroughly enjoying the latest iteration in Muppets Mayhem. While I also liked the adult humor and The Office/Modern Family/Parks & Recreation style mockumentary approach of the 2015 ABC series, I think it was wise to resist the temptation to make the long-running Muppets house band, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, a salty, cynical cautionary tale of addiction and betrayal that could have devolved into a boilerplate Behind the Music style cliché. Throughout all the phases of the Muppets’ shows and movies, the Electric Mayhem consistently portrayed a blissful innocence and zen-like calm no matter what chaotic shenanigans were happening around them. Well, then there’s Animal. Frank Oz once summarized the character’s motivations with five simple words: sex, sleep, food, drums, and pain. In other words, pure Id. And of course his past behaviors of chasing women screaming “WOMAN!!” have been dialed down. It would be tone-deaf not to. Besides, he probably had to attend at least one mandatory sexual harassment session. But he’s always also had a sweet side, and some of the best bits in the show involve Animal (‘Kay bye! Kay bye! Kay bye!).
There are subtle nods to the band’s past excesses. Zoot’s mind is clearly crippled from long-term drug use. But the show rightly focuses on their pure, innocent joy of playing music, bonded by a half-century of friendship strengthened by the love of rocking. Sure, they wobble from their path as they grapple with producers like Zedd who try to modernize their sound, and tackle their own personal demons. Lilly Singh is charming enough as long suffering wannabe producer Nora, though her own love story is probably the least interesting aspect of the show.
Do I wish the Electric Mayhem decided to cover Sebastian’s “Sodomy” — “ Sodomy, you make think it really odd of me/ But I enjoy the act of sodomy/You may call the wrath of God on me/ But if you tried it then you might agree/ That you enjoy the act of sodomy” for a B-side? Kinda. But what the entertainment world needed in 1989 is much different than what it needs now, which is some refreshingly earnest healing through music and kindness, and Muppets Mayhem is bountiful with both.
So how’s the music? Pretty good, considering the tricky situation of keeping the band true to their past while not sounding completely out of touch in a world that unjustly considers rock music unfashionable, even though it continues to permeate every aspect of our culture. The theme song, performed in it’s entirety live at the show’s Hollywood premiere, is catchy. In one bit they sing only songs old enough to be public domain, a dig at how expensive, even for Disney, it is to cover popular songs like Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” The writing isn’t quite as strong as the original songs in Daisy Jones & the Six, but nothing is so bad to distract from the story.
The one thing that would have had me even more chuffed than the Peter Jackson/Feebles scene, would have been a cameo from Electric Light Orchestra’s Jeff Lynne where they’d play “Jungle.” Maybe next season?
I’m not the only one to think covering ELO’s “Jungle” is a good idea. Here’s some off-brand Muppets taking a crack at it.
