The Muppets S01E04 “Pig Out” Review

Airing in the UK on Sky One, Mondays, 8pm
Writers: Bob Kushell, Dave Caplan (teleplay); Gregg Mettler, Nell Scovell (story)
Director: Randall Einhorn

Essential Plot Points:

• Miss Piggy finds out that the crew go for drinks after the show, and wants to go along too.
• Much to everybody’s surprise, the night ends up being a blast.
• Kermit has to trick Miss Piggy into never doing it again, as everybody is too hungover to work the next day.
• Fozzie puts Statler in hospital, then tries to make amends. Statler’s having none of it…
• Sam has a crush on Janice.

Review:

It’s good to see some of the supporting cast get some air time this week, as we learn not only that Sam likes Janice and the Chef likes to karaoke(!), but also that any attempt to humanise Statler is pointless. And thank heavens for that: everybody’s favourite grumpy curmudgeon is the one character (well, along with Waldorf) who doesn’t need any backstory or expanding at all, because he’s perfect just the way he is.

For a moment it looked as though he was going to be outed as a sad old guy in need of a friend, but even as Fozzie ran around trying to help him, it felt wrong. Hurrah for the writers knowing exactly where to back off!

Meanwhile Miss Piggy’s night out with the gang is an absolute blast – who knew watching Muppets singing karaoke could be so much fun? Although given how much fun we usually have watching them singing in their movies, it probably shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. The Chef in particular steals the entire episode with his gibberish rapping, although Scooter bouncing along to Don’t Stop Believin’ alongside Ed Helms is a hoot. (And how weird does he look the next morning without his glasses, eh?)

The Guests:

• Ed Helms

The Good:

• There are some brilliant one-liners this week, and Miss Piggy in particular proves that her voice performer (Eric Jacobson… incidentally, Piggy would probably die if she knew a man gave her a voice) can time a joke perfectly, as the pig swings from subject to subject with ease.

• Pepe the prawn, again, proves he’s one of the show’s greatest assets. Not only does he get a fantastic line when Miss Piggy tells a boring story (“Somebody peel and eat me already!”), he also wears a t-shirt that appears to say “CrustaceanNation”. Oh, and he pops in Statler’s false teeth and declares, “Look at me! I’m Bradley Cooper!”

• Miss Piggy asks the Chef if everybody goes out without her. Chef simply says, “Duuuuuuurrrrrrr…” and lowers himself under the desk. Priceless!

The Bad:

• Fozzie gets a B-plot again. Thankfully it’s not a big one, but still. Give a story to someone else!
• The lady in the crowd who catches a t-shirt has a face like a slapped arse. It’s only a t-shirt, luv, but could you at least look amused that it was fired at you from a cannon held by a bear?

Best Quote:

• Miss Piggy: “Do these diamonds make me look relatable?”

Reviewed by Jayne Nelson

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