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TV Show Mash-Up


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Ok, so we had three live action series.

There's a hint of a movie, if not during the first incarnation then almost certainly during the third.

We also had two animated spinoffs about which we know nothing other than their existence.

The third live series, though not popular with audiences, did well with critics.

The original lasted five seasons. The other two live action series had different titles.

 

Got it. I think.

The Muppet Show was the first. The Muppets was the last. Not sure what the middle series was.

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10 hours ago, Raf said:

Ok, so we had three live action series.

There's a hint of a movie, if not during the first incarnation then almost certainly during the third.

We also had two animated spinoffs about which we know nothing other than their existence.

The third live series, though not popular with audiences, did well with critics.

The original lasted five seasons. The other two live action series had different titles.

 

Got it. I think.

The Muppet Show was the first. The Muppets was the last. Not sure what the middle series was.

CORRECT!    The Muppet Show was the first.  Later seasons have passing mentions of The Muppet Movie (the Christopher Reeve episode has Miss Piggy preparing to sing "Never Before" and mentioning to Kermit she sang it to him in the movie.)   The third show, "the muppets ", came out shortly after the movie "The Muppets."  The animated spinoffs were "the Muppet Babies", and one version is current.   The critics seemed to applaud "the muppets" but the ratings were in the basement and the show was pulled fast.  The Muppet Show lasted 5 seasons, "the muppets" lasted one, and "Muppets Tonite" was 2 seasons long (picking up a second season when it was dropped by one network and picked up by another-the Family Channel IIRC.)  

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On 6/16/2019 at 3:35 AM, WordWolf said:

Not any form of Brady.    None of the shows I mentioned were animated.  (I chose not to mention 2 animated spinoffs among my clues.)

The "Muppet Babies" spinoffs (both with that name)  were animated, but the 3 shows had live guests and muppets as the actors.

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On 6/15/2019 at 2:20 PM, WordWolf said:

Knowing your posting history, I would not be surprised if you never sat down to watch ANY of them. However, you certainly know the first show, and may know of at least the most recent.

Having NEVER seen The Muppet Movie, (it came up once), George sounds like he may never have seen any Muppet show, ever.

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On 6/15/2019 at 2:45 AM, WordWolf said:

This show lasted for 5 seasons.  It had 2 shows eventually follow.  One/the 2nd used a very similar format and lasted for about 2 seasons (changing networks in the process.)  The third/other used a completely different format and lasted 1 season.  Apparently, critics seemed to like it, but the public didn't watch it. (Me, I thought it was awful, but I don't speak for everyone. In fact, I found "The Star Wars Holiday Special" more watchable.)    None of the shows premiered while any of the others was in production of new episodes, nor did they premiere shortly after any of the others ended filming.    Although the first show occasionally made a passing reference to a cinematic release, AFAIK, the others did not (in the case of the last one, that seems just a little strange, given the timing.)      Name the first show (for bragging rights, the names of all 3 shows.)

I found the 3rd series unwatchable. 

All the shows had different names from each other.  However, you'd know they shared characters just from the titles.

Another tidbit is that all 3 shows premiered in different decades, and were not only separated by a few months (one premiering at the end of one decade, another at the beginning of the next), they premiered  long after the preceding one had entered syndication in one form or another.   BTW, my mention of The SWHS was not a clue, just a measure of how unwatchable I found the newest show.

The third show was billed as a sort of "slice of life comedy" and a "mockumentary".  I found the resulting product both unfunny and an abandonment of everything that made the first show memorable and accessible to the whole family (a classic, as I see it.)  You may disagree, of course (the critics did and I don't know why.) 

Another example of Hollywood not being able to find 2 brain cells to rub together was that the first show was unable to find a studio or network willing to take a chance on it anywhere IN Hollywood. Eventually they found one elsewhere, and the results were excellent.

 

The first show was "The Muppet Show", the second was "Muppets Tonight", and the third was "the muppets'.    When Jim Henson was putting together his first muppet show, he was unable to find any interest whatsoever in Hollywood. He had to go to the UK and ITV to find a home.  ITV's subgroup, ATV,  was run by Lew Grade.   There's a nod to him in The Muppet Movie-  the Hollywood producer played by Orson Wells, was named "Lew Lord" (Lew Grade became Lord Lew Grade in 1976.)  It looks like the Muppet Show may have been filmed at Elstree Studios, a name which should ring a bell for fans of the original Star Wars trilogy.

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Kermit helps a bewitched princess...

 

Wait, did she talk backwards? And Kermit's nephew was like the Frog Prince, only he wasn't a prince but a knight, Sir Robin the Brave? THAT special where Kermit helped a bewitched princess?

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She didn't actually talk backwards (a la Zatanna); but she spoke in spoonerisms.  Her dad, the king, could never understand her, but Kermit could figure most of them out.  The one he couldn't get, until the end, was to break the witch's spell, one had to "bake the hall in the candle of her brain."  (Break the ball in the handle of her (the witch's) cane.)  My favorite part was Kermit singing "Sweetum" to sleep, before Sweetums would eat him:  "Sweetums, lay your ugly head, Down upon your wretched bed.  Close your eyes and go to sleep, Rest, you hulking heap.  Sweetums is so sweet and cute,  Go to sleep, you stupid brute."  At which point Sweetums would say "Nighty-night!" and pass out.  This happened a few times, before Sweetums caught on:  "Sweetums eat froggie, NOW!!!!"   :jump:  I remember seeing this show while visiting my grandmother, who died in 1976.  I haven't seen it since.

I like the Muppets, fine; I just never watched them.

George 

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Kermit was kind of a narrator/supporting player. Robin was the star of this special.

 

Ok, next...

 

The producers of this show hired 200 people to take phone calls from complaining viewers after an episode that featured a lesbian wedding. They received 11 complaints.

One actress on this series occasionally her character's twin sister on another series. The two series were originally unconnected, but the producers figured they had these two characters played by the same actress... what the hell, why not make them twin sisters?

The ditziest character on the show is played by an actress considered the smartest by her castmates.

 

 

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12 hours ago, Raf said:

Kermit was kind of a narrator/supporting player. Robin was the star of this special.

 

Ok, next...

 

The producers of this show hired 200 people to take phone calls from complaining viewers after an episode that featured a lesbian wedding. They received 11 complaints.

One actress on this series occasionally her character's twin sister on another series. The two series were originally unconnected, but the producers figured they had these two characters played by the same actress... what the hell, why not make them twin sisters?

The ditziest character on the show is played by an actress considered the smartest by her castmates.

 

 

Knowing there was an episode of a show TITLED  The One With The Lesbian Wedding"  can put one on the right track.    As it turns out, "Mad About You" had Ursula, a neurotic waitress or something, played by Lisa Kudrow.  She also played Phoebe Bouffet, who has a neurotic sister named "Ursula." 

Both clues, AFAIK, don't apply to "Mad About You." However, they DO apply to "FRIENDS."

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Ok, next round. Here's a show I've never done before.

This show's original run was a single, long season from 1966 to 1967.  It had some syndication success after the run ended, both domestically and overseas.  (Mrs Wolf used to watch it.)    It includes a nonexistent government agency and its major project.  The show made some guesses about the future (but it supposedly took place in the year it was filmed/aired, which I thought was odd.)   The 2 most important characters were played by an actor remembered as playing one of the Maverick brothers, and another who is remembered around here as playing Vic Fontaine on Star Trek - Deep Space 9.)     Each episode ended in a "teaser" of the next episode (something a number of other shows have done, with at least one having a similar focus.)   The series ended without resolving the primary storyline.

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11 hours ago, GeorgeStGeorge said:

The Time Tunnel.  One of my favorites.  Sad it had such a short run.

George

That's it.   I think the show certainly had a strong start. Episode 1 introduced everything, including setting up the plot for the series, AND fit in an adventure on the HMS Titanic!

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Okay.  Well, here's what I THIUGHT I posted a couple of weeks ago:

This popular show had one spinoff, which has had two spinoffs of its own.  All three spinoffs are currently running, and characters from the original show occasionally appear (including as late as the current season).

Unused footage from movies like Top Gun, Flight of the Intruder, Clear and Present Danger, and The Hunt for Red October (all movies from Paramount Pictures) was used in this television series (a Paramount Network Television production).   One episode was shot on the set of Crimson Tide.

Despite being on the air for ten seasons, and two hundred twenty-seven episodes, the show never had a female director.

George

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Yes.  And NCIS LA and NCIS NO spun off from it.  "AJ Chegwidden" has appeared on NCIS and NCIS LA a few times.  I know that "Bud Roberts" has appeared once or twice, and "Harm Rabb" and (sigh) "Sarah MacKenzie" are reunited (sort of) in this season's finale (with cliffhanger) of NCIS LA.

George

Edited by GeorgeStGeorge
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  • 2 weeks later...

10-4.

 

The show was filmed entirely on the Universal Studios back lot in Hollywood. The town square is the same central place that was used in Back to the Future and Gremlins.

Among the guest stars was Cesar Millan (a cameo appearance). Among the consultants, James Van Praagh. 

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If you know who Cesar Millan and Jams Van Praagh are, it's really really easy.

Then again, it takes a special talent, a gift if you will, to even catch what I'm saying.

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