The Muppets has definitely had an up-and-down start to its freshman run. There have been some really great, funny episodes mixed with a few terrible ones But any brand new series deserves time to find its sea legs. After what I deemed the worst episode so far last week, “Too Hot To Handler” was a solid rebound for the beloved Muppet crew.
This week on The Muppets: Chelsea Handler is a guest on the show, and announces what she’s looking for in a man. Scooter, an admirer of Chelsea’s, ask her out, and they begin dating. Meanwhile, Kermit is worried that Fozzie’s relationship is moving too fast, so he meddles to try and help Fozzie.
I will be honest: I was not expecting to like this one. Scooter dating Chelsea Handler? Scooter had not been my favorite character on the show to this point, so I was worried how they’d handle a Scooter-centric plot. I thought it was handled beautifully. Scooter was steadily dorky and child-like, and mixing him with Chelsea Handler turned out to be just the right blend to make the story work. All the bits with him getting advice from Pepe and Rizzo (my favorites) worked really well, too. At the center of it, though, “Too Hot to Handler” told a truly human story of how two extremely different people can make a relationship work. Even when you’re getting advice from rats and king prawns.
I didn’t find the Kermit/Fozzie subplot nearly so funny. It was well-intentioned, and still proved to be a solid complement to the main plot involving Scooter. Ultimately, though, I just didn’t find it funny. The Muppets was trying to play Kermit’s exasperation with Fozzie’s immaturity for laughs, and it just didn’t work at all. Fozzie’s silly little misdirects were sort of amusing, but none of them really landed. The best part of all of it was when Kermit kept trying to talk to Bobo, and Bobo thought he was doing a cut away. Still, though, as much as the device didn’t work for me from a humor standpoint, it was another extremely realistic and humanized story about two friends who deeply care for each other. Kermit and Fozzie as best friends keeps the Muppet universe afloat.
As always, here are some of my favorite quotes/moments from the episode:
- “Sometimes, after Mom goes to bed, I switch the TV to the ‘naughty language channels.’ And that’s where I found Chelsea Handler.”- Scooter
- “Scooter, you yell ‘Wheeee’ every time you ride an escalator.” “Well excuse me for enjoying the magical flying stairs!”
- “Cheese and crackers, I am a dork.”- Scooter’s startling revelation
- “Trust me Scooter, you are a boy toy.”- Uncle Deadly
- “Don’t skip the dirty stuff cause I was born in a sewer. You are not going to shock me.”- Rizzo
- “You’re trying to land a woman not a plane!”- Pepe, regarding overuse of hand gestures
- “Why is there a number two pencil? Like, why isn’t one good enough?”- Bobo
This was a huge improvement from the previous episode. Not all of it landed, but it had a lot of good things going on. Once this freshman series has found its sea legs, it has the potential to be a solid network comedy.
What did you guys think? Did you enjoy this episode? Let us know!
The Muppets airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC.
[Photo credit: Nicole Wilder/ABC]
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