Muppet Babies

MUPPET BABIES
Made by: Jim Henson Productions
Shown on: BBC1
Years shown: lates 80s-mid 90s

Theme tune: “Muppet babies, will do anything for you/Muppet babies will make your dreams come true…I like adventure! (Kermit)/I like romance! (Piggy)/I love great jokes! (Fozzie)/Animal dance! (Animal)/I’ve got my computer! (Scooter)/I swing through the air! (Skeeter)/I play the piano! (Rowlf)/And I’ve got blue hair - Wa! (Gonzo)/Me, I invent things (Bunsen)/Meep meep meep meeeep!! (Beaker)/Is everyone all right in here? (Nanny)/YES, NANNY! (all)…”

Very few people who consider themselves to be television connoisseurs would debate that The Muppets was a creation of comic brilliance, and since then, only The Simpsons can really challenge it for across-the-board appeal, and consistently ingenious creations. But, considering its critical success, who on earth allowed this to be commissioned? The Muppet Babies was a cartoon which followed the small-scale adventures of all the regular Muppets’ characters, when they were infants living in a nursery together. It had an maddeningly catchy theme (see above; but you cannot possibly appreciate the effect it had unless you actually hear the original), and was drippy and insipid in the extreme. A junior Kermit the Frog, dressed in a sailor suit, would lead his pals into all kinds of crazy capers, which would always turn out to be the products of the kids’ vivid imaginations, having all taken place on a much smaller scale in their nursery. Piggy was, of course, in love with poor Kermit; Fozzie was a bad comedian-in-training; Animal was crazed and incomprehensible; precocious Scooter was surfing the information super-highway; Skeeter was putting some early stunt-training to the test; Rowlf the dog was becoming a piano virtuoso; Gonzo’s love for Piggy was unrequited and unwanted; Bunsen was diligently inventing things with his alarmingly elaborate chemistry set; and Beaker? Well, Beaker was always anxious, and probably with good reason: the Nanny who looked after them all seemed to consist only of a pair of legs with the hem of a skirt.

SQUARE EYES RATING: 3/10

(Thanks to www.clivebanks.co.uk for the borrowed pic)