Muppets - 2007 presentation pilot (lost pilot of cancelled Muppet series; 2007)
After The Muppets Present failed to come together, a new 'mockumentary'-style Muppet series was proposed by writer Bill Prady, who had previously worked with the Muppets (and later became famous for The Big Bang Theory) and featured puppetry work by Bill Barretta, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire and Eric Jacobson. A ten-minute presentation was created in December 2006 featuring a documentary filmmaker trailing Kermit as he tries to reunite the Muppets for a new show.
Prady later stated he was told to "destroy every copy [of the pilot] I have." in a 2015 interview.[1]
The concept of the series is similar to that later used several years later by Prady for The Muppets series released on ABC in 2015, which also had a mockumentary format, though the filmmakers are off-screen and rarely acknowledged, and the Muppet characters are co-workers on a talk show hosted by Miss Piggy. By this time, however, the 'mockumentary' style had been popularized by The Office and Modern Family for over a decade, and became a focus of criticism.
See Also
- Sam and Friends (partially found Jim Henson puppet TV series; 1955-1961)
- Wilkins and Wontkins (partially lost series of Jim Henson commercials; 1957-1969)
- The Muppets' early ads (partially lost series of commercials; 1962-1969)
- Sesame Street (partially lost children's educational TV series; 1969-present)
- The Dark Crystal (partially found high-quality version of workprint/director's cut of puppet fantasy film; early 1980s)
- The Power of The Dark Crystal (lost production materials from canceled sequel to "The Dark Crystal" fantasy film; 1982-2014)
- Fraggle Rock (partially found British co-production of puppet children's television series; 1984-1990)
Reference
- ↑ Bloomberg's interview with writer Bill Prady. Retrieved 23 Aug '17