'Muppets Now' Episode 6 Review: Seth Rogen guest-stars as amusing characters bid adieu in fun-filled finale
With one final episode, 'Muppets Now' closes out its first season, which has for the most part done exactly what it set out to do - bring the Muppets back to television with the humor they're best known for. The season has had its ups and downs, billed as following an unscripted format that has about the same success rate as a scripted sketch show might have had. Ultimately, though, it's been a season that does what the Muppets do best - bring hilarity to the screen with delightfully silly characters all operating in an arena of Hollywood showbiz. The final episode does not particularly stand out from anything else in the season, but it's as good a place to end as any.
The gag for Scooter's upload troubles this episode sees Scooter's (David Rudman) system get overloaded as he's made the co-manager of the Muppets' new social media site. It's a fun gag, especially when he mixes the live chat option with the live cat option, but sadly misses an opportunity to plug all the Muppets' individual live Twitter pages that are at least as fun as the show itself.
The first segment up is the 'Muppet Labs: Field Test', which saw new Muppet Joe from Legal (Peter Linz) join Dr Bunsen Honeydew (Dave Goelz) and Beaker (David Rudman) to make sure that their experiments don't get out of hand. Joe's experiment was always doomed to failure, as the opportunity to see things get out of hand is Dr Honeydew's entire mission statement. The science partners continue to have the most fun of any Muppet on the show, and if their brief educational references could be spruced up, 'Muppet Labs: Field Test' would be a worthy series all on its own.
'Okey Dokey Kookin' sees the Swedish Chef jealously guard his secret for a giant meatball from Chef Maria Michelson - the segment employed a gag that revealed the inner distress in host Beverly Plume's (Julianne Buescher) mind that's more distracting than it is funny. Over on Miss Piggy's (Eric Jacobson) 'Lifesty' segment - which finally corrects the segment title to 'Lifestyle' - it's a more rushed, subdued showing with recurring guest stars Taye Diggs and Linda Cardellini barely getting a word in edgewise.
The highlight of the episode was Fozzie Bear's (Eric Jacobson) interview with Seth Rogen on 'Mup Close & Personal'. The two comedians play well off of each other. It's a shame that the segment continued the trend of introducing other Muppets that distract from the interview - Seth Rogen makes a great guest star all on his own when he's not being distracted by Muppet babies, and Fozzie Bear is the perfect comedic companion. You wish you could see more of them interacting, but sadly, the segment feels like it's over almost as soon as it begins.
'Muppets Now' has been exactly what you'd expect and want from a series like this - it may not have exceeded expectations, but it's a comfortably amusing show that's worth a watch for anyone seeking new Muppet content. It may not be the thing that brings in new viewers, but with a tighter focus on what works, it's definitely a show that deserves at least another season, one with a lot more episodes.
All episodes of Season 1 of 'Muppets Now' are now available to stream on Disney+.
