BEVERLY HILLS — Never underestimate the staying power of a pig.
Since conquering TV with The Muppet Show in the '70s, the Muppets have never been too far from our screens, big and small. And now, come fall, they'll be back on ABC in The Muppets — led, as usually, by
The gimmick for this new series is that it's a reality show taking us "behind the scenes" at Miss Piggy's talk show, Up Late with Miss Piggy.
"We've been given unfettered access," says producer
And yes, of course, Kermit was on the panel at the Television Critics Association press tour. And he was asked about his relationship with Miss Piggy.
"Piggy and I have gone our separate ways romantically," Kermit says. "I guess it's just coming out in the press now. It can be tough to work with your ex. It can be tough to be the executive producer on your ex's talk show, particularly when your ex is a pig."
Can they get back together? "People change. So do frogs and pigs."
For now, though, Kermit has moved on. His latest girlfriend is a pig who works for ABC. "I do have an attraction to pigs."
Which brought forth Miss Piggy, who immediately began complaining about the chairs and the men's lack of chivalry and the terrible way most of the critics dress. When she's right, she's right.
"I'm glad we're broken up," says Miss Piggy. "It's going to be good for moi's publicity. Now everyone's going to be asking 'Who is Miss Piggy snogging?'"
"Not asking," says Kermit.
The goal with this show, says Prady, is to be "exactly the same and completely different" from the original Muppet Show. And that includes recreating the hidden-camera look of a reality show — even though it's impossible to catch a puppet off guard or capture a puppet's casual moment because, you know, they're puppets.
"To the certain extent from a production side, this is a magic trick," says Prady. "It's going to this amazing world and getting it to look hap-hazard and casual."
"This has been very cool for me," says Prady, "especially since I began my writing career with
