Muppets Live Another Day

[bruno_wbt]

But there's Muppets Now announced for Disney+ already.

yeah! we saw a trailer for that on the D23 Expo!

[blackcauldron85]

^ Those shorts better be amazing. It's not a full show like MLAD would've been, if I'm not mistaken, but little shorts. I'm still looking forward to new Muppets stuff, but I'm hoping it's super good, and I'm still sad no new full show...

[rodrigo_ca]

I too would prefer a full show, but if those shorts are super successful I feel like it could have Disney to fa$t track a proper show along with the shorts

[blackcauldron85]

^ I sure hope you're right!!! (and that the shorts get lots of views!)

[Sotiris]

Confirmation of the show's cancellation straight from the horse's mouth. Apparently, it was to be a musical and the Lopezes had written four songs for the pilot.

Sadly, Eddy Kitsis, Adam Horowitz & I have decided to step away from Muppets Live Another Day. Sometimes, creative differences are just that. We LOVE this franchise so much & truly wish them all the best. Our 80’s-set sequel to Muppets Take Manhattan was pretty special & in particular I hope you all get to hear the four BRILLIANT songs written by Bobby Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez one day soon. They are beyond your wildest dreams. And also see some of the ideas & concepts director Jason Moore was going to bring to the 6 part limited series. And Adam, Eddy and I cant wait to find more fun and exciting opportunities with our great partners over there. In the meantime, long live the Muppets!

Source: https://twitter.com/joshgad/status/1171242148299079680

After a little over a year and a half of working on a project called "Muppets Live Another Day," Adam Horowitz, Eddy Kitsis, and I have decided, with a heavy heart, to walk away. Sometimes creative differences are just that. The project, with original songs by Bobby Lopez and Kristen Lopez was to be directed by the great Jason Moore, (director of “Avenue Q” and “Pitch Perfect”). It was meant to be a limited event series that picked up a year after “Muppets Take Manhattan” and was essentially about what happens after you’ve reached the end of the rainbow. It was going to be Muppets by way of Stranger Things and feel like a movie spread over 6-8 episodes. Part of the joy for us, by placing the Muppets in the middle of the 1980’s, was to subvert and comment on our current love for all things nostalgia while at the same time allowing the characters to tell a story that would ultimately lead to and end in present day, revealing some secrets along the way. It has been one of the great joys of all of our lives to write words for these iconic characters. We wish this franchise all the best and thank our partners at Disney+ and ABC Studios for the opportunity to develop something so fun and outside the box. They have been nothing but supportive and terrific and we can’t wait to play again in other sandboxes. While it is sad, I have no doubt this franchise, under its new leadership will find new and wonderful stories to tell. My only hope is that one day you can all hear the BRILLIANT music by Bobby and Kristen Anderson-Lopez wrote for Kermit and company. The music is next level good. In the meantime, Adam, Eddy and I are already cooking up new fun ideas that we cannot wait to share. Until then, long live “The Muppets.” They have given us joy for over 40 years and I have no doubt they will continue to bring us joy for the next 40 years.

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/B2OCcZeHhmI/

[UmbrellaFish]

This show would have been a lot more expensive to produce than a series of unscripted shorts.

[Sotiris]

More details on the behind-the-scenes drama.

Creators Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis (Once Upon a Time) and Josh Gad (Frozen) have walked away from the scripted comedy, called Muppets Live Another Day, which they had been quietly at work on for months, and Disney+ has opted to abandon work on the series. (Though never officially announced, the project has been in the works since at least February.)

Sources say the creative differences arose after producers Muppets Studios recently changed executives. Kitsis, Horowitz and Gad had been prepping what they playfully referred to as Muppets 1984, an eight-episode limited series that took place after the events of Muppets Take Manhattan. Kitsis and Horowitz had been working directly with Muppets Studios vp Debbie McClellan on the project.

However, McClellan recently departed and Disney CEO Bob Iger tapped Disney Parks Live Entertainment senior vp David Lightbody to take over Muppets Studios. Lightbody, sources say, wanted to do his own take on The Muppets, while Kitsis, Horowitz and Gad felt strongly about their vision for the show. Lightbody is said to have offered the trio the opportunity to move forward with The Muppets in a new way, but they opted to walk away from the show entirely rather than throw away months of work and a concept they believed in. Sources note that the parting was amicable.

Source: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live- ... ed-1238475

[blackcauldron85]

So the exec thought his idea was better, and that was it...his way or the highway. Not just anyone should be in charge of The Muppets...I think that someone who's a big fan who wants to see them succeed should. I wonder if the exec's idea is any good...if so, why not get a new team to make it? I still stand by what I said, if Disney can't handle The Muppets, sell them to someone who cares about them.

[Atlantica]

Oh wow that really is a shame ! I was looking forward to seeing that as well.

With the gluttony of all the stuff on Disney + surely there was room on there for their version of the series ? If it didn't work, then they can go with the executives idea. Such a big project to chuck as well, with some big talent as well. Shame.

[rodrigo_ca]

Yeah, I mean. WHY NOT BOTH? Deliver both series and let the public decide which one is the best. Smh

[Disney's Divinity]

So instead of one or both, Disney opted instead to do neither. What.

[Sotiris]

The short-form series "Muppets Now" is still on.

[Farerb]

I don't really care for The Muppets but I'm happy for those who do that these trashy hacks with no talent have no chance to ruin this franchise. I know some are disappointed by this but believe me when I say that this is better than the feeling of dispair and frustration from watching a show made by Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis.

[blackcauldron85]

^ Yeah, that is a good point. We don't want a sub-par show... Sigh. I just want more Muppets.

[JeanGreyForever]

Lol after Lost and Once Upon a Time, this is a blessing.

[estefan]

I wasn't a big fan of the first season of "Once Upon a Time" (haven't see the rest of the show), as it was a little too soap opera-ish for my tastes, but Josh Gad was obviously very passionate about getting to work with the Muppets and it would be neat to see Horowitz and Kitsis apply their talents to a more comedic series.

And yes, I stand by my opinion that every screenwriter is talented and, unless they're a monster and creep, deserve to have every opportunity to bring their ideas to life. It's all about pairing them with the right project and collaborators and Muppets Live Another Day seemed like such a project. They were also the show runners of an entire series for seven seasons and were heavily involved in the writing of "Lost." Plus, they recently impressed Steven Spielberg enough to get the showrunning job on the new "Amazing Stories" series. If Spielberg thinks highly of you, I think that's enough to be considered a good writer. These two obviously aren't a pair of dingbats who don't know what they're doing.

I will say I loved their script for "Tron: Legacy" and I loved the concept they and Josh Gad thought up for this Muppet show we will now never get to see.

[JeanGreyForever]

The first season of OUAT was the best season. If you thought that was too soap opera-ish then you have no idea what you were missing in the later seasons, even starting as far as S2.

I'm not sure Lost is a particularly good example to cite because of how unsatisfactory that show's ending was with literally no questions answered that had been raised over six seasons worth of material. Their collaboration with JJ Abrams on that may be why Spielberg is a fan of them though.

[Sotiris]

Josh Gad shared a couple of pages from the script. Apparently, Steve Martin was set to appear on the show.

https://twitter.com/joshgad/status/1244850158682046464

[blackcauldron85]

Thank you for sharing that!!! Jon Stewart was going to be on it, too: That Fozzie page* (the bottom half, what I could read) made me laugh. I wish this show was still happening. (*scroll down to the bottom of Josh's tweet)

[Sotiris]

Jon Stewart was going to be on it, too: That Fozzie page* (the bottom half, what I could read) made me laugh. (*scroll down to the bottom of Josh's tweet)

No, that was from a different project: the canceled 1999 film "The Next Muppet Movie".