Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/01/14/the-muppets-perform-nine-inch.html
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They literally have a character called Animal, and didn’t use him in context SMH.
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I’m… not sure how I feel about that.
It’s well done and I understand the impulse, but the good-natured sweetness of the muppets makes me want to dislike the mashup.
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Video looks to have been taken down 
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If it weren’t for the copyright, trademark, and persona rights issues, this would make an excellent test case for YouTube and the FTC’s COPPA settlement. All YouTube videos must now be marked whether they are intended for children, or, as YouTube calls it “Made for Children.” There are acres and acres of grey area when in comes to how the FTC might categorize videos, yet YouTube content providers are on the hook for guessing right, and YouTube is going to try to make AI bots to enforce that.
The FTC guidelines have something like 10 factors to consider when determining whether the video is intended for children, but it doesn’t say how they’ll be weighted.
This song is clearly for mature audiences given the f-bombs and the sexual (and philosophical!) themes. But the Muppets and several of the celebrities here are characters that appeal to children. Puppets aren’t exactly animation and cartoon characters, but I imagine the FTC simple messed up when they didn’t include them in their 10 guidelines.
Anyway, this is a brilliant and well executed mash-up. It’s a shame this work of art will be lost to the IP hole. Just the fact that it (so beautifully) combines innocent childhood fun with adult fun is itself an artistic statement about the complexity of the human experience.
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i was fully expecting that when the chorus hits to see a second of Animal with one of his mouth-dropped, slow head turn, blinking “excuse me??” sort of looks. i’m sort of amazed it’s not in there anywhere.
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Still there for me.
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Suddenly I have a desire to see Gonzo the Great sing “Hurt”.
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For years I’ve wanted to do Johnny Cash’s Closer.
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Wait, what?
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How about Kermit?
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You spelled ‘lip-sync’ wrong in the headline.
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Those particular episodes were back when the Muppet Show was still conceived primarily for an adult audience and typically aired after 8pm. That the current property owners of the Muppets franchise discarded the original ironic intent (likely when they started making the Muppet films) doesn’t mean the old shows are at all appropriate for children.
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Weirdly, I was happy with this: it was the Muppets miming to NIN, except for Rowlf the Dog. He seemed to mean it, somehow. Anyone else see this?
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Cool fanvid!
“Meep Mee!”
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Those particular episodes were back when the Muppet Show was still conceived primarily for an adult audience
Yes, more adult than the primarily preschool audience of Sesame Street. For the FTC and COPPA, “children” includes people up to 13 years old. The Muppet Show had plenty of appeal for tweens. The Muppet Show branded toy lines were list for children 3 years old and up. (And not lower because of the choking hazard of the small parts.)
The FTC rules that YouTube agreed to are, at best, fuzzy when it comes to content that’s made to appeal to a “general audience” that includes adults and kids.
And regardless of The Muppet Show’s intended demographic, it had characters that strongly appealed to children via Sesame Street, and even some of the celebrities, like Rita Moreno who starred in the Electric Company. As YouTube states, the factor in question here is:
“Whether the video includes characters, celebrities, or toys that appeal to children, including animated characters or cartoon figures.”
Kids love Muppets, but this video clearly isn’t for them. That’s the crux of why I think it would be an interesting test case.
and typically aired after 8pm.
My recollection was that is was syndicated and, in many metros, typically aired at 7:30 p.m. then considered part of prime time. Anyway, I don’t this it’s very relevant to evaluating whether this mash-up is attractive to children.
That the current property owners of the Muppets franchise discarded the original ironic intent (likely when they started making the Muppet films)
The current property owners are Disney, but they are not the ones who started making the Muppet films. The original Muppet Movie came out in 1979 and was produced by Henson Associates, essentially the same folks who produced The Muppet Show. The movie was rated G in the US. In Australia, they trimmed a scene because a threat of violence was considered too intense for young children.
doesn’t mean the old shows are at all appropriate for children.
Even the second pilot, entitled The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, which originally aired in prime time on ABC in the U.S., is listed as “Family, Comedy, Music”. But whether you agree whether it was appropriate for children under 13 is probably irrelevant to whether the FTC would consider the Muppets child-oriented or not. The fact remains that many of the Muppet characters are hugely appealing to children.
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Yeah, uh, no.
That song is for 13 year old girls.
Prefer the reboot:
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It’s not all good-natured sweetness. It’s used sparingly, but they work in low-key wink-wink, nudge-nudge subversive jokes for the adults watching with their kids.
For example, their take on, “In the Navy” by Village People in 1981. Hilarious.
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