I didn't mean to imply that the end result isn't good, just that it's kind of odd how Pete Docter seems to be the only director who can make it through a complete production process for an original (non-sequel) Pixar film recently.

As @avclub-ef7d8ff636c7f5e86f5e63b5acfd2859:disqus mentioned, Ratatouille also falls into that category.

Yeah, it's not my favorite, but it's not a "shrug" (though that's a pretty perfect descriptor for the easy cash-in sequels like Cars 2).

Yeah, their record with non-sequels that aren't by Pete Docter is kind of crappy as of late.

I feel like it's a little unfair to lump Brave in with Cars 2 and Monsters University. If anything, it has more in common with this film (non-sequel with troubled production in which the original writer/director was fired and replaced with extensive rewrites).

I think the thing that Ebert missed was that Team America isn't really supposed to be satire of the real world, it's satire of the world as presented in Jerry Bruckheimer/Michael Bay action movies.

Yeah, if anything The Muppets' production lead-time is probably quite a bit greater seeing as it's got, you know, puppets and stuff.

The weirder thing for me is that his tongue always seems to be lolling out of his head

Heh… classic.

I kind of agree with Vago's assessment of Magnolia (and even Boogie Nights, to a certain extent) of just being a bunch of scenes that don't really add up to a satisfying movie.

Yeah, same here. And I feel like it's such a well-established filming style at this point that it felt overly hand-holdy that The Muppets felt like it needed to explain it explicitly.

The first couple episodes were more explicitly a "documentary" in the mode of The Office, but they decided to have Leslie stop acknowledging the camera in subsequent seasons (aside from talking heads) so yeah.

Yeah, but they didn't really mention it at all in the second episode, which is what I was referring to. I think it's kind of silly to call too much attention to it.

Yeah, I mean, I'm not expecting him to carry a B-story or whatever, but if they give him a line a couple times a season I'll be happy.

Yeah, I feel like everyone micro-examining everything Kermit says that isn't overwhelmingly warm or friendly is just hurting the show. The version that relies on easy nostalgia and is super kid-friendly, where all the characters are nice to each other all the time isn't a show that anybody actually wants to watch.

I think the answer is: Who cares? Walter was never very interesting, seeing as he was mostly an audience surrogate. He doesn't really have any defining characteristics other than "loves The Muppets and is good at whistling" so it's not like there's really a ton of comedy to wring from adding him to a scene.

Yeah, I think they did a better job not calling so much attention to the mockumentary style, letting it just kind of be unexplained like on Modern Family or Parks and Rec, rather than trying to justify why they're being filmed and drawing a lot of attention to the handheld camera like they did in the pilot.

Yeah, all I could think after that scene was dear god, I hope this is a running gag with the show and Lawrence Fishburne just hangs out to antagonize Kermit all the time. Probably wishful thinking.

I loved that too, especially after reading the Bill Prady interview where he said he didn't know if they could incorporate Lew Zealand into the show's "real" universe.

They also already made one in the actual review. And in the series preview. And every single other time this show has been mentioned anyplace.