I'm not going to have access to Disney+ or CBS All Access for a few months, so it's going to be a while before I have a chance to really dig into these shows, but I wanted to at least put down a few initial thoughts on the latest Muppets and "Star Trek" series.
"Muppets Now" returns to the Muppets' sketch comedy roots. The gimmick is that Scooter is put in charge of piecing together a new series from sketches that are submitted by the various muppets to his E-mail inbox. These include the Swedish Chef celebrity cooking show "Økėÿ Døkęÿ Køøkïñ," a "Lifestyle With Miss Piggy" segment, "Muppet Labs Field Tests" with Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker, and a game show hosted by Pepe the Prawn. All the various Muppets crossover in various segments, and there are lots of guest stars like RuPaul and Danny Trejo to bounce off of.
This is a much less ambitious, smaller scale Muppet program than the recent ABC "The Muppets" sitcom or even their last variety show, "Muppets Tonight." However, I like this stripped down approach. The sketches are quick and simple. The jokes are absurd and plentiful. The Swedish Chef is easily the most consistently successful, satirizing the celebrity cooking show format by horribly abusing the culinary arts. Some are less so, like Pepe's game show, where the rules change at a whim. The gags are very repetitive, so I wouldn't recommend bingeing this. However, it's perfect for kids, or for nostalgic adults who want a weekly dose of Muppet nonsense.
I have my personal quibbles, of course. Matt Vogel took over as the main Kermit the Frog performer, and he's still got some work to do on the voice. Also, I find it very curious that the show doesn't feature musical numbers at all - which have always been such a big part of the Muppet brand. There isn't even a theme song. Rowlf the Dog, alas, remains AWOL. While I'm glad that the Disney+ push for more content has given the Muppets more time in the spotlight, it's also pretty clear that they're not putting many resources behind this.
Now, on to "Star Trek: Lower Decks," which is much more promising. It's essentially what happens when you let one of the showrunners of "Rick and Morty," in this case Mike McMahan, make his own "Star Trek" animated show. The series follows four ensigns, aboard the U.S.S. Cerritos, described as one of Starfleet's "least important ships." There's Boimler (Jack Quaid), the rule-spouting, ambitious one with no actual practical experience. There's Mariner (Tawny Newsome), the troublemaker who prefers to fly by the seat of her pants, and has a very colorful history. There's Rutherford (Eugene Cordero), who is getting used to new cyborg implants and slowly cozying up to Tendi (Noël Wells), a green Orion ensign who works in Med Bay.
The humor is very rapid, very visual, and nerdy as anything. Like "The Orville," "Lower Decks" was made by people who clearly love "Star Trek" down to its bolts, and are comfortable playing in this universe. Unlike "The Orville," the R-rated content rarely involves toilet humor or locker room banter. There are plenty of references, but they tend to stay in-universe. "Lower Decks" is also a bit sweeter and more focused on its characters. The romance is played straight. The camaraderie is very solid. For all the mishaps of the Cerritos crew, and the focus on the less glamorous parts of space travel, the portrayal of Starfleet is still very positive. There's a nice balance maintained between the cynicism and the idealism.
So far, the production values have been pretty good. Animation allows for things that live action doesn't, so we get to see far more aliens, more action setpieces, and more instances of gooey carnage. You can definitely see some DNA from "Rick and Morty," but the aesthetics remain firmly "Star Trek," down to the opening credits sequence which parodies its live action counterparts. The cast is a lot of fun, with Tawny Newsome being the standout as the enthusiastically insubordinate Mariner.
I'll be happily finishing off the whole season of this the next time I get a chance, and you'll likely see a more extensive writeup for it somewhere down the line.
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