Disney+ Puts Content Flag on 'Muppet Show'

[Mark Jeffries]

The long-awaited streaming debut of "The Muppet Show" occurred Friday on Disney+, but Disney has slapped content warnings on 18 episodes containing what they claim are racist or stereotypical views--this post from NBC's LX gives some examples:

https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/the-confederate-flag-gypsy-curses-and-other-reasons-disney-plus-slapped-content-warnings-on-the-muppet-show/2444208/

The flagged episodes are:

Jim Nabors, Joel Grey, Steve Martin, Peter Sellers, Cleo Laine, James Coco, Spike Milligan, Crystal Gayle, Kenny Rogers, Beverly Sills, Jonathan Winters, Alan Arkin, James Coburn, Joan Baez, Johnny Cash, Debbie Harry, Wally Boag and Marty Feldman.

In addition, EW says that the Brooke Shields and Chris Langham episodes are not included.  (Langham, a Brit writer for the series,  was convicted in 2007 for possessing child porn, which makes him as much a non-person in his country as Jimmy Saville and Rolf Harris.)  In addition, there is some editing for music rights reasons.

[Kevin M.]

The warning on the Steve Martin episode knocked me on my heels a bit, but whatever. 

I like that they don’t put a warning on the Lynda Carter episode which features an opening number celebrating cannibalism set to a Beatles classic. Cannibalism = fine. Gonzo shouting “burrito” and the six other Spanish words he knows = not fine. It’s a sketch in and of itself. 

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Kevin M. (RPCV)

[Jim Ellwanger]

The Brooke Shields episode's absence really shouldn't be mentioned in the same sentence as the Chris Langham episode -- word is that the reason the Brooke Shields episode is entirely missing is because of a music rights issue with the song "We're Off to See the Wizard," and it's too difficult to excise only that song from the episode. (The entire episode is an "Alice in Wonderland" pastiche, with "We're Off to See the Wizard" being used as the grand finale for reasons involving Fozzie Bear being dressed as the Tin Man.)

[M-D November]

The music rights issue re: Brooke Shields' episode are said to be ongoing, so that episode may be posted sooner rather than later.

As for the content warnings, I have no issue with them as long as the episode itself is kept intact.  (I spotted it in front of the Kenny Rogers episode where the warning stemmed from a somewhat insensitive portrayal of oilmen of middle-eastern origin.)

[Tom Wolper]

On Mon, Feb 22, 2021 at 1:44 PM M-D November <mdnov...@gmail.com> wrote:

The music rights issue re: Brooke Shields' episode are said to be ongoing, so that episode may be posted sooner rather than later.

As for the content warnings, I have no issue with them as long as the episode itself is kept intact.  (I spotted it in front of the Kenny Rogers episode where the warning stemmed from a somewhat insensitive portrayal of oilmen of middle-eastern origin.)

I don't mind the content warnings. After years of waiting for the next season DVDs to come out and resigning myself to the idea they never would, I'm happy to go through content warnings and possibly minor cuts to watch more episodes.