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Jackson is of course known these days for his work on the mainstream, critically lauded Lord of the Rings films, and the less praised but more family-friendly Hobbit trilogy. Early in his career, though, he was notorious for splatter horror films of a surpassing disgustingness.The Muppets wants to be adult, but in a gentle, fun way that doesn't involve putting you off your food and making you despair of humanity.
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Meet the Feebles wants to be the most hideous film ever, and it is. It wants to make you afraid to look at puppets, or at children, or at people, ever again, and it succeeds there too. The Muppets, for its part, has more mainstream goals. It wants to be adult, but in a gentle, fun way that doesn't involve putting you off your food and making you despair of humanity. It's looking to be This Is Spinal Tap or Parks and Recreation: horny, knowing, but ultimately feel-good humor, for those who loved The Muppet Show, but want something just a little more grown-up.This is a noble enough goal, but as Meet the Feebles shows, the dirty Muppet road leads not to feel-good humor, but to gigantic flies emerging from a filth-stained toilet bowl. This atmosphere is hinted at in The Muppets, from the mental image of plush cockroach babies boiling out of some mother puppet, to the way the show constantly leads you to contemplate the mechanics of pig/frog sex.A primetime show that was as gut-churning as Meet the Feebles would be great—or at least memorable. The Muppets isn't up to the task, though. "If you never thought about these puppets fucking, then you're boring," it seems to say, yet it's afraid to follow through on its own disturbing hints. You get neither the inspired all-ages whimsy of Vincent Price cavorting with monster puppets, nor the awful-god-I-can't-unsee-it scene of a kitty cat performing oral sex on a giant plush walrus as his adorable fins flex. The Muppets is ugly, but not ugly enough. At least for the moment, it seems to be attracting a large audience. But if you really want sordid muppets, you should check out Meet the Feebles, or as much of it as you can stomach.Follow Noah on Twitter.The Muppets airs on Tuesdays at 8 PM on ABC._Correction: An earlier version of the article misstated the species of one of the Muppets. The Muppet _Pepé_ is a prawn, not a cockroach. Additionally, the Muppet Scooter is a gofer, not a gopher._On the Creators Project: Kermit the Frog Has a Real Life Long-Lost Brother