Ranking Every Muppets Christmas Special and Movie

There are two highlights in there, at least. At one point before a commercial break, the announcer talks about Miss Piggy hitting her breaking point and with absolutely zero context, it just has her twist her head back and forth while growling, “GAGAGAGAGA!” It makes way more sense when you see the full clip a moment later, but that preview gets a huge laugh out of me.

Otherwise, there’s a moment where Lady Gaga and Kermit sing “Gypsy,” and it’s preceded by one of those awkward, but completely heartwarming moments where Gaga is absolutely talking to the idea of Kermit, like she’s actually meeting this fictional celebrity from her childhood, and not just a piece of lifeless felt with a hand under it. I always love those humanizing celebrity moments.

9. A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (2009)

Falling into the cracks is one of the last major Muppet projects before the 2011 movie gave the property a new lease on life. In this special, the Muppets all live in the same New York City apartment building, along with neighbor Claire. Gonzo promised to drop off her letter to Santa at the post office, but due to a wacky mishap, it ended up back in his pocket. Not that it would have made much of a difference, considering it was already Christmas Eve, but this is the plot they’re going with. From there, Gonzo, Kermit, Fozzie, and Pepe try to figure out various ways to get Claire’s letter to Santa in time before deciding to just take a flight to the North Pole.

There is a good idea in there, but it overall feels a bit bland and like it’s going through the motions. The final minutes with both the resolution of how Santa gets the letter and what Claire asks for feel uninspired. There are plenty of celebrity cameos, but they are very hit or miss. For instance, Whoopi Goldberg gets to be on the cover of the DVD despite having about 10 seconds of screentime as a jokeless taxi driver.

It’s not awful, but it feels so generic that you can understand how necessary it was for the franchise to get its big shot in the arm afterwards. On the upside, it was directed by Kirk R. Thatcher, who would go on to be violently burned to death by Man-Thing in Werewolf by Night!

8. The Muppets: Single All the Way (2015)

The Office-meets-30-Rock sitcom take of the Muppets only lasted for a season and depending on who you are, it was either a huge misfire or an underrated experiment. Personally, I think it started as a bit too cynical and lifeless, only to pick up and find its footing over time. This became complicated when they changed the creative process mid-season, meaning it had to find its footing all over again. Overall, it was a pretty good show that would have really shined with a second season, but I understand why that did not happen.