When taking things too fast is actually taking them too slow.
What They Say:
Episode #108: “Too Hot To Handler”
Scooter books his long time TV crush, Chelsea Handler, who really heats things up both on ‘Up Late’ and in Scooter’s personal life. Meanwhile, Fozzie wants to take it to the next level with Becky but when Kermit and Denise go on a double date with them, Kermit discovers that Becky might have a few skeletons in her closet.
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Things are about to get dark on the Muppets. Kermit thinks Becky is cheating on Fozzie!
… at bar trivia.
Clever.
You have to apply Kermit logic to Kermit here for this to make sense. He’s overly protective of his best friend and thinks Fozzie is taking things too fast with Becky. Meanwhile, Scooter thinks his dream girl Chelsea Handler is taking things too fast with him! Yup, this episode is completely focused on the Muppet and human relationships, and I was dreading that going in, but it’s all handled (no pun intended) better than I expected.
I’m still rolling my eyes at folks complaining the show is ‘too adult.’ Case in point, the ‘cheating’ happening here is all about Kermit trying to find faults with Becky and coming up empty handed. (Kermit discover’s his own girlfriend actually has more faults than Fozzie’s!) He thinks he sees her cheating at trivia, but things aren’t what they appear. The conflict in this episode is tame, and the outcome decidedly lacking in meanness! Considering who the guest is, there is an amazing amount of self-restraint in adult jokes here. If people are having a fit over Chelsea Handler attempting to kiss Scooter… well, I can’t help those people. They are far too gone, no amount of telling them to go back and watch the original Muppet Show will break them of their rose-tinted memories. Muppets just want love too, you know?
Scooter does surprisingly well for himself here. Handler, who does quite well in her guest spot, should be way out of Scooter’s league. Also, she’s the exact opposite of him on almost every level. When he realizes she’s looking for a normal ‘dork’ as a boyfriend he gets up the nerve to ask her out, and she agrees! In fact, she’s smitten with him and moves too fast for Scooter… who keeps hammering on the joke that he still lives with his mother. YES show, we get it. In the end the resolution to the potential pair-up is resolved smoothly rather than messily.
So with the romance and relationship aspects handled surprisingly well my actual complaint about this episode was that it wasn’t as funny as it could have been. The biggest laugh came from Dr. Teeth and the rest of the band getting caught up in the Fozzie versus Kermit rumors. Paranoia escalates the rumors of a fight into a delusion that Kermit has been replaced by a robot in about thirty seconds. Absolutely amazing. The other characters are mostly left far in the background, although Rizzo and Pepe get in their usual one-liners as they egg Scooter on.
In Summary:
A solid episode all around for The Muppets, especially considering that they’re dealing with more of the sometimes complicated muppet/human relationships this series is coming up with. Scooter ends up perhaps the winner of this week’s episode, getting to actually date a woman who should be way out of his league. At least Kermit does get through to Fozzie that he should slow things down. We get a few more Rowlf jokes at the bar and Electric Mayhem branded happenings to provide the crux of the episode’s humor. It’s smoothly paced and well-plotted, but a bit of a comedown after last week’s near perfect episode.
Episode Grade: B
