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Television

Disney+ Added Content Disclaimers to 18 Episodes of 'The Muppet Show' (avclub.com) 379

118 episodes of Jim Henson's classic TV series The Muppet Show are now streaming on Disney+, writes the AV Club — but 18 episodes now begin with a content disclaimer... The text of the disclaimers, which cannot be skipped past and include little 12-second timers so you know that you have to sit through them, explain that the episodes feature "negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures," and while "these stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now," Disney has decided to leave them in order to "acknowledge the [content's] harmful impact, learn from it, and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together..."

The disclaimer-worthy stuff includes Johnny Cash performing in front of a confederate flag in his episode and the brief appearance of a puppet dressed as a stereotypical Native American (referred to as an "Indian") in the Jim Nabors episode.

MovieWeb adds: Putting a disclaimer on the show is not a new practice at Disney+. The streamer had previously put disclaimers at the start of several classic animated movies, warning viewers about "outdated cultural depictions." Last month, Disney+ took it a step further by pulling many of these movies from kids' profiles, such as Dumbo, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, and The Jungle Book. The titles are still available to watch on adult profiles with a disclaimer.
To celebrate their arrival on Disney+ the Muppets spliced themselves into posters parodying other TV shows, including The Mandalorian.

But MovieWeb also notes reports that two Muppet Show episodes from season 5 also had to be removed — and another episode heavily edited — due to trouble securing the music rights, "something that also prevented most of the series from getting released on home video for years."
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Disney+ Added Content Disclaimers to 18 Episodes of 'The Muppet Show'

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  • Dumbo, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, and The Jungle Book.

    But yeah, there's no such thing as going overboard on incorporating wokeness, just like Kennedy's fine Star Wars productions.

    • by Ghostworks ( 991012 ) on Sunday February 21, 2021 @10:13PM (#61088364)

      They actually have a lot of stuff that's only visible on "adult" profiles -- Spider-Man '88, most (but not all) Darkwing Duck, Some 1930s shorts -- which is why my daughter's profile isn't used anymore, because she has to go through my profile to watch the Spider-Man "Lizard, Lizard Everywhere" episode for the 80th time.

      • by Z00L00K ( 682162 ) on Sunday February 21, 2021 @11:22PM (#61088528) Homepage Journal

        All that filtering and unskippable items also feeds piracy - you rarely see the useless stuff on pirated content.
        Pirated content exists because the hurdles to get the legal content are inserted.
        - Different release dates in different regions.
        - Voiceovers.
        - Unskippable content.
        - Sub-quality sound/video because my equipment won't support the latest anti-piracy measures.
        - Excessive pricing.
        - Tracking where your privacy is invaded.
        - Risk of losing your purchased content. Has happened before when a media store service is discontinued.
        - DRM in general.

        However some 'anti virus' software now nukes pirated content you have downloaded. Google Chrome has a background service that does that. So you have to consider using a 'clean' computer for your shared stuff. Somewhere along the line the cure that antivirus software provide has started to be worse than the disease.

        • by bradley13 ( 1118935 ) on Monday February 22, 2021 @02:37AM (#61088898) Homepage

          I haven't bought a movie on DVD/BluRay for...geez...at least 15 years. The experience is just horrible, most especially the unskippable commercials and previews. Pirated movies are just...the movies. Just the content. As for streaming services and online media libraries, I'm not even tempted, for all the reasons you list. Plus: the prices are nuts, unless you watch a lot of movies/TV.

          I have used music streaming services, including paid ones, but ultimately I'd rather support artists directly. When I want to sample an new artist, I'll stream a few songs to see what they're like, and then buy their music directly. Yesterday, I tried YouTube Music for the first time. Ouch. I thought other free services were annoying, but they've turned the dial to eleven: YouTube Music has a commercial literally after every single song. Is there some sort of race to the bottom?

          • I haven't bought a movie on DVD/BluRay for...geez...at least 15 years. The experience is just horrible, most especially the unskippable commercials and previews.

            Blu-ray, sure, never owned one. But DVDs? DVDs haven't had unskippable content since 1999 (thanks Jon!)

            • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

              Blu-rays haven't had unskippable content since MakeMKV was developed.

              It's a much better experience to buy the disc (top-quality video), convert it to
              mkv, put the disc away for safe keeping, and play it off the nas with a $20 wifi streaming device with VLC on it.

              At this point I find 1-2 movies a year that are worth a second viewing so the cost is minimal.

        • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Monday February 22, 2021 @05:10AM (#61089186) Homepage Journal

          The only stuff Google Chrome nukes is know malware that attacks Google Chrome. It does not delete your pirated media. I should know, I've never had it delete anything and 90% of what I used Chrome to upload to YouTube Music was pirated.

        • by grub ( 11606 )
          We have Netflix, Prime, and Criterion Channel. If there's a movie or TV show that looks good on any of these, I still download it to the NAS.

          It avoids their profiling and ensures we still have it after it is inevitably pulled out of rotation, also will usually have crap like warnings and such edited out.
      • by Malays2 bowman ( 6656916 ) on Monday February 22, 2021 @02:46PM (#61090836)

        "Darkwing Duck"

        Let me guess- all of the slapstick and cartoon violence.

        Growing up in the 80s, I watched the old Tom and Jerry, with all of the violence and racial sterotypes, on BROADCAST TV.

        Somehow I didn't turn into a raging na zi.

    • What is offensive in Dumbo??
      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward
        fat shaming
      • by Ghostworks ( 991012 ) on Sunday February 21, 2021 @10:38PM (#61088420)

        What is offensive in Dumbo??

        The stereotypically-black crows.

        • by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 21, 2021 @11:26PM (#61088552)

          The stereotypically-black crows.

          The issue is that a stereotypically-x can be found almost anywhere you look, especially in visual media. I'm not black but I recall the crows being my favorite characters. In this case I gotta go with this critic [ferris.edu]:

          Far from being shambling, oafish Step 'n' Fetchit types- -the boiling point for any attack on racial stereotypes- -Jim Crow and his "brothers" are the snappiest, liveliest, most together characters in the film. They are tough and generous. They bow down to no one. And, of course, it is they who "teach" Dumbo to fly.

        • Not to mention all the people with big ears being called Dumbo.
      • by kamapuaa ( 555446 ) on Sunday February 21, 2021 @10:45PM (#61088436) Homepage

        A few things, but the most obvious are the racist stereotypes. The crows are an obvious minstrel show with exaggerated black voices. The song black people sing also includes minstrel-show stereotypes:

        Hike! Ugh! Hike! Ugh! Hike! Ugh! Hike!
        We work all day, we work all night
        We never learned to read or write
        We’re happy-hearted roustabouts

        Hike! Ugh! Hike! Ugh! Hike! Ugh! Hike!
        When other folks have gone to bed
        We slave until we’re almost dead
        We’re happy-hearted roustabouts

        Hike! Ugh! Hike! Ugh! Hike! Ugh! Hike!
        We don’t know when we get our pay
        And when we do, we throw our pay away
        (When we get our pay, we throw our money all away)

        Peter Pan has racist stereotypes of Indians ("redskins"), Lady and the Tramp has Anti-Asian stereotypes and basically is from the "Mike Tyson's Punch Out" school of stereotyping, Jungle Book (weakest example) has lazy apes singing dixieland jazz songs. Not listed: Song of the South, for showing how happy slaves were, among other things.

        • by blastard ( 816262 ) on Sunday February 21, 2021 @11:31PM (#61088568)

          Now, if you could see Song of the South, you could analyze and criticize it. I saw it as a child, when it was shown in theaters. It was enjoyable, because I was focusing on the happy aspects, and was growing up in a far northern state with very few non-whites around me. I had no reason to see the other parts at the time.

          Having obtained the video of it about a decade ago, I tried to watch it. I could not watch much of it.

        • by mccalli ( 323026 )
          Jungle Book's King Louie was Louis Prima, an Italian American [wikipedia.org]. The band members were explicitly modelled on his band at the time.

          Honestly the association with racism for Louis long after the fact says more about people watching today than it does about the incredible performance he gave.
    • Don't forget Song of the South, lmao
  • by will_die ( 586523 ) on Sunday February 21, 2021 @09:58PM (#61088320) Homepage
    he is always dressed up as a stereotypical french chef and not like a Swedish chef. how is that not cultural appropriation?
  • AC is busy here.
  • ...while rest of us laugh at this mind virus.
  • All this time I had no idea that "Bork Bork" really means "White Power".
  • by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Sunday February 21, 2021 @11:18PM (#61088512)

    If they feel the need to do something, I'd rather they put warning labels on it and leave it intact - like they did - than to cut out chunks of the original show.

    Sometimes you have to view things in their historical context, though.

    • Yeah, I'm happy that they put the warning labels—this is at least an approach that allows people to make their own decisions about the content. I was really annoyed that Hulu and Netflix got rid of the DND episode of Community because Chang is dressed like a dark elf, which looks like blackface. It's not even blackface! I'd rather an annoying disclaimer than losing a funny episode. In much the same way, there are plenty of good, older novels that are problematic, and it's best for people to make their
  • by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Sunday February 21, 2021 @11:20PM (#61088516)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • by Ichijo ( 607641 ) on Sunday February 21, 2021 @11:24PM (#61088540) Journal

    I used to enjoy watching The Carol Burnett Show, but there's no 100% complete collection on DVD. Instead, there are various "best of" collections. So I tried to assemble my own complete collection. In doing so, I found that many episodes have politically incorrect skits full of ugly stereotypes that haven't withstood the test of time. It's both fascinating and disappointing, and now know one reason why a complete collection on DVD doesn't exist.

    But that's progress! (1 Cor 13:11)

    • Ahh, yes. the "Gone With the Wind" sketch, and the gender-swapped "Star Trek" sketch, could cause some political consternation today. They were both wonderful at the time.

    • I've always assumed it was because of all the musical numbers and the difficulty in licensing that content. I've seen several of the "Best of" episodes and I can't recall ever seeing one of the musical skits.
    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Monday February 22, 2021 @05:39AM (#61089272) Homepage Journal

      Apparently every episode has been available on streaming since last year: https://tvweb.com/the-carol-bu... [tvweb.com]

      I think the lack of a complete DVD set is probably due to the number of discs it would need. I see there are "best of" collections with 55 episodes + special features, and they are 31 disc sets. At that point I'm not sure many people would pay the extra for another few episodes that probably weren't that great.

  • Now that shit needed a parental warning of some kind...

  • by clambake ( 37702 ) on Sunday February 21, 2021 @11:40PM (#61088592) Homepage

    FYI, most American Indians would prefer "American Indian" or "Indian" rather than "Native American".

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      It depends who you ask. Some prefer Native American, some American Indian, some Tribal Nations/Natives etc.

      Best just to ask if they don't give any indication.

    • by PeeAitchPee ( 712652 ) on Monday February 22, 2021 @07:54AM (#61089524)
      Agree. BTW, the Smithsonian's museum of these people -- designed, named and administered by American Indians -- is the National Museum of the American Indian [wikipedia.org].
    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by _merlin ( 160982 )

      As an Indian, I don't want indigenous Americans appropriating the word for my nationality.

  • Disney is rubbish you have to be brain damaged to watch it once let alone subscribe so you can watch it for hours and hours a year.
  • by irateogle ( 6672418 ) on Monday February 22, 2021 @01:26AM (#61088796)
    The audience for The Muppet Show will be kids and making sure that parents understand what their kids are about to watch makes sense. Personally, I loved The Muppet Show growing up. Several times I've watched some of my favorite shows with my kids and have been surprised at some of the content that I didn't remember being not okay by today's standards. If Disney slaps a warning in front of the show rather than getting rid of it entirely, it's a win IMHO. FWIW, watching some of these older shows has made for some great and interesting conversations with my kids about how the world used to be not that long ago.
  • by Babel-17 ( 1087541 ) on Monday February 22, 2021 @02:11AM (#61088864)
    A futuristic looking universe with no black people visible? He later went on to do a famous skit where he ran a Star Wars cantina. Should Disney put a disclaimer before Star Wars now? What about the TV show Friends, which showed a Manhattan lacking in all minorities. Did their coffee shop, The Central Perk, block them at the front door? The show addressed this in later seasons, and they dialed back the homophobic comments, though they decided to make the Italian American character to appear to be mentally challenged as a commentary of some kind. Surely that show needs a disclaimer. Even Happy Days eventually realized it had a problem with its absence of blacks, and added some characters. But there earlier seasons are as vulnerable to needing a disclaimer as do the Muppet episodes.
  • ...until they become meaningless.

    Gone with the wind, Song of the South: Yes.

    A few seconds of a confederate flag to symbolize "southern" and "country music" in general: no.

    This is like putting a "caution wet floor" sign out 24/7.

    • by serviscope_minor ( 664417 ) on Monday February 22, 2021 @03:15AM (#61088960) Journal

      A few seconds of a confederate flag to symbolize "southern" and "country music" in general: no.

      Why on earth not? Frankly as an outsider, it's weird how much a bunch of people who seem obsessed with their country are also utterly obsessed with being part of the side that failed to destroy it. And so that they could keep slaves too, in complete opposition to any remotely sane reading of the constitution they so profess to love.

      Given what the south were fighting for, the Confederate flag is a symbol of oppression.

      • Given what the south were fighting for, the Confederate flag is a symbol of oppression.

        Yes. But does the Muppet Show stand for oppression? No.

        Is the use problematic nowadays? Yes. But as problematic as Song of the South downplaying slavery? No.

        So yes, it should be addressed, but in a gradual process. If you slap the same boilerplate disclaimer onto everything, then it becomes meaningless. Maybe a warning that the content is older than 1980, An inconsiderate use of a symbol common at that time? Apology in a footnote or the commentary track maybe.

        As I said, it should be addressed. But if you th

        • Yes. But does the Muppet Show stand for oppression? No.

          Exactly. Which is a great idea for them to you know, stop using a symbol of oppression.

          Is the use problematic nowadays? Yes.

          Good, we agree.

          But as problematic as Song of the South downplaying slavery? No.

          Never seen it, or heard of it before, but the consensus on this thread seems to be that it's pretty bad, so I'll happily take you word for it.

          So yes, it should be addressed, but in a gradual process. If you slap the same boilerplate disclaimer onto ever

  • by hackertourist ( 2202674 ) on Monday February 22, 2021 @02:28AM (#61088892)

    On one show, Kermit prefaced a skit with: "some scenes may not be suitable for adults".

  • by Gabest ( 852807 ) on Monday February 22, 2021 @06:48AM (#61089414)

    Those stereotypes were not wrong in the past. And certainly not wrong in many places in the world now.

  • by e3m4n ( 947977 ) on Monday February 22, 2021 @08:01AM (#61089534)

    Thank god I still own a hard copy of Blazing Saddles. The movie was deliberately offensive to point at the absurdity of it all by using humor to get the point across. Something Mel Brooks is famous for. Eventually Disney will cave to the pressures and just edit scenes entirely. I am glad they arent as of yet, but give cancel-culture time. Whats next, Book burnings and deletions of news reels depicting what went down during the civil rights protests in the 60s? Those that ignore history are doomed to repeat it.

    Does anyone honestly think that old clips of washed up stars is somehow going to influence young kids to normalize the behaviors? They were washed up even when they appeared on the show. They havent been relevant since the early 70s. I am fairly sure nobody is paying attention to Jim Meadows (gomer pyle). They just want to see the colorful puppets talking. The eagle giving the news of the time lost all relevance, but pigs in space will always be timeless. The Lime In the Coconut skit will always get a laugh.

  • stereotypes (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Tom ( 822 ) on Monday February 22, 2021 @08:51PM (#61091764) Homepage Journal

    Content Disclaimer: The below text uses words, which are considered harmful by many authoritarians. It is wrong to use words to convince people, as every opinion has the same value, no matter how completely ridiculously fucked up it is.

    Stereotypes have such a bad reputation and yet they evolved for a reason. It helps - especially kids and us when we are new to a domain - to think in simplifications. Otherwise the whole of human knowledge is just too large and complex to comprehend.

    And successful stereotypes often have a big grain of truth to them as well, that's why they work. The stereotypical German actually does have features that are present in many Germans. Same for stereotypical other countries, races, religions, professions, dogs, houses, cars, ...

    There's a good reason that in school, we are taught the general principles, then usually (physics is famous for that) the next year they teach you "well yes, except..." and unravel more of the details.

    There's currently a culture developing around us, which focusses too much on bringing all the complexity and differentiation into everything, from the beginning.

    Should we teach kids that all black people are dangerous? Of course not. Should we be allowed to include in a show that Germans like sausage? Why the heck not? Later in life they can still learn that there are Vegetarians in Germany, too.

    Many of us were brought up on stereotypes, and we aren't haters of everything. In fact, tolerance often develops when we discover by ourselves that our stereotypes don't always apply. That learning process when you actually meet a person from minority X for the first time and figure out within a few seconds that they're just another person, have a quick (internal) laugh about your stereotype and go on with your life - don't take that from people. It's a better teacher than all your diversity programs.

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