Fanfic / Kedabory's Muppet Mania

Kedabory's Muppet Mania is a 2023 fanfiction based on The Muppet Show and the works across The Kedabory Verse.

The story follows a similar format to the original Muppet Show, as it is set in a theatre with scenes divided by acts on the show. As usual, everyone has a different bit in mind, things usually devolve into chaos, and Statler and Waldorf have their insults at the ready.

The series started on August 27th, 2023, with a crossover with Bear in the Big Blue House, with Sandrine, Lumpy, and Theresa from A Big Blue House in Tall Pine Grove making appearances as well.

Tropes:

• Accidental Misnaming: Kitsune briefly refers to Beaker as Mimi, mistaking his meeps for an actual name.
• Actually Pretty Funny: In Episode 10, the Fraggles laugh at Fozzie's joke of "I had a good time! Tonight’s show rocked! Haaah, wocka wocka!"
• Added Alliterative Appeal: In "Muppets' Funniest Home Videos", Scooter describes Kermit as "the feisty folk from funky '55".
• Affectionate Nickname:
  • According to Deborah and Kitsune's episode, Bunsen has several of these for Beaker, including Beakie, Beakie-boo, and Beakie-kins.
  • Dr. Teeth occasionally refers to the other Electric Mayhem members as "little bolts".
  • Carrying over from Tall Pine Tales, Theresa refers to Boober as "Boo".
• Amusing Injuries:
  • In "Welcome Back", Miss Piggy and Annie Sue's fight, Animal attacking Rizzo, and the Swedish Chef smacking Sam with a frying pan are all Played for Laughs.
  • In Deborah and Kitsune's episode, Wanda falls off a prop tower and crashes into Wayne, which the audience finds hilarious.
  • In Micah's episode, Gonzo falls into a bunch of fans. In Crestfeather's episode, Gonzo's Rube Goldberg Machine launches him into the audience.
  • In the Fraggles' episode, the French Chef gets her face burnt by ghost pepper powder.
  • Chapter 16 has Gonzo being dogpiled by a bunch of live chickens after he unsuccessfully tries to get them to dance.
• Aside Comment: The Muppets pull this off such as Rizzo looking right at the camera in Chapter 5 when he says "We should have gone with the fake goop" and in Chapter 4, Fozzie looks at the reader when he says "What's really impressive is how he's lasted this long." after Gonzo tells Fozzie of the whatever's latest stunt.
• Aside Glance: Several times in Chapter 4 such as when Chiho reaches for Beaker letting out a "Meep!" after he does his trademark meeps, prompting Beaker to look at the camera. Again in Chapter 5 when after the first skit (a murder mystery featuring Rizzo, Yolanda and Beauregard), Fozzie says "You know, if Yolanda had some raspberries, she could have made that act a good tart. Haaah, wocka wocka!" prompting Kermit to do one of these. Fozzie also does one of these during his stand-up skit when Alice explains non-binary means you're not a boy and a girl with the bear letting out an "Oh."
• Audience Participation:
  • The audience and Statler and Waldorf take part in the final song in Chapter 1, "You Will Be Found".
  • In the finale of Deborah and Kitsune's episode, the audience joins them once more, and unlike in Chapter 1, Statler and Waldorf don't have a snarky comment afterwards.
• Awful Wedded Life: At the end of Crestfeather's episode, Statler says "They didn’t send a search party for me when I disappeared", to which Waldorf says "You were only gone for one night, you old fool! and Statler responds with "One night away from my first wife was like a cruise in Heaven!" which results in him and Waldorf laughing.
• Baby Morph Episode: In Crestfeather's episode, Bunsen's time machine accidentally turns Beaker into a baby.
• Baby See, Baby Do: After Beaker explains via meeping why he and Bunsen are covered in glitter, guest star Chiho Nagomi, who is not yet one, copies him and says "Meep!", prompting an Aside Glance from Beaker.
• Batman Can Breathe in Space: Episode 8 has the theatre blasting off into space and then returning to Earth at the end but the Muppets and Micah are just fine save for Kermit wearing a spacesuit at the start of Segment 3 to let the audience know the theatre is now space-borne. At the end of the fic, Micah asks Kermit "So tell me, Kermit, if this was a space adventure, how were we all breathing without helmets?" to which Kermit responds with "Oh, you know…Muppet magic. (winks)"
• Bowdlerise: In the Northern Sisters' performance of "Shine Like the Sun", Doralee's part of the song, which features several lines relating to boobs, is cut.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: The Electric Mayhem's song "We Didn't Start The Muppets" is all about this, as the Electric Mayhem lists off the Muppet projects such as The Muppet Show and the 2015 show, the performers Frank Oz, Jim Henson, Dave Goelz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Kathryn Mullen, Louise Gold, Steve Whitmire, Bill Barretta, Peter Linz, Eric Jacobson, Matt Vogel, Mike Quinn, David Rudman and the works that are connected to the Muppets such as Fraggle Rock and Muppets Haunted Mansion.
• The Bus Came Back: Rizzo makes his first appearance since The Muppets (2015). Beauregard also makes his first appearance ever since Muppets Most Wanted.
• Butt-Monkey: As usual, Beaker is often prone to slapstick accidents. In "Muppets' Funniest Home Video", an entire segment consists solely of videos of him getting into trouble.
• The Cameo:
  • Chapter 4 has Hinata, Kokone and Ako in the audience.
  • Chapter 5 brings in a Conehead Zombie to help demonstrate Bunsen Honeydew's Zombie Translator...which goes about as well as could be expected.
  • Mana Aida cameos in Seraphina's episode, solely to make a Mahna Mahna joke.
  • Cali, Flynn, Hugo and Mags turn up in Creastfeather's chapter to watch her performance. The Needle turns up at the end to let the gang know about searching in Toronto for Zoot and Lips.
  • Katrina's family turns up in Chapter 16 to watch her in the final number.
• Canon Discontinuity: The fic is not in canon with A Big Blue House in Tall Pine Grove due to the fact that when Theresa appears in Episode 10, she and Boober don't recognize each other.
• Chocolate Baby: In the Northern Sisters' episode, Wayne and Wanda perform a family number with a little boy who is very clearly not their child; something Statler and Waldorf even joke about. When they go backstage, it's revealed that they "borrowed" him for the act, and that the little boy's real father is the Swedish Chef.
• Continuity Nod: Chapter 16's opening brings back Kermit's To introduce our guest star, that’s what I’m here to do, so it really makes me happy to introduce to you and then introducing the guest star, from the Season 1 intro of The Muppet Show.
• Couch Gag: In Chapter 16, Gonzo's trumpet gag has him blowing maple leaves out of his trumpet and saying "Pretty!"
• Cuteness Proximity: Bunsen, Swedish Chef and Crestfeather coo over the baby Beaker in Crestfeather's episode.
• Dance Party Ending: How Chapter 6 ends with the Muppets and previous guest stars dancing together.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • While Miss Piggy will gladly fight with Annie Sue anytime, she's above being jealous of infant singers on the show, such as Chiho.
  • In Chapter 7, Bunsen refuses to let Beaker — who is very ill— go on stage for the Muppet Labs sketch.
• Exit, Pursued by a Bear: The Muppet Labs sketch in Chapter 5 ends with Beaker getting chased off stage by the Conehead Zombie who wants to eat him.
• Failures on Ice: One of the guest videos seen in "Muppets' Funniest Home Videos" is of Sophie and her uncles trying to slide on some ice and all falling down.
• Fan-Created Offspring: One character exclusive to this fic is the Swedish Chef's son, Nicholas.
• Flat "What": Miss Piggy's reaction, coupled with Tranquil Fury, when she learns that Annie Sue has an act in "Welcome Back", but she doesn't.
• Finger-Snap Lighter: Crestfeather pulls this off in the Cold Open of her episode to light the Swedish Chef's stove.
• Foreshadowing: In Seraphina's chapter, the guests for the next show are a group going by Kermit's comments to Fozzie after hanging up the phone. The next chapter would reveal this group to be the Fraggle Five.
• French Jerk: Downplayed; The French Chef isn't outright malicious, but tends to be snooty and easily-frustrated. Granted, when you're partnered with the Swedish Chef, it's hard not to be easily-frustrated.
• Frying Pan of Doom: First used in Episode 1 by Beauregard to knock out Animal then by the Chef to whack Sam. This pops up again in Episode 3 when the Chef uses it to whack Wayne after the latter and Wanda took the Chef's son Nicholas for their disastrous number.
• Fully-Clothed Nudity: During Miss Piggy singing "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" in Chapter 7, the Dapper Whatnot responds with "I'm not?!", covers himself (despite being fully clothed) and barrels off set.
• Fun with Subtitles:
  • During the final number of "Welcome Back", one portion of the song where Beaker sings as part of a group, the lyric is subtitled with meeps.
  • This pops up again in the Fraggles' chapter, when Beaker sings alongside Bunsen.
• Furry Confusion: Lampshaded; when Annie Sue performs "How Much is That Doggy in the Window", Rowlf, an actual dog, comments that something about the song rubs him the wrong way.
• Glitter Litter: One of the Muppet Labs inventions is a sparkle-izer, which malfunctions and dumps glitter all over Bunsen, Beaker, and guest star Rosemary. Statler cracks a joke about calling in the Glitter Force to handle it.
• Graceful Ladies Like Purple: When Alice Newcastle guest stars, her closing number outfit is a gorgeous violet gown with gold accents.
• Halloween Episode: Alice Macro's episode, which is horror-themed to go with Alice being part zombie.
• Headbutt of Love: In the interlude between Episodes 10 and 11, Zoot presses his forehead against a sickly Lips', assuring him that he'll get them out of the AI music studio they've gotten themselves stuck in.
• The Heckler: Statler and Waldorf as always in most chapters. They don't go to Toronto with the other Muppets so Narcis Prince and Hoy Quarlow take over heckling duties in Chapter 16.
• Heroic BSoD: Towards the end of the first episode, Kermit falls into one after the disastrous show, declaring the Muppets are done, telling Scooter "The original Muppet Show just wasn’t meant to be succeeded. Every time we try to do a new show, it just never works out. We might as well pack up and go." It takes the cast (both Muppets and Bear and his friends) singing "You Will Be Found" to snap him out of it.
• Incredibly Lame Pun: Fozzie's jokes in chapter 5 which get confused laughter and "WTF murmurs" from the audience and Kermit saying "Vell, that idea sucked!" after the Muppet Labs sketch results in the audience laughing awkwardly. Fozzie does this again in Chapter 16 resulting in the audience being mildly amused for the first one, good-natured laughs for the second one and outright laughter for the third one.
• Kindness Ball: In Episode 7, the French Chef, who is normally very serious and hot-tempered, finally shows a softer side during the final number as she's moved by Kermit's monologue about family. She even temporarily puts aside her heated rivalry with the Swedish Chef, who until then had been a regular pain in her ass, to sing a portion of the closing song together. Of course, by their next appearance in Episode 10, she's right back to her stubborn ways.
• Later-Installment Weirdness: The Muppet Melodramas in Episode 7 and 13 play out more like a Wayne and Wanda sketch as they feature Wanda alongside Wayne instead of Uncle Deadly and end in typical disaster for the duo.
• Lemony Narrator: When the music cue for "Never Gonna Give You Up" starts, the narrator says she doesn't need to repeat herself as Kermit already said what the song was.
• Literal-Minded:
  • In response to hearing the phrase "Please tell me he'll be alright", Beauregard repeats it verbatim.
  • The Swedish Chef thinks making taco salad means to make regular tacos and put them in a bowl as a salad.
• Logo Joke: In Chapter 7, when Kermit peeks out of the "O" in "Show" in the Muppet Show slide, he's wearing a red hat and scarf, on account of it being really cold.
• Massive Multiplayer Crossover: In addition to The Muppet Show, characters from The Amazing World of Gumball, Anything for Family, Bear in the Big Blue House, Delicious Party♡Pretty Cure, Doki Doki! PreCure, Encanto, Fraggle Rock, Healin' Good♡Pretty Cure, HuGtto! Pretty Cure, Junior Officers, Kedabory's Elmore Chronicles, Ma Fille, Metroid Manhunt, Muppet Babies (2018), Numberjacks Advanced, The Octonauts, Plants vs. Zombies, Punch-Out!!, Seraphina's Tea Quest, Skylanders, Skylanders: Return to the Ruins, Suite Pretty Cure ♪, and Uprooted (2022) also appear.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!": The Frog Scouts' song in Episode 8 abruptly ends with most of the scouts noticing an actual moose that appeared on set and running off.
• Mood Whiplash:
  • "You Will Be Found" starts off rather sad with Kermit singing "Have you ever felt like nobody was there? Have you ever felt forgotten in the middle of nowhere? Have you ever felt like you could disappear? Like you could fall, and no one would hear?" Then, Miss Piggy, Fozzie and Theresa urge Bear forward and the song becomes much more cheerful.
  • The Stinger has this between Statler and Waldorf:
    Statler: You know the one thing I haven't found?
    Waldorf: What's that?
    Statler: A reason to keep coming here!
    Both: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
  • In Episode 10, Theresa and Boober's performance of Rewrite the Stars is followed first by Statler and Waldorf's commentary (Statler: Amazing! Now why didn’t the little fella in the cap sing earlier? Waldorf: Maybe they were too afraid to drown out the best talent! Both: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!) and then Rowlf's poem called "Acid Rain" while Robin, Animal, Gonzo and Fozzie provide visual puns based off the lines.
• Mundane Utility: Crestfeather briefly uses her fire magic to light a stove.
• Mythology Gag:
  • The first act in the first episode is a parody of "We Didn't Start the Fire" loaded to the brim with references to previous Muppet productions^note such as Muppets Tonight, The Muppets (2015), The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, The Muppets Take Manhattan, The Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppets from Space, Muppet Treasure Island, Muppets Most Wanted, and The Muppets (2011), Muppet performers old and new, the characters themselves, and other related projects^note including Muppet Babies, Sesame Street, The Jim Henson Hour, A Muppet Family Christmas, Muppet*Vision 3D, Muppets Haunted Mansion, The Dark Crystal, and Fraggle Rock.
  • In Hitomu and Chiho's episode, Chiho mistakes Miss Piggy for Kabaton. Later, after Bunsen's sparkle-izer dumps glitter everywhere, Statler and Waldorf joke about the Glitter Force being called in to handle it.
• Named by the Adaptation: The Muppet Show's main theatre is stated to be located in Everyville in Episode 12.
• Noodle Incident:
  • Chapter 6 is set in a different auditorium thanks to the vents in the Muppet theatre needing to be fixed.
• Oh, My Gods!: Seraphina substitutes "Pray to God" for "Pray to Gwen", as in the ruler of her home kingdom, Queen Gwendolyn.
• Papa Wolf: In the Northern Sisters' episode, Wayne and Wanda "borrow" the Swedish Chef's son for a family number. Chef, who didn't know about this until after the fact, angrily hits Wayne over the head with a frying pan for taking his kid.
• Pet the Dog: The French Chef, a new addition to the cast, was established as being very serious about her work, as well as hot-tempered and having little patience for the Swedish Chef and his antics. However, some episodes show that she's not as cold-hearted as she seems.
  • In Episode 6, she gleefully dances with her wife during the Dance Party Ending.
  • In Episode 7, she's emotionally moved by Kermit's speech about family, particularly when he mentions her own wife and daughter. For the first time, she and Swedish Chef get along with each other, and even sing a portion of the closing number together.
• Punny Name: One of the new characters is a pig girl named Hamantha.
• Queer Establishing Moment:
  • "Muppets' Funniest Home Videos"' Dance Party Ending reveals that the French Chef, who is female, is married to another woman.
  • In Deborah and Kitsune's episode, when Kitsune asks for Beaker's surname, Bunsen gives it as "Honeydew", confirming the two to be married.
  • Seraphina's episode features Annie Sue, who is female, falling in love at first sight with another female pig, Hamantha.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Starting with Chapter 2, the Swedish Chef is now accompanied by a partner, the French Chef, who serves as the serious Blue Oni to the Swedish Chef's goofy Red Oni.
• Rhetorical Question Blunder: In Episode 10, after Theresa and Boober's performance of "Rewrite the Stars", Gonzo tells Boober "You know what this experience proves? That fear exists only in the mind, and not something that can physically stop you from achieving amazing things. Why, I bet that in no time, you’ll be brave enough to soar through the air on a swinging beam into a swimming pool!" Boober asks Gonzo if he's insane, to which the latter shrugs and says "Possibly."
• Rhymes on a Dime: The Pigs in Space sketch in Episode 13 involves Link Hogthrob and Julius Strangepork rhyming due to it being Rhyming Day.
• Riddle for the Ages: How did the Muppets get their Theatre to blast off in Episode 8?
• Rube Goldberg Machine: Gonzo sets one up in Crestfeather's chapter. Predictably, it just launches him like a ragdoll into the audience.
• Sick Episode: Beaker falls very ill in Chapter 7 and still isn't better by the end.
• Script Fic: Each of the fic's chapters are done this way. However, the interludes are written in traditional third-person narration.
• Shout-Out:
  • The final number in "Welcome Back" is "You Will Be Found".
  • In Sophie Small's episode, she, Rowlf, and Animal sing "Count on Me". Kermit lampshades this when he tells Rowlf he didn't know Rowlf liked singing Bruno Mars. Rowlf says as long as it's got a tune, he'll sing it.
  • In the Northern Sisters' episode, Stefanie, Sierra, and Sabrina sing "Shine Like the Sun" with a tied up Crazy Harry.
  • The finale in Hitomu and Chiho's episode is Hitomu and Rosemary performing "Just the Way You Are", another Bruno Mars song.
  • In "Muppets' Funniest Home Videos", Kermit asks Alice and Sophie to guess the "lucky star" of the video he describes. Alice asks if that's an anime reference. Kermit, of course, doesn't get it, prompting Alice to tell him "Never mind."
  • In Deborah and Kitsune's episode, Miss Piggy stalls the audience by singing "Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile". The finale is a grand production of "Still Holding My Hand".
  • In Micah's episode, the finale is "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes".
  • In Seraphina's episode, Rizzo appears during Sam's speech about rock music in a leather jacket, and proclaims that he's back in black. Additionally, "A Thousand Years", "How to Save a Life", "Cinderella", and "What a Wonderful World" are performed.
  • The Fraggles' chapter includes performances of "Footloose", "Never Gonna Give You Up", "Rewrite the Stars", and "Don’t Stop Believing".
  • In the first Special Agent chapter, Captain Link mentions Cure Felice. Additionally, Swan Lake, "9 to 5", and "Seasons of Love" are performed.
  • In Crestfeather's episode, "Slipped Away", "Listen to Your Heart", and "A Light to Call Home" are performed.
  • Katrina's episode features a performance of "Right Here Waiting".
• The Show Must Go Wrong: It wouldn't be The Muppet Show if this didn't occur. Deconstructed in Chapter 1 when Kermit has a full on Heroic BSoD over the disastrous show resulting in the rest of the Muppets and Bear and his friends singing "You Will Be Found" to snap him out of it.
• Speak of the Devil: Chapter 16 has Bunsen mentioning Beaker's twin sister Flask, saying "Twin sister! Where do I come up with these things?" while he and Beaker are laughing. Cue Flask herself arriving and getting Bunsen's attention with a "Me-me." Bunsen and Beaker stop laughing as Bunsen says "Oh. Um… g-good evening, miss."
• Stopped Dead in Their Tracks: In the Northern Sisters' episode, Kermit and Scooter plan to invite the Sisters' entire family to perform with them in the closing number. When they hear just how many people they have to bring in for that (twenty-three), they both stop dead and do a Double Take.
• Stuff Blowing Up: "Shine Like the Sun" ends with Crazy Harry pulling a random lever and blowing up the sun prop.
• Tempting Fate: A positive example. When Kermit and Scooter hear just how many people the Northern Sisters have to bring in for the closing number (twenty-three), Kermit thinks it's going to be a disaster. The song goes off without a hitch.
• Theme Tune Roll Call: Performed by the Fraggle Five in Episode 10 when they briefly mix their show's theme song lyrics into "Don't Stop Believing".
• Totem Pole Trench: In Sophie Small's episode, three of Sophie's friends (Sussie, Teri and Darwin) decide it would be funny to come to the theatre stacked on top of each other in a trenchcoat. Sophie thinks it's pretty funny; Kermit is less amused.
• True Blue Femininity: In the first Special Agent chapter, Kara's closing number outfit is a long blue gown with a matching hijab.
• Vampire Vords: While dressed as a vampire for Alice Macro's episode, Kermit slips in and out of a "vampire voice".
• Visual Pun: Abound during Rowlf's "Acid Rain" poem thanks to Robin, Animal, Gonzo and Fozzie.
• You Are Not Alone: What "You Will Be Found" is about, the Muppets telling Kermit that even when things go wrong, friends will help you and make the day better.

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