That ‘epic’ drum-off between Animal and Dave Grohl on The Muppets was short-lived

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All week long I’ve been hyped for the epic drum-off battle between the Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl and The Electric Mayhem’s Animal on The Muppets. I don’t think I’ve seen a drum-off so hyped since comedian Will Ferrell went up against lookalike drummer Chad Smith from the Red Hot Chili Peppers on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last year. It was funny and I suppose it was worth the wait, but I couldn’t help but feel a little short-changed that it was sandwiched at the end of the program over the credits. It also wasn’t clear who the winner was, as both proclaimed the other the winner afterwards. But man was it fun to watch them tear it up, Animal-style! Dave Grohl looked like he was having an absolute blast pounding on the drums. But who wouldn’t have a blast if given the chance to guest star on The Muppets?

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The other guest star in the episode titled “Going, Going, Gonzo” was Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who looked positively dreamy singing a duet of “Fly Me to the Moon” with Miss Piggy. Fresh off the well-deserved praise he received for his impressive lip sync of Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation” on Lip Sync Battle, he just seems to get better looking and multi-talented as the years progress. I also enjoyed watching him play – and win because of his master acting – a hand of poker with the Muppets. That was certainly one of the highlights of the episode for me.

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The primary plot revolved around Gonzo experiencing a mid-life crisis, thinking about the stunt that got away. He always wanted to jump a gorge, but it seems he’ll settle for being blasted out of a cannon from the roof of their building to the roof of the next building over. Kermit sets it up with Miss Piggy’s blessing as long as The Great Gonzo is willing to shill her Piggy Water by allowing his stunt to be sponsored by it. Piggy Water – it’s buttery good! (It better be buttery good if it’s a bottle of water with 30 grams of fat in it!) Dave Grohl was there to perform “Learning to Fly” on Miss Piggy’s show in honor of Gonzo’s death-defying stunt.

Everyone is inspired by Gonzo living out his dream. He becomes the patron saint of realizing your dream no matter how outlandish it may seem to others. However, he gets dissuaded from pursuing it after hearing what Bunsen and Beaker have to say about his slim chances of making it to the other rooftop alive. They only give him something like a .1% of actually making it, primarily because he’s so out of shape that he can hardly still fit into his Great Gonzo suit. He thinks Sam the Eagle will call it off because surely the network won’t want to see a flesh-and-blood smoothie live on the air. However, to his surprise, Sam actually sanctions it, saying it will be exciting. He just asks Gonzo to have the courtesy not to curse when he hits the wall for the network’s sake.

Leave it to Kermit (the voice of reason with an uncanny ability to think quickly on the spot) to tell Gonzo he thinks he should call off the stunt just so he’s not forever associated with Piggy Water because the FDA is still investigating it. Gonzo agrees with Kermit that he doesn’t want to be a corporate sell-out and Miss Piggy tells her audience the stunt was called off because of bad weather. However, Gonzo ultimately decides to go ahead and make the jump just to prove to himself that you’re never too old or too out of shape to pursue your dreams. But the only person who witnesses that he successfully makes it to the other side is Kermit, who proclaims him Gonzo the Greatest.

The episode seemed to send mixed messages. On the one hand, it encouraged people to pursue their dreams in the face of adversity. That’s a positive message any child or adult can, and should, take from the program. On the other hand, maybe we shouldn’t be encouraging people to pursue dreams with a 99.9% risk of death. However, it was good to see Gonzo doing what he loves best, and it was inspirational that he didn’t chicken out. And it didn’t matter that he didn’t have an audience cheering him on in the end. The only thing that matters is he knows he accomplished his goal and he can live with himself knowing that he faced his fears and won. That has to be a beautiful feeling.