10 Hilariously Meta Moments From The Muppets Franchise

During the first act of a movie, there needs to be an inciting incident that gets the plot rolling and sets the characters in motion. Otherwise, the whole thing would end right there, and the film would be about 10 minutes long. Two separate times in the Muppets franchise, the characters voice this idea, wondering what would happen if they just packed up and went home in act one.

That gag is used in The Great Muppet Caper, in which Fozzie and Kermit play investigative reporters. That's what's going to be the plot of the film, yet in the opening scene, they're about to get fired. Wait, if the movie is about them investigating things, they can't get fired right away, right? When Fozzie says they'll do better next time, their boss asks why they think there's gonna be a next time. Kermit's response? "Well if there isn't, it's gonna be a real short movie."

There's a similar gag in The Muppets (2011) when Kermit is refusing to help Walter get the studio back, but if he doesn't join them, the movie can't go on. Mary observes, "This is going to be a really short movie." Sometimes these are the funniest meta gags of all: the lines of dialogue when characters inexplicably reference the fact that they're in a movie, and then everyone just moves on without questioning it.