Bosco’s News: Modern Family Star Ty Burrell To Replace Christoph Waltz In Muppet Movie Sequel

You may recall, a few weeks ago, that Christoph Waltz was in talks to play an Interpol inspector in the Muppet movie sequel. Well here’s the issue: The Hollywood Reporter has released an article detailing Waltz’s scheduling complications, rendering him unavailable. Which is sad because he seemed perfect for the part, and his replacement is sufficient, but doesn’t hold up in comparison. Modern Family star Ty Burrell (Phil Dunphy) will take his place. Terrible decision? Not at all. A little disappointing? Bingo.

Burrell does seem like a perfect fit in regard to the silliness that is the Muppets. Though, because of the predetermined thoughts in my head of Christoph Waltz, he can only be so good. The only way for me to forget about the sheer mention of Waltz’s name is for Burrell to do an amazing job. That seems unlikely. I am not saying Ty is a bad actor, I find him very funny on Modern Family, but he’s second to Waltz in this specific situation, especially considering the fact that Waltz’s comedic timing is impeccable.

The next question at hand is this: will Burrell be able to follow Jason Segel’s footsteps after starring in the first movie. I am a big Jason Segel fan and I love him on How I Met Your Mother and the other movies he stars in. I am doubtful that Burrell can live up to that performance, but that’s just me being biased, I suppose. Segel worked so well on the big screen for the first movie and just captured the feeling of the Muppets quite perfectly. Burrell, on the other hand, has potential, but I’m not sure if he can handle it.

The upsides to the Muppet sequel is that Bret Mr Mckenzie (songwriter and Oscar winner for “Man or Muppet”) and James Bobin (director) are returning. Mckenzie’s music was one of the best aspects of the first movie. I’m interested in seeing what McKenzie can come up with for the sequel and if his songs will be suited more to Burrell’s comedic style, which differs from Segel in its quirkiness. Where Segel was almost the Muppets’ straight man, Burrell seems like he would partake in their zany behavior. That leads me to the final question: Who’s going to hold the whole thing together? Ground it in some form of reality?