[michaelbuckbee]

I think this is just a general change in entertainment. When media out was limited to fewer shows being created and the audience so much broader it was necessary to try and throw "something for everybody" into each show.

The Muppet Show is kind of the height of this with celebrities, silliness for kids, sly asides for adults, etc.

[Hallucinaut]

I'm not sure the Muppet Show was that; the very setting was a behind the scenes look at the operation of a live variety show of yesteryear, and iirc everything fit into that theme?

[michaelbuckbee]

I was coming at this a little differently. Imagine that there's 75 jokes in the show. Muppets would maybe distribute them like:

- 25 for adults - 25 for kids - 25 site gags for toddlers

And media now is like: that should be 3 separate shows.

[lggy]

As if today's extremely successful entertainment didn't build exactly on the "something for everybody" idea. Take the insanely popular movies from the Marvel Cinematic Universe as an example. Has mainstream media really changed in this regard?