Everyone loves The Muppets — except Disney. Their management of the beloved puppets since purchasing them from the Jim Henson Company in 2004 has left much to be desired. There have been some highlights: 2011’s “The Muppets” is a masterpiece that changed my life when I saw it in theaters at age six. The songs were both incredibly delightful (“Life’s a Happy Song”) and devastating (“Man or Muppet”), and it confidently updated The Muppets without losing their original charm. However, Disney sadly didn’t know what to do with the momentum of that film. The sequel, “Muppets: Most Wanted,” was decent enough, and the 2015 mockumentary sitcom “The Muppets” was an admirable albeit misguided experiment that didn’t find its footing fast enough to avoid cancellation after season one. Since then, The Muppets have been banished to Disney+ limbo. And to add insult to injury, The Muppets area in Disney’s Hollywood Studios was razed last year. So, all in all, it isn’t easy being green under Disney.
However, a new hope has emerged. Disney recently locked in and decided to reboot “The Muppet Show” for an ostensible one-time television special on Disney+; however, it’s clearly a backdoor pilot for a full-fledged series. Behind the reboot are producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who are fresh off the success of “The Studio.” They seemed as good stewards as anybody to step in and try to reignite these characters. The duo and the rest of The Muppet Studio team smartly decided not to reinvent the wheel with this reboot and instead embraced what The Muppets are exceptionally good at: slapstick humor, kooky hijinks and charmingly weird characters.
For those unfamiliar with the format of “The Muppet Show,” it’s essentially a show within a show: The Muppets are putting on a live theater performance, and wacky hijinks ensue. Malfunctions and backstage drama always abound, but the show still goes on with a mix of musical performances and sketches. A celebrity guest also joins them, and for this special, that honor was given to Sabrina Carpenter, a perfect choice to kick off this reboot. Her burlesque aesthetic and cheeky humor fit right at home with The Muppets. And don’t worry, she still somehow manages to slip in a sexual innuendo in this TV-PG-rated special.
Carpenter kicked off the special with a playful rendition of “Manchild” where she beats up a bunch of drunk Muppets and dances with chickens — perfect, no notes. The next sketch is an amusing, if flimsy, sketch in which Miss Piggy unexpectedly ends up at a ballroom dance with Pepe. After that, we get a fun “Blinding Lights” rendition from Rizzo, my favorite Italian-American caricature. Carpenter then returns for some fun backstage banter with Miss Piggy, who accuses Carpenter of stealing her style. A Bunsen and Beaker sketch that lightheartedly touches on our attention crisis is next, followed by some shockingly good harmonies between Kermit and Carpenter for an “Islands in the Stream” performance. And to end things off, the entire Muppets crew performs “Don’t Stop Me Know”, a tongue-in-cheek plea for Disney to give this reboot a shot. Interspersed throughout the sketch are charming discursions, classic heckles from Statler and Waldorf and surreal quips. It’s hard not to have a smile on your face throughout the entire thing.
There’s a remarkable humility and reverence behind this special. Rather than trying to uproot The Muppets or distort Henson’s original vision, the team approached the property with real love, faithfully capturing the charm of these characters. The energy is zippy, the cinematography is vibrant and The Muppets are still endearing weirdos. The special has been greeted with praise from critics and audiences alike, so I’m pretty confident that Disney will go ahead and give this team a full-series order. Let’s hope they can keep the magic going.
