Muppet Show revival (Feb 4 2026)

Cafe Society
,
1

DID YOU KNOW - there’s a pilot for a new “The Muppet Show” on Disney+ today?

Here’s a trailer.

The premise is the same as the 70s version, and so is the cast (for the most part).

I haven’t had a chance to watch it yet so I won’t be back in this thread until I do. BUT I wanted to let everyone know that if you have Disney + you should watch it so that it gets big big ratings and we can have a whole season or ten of the new show!

It’s getting great reviews so far - but I am a HUGE Muppet fan, so I see a lot of Muppet-biased news :slight_smile:

2

I did know, I have my DVR set up to record it off ABC at 9pm eastern time.

I loved the original show and about half the movies.

What is it with the cast of Freaks & Geeks coming to the rescue of the Muppets? First Jason Segal and now Seth Rogan?

3

I didn’t even know it was on ABC! Awesome! (Ok I came back to the thread before I watched it oops)

4

Wasn’t there a Muppets show reboot about 10 years ago? It was in the same fake-reality show style as The Office and (I think) revolved around a Miss Piggy talk show.

5

I’m a huge fan of the original The Muppet Show. Even rewatched the whole series from beginning to end a few years ago (it’s like time traveling to my childhood in the 70s).

Henson and then Disney have tried various spin-off series from time to time and the magic just isn’t the same. At least for me. I’ll try it again.

6

That wasn’t a reboot of the show, it was just the Muppets in a awkward situation comedy.

7

I’m very excited and watching the original Muppets is one of the only things I can remember from the 70s, but I’m a little annoyed it’s on at 9pm. Granted, I’m fine watching it on Disney/Hulu/On Demand later, but I’d prefer to watch it live a little bit earlier.

8

Forewarning for those who are going to watch it on ABC tonight – I just set up my DVR to record it, and it is running from 8pm CT to 8:36 (i.e., it’s longer than the standard time slot).

My guess is that the episode was created for a 30-minute length for Disney+ (where it runs without ads), and it will run overtime on ABC to allow for ads.

9

We’re streaming it currently on Disney+ and very good start. Feels like old times.

10

Well it’s too late now (unless you’re not in the Eastern time zone) but I am pretty sure the show was up on Disney+ at midnight this morning. People have been posting reviews of it all day on the Muppets Reddit sub.

11

I loved it! It hit all the marks of the original show. Current star, all the classic Muppets hanging around in the theater (plus Pepe, who rocks), trying to put on a show, a plot, a running gag (Gonzo) musical numbers and plenty of chickens!

The only thing modern about the show was 2 of the 4 musical numbers. And the production was a little glossier.

I hope they can make more! It’s great to see how Jim Henson’s ode to vaudeville can still be great today.

12

We watched it and it was very similar to the original, which was a good thing.

Sabrina Carpenter as the guest star was great. If she ever decides to abandon music and go into acting, she’ll have a good career as a comic actor.

Indeed, the original Muppet Show shined by having an interesting series of guest stars. I hope to see more.

13

I thought it was a lot of fun. Miss Piggy being Miss Piggy and threatening Sabrina Carpenter was funny.

14

There are some clips on Youtube. The laughtrack is annoying and distracting.

15

Sabrina Carpenter actually started out as a child actor on one of those shows for kids on the Disney Channel. Girl Meets World, I think. Like many such actors, she got a recording contract. Unlike many such actors, she’s been quite successful at it. Her music isn’t really to my taste, but I thought she performed well here, so more power to her.

I thought the episode was pretty well-done, and it certainly brought back memories of the old show. Unlike the old show, there were some real people in the “audience,” rather than just Muppets. Involving one of them in the story–the Maya Rudolph bit–was new, but I think it worked.

I did feel a quiver of sorrow that the Muppets’ voices are different now, but that’s inevitable. So many of the original performers are either gone (Jim Henson, Richard Hunt, Jerry Nelson) or retired (Frank Oz). I think Dave Goelz (Gonzo) is the only performer from the original show still working. The new folks do a fine job, and of course there’s no other way to continue, but it still gives me a little pang.

16

The first instance of the laugh track bugged me, but I just chalked that up to copying the original and kind of ignored it after that.

My teen and I watched it and we both loved it. It took me back to watching it as a kid. My son has also talked about how Disney should re-do the show. They had been fumbling around with the Muppet IP for decades now so I appreciate them going back to what made the Muppets famous for many of us.

I did see that this is a one-time special/backdoor pilot. It appears that they’re getting plenty of positive response from critics and fans so I hope we get more of this.

Also, I wonder who the humans in the audience were.

17

Hooray!

But it makes sense in the context of The Muppet Show, it’s supposed to be a variety show filmed in front of a live audience. Unlike most laugh tracks, it helps with the suspension of disbelief.

That show had its flaws, but it did give us the drum-off between Animal and Dave Grohl.

I caught a bit of it on the air last night, and it looked good. I’ll probably watch it tonight.

18

Wasn’t a great show but I still say this is one of the best jokes they ever did.

“When your online profile says ‘Passionate bear looking for love’ you get a lot of wrong responses. Well, not wrong, just wrong for me."

19

Steve Whitmire who is now Kermit was a relatively minor Muppeteer on the original show.

20

Actually Whitmire was fired from the Muppets in 2017, for nebulous “difficult to work with” reasons. Matt Vogel is the current Kermit.