Bursting back on to the small screen with an optimism once relegated to the past, The Muppet Show has returned with a half-hour 50th-anniversary special that’s better than it has any right to be.
Featuring the Muppet troupe –- including Dave Goelz, still as Gonzo –- and over 180 puppet characters, The Muppet Show is what it’s always been: vaudeville-style musical numbers, character-driven skits, and Kermit (now performed by Matt Vogel) trying to keep the chaos in check.
It’s actually entertaining, which could hardly be said for the last effort, Muppets Now. While not perfect as family fare, it's not too far off from the heyday of Jim Henson’s hit show.
The original show, well worth checking out on Disney+, featured goofy Dom DeLuise one week, then bombshell Raquel Welch the next.
This new special splits the difference, with only a few moments that will likely fly over young kids’ heads, much like one of Gonzo’s cannonballs.
Following a years-long pitch from producer Seth Rogen (The Studio), who got all the talent together and convinced Disney to fund it, the team here meticulously recreated the original Muppet theater and, more importantly, every aspect of the show format.
By keeping the beloved felt and foam characters at forefront, doing lots of silly gags with moments of sincerity, this special sidesteps any cheap jokes about TikTok or cellphones.
The story playing out backstage is that Kermit accidentally approved every act that wanted to perform for their anniversary show. Miss Piggy and Fozzie (both performed by Eric Jacobson, taking over for Frank Oz) have to table multiple planned performances. Drama ensues.
True to form, their humor also breaks the fourth wall.
Kermit says at the outset: "We are so excited to be back on the very stage where it all started, and then ended, and is maybe starting again, depending on how tonight goes."
Disney plans to revive The Muppet Show on an ongoing basis, if viewership proves interest. If so, hopefully they’ll retain this team, with hit Broadway director Alex Timbers helming the special, and a writing team led by Albertina Rizzo of The Tonight Show.
She must be a fan of Rizzo the Rat, who makes a splashy return with a standout musical number after being absent since 2016. Rizzo and Bean Bunny are now given life by Bradley Freeman Jr., a San Antonio-based performerknown for his Sesame Street characters.
Pop diva Sabrina Carpenter -- who played Maya Hart on Disney Channel's Girl Meets World -- gets a couple musical numbers alongside her colorful, big-eyed co-stars. While she clearly is having the time of her life, it’s here where parents may want to skip a scene or two.
Carpenter opens with her song “Manchild,” a jilted lover’s anthem that is reinterpreted in a Midwest honky-tonk bar scene. with lots of chickens and energetic puppet antics.
For this rendition, she altered song lyrics -– “it’s my life” rather than “(expletive) my life.” If kids seek out her hit earworm, know that “Manchild” also references a one-night stand and misuses God’s name. So, it may be best to fast-forward.
That’s unfortunate, because Carpenter seems to be an ideal Muppet guest star, using every chance to get a laugh and bantering with Miss Piggy in several very funny scenes.
But we get more references to love triangles. One is innocent enough, in a sequence that echoes classic “At the Dance” sketches from The Muppet Show season one. Pepe the King Prawn (Bill Barretta) steals the scene when suddenly cast as Piggy’s partner.
A later scene is less kid-friendly. In Carpenter’s dressing room, Kermit says they’re “working out the kinks” of the show. She replies: “I love a kink.” And she proceeds to whisper to him about a recent date. Kermit replies, “He’s single?” “No,” she says with a wink.
It’s just not necessary to go there, especially because this team clearly cares about who these characters have always been. No version of Kermit up to now wastes time on backstage gossip.
Last bit of caution, as for language, there's “frickin’” and “jerk” being said as a throwaway joke. In a cameo, Maya Rudolph compares Hollywood award shows to hell; I kinda liked it but mileage may vary.
That said, The Muppet Show, with hippie vibes and tongue-in-cheek sultry show-stoppers (recall Rita Moreno’s “Fever” duet with Animal on drums), was never exactly Sesame Street.
I came into this reunion special as a skeptic, ready to sum up my review by quoting “Pictures in My Head,” a nostalgic lament from 2011’s The Muppets. But the artistry and intention put into this special equal or even surpass that Jason Segel-Amy Adams comedy.
The Muppet Show is not just technically impressive puppetry. The team behind this special tapped into the ethos of Henson’s weird, anarchic comedy troupe, including characters’ psychology.
“Piggy sees herself as Meryl Streep, but we see her differently,” Timbers told the Los Angeles Times. “Fozzie thinks he’s John Mulaney. Gonzo feels he’s Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible, a stunt genius. But Kermit sees the reality, and I think he really lovingly protects them from themselves.”
If parents feel their family can navigate a couple of unneeded, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it bits, they’ll join an army of Muppet fans thrilled to laugh, guffaw, and smile widely at this outrageous, lavishly produced variety show of catchy songs and throwback comedy.
And then go enjoy Henson’s classic variety show, fully restored on Disney+, notably episodes with Paul Simon, Julie Andrews, Harry Belafonte, Carol Burnett, and Johnny Cash.
Rated TV-PG for some mature themes, “The Muppet Show” (2026) is streaming worldwide on Disney+.
Image: Disney+
Freelance journalist Josh Shepherd writes on faith and culture for several media outlets. He and his family live in central Florida
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