Director: Alex Timbers. Starring: Sabrina Carpenter, Seth Rogen, Maya Rudolph, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy. 32m.
There have been multiple attempts throughout the decades to reboot Jim Henson’s much beloved The Muppet Show - a puppet sketch show which ran to massive success from 1975 to 1981. There have been movies – some beloved (The Muppet Christmas Carol), some forgettable (Muppets Most Wanted) and countless TV shows that tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to recapture the particular brand of magic that made the original TV show such an indelible part of Gen X childhood.
When I heard that Disney + were making another attempt to bring back The Muppet Show for multiple generations that probably don’t remember the original, I was understandably sceptical. I’m pleased to tell you I was very pleasantly surprised! Executive producer Seth Rogen (currently stacking up Emmy and Golden Globe wins with his Apple TV show The Studio) has clearly poured a lot of love and care into this project- and it shows. It’s clearly been made by people who grew up watching the original format of The Muppet Show which was a half hour variety show with musical numbers and behind the scenes sketches featuring a human celebrity guest performer (usually a singer, sometimes an actor).
In the glory days of the late seventies everyone from Elton John and Diana Ross to Julie Andrew and Liza Minelli turned up every week to sing duets with bashful Kermit the Frog or blonde diva Miss Peggy. Between the musical numbers, a host of colourful characters including the chaotic Swedish chef, Fozzy bear and Gonzo would show up in comedy sketches that were light-hearted, irreverent and endlessly amusing for both children and adults. All these characters (and so many more!) appear here in this version 2.0 where the original formula is faithfully recreated down to the retro look of the sets and the original opening sequence song (It’s time to play the music… It’s time to light the lights….). We get 2 musical numbers with pop superstar Sabrina Carpenter (a perfect choice), backstage mayhem with Kermit trying to keep everyone happy and comedy sketches featuring Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat. Seth Rogen and Bridesmaids star Maya Rudoplh show up in cameos. All of this is inevitably observed by Statler and Waldorf, the two elderly gentlemen on the theatre balcony, who heckle and make fun of the muppets throughout the show.
This could all have gone terribly wrong. The world has changed a lot since the original Muppet Show ended in 1981 and so has the way we consume TV and entertainment content. At the same time, we have a global streaming audience craving nostalgia: shows from 20-30 years ago like ‘’Gilmore Girls’’ and ‘’ Friends’’ are still massively successful on streaming platforms. At a time when the news is too frightening to contemplate, people want the certainty of the familiar. This reboot of The Muppet Show offers exactly that: a return to a simpler, more wholesome time. It’s blessed with the same cheeky humour, wacky slapstick and pure joyful escapism as the original. As the curtain comes down on the first and only episode (for now, at least…), you can’t help but feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. What more could you ask for during on a wintry February day?
The Muppet Show is now streaming on Disney + globally