Quick Thoughts on The Muppet Show (2026)
All the musical bits were good. Rizzo getting to headline one is WELL overdue for how long he's been absent from the franchise (his appearance in Muppet Babies notwithstanding). I never really listened to Sabrina Carpenter before, but I enjoyed all her songs, and of course the finale being Queen's 'Don't Stop Me Now' was perfect.
On the topic of Sabrina, she was a lovely guest star and a great first choice. Great performance, good music, clearly and truly has as much love as she says she does for the Muppets. Her and Miss Piggy hanging out were a match made in heaven.
Seth Rogen was also pleasant for his cameo appearance. I dunno, I enjoy Rogen as an actor, I hope he continues to appear throughout the show (should it get made). Didn't know Maya Rudolph would be here either, she was lovely as always.
Gonzo's stunt gag was brilliant, a great way to implement modern advancements without feeling dated or of the era. The Muppet Labs bit was also great, especially with how the eyes kept popping up to the final scene.
Statler & Waldorf were in top form, as per usual.
The new Pigs in Wigs sketch was fun, always a fan of sketches going off the walls. Feels like it better fits Miss Piggy's aesthetic more so than Pigs in Space imo.
The new theme song, GOSH. It's SO good. It's the classic tune but wonderfully upgraded.
Sabrina spending her first song beating up and womanhandling muppets, as God intended 🙂↕️
BEAUTIFUL DAY MONSTER APPEARANCE LET'S GOOOOO!!!
The opening scene of turning the lights back on were great.
I liked the mix of both muppets and humans in the audience, some nice variety for bits down there.
Rowlf playing both 'Rainbow Connection' and 'Movin' Right Along' at the start was fun.
Wait, Hilda, was that you? Nice to have her back! Overall, nice to see a lot of the more minor muppet cast members pop back up, like Pops, Beuregard, Mildred, and Uncle Deadly, even if only in the background for now. We even had some of the members from Muppets Tonight show up!
It felt a lil...bloated? Rushed? Something felt a lil off about this special. Maybe it was just me expecting smth closer to the original, or maybe it got SO close to the original it almost feels uncanny. Still, it feels like there are some kinks to iron out.
Fozzie doesn't really get a lot to do. Yes, I know this is just the pilot, so there's room to include him more so later, but we got good scenes with Kermit, Gonzo, and Muppet Labs, and TWO good scenes with Miss Piggy on top of the wonderful backstage drama. Fozzie only gets that one scene with Rogen, which while cute, is a lil limited.
In Sabrina's first musical number, when the wind speed increases, her hair doesn't flow with it. Really minor detail, I know, but if it's supposed to be hurricane grade winds that can blow the feathers off chickens, it should cause her hair to blow in the wind.
Less a critique and more commenting on the irony of 'Don't Stop Me Now' being subtly censored with the singing around the lyric of "I'm a sex machine, ready to reload like an atom bomb", despite the original Muppet Show pilot having the subtitle of Sex & Violence.
Beating a dead horse at this point, I know, but Matt Vogel is just...not good as Kermit. It's been ten years almost and he really hasn't improved, not that I blame him seeing as how rare big Muppet productions are these days. Trust me, I try going in with "Oh maybe he's not as bad as I remember" and I'm always got off guard by how high pitched and ever so slightly off Vogel's Kermit is. Kermit just has a very specific cadence that Steve Whitmire was able to capture so effortlessly, it's hard to really compare his performance to Henson's. It's still so weird cause succeeding performers are usually picked out with clear care, but replacing Whitmire with Vogel seemed like such a rush job; why was their choice the guy who performed as a character who was known for doing a BAD Kermit impression!?! Not even that I specifically want Whitmire back, just a better performer! (Not to say Vogel is a bad performer, far from it. He's great, just a bad Kermit).
Really, not much bad to say. This special was great! Hope it gets green-lit. 9/10
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