Here we go! It’s part TWO of your opinions on the recent Muppet Show special! You can find part one right here! The concept is very simple: You told me one thing you liked about the special and one thing where you thought there was room for improvement. So let’s get to it!
Marni Ockene:
Liked: The characters were true to themselves.
Room for Improvement: The lighting for the rats’ number was a bit dark. I didnt catch Yolanda as a hooker until somebody pointed it out and I saw it on my second watch, barely.
Dustin Hauff:
Liked: That it felt like The Muppet Show and yet felt hip and modern enough to be just a little different.
Room for Improvement: I felt Sabrina Carpenter was hardly on this, or at least they went with long stretches without her.
K. Grammys:
Liked: Performances by the puppeteers
Room for Improvement: Length – it’s a special, it should be at least an hour.
Matthew Weikert:
Liked: New songs and spoofs for shows, just like Sesame Street
Room for Improvement: More guest stars and more special appearances from plenty of Muppets
Jason Breslin:
Liked: I really liked how they brought back Derek Scott’s music cues including Gonzo’s theme, Kermit’s one-chord fanfare, and the Muppet Labs theme.
Room for Improvement: There was no appearance by any other classic beloved sketches such as Vet’s Hospital or Pigs in Space. Hopefully, that can be rectified in future installments, kina hora kina hora.
Cassandra:
Liked: The humor was very top notch. I was laughing and smiling pretty much the entire time.
Room for Improvement: The CGI for Breaker’s eyes flying around the room was very jarring. The Muppets are best enjoyed in their use of puppetry and physical effects; too much CGI just cheapens things.
Cole J. Dakers:
Liked: How accurately they recreated EVERYTHING!
Room for Improvement: They should have had only one guest star.
Cooper:
Liked: I really loved Kermit asking Fozzie, “do you trust me?” near the end. It echoed Kermit and Fozzie telling each other “trust me” on the original show.
Room for Improvement: I thought there was too much Miss Piggy. I know she’s the star of the show, but any character with such a powerful personality can easily push other characters out of the spotlight.
Max R:
Liked: I like how it felt like a real event without it being a whole high stakes movie or reboot vis a vis the 2011 movie or anything.
Room for Improvement: All the main cast had a presence throughout the special even if it was just a running bit like Gonzo with the exception of Fozzie? Maybe it’s cause a lot of the promo used the bit with him and Seth Rogen but I thought he’d be more present.
Robert Poole:
Liked: The appearance of a ton of rebuilt vintage characters. I was surprised to even see Johnny Fiama & Sal amongst everyone as well.
Room for Improvement: Out of all the recent Muppet productions, THIS one was the one where Walter had to sit out. Hopefully should this be picked up for a regular series, even if it ends being one season long, he has a chance of living his dream of being on THE Muppet Show.
Zach Kenny:
Liked: Before Fozzie cuts Seth, he gives Kermit a supportive little shoulder nudge. I couldn’t remember the last time he did that, but that physical “trust me” gesture was just as much TMS era Fozzie than him not saying “wocka” at all.
Room for Improvement: Statler & Waldorf’s comments coulda tied in better to the sketches in the ep instead of being generic enough that it doesn’t matter how they’re organized.
Micah:
Liked: It wasn’t too “hey we brought the thing back”, it felt like they just made a new Muppet Show episode this year (that said, Kermit walking past the old guest stars was a nice way to start things off)
Room for Improvement: Pigs in Wigs is no Pigs in Space, but you need to show that you’re willing to try new things in a backdoor pilot.
Collette:
Liked: New acts. They could have easily leaned only on classics for the special like Vet or Pigs in Space, but they didn’t. The original had a balance of fan favorite skits, and new songs or acts that allowed experimentation and variety, so I was happy to see them trying new things like Pigs in Wigs.
Room for Improvement: Lean more into the zany and absurd. This is a show that would have a giant carrot perform one episode, then have a crazy plant grow into a jungle backstage the next. Only the Muppets can pull off the most random of events.
Jacob:
Liked: This is the best Kermit has been personality-wise in years!
Room for Improvement: More Fozzie!!
Ben Howell:
Liked: It feels like the original series, which makes me so excited to see the next one.
Room for Improvement: Difficult question – no Muppet production has been this spot-on for many, many years.
Ben Exworth:
Liked: The opening theme.
Room for Improvement: More Fozzie and Gonzo.
Matthew Prower:
Liked: i like it when the frog do the funni
Room for Improvement: not much in terms of the special; but i rly hope they shake things up for the greenlit show (mebbe take some cues from muppets tonight if it helps)
David:
Liked: The set recreations! There was a lot of love and care put into this and it showed.
Room for Improvement: I really wanted to see a classic Fozzie Bear act! Especially since I so enjoyed the little bit he got to do in the special.
Bryan Snyder:
Liked: Seth Rogen on the Armadillo in a tutu: “That guy’s not canon!”
Room for Improvement: Miss Piggy – still written as an obnoxious, toxic character without the fragile self-awareness she had in the original Muppet Show.
Steven Chin:
Liked: I laughed a lot at Sabrina fighting the Frackles while performing a musical number.
Room for Improvement: I wish the forgotten characters had a chance to speak during the special — Zelda Rose, Miss Mousey, and the female Whatnot in the blue dress that only appeared during the Muppet Show theme song.
Lizzie:
Liked: Scooter MVP. Too often since The Muppet Show ended he’s been sidelined and I’m glad they remembered he was always one of the main characters.
Room for Improvement: Not every song needs a comedic cutaway. It works sometimes (Islands in the Stream) but more often it’s just distracting. Blinding Lights didn’t need the cutaways to Bo. Let the songs play out, this is what sunk Muppets Tonight.
H:
Liked: Sabrina Carpenter (especially Manchild).
Room for Improvement: The ending (a bit forced and too sappy).
Alex Harris:
Liked: Aside from how great it was to see the Muppets doing what they do best again, the special made me realize just how much I liked Sabrina Carpenter’s music.
Room for Improvement: The fact they haven’t greenlit a full season yet. I know it’s early but come on, Disney, you’ve got a hit on your hands!
Adam:
Liked: Using the original concept of the show, back on stage!
Room for Improvement: More skits! (less piggy)
George:
Liked: The attention to detail.
Room for Improvement: I want the puppet audience back.
Molly:
Liked: Kermit’s cup.
Room for Improvement: Having The Muppet Show behind a paywall. For me, that makes the Muppet content of the last years(!) very exclusive, better to say: It excludes. [Editor’s note: In addition to being made available on Disney+, the Muppet Show special was broadcast on ABC.]
Mark Hershberger:
Liked: The sheer amount of special appearance Muppets.
Room for Improvement: The closing number should have had Carpenter in it.
Cosmo:
Liked: The sets and Muppets looked great.
Room for Improvement:
Mike:
Liked: Islands in the Stream felt like a genuine Muppet Show skit, with random Muppets popping up all over.
Room for Improvement: The final number was an opportunity for chaos instead of treacle. All of the acts could have joined on their own, to the consternation of Kermit et al., leading to a Muppety ending.
Fade75:
Liked: Rizzo’s Number. His new voice is fantastic and the puppetry was immaculate.
Room for Improvement: While the celebrity bits didn’t outstay their welcome, I felt that the second Seth Rogen cameo felt extraneous. It wasn’t bad exactly, but it just wasn’t essential.
Jon:
Liked: It wasn’t as nostalgia baity as it could have been. Felt like a decent blend of both old and new.
Room for Improvement: Let Johnny Fiama and Sal speak!
Cam Garrity:
Liked: Fozzie’s thinking hat being just his normal hat with a balloon sculpture on it. If I had seen that as a six year old, I absolutely would have obsessively taken up the hobby for a few months.
Room for Improvement: The runtime seemed to constrict a small handful of moments. On repeat viewings, especially, it’s easy to pinpoint a few places where a transitional gag or visual was likely cut for time.
Diane:
Liked: The ‘gang’s all here’ vibe – lots of background appearance/cameos for Muppets (also means lots of Muppet performers got to participate!).
Room for Improvement: As a one-off special, I have no notes really – if it was picked up as series, I hope they wouldn’t feel the need to cram all the feels into every episode (OK to just be zany/absurd without being heartfelt too).
Angelo Lefe:
Liked: Everything! But I mostly loved seeing obscure characters we haven’t seen in a while.
Room for Improvement: I genuinely can’t think of anything.
Brian N:
Liked: It’s back on.
Room for Improvement: Old jokes.
Molly Kisner:
Liked: Rizzo. Is. Back!
Room for Improvement: I just wish it were a little longer.
Mack Duncan:
Liked: I loved how heavily populated the Muppet world turned out to be. On stage, off stage, and in the audience, we had not only the familiar faces, but forgotten Muppets from earlier seasons (like Wayne and Wanda), as well as “second generation” Muppets that weren’t introduced until after the original show aired (like Johnny and Sal, as well as Pepe).
Room for Improvement: If the EP were anyone other than Seth Rogan, they likely wouldn’t be an on camera presence on the show.
Caleb C:
Liked: I loved the Islands in the Stream duet.
Room for Improvement: The closing number needed to be longer.
Jolyne:
Liked: The whole Islands in the Stream performance. My goodness, what a perfect skit. Gentle, heartfelt, while still having room for some silliness and tying into the overall storyline in the episode. Just so good.
Room for Improvement: This is more or less a nitpick, but I really wish that the vocals for the songs were either performed live or mixed to sound less polished. Part of the fun of The Muppet Show was that it felt like going to a live stage show because so much of it was done live and with minimal cuts.
Jan:
Liked: It was the same humor, the same spirit of The Muppet Show as in the “old” ones. No crazy experiments!
Room for Improvement: Bruce Springsteen as star guest!
Scarlet:
Liked: The Muppet Labs sketch! It was funny and charming and also a relief to see Bunsen and Beaker’s character dynamic rerailed after how they were depicted in Muppets Now.
Room for Improvement: I hope they don’t stick only to super mainstream stuff in the future. I prefer when they dig up weirdo novelty songs or older stuff and I hope we’ll be getting more of that.
Juliana DeBruin:
Liked: I appreciate the way they balanced a lot of character appearances into a half hour runtime. Not everybody got their due, but I think they did the best they could.
Room for Improvement: I found Maya Rudolph’s role confusing and unnecessary, and not all that funny until the Newsman showed up. I would have preferred another onstage Muppet sketch.
Matt:
Liked: It had a very classic Muppets feeling, they were not afraid to be a little weird.
Room for Improvement: It was too short, I need more!
Katie:
Liked: All the musical numbers!
Room for Improvement: One celebrity at a time please! Maya Rudolph and Seth Rogen did not need to be there, especially in a half-hour format when time is already limited.
Daniel Temons:
Liked: Bringing back an oldie but goodie classic like The Muppet Show with lots of Easter eggs and full of nostalgia for both old and new generations.
Room for Improvement: I wish that the special was a little bit longer rather than 30 minutes and maybe have some skits of Vet’s Hospital, Pigs in Space, The Swedish Chef and the Electric Mayhem Band.
Kelsi:
Liked: I appreciate the inclusion of Hilda. The people behind this special really looked at the original show. I wish Hilda nothing but the best.
Room for Improvement: I have a major concern if the show moves forward. Social Media can make and/or break a potential celebrity guest’s reputation, that could bring down the episode at best or the show at worst. Celebrity reputations are much harder to maintain these days than in the 70’s and 80’s.
Lyn:
Liked: For the first time in years, I actually laughed at a Pepe bit.
Room for Improvement: Kermit’s still too sweet. On The Muppet Show especially, Kermit needs a fuller range of emotions that includes anger, exasperation, and stress. He loves his fellow Muppets, but they drive him crazy too.
Cameron Alex:
Liked: Don’t Stop Me Now is the best musical number in years. Muppets singing Queen songs seem to be a winning combo!
Room for Improvement: I’ll never get used to seeing chickens with live hands.
Jacob:
Liked: Matt Vogel as Kermit!
Room for Improvement: More sketches like Pigs in Space!
Parker F:
Liked: I loved how the special seemed to celebrate all eras of the Muppets. There were of course lots of cameos by original Muppet Show characters going all the way back to season 1, but I was pleasantly surprised by all of the 90s Muppets Tonight representation!
Room for Improvement: I think sticking to one guest star for the most part will be best for the future. Rogen and Rudolph’s bits were fun for the special, but I think it’s best to give some of that extra time to other Muppet characters going forward.
Jake Greene:
Liked: I noticed how many props were “beaten up” or new puppets discolored (on purpose) and how many “flaws” there were in the set. The “The Muppet Show” sign was very clearly hand painted!
Room for Improvement: WHERE’S WALTER?!?!
Don Walker:
Liked: Brought back memories of old.
Room for Improvement: I thought it was good as is, loved it completely.
Jon Bauer:
Liked: How it kept it just like the original.
Room for Improvement: Too short, should be an hr
Mollie Dawson:
Liked: The whole DANG special as a whole.
Room for Improvement: If this special is successful enough to Disney + to syndicate a brand new Muppet Show, I want to see more of Lips as a character and I want to hear more of Peter Linz’s deep mock mumbling voice that he is giving to that character for so many years to come, including here with 2026 in general, please with sugar, spice and everything nice on top.
Matt Scheer:
Liked: The Muppets screwing up nearly every number was peak Muppet Show. They’re at their best when they don’t quite get everything right.
Room for Improvement: The only thing I didn’t like was not knowing if or when a full revival of the series will happen.
Anthony:
Liked: Rowlf was included.
Room for Improvement: There was no Rowlf reciting his poetry.
Nancy:
Liked: The rat number was superb, the atmosphere, music, dancing and comedy rang true to original skits.
Room for Improvement: The humans in the audience and the extra producer human need to go. Just a guest star, no other visible humans please.
Geneviève Gagnier:
Liked: The inclusion of past Muppets like Hilda and Beautiful Day Monster.
Room for Improvement: The closing number was a bit too short.
Ashley C:
Liked: The duet with Kermit, Sabrina, and Miss Piggy later on. Classic!
Room for Improvement: Fozzie having more time than he did.
Grahame Nolan:
Liked: The sheer number of Muppets that appeared in this special! It was done so effortlessly in a way that honoured how many different characters there are, not just shoving them in for the sake of it but rather knowing that each of these appearances will make a person smile from a memory or love of a particular Muppet.
Room for Improvement: What could they improve on if a full series comes to fruition!? My answer to that would be keeping it fresh whilst also re visiting some classic sketches.
John Linskey:
Liked: Showing a huge number of characters, even if only in passing, to show that they’re not forgotten; they’re just waiting their turn.
Room for Improvement: Four musical numbers (Maneater, Blinded By The Light, Islands in the Stream, Don’t Stop Me Now) left little room for regular skits. It just seemed a little lopsided in that regard.
Maat Muhammad:
Liked: The “manchild” performance.
Room for Improvement: Better pacing.
Heidi Himes:
Liked: Dr. Teeth.
Room for Improvement: Yes.
Jake Friedman:
Liked: Scenes in the audience – that’s humor on a whole different (orchestra) level! (Wocka wocka).
Room for Improvement: We don’t need laugh tracks backstage. It was meh then, and it’s feh now.
Dave the Wave:
Liked: I loved how close it was in spirit to the original show, complete with the recreated opening theme, and classic characters and sketches brought back.
Room for Improvement: If there are more shows on the horizon, I wish Miss Piggy would get less screen time, or at the very least give her a new angle. The whole “She’s a huge star and everyone worships her” bit is so overdone. We get it already.
Paul Hipp:
Liked: I loved how the special had everything accurately to the original Muppet Show series. The red curtains, the format, the backstage plots, the design of the guest star’s dressing room and backstage, and Gonzo’s weird act and Muppet Labs were spot on when they were on the original Muppet Show.
Room for Improvement: Despite Floyd being credited, he really didn’t have any lines. Maybe Floyd could have had some kind of dialogue in the backstage plots, like he did in the original show.
Anonymous:
Liked: As someone who has been binging The Muppet Show recently, I really appreciate how they are bringing back the original format and writing style.
Room for Improvement: Not. Enough. Acts. I don’t know if I’m crazy but it feels like there weren’t nearly enough acts in the special. Half the runtime is backstage. I get that’s where all of the plot is, but in the OG, roughly 70% was onstage acts and 30% was backstage.
Paul L’Astname:
Liked: How closely it captured the tone of the original.
Room for Improvement: The audio mixing. It’s all too clean, too bright, and every track is too loud. There’s no range. They need to add some depth and warmth through filters or something. The booming pristine digital audio felt at odds with the warm, soft, analog presentation of The Muppet Show. Also they autotuned Kermit.
Mika:
Liked: The guest star/Muppet dynamic was so good. I haven’t felt this great about a human performer alongside the muppets for a long time. Pre-special announcement I had seen Sabrina carpenter perform and thought she’d be amazing with them.
Room for Improvement: The Pigs in Wigs sketch. It didn’t feel like there was much payoff other than the fact that Pepe was recast as the secret lover.
Xavier Lassandro:
Liked: I’m so happy that, for the most part, this feels like we picked up where The Muppet Show ended off. The format is basically one-to-one, song choices felt appropriate, the tone was perfectly in-between family-friendly and adult, no forced modern elements, guest star interaction was great, gut-punching jokes, and they weren’t afraid to do entirely new sketches, like “Pigs in Wigs” for example.
Room for Improvement: Kermit’s sudden plea to the audience to “please don’t discard us again” feels really out of place and forced at the end of the special. They had no time developed to make that ending feel earned, and if they keep making more episodes/specials like this, it’s gonna make this ending feel more out of place.
Zach Haumesser:
Liked: I liked the use of the backstage and theater sets. Just as the Sesame Street characters need their street. The Fraggles need Fraggle Rock. The Muppets need the Muppet Theater! They are finally home!!
Room for Improvement: I wish Sabrina Carpenter could’ve been included in the finale number, maybe dancing with some of the larger Muppet monsters for an even bigger finale that usually included the guest star on The Muppet Show.
Definitely not Lucas:
Liked: Kermit’s new banjo!
Room for Improvement: More banjo in every song…
Gad Zooks:
Liked: The Beautiful Day Monster/Maya Rudolph ship finally becoming canon.
Room for Improvement: Droop! We need more Droop!
Alchemy Hele:
Liked: I liked seeing characters like Gaffer the Cat, George the Janitor, Hilda, Miss Mousey, Zelda Rose, Baskerville the Hound, Paul Revere, Male Koozebanian Creature, Female Koozebanian Creature, Angel Marie, Angelo, Old Tom, Bertha, Esther, Maxine, Luncheon Counter Monster, Armadillo, Pickles, Cockatoo, the Flying Zucchini Brothers, the Laundress, Satay, Larb, Mildred Huxtetter, Gloat, Boppity, Dragon Frackle, and Billy the Bear return as background characters and with minor roles.
Room for Improvement: Johnny Fiama, Sal Minella, Wayne and Wanda, Uncle Deadly, Lew Zealand, Crazy Harry, Dr. Julius Strangepork, Yolanda the Rat, Marvin Suggs, Beverly Plume, the Muppaphones, Mahna Mahna, the Snowths, Pops, Big Mean Carl, and Bean Bunny having speaking roles. I also hoped that characters like Behemoth, Bobby Benson, Mulch, Carter the Butler, Dr. Phil van Neuter, Droop, Walter, Clifford, 80’s Robot, and Chip would appear but they unfortunately didn’t. That’s OK, maybe I’ll see those characters if we get a new series.
Chris Lennon:
Liked: In fact, Kermit’s voice. Matt Vogel at long last actually not only sounds like, but carries the essence of Jim Henson’s Kermit.
Room for Improvement: Gonzo only rolling around and yelling out the actresses. It was amusing at first, but I was disappointed that was all he did.
Dean Holman-LiVecchi:
Liked: This was Thog’s first return since Muppets Most Wanted in 2014! And it’s all thanks to Paul McGinnis, who performed Thog in this special.
Room for Improvement: It’s not a full-fledged show yet.
Rianne Thomas:
Liked: Seeing the random Muppets we have missed.
Room for Improvement: Fozzie stand-up with hecklers was missing.
Matthew Soberman:
Liked: While I wouldn’t say “Pigs in Wigs” was my favorite segment, I really liked that they were willing to try new bits and not just make it a “greatest hits” show.
Room for Improvement: Don’t tease Miss Piggy in a Roman epic number and not give me a taste.
Aaron:
Liked: It felt like a proper continuation. The format stayed the same, allowing for throwback material as well a more modern angle. The show perfectly walked a tight line between the old and the new.
Room for Improvement: I want to go back to seeing the occasional wide shot where Gaffer is portrayed by a real cat.
Matt:
Liked: They did not sing Rainbow Connection again. I love that song, but in recent years, it was starting to feel like they were leaning too heavily on it, even in commercials that the Muppets would appear in.
Room for Improvement: The ending part before “Don’t Stop Me Now” brought the momentum to a screeching halt, and it kinda felt like forced sentimentality.
Troy Murphy:
Liked: They finally bought back the missing character… the theatre!
Room for Improvement: More characters, more chaos, there was some chaos but it was staged chaos unlike the ludicrous / genuine chaos from the original show.
Wack’d:
Liked: The design work was immaculate–the show looked and sounded like a 70s episode shot with modern equipment and a few more slow zooms..
Room for Improvement: The script desperately needed another couple of drafts, especially when it came to joke construction.
Louie:
Liked: The return of so many classic characters (including the Muppet Theater).
Room for Improvement: The German synchronization (It’s not even close to the original Muppet Show voices).
Martijn:
Liked: The audience shots! And especially the (non canon) muppets together with the humans in the classic Muppet theatre!
Room for Improvement: Most new puppet builds look really clean. But Gonzo… there is something really off with him, and it’s mostly his eyes which are too open/too white.
HDS:
Liked: It was like a nostalgic hug!!! I felt like I was 8 at my Grandma’s! I sang along and pointed out all the characters! I loved the corny jokes! My husband and I have watched it twice and I’m sure we will again!
Jason Hurrd:
Liked: How much it was like the original Muppet Show.
Room for Improvement: Really only needs one guest star.
Timothy D:
Liked: Most of it felt effortless, a natural continuation of what makes the Muppets themselves. Of course, we know such a thing could not have actually come easily, but we’ve had so many projects tainted with “trying too hard” that it was refreshing and encouraging that this felt so natural.
Room for Improvement: I gotta agree with Jarrod about the schmaltzy ending; those melodramatics were unnecessary.
Ryan:
Liked: Basically every joke landed.
Room for Improvement: Could use more of Jerry’s characters..
Mike C:
Liked: The classic, crazy, musical feel.
Room for Improvement: It went by too quickly!
Jaye:
Liked: Characters were all true to their core personalities.
Room for Improvement: Three human stars didn’t leave time for expected Muppet features like Veterinarians Hospital.
Tori Schmidt:
Liked: Sabrina Carpenters and Miss Piggy’s style! Who’s their tailor? I love those outfits!
Room for Improvement: I did not care for blinding lights, it just felt too modern in a bad way.
Matthew Brink:
Liked: “Blinding Lights”. First major performance as Rizzo and Bradley knocks it out of the park.
Room for Improvement: If it goes to series, I hope “Secondary guest celebrity in the audience” doesn’t become a recurring thing.
Dwight Burgess:
Liked: The THEME SONG!! Right down to “Why don’t you get things started?!”
Room for Improvement: A little less Maya Rudolph, and a little more of the backstage stuff as well as Fozzie (and to that extent, Statler and Waldorf) getting some more time to shine.
Micah Mann:
Liked: The callbacks To The Original Muppet Show.
Room for Improvement: Should’ve Been Longer.
Pam Judge:
Liked: The “kink” joke between Kermit and Sabrina. It was mature enough for adults yet remained appropriate for children. Muppet fun for the whole family at its best!
Room for Improvement: Felt a bit rushed.
Charlie M:
Liked: I loved how everything felt fresh but in a way that felt like it belonged within the original series. Blinding Lights was done in fashion to how they would do a Just the Way You Are or a 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover then, Manchild felt like a nice homage to a similar Sandy Duncan segment, Pigs in Wigs parodies Bridgerton the same way Pigs in Space would parody Star Trek, etc.
Room for Improvement: Having newer shots of backstage and the auditorium are great but I swear sometimes the panning and the movement of the camera was done digitally in post. It’s probably how modern sitcoms handle their multi cam shows now but it looks really ugly in my opinion.
Ellis Rogers-Archer
Liked: The fact that the characters return to the stage where it all began. After working in television, web videos, and the mockumentary world, it’s nice to see them go back to basics.
Room for Improvement: They could’ve had Walter and/or Joe appear in the special in either a background cameo or part of a sketch.
MAMON:
Liked: Matt getting to do “OK EVERYBODY STOOOOOP!!!!” as Kermit.
Room for Improvement: The timing. It should’ve been an hour-long special,
Kelly G:
Liked: Gonzo’s stunt was perfect! I also enjoyed that they kept that bit going throughout the special!
Room for Improvement: The pacing seemed a little off, but when it’s your first Muppet Show in 45 years, maybe you are a little rusty.
Steven S:
Liked: The sense of chaos backstage, created from how a lot of the old characters and even the recent ones from Muppet Tonight onward and felt at home in the setting, replicating that busy feel that anything can and will happen on this show.
Room for Improvement: I want to see them, if picked up for a series, to keep fleshing out the theater environment. It should feel like a real lived in place, meaning I liked how in the old show you’d see the basement, the commissary, Pops waiting at the backstage door. I want to see the lobby or who runs the ticket booth outside, and how the show spills over into those areas.
Elias:
Liked: That it was back after all those years, and it was done really good.
Room for Improvement: A Swedish Chef sketch was really missed, so I hope there will be more of that.
Anne:
Liked: Can I say the sets? Because the sets looked phenomenal. Just like the old show but shown in glorious HD, it felt like stepping right into a picture of your grandparents’ house as it appeared when you were a little kid: a warm, cozy, familiar setting, somehow left untouched by the years.
Room for Improvement: The camera work. I think there was too much movement. In the old show we were usually pretty stationary and limited on angles. While I’m aware there have been developments in cameras and filming techniques since 1981, I don’t think we need much more than to set up a couple cameras pointed at the puppets and leave ’em running – particularly in the backstage scenes. Sometimes simpler is better, IMO.
Caleb:
Liked: I’ll go with something most people probably looked over and give props to the sets. They were very well-made.
Room for Improvement: The shoe-horned-in emotional moment before the final number. And even, I feel like an emotional moment could’ve been done a little better/transitioned into the song a little better too.
Joe Coughlin:
Liked: I loved that they didn’t try too hard to make it a greatest hits collection and more like another episode of The Muppet Show.
Room for Improvement: My main men Statler and Waldorf need better bad jokes. They can do better with worse!
Cate:
Liked: Johnny Fiama
Room for Improvement: lines for Johnny Fiama
Bridget:
Liked: Being able to see a new episode of The Muppet Show as it premiered! I was born long after the original series came to an end, so this was a very special moment for me.
Room for Improvement: I loved a lot of this special, but I felt that having so many characters they were hyping up during the 70 Years, 70 Muppets event, like Johnny Fiama and Bean Bunny, make non-speaking appearances was a bit of a let down. Even just one sentence would’ve been nice!
Jennifer Quinn:
Liked: I really liked that this show followed the OG Muppet Show structure pretty much to a “t”. That includes subtle innuendo in the humor but nothing vulgar or inappropriate.
Room for Improvement: I would have liked to have seen Pigs in Space or Veterinarians’ Hospital or, at the very least, some more of the classic characters that were seen backstage to perform (like Wayne and Wanda or Melvin Scruggs and his Mup-a-phone).
Andrew:
Liked: Rizzo
Room for Improvement: More rizzo! And gonzo!! And pepe!! And Kermit!!! And piggy!!! And fozzie!! And
D.W. McKim:
Liked: We got a rare glimpse of Crazy Harry creating havoc manning a special effect that’s non-explosive-related. I thought that was a nifty little bit of extra coloring to a largely one-note character and I always like to see any subtle little things that round the cast members out (especially the more obscure minor ones).
Room for Improvement: I can totally see why they would make the creative decision to do a reenactment of the fifth season theme (and I loved seeing it done in HD with the current crop of modern/rebuilt characters)… But if the show gets picked up for a full season I hope they redo the theme to where it has its own unique elements because every season of The Muppet Show included something a little different.
Michelle C:
Liked: The show’s pacing was perfect. Segments were the right length to keep viewer interest throughout.
Room for Improvement: Miss Piggy needs to show off her AMAZING singing voice more on some big Broadway numbers. I’ve always thought she’s got the chops to pull off possibly THE G.O.A.T. version of “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables. Can you imagine?
Ryan Elias Parsons:
Liked: The musical numbers! They really captured the spirit of the original show.
Room for Improvement: I get that they wanted to end on a big number because it was a special, but I hope if it gets picked up they don’t end every episode like that.
Katy:
Liked: Gonzo’s running gag, zipping around the show continuing to name supporting actors throughout.
Room for Improvement: I thought Kermit lacked energy. He was too calm. I was expecting him to get more worked up from the chaos.
The Black Box:
Liked: The use of background characters/non-“A-list” Muppets was great. Some of the best jokes in the special arose from this, and allowing time for minor characters to shine is something the original show did often to great effect.
Room for Improvement: The pacing felt just a bit too fast at times, leading to sketches starting and ending abruptly, a rushed emotional resolution, and some plot points not going anywhere (for example, Scooter losing the schedule has no impact on anything).
Nicholas Kramer:
Liked: The musical numbers were great.
Room for Improvement: The writing for Statler and Waldorf needs to be brushin’ up a bit (although, the closing comment was quite good).
Gem:
Liked: Hilda’s return had me over the moon! I was already excited when I saw her in the teasers, but to have her be involved beyond a background cameo AND for her to actually speak for the first time in decades was wonderful. Stephanie D’Abruzzo did a wonderful job with the character for the brief time she was on-screen, and I hope this little moment leads to her being incorporated into more Muppet material in the future.
Room for Improvement: I do wish there had been performances outside of the main cast. Part of the appeal of the OG Muppet Show to me is that any episode could have any act be done by any character – if you turn on a random episode, Miss Piggy could sing a duet with the guest star, but there could also be a dance number with nothing but feather boas, or a magic act featuring a woman with a bird head, or a skit where a stalagmite has a toothache. With the special, however, the acts were pretty exclusively performed by the main and supporting characters, and when there WERE other characters involved, the entire joke was that they weren’t members of the main or supporting cast, like when Seth Rogen claimed that the armadillo wasn’t ‘canon’ seemingly out of nowhere.
Michael Wermuth:
Liked: I like that it felt like a typical episode (though still like an event), while just about everyone we’d expect was included, not every main character got a lot of screen time or lines. Not every episode of the original series had Fozzie or Gonzo or Miss Piggy or The Electric Mayhem, they should occasionally be missing if the special leads to a series.
Room for Improvement: It would have been nice to have an extended cut for Disney Plus, even if it’s just an extra two minute segment (the equivalent of the UK spots).
Jenny:
Liked: There was a good mix of characters and sketches, considering that they couldn’t include absolutely everything/ everyone without it feeling overstuffed.
Room for Improvement: This is more of a hope in the event that a series (or set of specials) is greenlit, but I would like to see them take the opportunity to workshop more female Muppets, preferably with women performing the roles, and develop more of them who really find a place in the ensemble as unique characters. Piggy and Janice are great, and there are of course a handful of other female Muppets, but the lopsided gender representation can be disappointing and limiting (the same argument can be made with other types of representation but gender is one area where it’s particularly noticeable).
Bründelkärf:
Liked: I enjoyed the return of the arm rods.
Room for Improvement: Sure, them all being on stage and singing Queen for half a minute or so is sweet, but also just felt empty and too much like playing it safe for the sake of … IDK. But it definitely felt like a lot of this is just calling back to material that is in part better than what we currently have, and not helping itself at all.
Patty:
Liked: Disney hasn’t forget about the 50th anniversary of The Muppet Show.
Room for Improvement: Where are the DVD releases? (new and original Muppet Show [S4&5]).
Koriene Frost:
Liked: I loved the love and care that went into bringing back these older characters that haven’t been used in a while such as Hilda, George the janitor, Bean Bunny, and a personal favorite Rizzo the rat just to name a few.
Room for Improvement: I think all the segments were really fun, but there were parts of the Pigs in Wigs segment that didn’t land for me but other than that it was on point.
Paul:
Liked: They were funny and recreated the Muppet Show intro.
Room for Improvement: Instead of Pigs in Wigs a new Pigs in Space sketch.
Sprocket:
Liked: “Blinding Lights”. Great song, great vocal showcase for a new performer AND for a character who’s never gotten a lead like this before, BEAUTIFUL set, good comedy, and best of all, nothing about it feels like it’s done out of obligation to the past.
Room for Improvement: I think the Pigs in Wigs sketch could have been funnier with a little more “yes, and”-ing.
Staci Rosen:
Liked: The return of Rizzo!
Room for Improvement: More Uncle Deadly, especially with Piggy!
Jeff Allred:
Liked: The laugh track was an amazing touch and nod to the old show.
Room for Improvement: Go on for a full hour, more Muppets please!
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by Ryan Roe – [email protected]
