Last week, we were treated to the news that The Muppet Show will be making a grand return in 2026, just in time for the original Muppet Show’s 50th anniversary. Naturally, there are a lot of emotions floating around here at ToughPigs HQ, and most of them are hunger.
For years and years (and years), fans have been telling Disney, “just bring back The Muppet Show,” as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Probably because… it is? We here at ToughPigs have been on both sides of the argument, making points about why it’s impossible to recapture the magic of the old show, while also recognizing that the Muppets’ most natural habitat is in the Muppet Theater. It’s a conundrum, but as the years have gone by, I’ve moved closer and closer to the “fine, just bring back The Muppet Show” camp.
We don’t actually know much about the special yet, so we can’t comment on the upcoming show itself. But we CAN make a bunch of educated guesses! For example, we can guess that the format of the show will be almost identical to the old series. However, does that mean we’ll be seeing all the same recurring segments? A decent backstage plot? New characters? OLD characters? Will they have the guts to give us weird and experimental puppetry moments, or will they stick to the main cast? And how many times will “Rainbow Connection” be performed?
One thing that feels like a question mark is the announcement that this is just a one-off special. Naturally, there’s good and bad about that. The bad, of course, is that we want a full season pickup. What a tease, to just get one episode of the show we’ve been literally begging for! And if it’s as good as it is in my dreams, that runtime will go by far too fast, leaving us aching for a full season’s worth of Muppet Show love. I mean, better something than nothing, but I think we get to be a little greedy in this scenario.
On the bright side, one episode means it may be a secret pilot episode to showcase the characters and format and to convince Disney+ to order more. (Other news outlets are calling this a “backdoor pilot,” which ToughPigs’ own Ryan Roe has pointed out is a completely different thing.) And as we all know, the Muppets have a history of creating multiple pilots to sell their classic shows. The original Muppet Show had two: The Muppets Valentine Show and Sex and Violence. Heck, even Sesame Street had five (FIVE!) test pilots before they went to air. So, let’s just call this “tradition.”
I’m also very much in favor of the Muppets doing more one-off specials, even if they feel like separate episodes of a TV show. What if Disney+ promised quarterly Muppet Show specials? Sure, it’d be nice to have 24 episodes per year, but I’d be okay with giving the creatives time to produce something singular and stand-alone for us on a regular basis. And if it opens doors for more specials like Muppets Haunted Mansion, then all the better.
Looking back at Muppets Mayhem, there will always be a part of us that sees the show as a failure, simply because it was canceled before it could get a second season. But the show was really good, and we hardly talk about it anymore. I truly believe that if it was positioned as a “miniseries” and not an ongoing series, we’d consider it a rewatchable classic. Instead, it feels incomplete. I predict the same for The (new) Muppet Show: A series of specials can’t be canceled like a TV show. They each exist on their own, and I think they’ll be more fondly remembered moving forward.
Unlike Muppets Mayhem or Muppets Haunted Mansion (or Muppets Now or The Muppets or… well, you get the picture), we’re finally putting the Muppets back in their iconic theater. I sort of like the idea that the in-universe Muppet Show never actually ended. They’ve been doing stage shows of varying quality with unappreciative guest stars, just waiting for us to take notice again. The theory holds up, with our rare sneak peeks back at the theater in It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas, the 2011 Muppet movie, and that Weezer music video. It’s past time they turned the cameras back on for us all.
Okay, so we’re all nice and excited about the new Muppet Show, right? We’re all ready to give Disney our attention and our Disney+ subscription dollars and free promotion? Not so fast. A lot (and I do mean a lot) of fans have been speaking out about the poor decisions from the top brass at ABC and Disney for pulling Jimmy Kimmel off the air for his political views. Even diehard Muppet fans are canceling their Disney+ subscriptions as a form of protest, choosing to skip the new show to avoid supporting organizations that are violating free speech and kowtowing to our corrupt political leaders.
What’s happening out in the world is real scary, and we all need to find our own ways of fighting fascism. For a lot of us, that means choosing peaceful protest over our beloved Muppet content. For others, it means holding onto the hope of a new Muppet Show as a silver lining in an otherwise cruel world. I’m here to tell you that there’s no wrong way to go. Do what’s right for you, and what’s best for your own mental health.
The last few weeks have been quite the (rockin’) roller coaster. We get both great and devastating news at the same time. We have hopes and fears for the future of the Muppets. We’re getting what we want, but afraid it won’t be right – or we’re not getting what we need, but hopeful we’ll make it through the storm.
Whatever happens, we’ll be sticking it through as best we can. We’ll report on the new Muppet Show as new news comes through. We’ll stand up against atrocities as much as a Muppet fan site can. And when things feel like they’re getting too much, we’ll post something silly about Lew Zealand and hopefully make your day a smidge better.
Click here to put on makeup on the ToughPigs Discord!
by Joe Hennes – [email protected]
