'The Muppet Show' special brings back the magic of the original -- and a couple of Muppets

It’s clip to play the music. It’s clip to airy the lights. It’s clip to spot the Muppets connected “The Muppet Show” again. A caller special, premiering Wednesday connected Disney+, resurrects the beloved assortment programme to observe the 50th day since it archetypal charmed viewers of each ages.

At the helm of this revival is celebrated theatre manager Alex Timbers, whose puppet-heavy signifier shows, including “The Pee-wee Herman Show connected Broadway ” and the “Beetlejuice” musical, gave him a limb up erstwhile stepping into the Muppets’ universe.

Timbers and the penning squad (spearheaded by Albertina Rizzo) thought of the peculiar arsenic a continuation of the archetypal show, which spanned 5 seasons. “Imagine it’s Season 6, Episode 1, but successful 2026,” helium says.

And portion there’s nary denying the amusement is taking spot successful the modern world, the purpose was to sphere the look and consciousness of the archetypal amusement galore fans retrieve fondly.

“It’s 2026, but there’s nary cellphones successful the special. Kermit is not utilizing Zillennial slang,” Timber says connected a video telephone from New York City. “The effort was to not beryllium sweaty oregon forced astir it. It is taking spot today, but it’s not similar the Muppets are desperately trying to transmission 2026 jargon oregon TikTok references.”

True to the original, this modern instrumentality features personage appearances. In summation to vocalist Sabrina Carpenter performing her deed azygous “Manchild,” actors Maya Rudolph and Seth Rogen person cameos. Rogen besides served arsenic an enforcement shaper connected the special.

“So overmuch of this peculiar was fueled by Seth’s passion,” Timber says. “For years he’s wanted the instrumentality of ‘The Muppet Show.’ So galore radical emotion the Muppets, but to spot them successful the archetypal format that they were created for is thrilling.”

Seth Rogen and Fozzie Bear successful “The Muppet Show” special. The histrion is an enforcement shaper connected the special.

(Mitch Haaseth / Disney)

Logistically, the execution of this peculiar entailed figuring retired the due standard for the Muppet Theater. For that, Timbers and the squad recovered the archetypal blueprints from 1976.

“We truly studied scale,” helium says. “A batch of the Muppet performers felt that erstwhile radical person re-created the Muppet Theater successful the past, the standard hasn’t wholly been right.”

With the close measurements for the sets besides came guidelines connected however to sprout the Muppets. Timbers learned that if you’re dealing with a Muppet to Muppet scene, everything has to beryllium successful 3/4 scale. If there’s a quality successful the country with the Muppet, it’s a 7/8 scale.

“There are each these small tricks to marque definite that a mug feels the close size for Kermit and for that table to consciousness the close height,” helium says. “The mathematics of it is truly challenging, but besides truly rewarding.” These numbers marque a important quality considering the Muppets scope successful sizes. “Thog is huge. He would dwarf you and me, but past Rizzo is truthful tiny,” Timbers adds.

For each the method complexity, determination are besides unsocial pleasures to directing the Muppets. One of the astir delightful, Timbers says, is that the Muppet performers enactment successful quality betwixt takes. “When you’re giving a enactment to Kermit, you’re giving a enactment to Kermit, and Kermit is responding arsenic Kermit,” helium says.

Director Alex Timbers connected the acceptable of the special. Scale was an important portion of the production: “A batch of the Muppet performers felt that erstwhile radical person re-created the Muppet Theater successful the past, the standard hasn’t wholly been right.” (Jacqueline Jones / Disney)

The committedness to the quality connected the portion of the puppeteers besides amazed the personage guests. “For performers similar Sabrina, to beryllium like, ‘You’re doing a country with Kermit,’ and past successful betwixt Kermit is conscionable talking portion we’re resetting oregon changing the lighting,” Timbers recalls. “She tin proceed to chitchat with Kermit. And that was truly charming for her and surely charming for us. And however tin you not person amusive connected a acceptable similar that?”

Matt Vogel, who breathes beingness into Kermit, arsenic good arsenic different characters, and Eric Jacobson, who is Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear and Animal, among others, are besides enforcement producers connected this special. No 1 knows amended what the Muppets tin oregon can’t bash than their puppeteers.

“Matt and Eric were truly progressive with this for months successful advance,” Timbers said. “I would contiguous storyboards to them, we would spell done them changeable by shot, and they would speech astir what’s possible.”

Timbers describes the Muppets arsenic “a unusual brew of maximalism, mischief and heart,” and the peculiar reflects that successful however galore gags and Muppets it packs into its half-hour runtime.

“We person implicit 180 Muppets successful this special, which is truthful cool,” Timbers says. “The much Muppets you person successful immoderate 1 shot, the much analyzable it gets, due to the fact that there’s not lone the existent staging of it, but the staging disconnected camera of the performers is truly analyzable arsenic well.”

Die-hard fans volition beryllium pleased to cognize this “The Muppet Show” peculiar marks the authoritative instrumentality of 2 characters absent from the Muppets satellite for respective years: the adorable Bean Bunny and the hilariously astute Rizzo. The second adjacent gets a sleek philharmonic number.

“We wanted to springiness Rizzo a large infinitesimal successful the spotlight, and I deliberation radical are going to beryllium truly amazed by the opus and by what helium and his friends are doing,” Timbers says. Both Rizzo and Bean Bunny are present performed by Bradley Freeman Jr.

Pepe the King Prawn and Miss Piggy successful the “Pigs successful Wigs” sketch.

(Mitch Haaseth / Disney)

For Timbers, 1 of the astir memorable parts of the acquisition was moving with costume decorator Daniel Selon, arsenic good arsenic Albertina Rizzo, the writer, connected selecting Miss Piggy’s outfits. Since Miss Piggy is simply a bona fide manner icon, they took the process highly seriously.

“A batch of the outfits were created bespoke for this, and we pored implicit everything she wore successful each the erstwhile seasons of the show, and what colour was right, what benignant of pearls she would wear,” helium recalls. “There’s adjacent this infinitesimal wherever her footwear deterioration is featured and determination was a batch of iteration connected that.”

What makes the Muppets truthful relatable for audiences, Timbers believes, is the disconnect betwixt however the characters deliberation of themselves and however we comprehend them. “Piggy sees herself arsenic Meryl Streep, but we spot her differently. Fozzie thinks he’s John Mulaney. Gonzo feels he’s Tom Cruise successful ‘Mission: Impossible.’ He’s a stunt genius,” helium explains. “But Kermit sees the reality, and I deliberation helium truly lovingly protects them from themselves.”

That speechmaking of Muppet science points to who Timbers considers his favourite character.

“As a manager moving connected Broadway, that’s what I bash with my actors and originative teams, I acceptable them up for occurrence and effort to pedestal their large gifts and talents,” helium says. “And so, I bash consciousness similar I subordinate to Kermit the most.”

A lifelong instrumentality of the characters that Jim Henson and Frank Oz conceived, Timbers present associates the Broadway grant of getting a caricature of himself connected the personage partition astatine Sardi’s restaurant, a New York instauration beloved by theatre stars, with Kermit. In the 1984 movie “The Muppets Take Manhattan,” the celebrated frog shows up astatine Sardi’s disguised successful an elegant outfit and a pencil mustache. A caricature of this look hangs permanently astatine the establishment.

“The coolest portion of getting a Sardi’s representation was that I ended up connected the aforesaid partition arsenic Kermit’s portrait,” Timbers says. “Sardi’s portraits mean antithetic things to antithetic people, but for maine it was similar being successful the assemblage with Kermit for sure.”