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In 2026, it will finally be time to play the music. Now, more than any other point since Disney bought the rights to the characters in 2004, is the time to light the lights. This is the exact correct point for The Muppet Show.
So it’s a good thing that Disney is finally bringing back The Muppet Show. Not Muppets Tonight or Muppets TV or any other variation. As announced with a short clip of Kermit flipping the switch on the Muppet Theater, set to an instrumental version of “The Rainbow Connection,” the actual, original style of The Muppet Show is coming back, right when Broadway and musicals are bigger than ever.
For those who haven’t seen the series that made the Muppets into household names, which aired 120 episodes between 1976 and 1981, The Muppet Show was a variety show with backstage antics. Each episode of The Muppet Show featured a special guest star, who would come and perform various songs and sketches, sometimes with the Muppet performers and sometimes without. There would also be segments featuring Muppet performers without guests, most famously Fozzie Bear’s stand-up routine or Gonzo the Great’s daredevil stunts, and storylines involving the behind-the-scenes production of the show.
More the felt characters that Jim Henson and Frank Oz brought to life with their fellow performers, The Muppet Show was about the agony and ecstasy of putting on a show. Even if the kids first watching the series didn’t know or care who Joel Grey or Harvey Korman or Twiggy were, they remained invested in the series. They sympathized with Kermit stressing out over production snafus, laughed at Miss Piggy trying to steal the spotlight, and swooned when, despite everything going wrong, Elton John belted out “Crocodile Rock” alongside puppet crocodiles or when Gilda Radner played along with Dr. Bunsen Honeydew’s shenanigans.
That emphasis on performance is why 2026 is the perfect time to bring back The Muppet Show. Not only are musicals as popular as ever, with touring productions bring hits like Les Misérables and Hamilton all over the world and Wicked once again brining in big Hollywood cash. It’s also because performance has become a part of daily life. Social media apps like TikTok make it possible for everyone to put on a show from their bed room, and thus get the chance to experience the anxiety that comes from a performance gone wrong.
Granted, Disney has tried to tie the Muppets to the zeitgeist before, with very mixed results. The Jason Segel-led The Muppets managed to work as a nostalgia-filled early legacy sequel, and the recent Muppets Now translated The Muppet Show format to a streaming service conceit. But other attempts to update the franchise, especially the ill-conceived Office-style sitcom the muppets. suggested that Disney had no idea how to bring the characters up to date.
The heavy nostalgia of this first teaser for the new special suggests that Disney has realized that they don’t need to update the Muppets for our times, because our times have learned to love the showbiz razzle dazzle that The Muppet Show has always celebrated.
The Muppet Show airs on Disney+ on February 4, 2026.
The post The Muppet Show Is Returning at Exactly the Right Time appeared first on Den of Geek.
