The iconic 70s puppet show, The Muppet Show, dropped a special episode featuring Sabrina Carpenter on Disney+ yesterday, for their first appearance since 1981.
The show originally ran from Sept. 5, 1976, to March 15, 1981, across five seasons and 120 episodes.
The Muppet Show, known for its many iconic characters such as Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Beaker, the Swedish Chef and Statler and Waldorf. In the past, the show has also brought on many famous celebrities like Johnny Cash, Roger Moore, Diana Ross, Mark Hamill, Christopher Reeve and Elton John.
Carpenter is an actress and singer/songwriter, having formerly starred in “Girl Meets World” on Disney Channel, but is best known for her music, including the songs “Espresso” and “Manchild.”
The new special connects to the roots of The Muppet Show with its iconic theme song and opening dance with all the characters before introducing Carpenter.
Also, Kermit hinted that the show could be coming back depending on how the show does.
The production value seems a lot better than the original series with more sets than the previous iteration of the show. It makes the show look a lot cleaner compared to the 70s, and the live audience makes it seem very cozy.
The bits in the show are adjacent to the original as well, especially with Kermit and Miss Piggy’s banter and Gonzo’s stunts.
There are ads every 10 minutes, which is a little annoying, especially since this is on Disney+, a streaming service. In total, there are six minutes of ads, which for the show being 30 minutes, is quite bad. But overall, the content of the special makes up for the abundance of ads.
One of the best jokes in the special is the constant references to “budget cuts.” Fozzie telling Seth Rogan that he is being cut from the show is hilarious, especially when he says he is a producer.
The musical number by the rats to “Blinding Lights” by The Weekend was funny to watch, specifically when the performance goes bad and the electricity goes out.
The show even included a bit by Saturday Night Live star Maya Rudolph, which included her talking to a blue Muppet and getting an eyeball from Beaker in her mouth, “dying” and then “coming back to life.”
Beaker and Dr. Benson Honeydew also make an appearance with Beaker once again being the butt of an experiment. Beaker and Honeydew’s segments are some of the best on The Muppet Show, and this one is no different, with Beaker’s eyeballs multiplying and flying around the theatre after the experiment went awry.
The special ends with an amazing musical number of “Don’t Stop Me Now” by the entire Muppets cast. It was a fitting end to hopefully the first of many new episodes of The Muppet Show.
Carpenter worked very well with the Muppets cast, often butting heads with Miss Piggy, yet still having the glitz and glamour to keep up with her. She mixed well with Kermit, being kind and sweet to him. It was also a fun touch that Carpenter kept saying she looked up to Miss Piggy and Miss Piggy would respond by saying she was going to sue Carpenter.
Overall, the special was very good. It brought some of the nostalgia from the original series with a mixture of up-to-date and more recent fun. It had a great mixture of musical numbers, bits from iconic cast members and in-between moments. I just wish the Swedish Chef was in this episode.
Rating: 5/5