The Muppet Show: Review

How many times can the fuzzy felt creatures of Frank Oz's imagination get a revival?

If the new one-off (at this stage, anyway) Muppet Show has anything to do with it, the answer is: Plenty.

Playing the music and lighting the lights once again, as well as welcoming musical guest Sabrina Carpenter and cameos from Seth Rogen and Maya Rudolph, Kermit and the gang head back to their trusty theatre to do it all again.

Corraling a show together was always the MO of the original 70s Muppet Show. Along with a cavalcade of celebrity names and musical numbers, the show was a delightfully charming and timeless salute to the brilliance of the Vaudevillian music halls.

The 2026 revival loses none of that, and wastes no time getting down with the show's nostalgia and its core cast. A skit riffing on Bridgerton (and cocking a wink at Pigs in Space), a jealous and angry Ms Piggy taking vengeance on those who've wronged her, and a brief visit to Dr Honeydew Bunsen's workshop do much to pay homage to the show you've likely seen snippets of.

It's joyful and charming, but there's a niggling feeling a whole series of this, while welcome, may feel a little like it's stretching the joke a little too thin in parts. It'd have to be handled carefully by its talent to ensure any future visits don't feel like an extended in-joke for those making it.

There's a charming chaos here, wrapped up in a nostalgia blanket - along with some groan-inducing gags and moments, it's a delight to be back with Kermit and the gang. It may not reinvent what it's done before, but The Muppets 2026 is a gleeful distraction in a world that's gone crazy. 

The Muppet Show is streaming now on Disney+