upper waypoint
NPR

A New Generation Revives ‘The Muppet Show’ and It’s as Delightful as Ever

David Bianculli, NPR
This isn't the first reincarnation of Jim Henson's crew, but it's one of the best in a very long time.
Sabrina Carpenter guest stars in the new revival of The Muppet Show, alongside Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog and friends.

Kermit the Frog, the most famous creation of the late puppeteer and producer Jim Henson, has a lineage almost as old as TV itself.

Kermit first appeared as a character on a local TV show in Washington, D.C., in the mid-1950s. By the end of the 1960s, Kermit was one of the many Muppet stars on Sesame Street, a preschool program where they’ve flourished ever since.

ABC televised a pair of Muppet specials in 1974 and 1975, but they didn’t catch on. But in 1976, Henson took his furry characters to TV syndication, with a variety show that harkened back to the days of vaudeville.

The Muppet Show lasted five years, and it was brilliant. Kermit played the host of a theater where the Muppets, and some human guest stars, put on a weekly show — while a pair of grumpy old Muppets, Statler and Waldorf, watched and heckled from their box seats. Stars flocked eagerly to guest star with Kermit and company — from old vaudevillians George Burns and Milton Berle to hot young entertainers like Linda Ronstadt, Elton John and Steve Martin.

The Muppets shifted to the movies, but ABC also kept trying to revive the original TV franchise. In 1996, Henson’s son, Brian, produced a wonderful update for ABC, Muppets Tonight, set at a TV station, like SCTV. Much more recently, in 2020, Disney, the new corporate owners of ABC, presented a terrible update, Muppets Now, on Disney+, where the show — now run by Scooter instead of Kermit — was a program targeting the internet audience.

But now, for 2026, ABC has come to its senses, and gone back to basics. Director Alex Timbers and his writing staff have put Kermit back in charge, returned to the old theater setting — Statler and Waldorf included — and gone back to the way things used to be.

With a new generation of writers and puppeteers, this new iteration of The Muppet Show is just as delightful as the one that premiered 50 years ago. Guests on this special include Maya Rudolph, who sits in the theater audience. (That’s about the only real tweak for this new version: Humans and Muppets sit together in the audience.) Also featured is Seth Rogen, who’s one of the show’s executive producers.

Special guest Sabrina Carpenter appears in musical numbers and comedy sketches, just the way Ronstadt did years ago — and just as effectively. In one scene, Miss Piggy bursts into Sabrina’s dressing room, unknowingly flattening Kermit, who moans in pain while hiding from Miss Piggy.

Both Miss Piggy and Carpenter sing in the show — and both provide the comedy, along with Kermit, the Swedish Chef, Pepé the King Prawn, Fozzie Bear, Beaker, Janice, Gonzo, Animal and my absolute favorites, Statler and Waldorf. Those last two might not like this revival of The Muppet Show — but I love it.

Copyright © 2026 NPR, Fresh Air

lower waypoint
next waypoint
Player sponsored by