You ever plan for your day to be about one thing, but then it turns out to be about something else? That’s kind of how we imagine Disney’s Wednesday has been going, as the company rolled out long-in-the-works plans to announce a 50th anniversary celebration of The Muppet Show today, and wound up feeding it straight into the maw of public vitriol currently consuming ABC and Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Thus did headlines about the genuinely sweet-sounding Disney+ special—which is being produced by Seth Rogen and will feature appearances from Sabrina Carpenter, and take the Muppets back to their roots as a variety show—find themselves forced to share very close space with news about the streamer’s parent company yanking one of its most famous celebrities off the schedule in response to right-wing outrage. A juxtaposition of various forms of pop culture puppetry that was entirely coincidental, and which we nevertheless can’t stop ourselves from squinting at and going “Huh.”
The Muppets special, which is being billed as a pilot for a potential revival of the series, has actually been a semi-open secret for a while: A few weeks back, California released a quickly-redacted list of tax credits that included a reference to a “Muppets pilot,” so this has been brewing for at least a second. And we certainly can’t fault the general zeitgeistiness of the pitch, even if it very specifically ran afoul of the news of the day today. Rogen and Carpenter are both natural fits for a revival of the old Muppet Show format: He’s fresh off a bunch of Emmy wins for The Studio, and has maintained a reputation as being a genuinely human, funny guy despite mountains of success; she’s one of the biggest young musical acts in the country. Just as importantly, both of them tend to work a little bit blue, tying neatly into the Muppets‘ subversive vibes; taken in a vacuum, it’s a strong, on-brand billing. (Rogen is technically only on the hook right now as an executive producer, alongside his usual partner Evan Goldberg, but this feels like a pretty natural time for him to step in front of the camera.)
Per Deadline, the special is being written by veteran Jimmy Fallon writer Albertina Rizzo (no relation) and directed by frequent John Mulaney collaborator Alex Timbers. Set to air in 2026, the pilot “will feature Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo and the gang as they return to the Muppet Theatre to produce a variety show.” Most of the current regular Muppets cast, including Dave Goelz—who’s been with the franchise since the first episode of The Muppet Show in 1976—are set to reprise their parts.
