Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Jen Maravegias | TV | February 4, 2026
The Muppet Show revival, airing tonight on ABC, is the fourth recent attempt at bringing the beloved GenX TV classic back to life. There was The Muppets in 2015, Muppets Now in 2020 that was styled after The Office, and Muppets Mayhem in 2023. None of them worked for one simple reason: they were not The Muppet Show. Seth Rogen was smart enough to realize that The Muppet Show was never broken; it didn’t need fixing. It just needed to come back to television.
He has executed a loving and faithful revival with The Muppet Show. It has the same opening number, the same format, the same puppets (although some voices have changed). Everyone’s favorite chickens, pigs, bears, dogs, blue-haired weirdos, and whatever Scooter is are backstage waiting for their return to the spotlight. When the camera pans the crowd back there, it’s like the old opening credits of The Simpsons where you see everyone from town for a second. Sabrina Carpenter is the perfect choice as the show’s inaugural guest host. She is almost a Muppet herself, and her appearances on SNL have already proven she has the right sense of humor and vibe for sketch comedy. We really couldn’t ask for a better pilot.
It’s a nostalgia bomb. Its only flaw is that there’s just one episode. I’m going to need everyone to watch it on ABC or stream it on Disney+/Hulu a dozen times so Rogen gets a series order. Are we clear?
To some folks, The Muppets are synonymous with children’s entertainment. So there’s going to be some inevitable confusion when people unfamiliar with the source material tune in to Carpenter performing her hit ‘Manchild’ as a waitress in a seedy Muppet bar, followed by a take-off of Bridgerton. Of course, The Muppet Show is for The Kids, but this is not Sesame Street. If you think back to watching the original series as a five, six, or ten-year-old, a lot of that humor went over our heads. But we enjoyed it anyway, because Muppets are inherently funny. And even if you didn’t know who Kaye Ballard was, Gonzo was there to do something outrageous, and Fozzy Bear was quick with the wacka wackas. The Muppets have always been for everyone. That’s part of the reason why the variety show format worked so well. Although they have long fallen out of favor, variety shows were always a great way to capture multi-generational audiences.
Seth Rogen is featured in the episode as himself, the Executive Producer, coming to check out the show. And Maya Rudolph is a member of the audience, which is now a blend of humans and muppets. Statler and Waldorf have returned to their balcony to complain about everything, and Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem are in the orchestra pit. All is right with the world. If we are lucky enough to get more episodes, maybe The Muppet Show can heal this wretched timeline.
As usual, the show is overbooked, and backstage is crowded with acts hoping to get in front of the audience. At the end of the episode, Kermit makes an impassioned curtain speech about how he hopes we all enjoyed their little show because they tried really hard to do a good job with the limited amount of time they had. And then there’s a big musical number. Seth Rogen is a smart guy, because who’s going to deny Kermit the Frog when he’s clearly asking to give them more episodes? The Muppet Show is a delight, it deserves more episodes. And we deserve at least one Pigs In Space sketch.
The Muppet Show is available to stream on Disney+/Hulu and will air tonight at 9/8c on ABC.
