Play the music and light the lights: The Muppet Show is coming back

It's time to put on makeup. It's time to dress up right. It's time to raise the curtains on the Muppet Show tonight

Tue, 19 Jan, 2021 - 15:35

Caroline Delaney

It's time to play the music. It's time to light the lights.

Yes, a shining beacon of fun and entertainment for sure — The Muppet Show could be back on our screens very soon. Disney+ has just 'pulled some strings' and is going to 'kermit' to showing the muppetastic show from February 19.

Wow! @DisneyPlus will be the exclusive home to all five seasons of The Muppet Show! I haven’t been this excited since I dropped my tail! Get ready to drop your tail and watch our classic TV series, starting February 19! pic.twitter.com/FY8FFzFPR7
— Kermit the Frog (@KermitTheFrog) January 19, 2021

Of course, we never forgot Kermit, Fozzie and Miss Piggy but now a whole new generation can meet all the rest of the weird and wacky characters too — remember Sam the Eagle, Dr Bob, Rowlf and Animal?

A star is born! Want to see where the world first discovered moi? Watch all five seasons of The Muppet Show on @DisneyPlus starting February 19! pic.twitter.com/WChEsV04EA
— Miss Piggy (@MissPiggy) January 19, 2021

And won't it be really fun to see some of the human guests again too?

Many of us were too young at the first airing to appreciate musical numbers from guests such as Steve Martin, Dom DeLuise, Liza Minelli, Elton John, Diana Ross, Linda Ronstadt and Leo Sayer.

And they even had visits from John Cleese, Roger Moore and Mark Hamill. Hamill reprised his Luke Skywalker role and teamed up with Miss Piggy (complete with the plaited hair buns) for a muppet version of Star Wars with the 'pigs in space'.

So, this is great but let's get some facts going here.

How many seasons are we getting?

Five seasons.

What about the rest?

That's it — there were five seasons.

But... but wasn't it on every weekend of my entire childhood?

Well, possibly. There are 120 episodes in those five seasons. We're not talking about a penny-ha'penny season of just eight episodes or the like that you might get nowadays. Those muppets had stamina.

Cool. Though you say 'those muppets' like it's a good thing. Isn't that term normally used as an insult?

Yes, you're right. We might not have had The Muppets for a long time now but we've been surrounded by muppets. They're an entirely different species. But this announcement marks a new era. Things are changing around here. We will have weird characters with orange skin and wacky yellow hair saying daft things on our screens now.

Ahem.

And children everywhere will rejoice at getting to see The Muppets.

Hopefully... some kids these days are a bit of a disappointment. They seem to think that puppets are passé and some even say that the show is scary.

Well, I blame the parents. But there are Muppet Show Halloween Specials and those are genuinely terrifying. One had Alice Cooper — there were muppet ghosts and Kermit had fangs, for god's sake. Presumably, this will have an appropriate 18s rating.

Too scary for some...The Muppets Halloween

Indeed. Well, maybe we can skip the 'scary' ones.

Possibly. We'll have more than enough with Statler and Waldorf, Swedish Chef Beaker, and Veterinarian's Hospital.

Aaah, yes, thanks.

So, to recap: It's a variety show created by the late great Jim Henson, set in Muppet Theatre, run by muppets but with human guests. And it's going to be on Disney+ in just one month (February 19).

Kermit himself had this to say: "It's going to be great to welcome back longtime fans, and to give a new generation of fans a chance to see how we got our start, how Miss Piggy became a star and so much more."

“Today, I’m proud to say: ‘It’s time to play the music, light the lights and meet the Muppets on Disney Plus tonight!’ And as for Statler and Waldorf, the two old guys in the balcony, I can only add: ‘Sorry, guys, but… here we go again.”