‘The Muppet Show’ special brings back the magic of the original

It’s time to play the music. It’s time to light the lights. It’s time to see the Muppets on “The Muppet Show” again. A new special, premiering Wednesday on Disney+, resurrects the beloved variety program to celebrate the 50th anniversary since it first charmed viewers of all ages.

At the helm of this revival is celebrated theater director Alex Timbers, whose puppet-heavy stage shows, including “The Pee-wee Herman Show on Broadway ” and the “Beetlejuice” musical, gave him a leg up when stepping into the Muppets’ universe.

Timbers and the writing team (spearheaded by Albertina Rizzo) thought of the special as a continuation of the original show, which spanned five seasons. “Imagine it’s Season 6, Episode 1, but in 2026,” he says.

And while there’s no denying the show is taking place in the modern world, the aim was to preserve the look and feel of the original show many fans remember fondly.

“It’s 2026, but there’s no cellphones in the special. Kermit is not using Zillennial slang,” Timber says on a video call from New York City. “The attempt was to not be sweaty or forced about it. It is taking place today, but it’s not like the Muppets are desperately trying to channel 2026 jargon or TikTok references.”

True to the original, this contemporary take features celebrity appearances. In addition to singer Sabrina Carpenter performing her hit single “Manchild,” actors Maya Rudolph and Seth Rogen have cameos. Rogen also served as an executive producer on the special.

“So much of this special was fueled by Seth’s passion,” Timber says. “For years he’s wanted the return of ‘The Muppet Show.’ So many people love the Muppets, but to see them in the original format that they were created for is thrilling.”

Seth Rogen and Fozzie Bear in “The Muppet Show” special. The actor is an executive producer on the special.

(Mitch Haaseth / Disney)

Logistically, the execution of this special entailed figuring out the appropriate scale for the Muppet Theater. For that, Timbers and the team found the original blueprints from 1976.

“We really studied scale,” he says. “A lot of the Muppet performers felt that when people have re-created the Muppet Theater in the past, the scale hasn’t totally been right.”

With the correct measurements for the sets also came guidelines on how to shoot the Muppets. Timbers learned that if you’re dealing with a Muppet to Muppet scene, everything has to be in 3/4 scale. If there’s a human in the scene with the Muppet, it’s a 7/8 scale.

“There are all these little tricks to make sure that a mug feels the right size for Kermit and for that desk to feel the right height,” he says. “The math of it is really challenging, but also really rewarding.” These numbers make a crucial difference considering the Muppets range in sizes. “Thog is huge. He would dwarf you and me, but then Rizzo is so tiny,” Timbers adds.

For all the technical complexity, there are also unique pleasures to directing the Muppets. One of the most delightful, Timbers says, is that the Muppet performers stay in character between takes. “When you’re giving a note to Kermit, you’re giving a note to Kermit, and Kermit is responding as Kermit,” he says.

Director Alex Timbers on the set of the special. Scale was an important part of the production: “A lot of the Muppet performers felt that when people have re-created the Muppet Theater in the past, the scale hasn’t totally been right.” (Jacqueline Jones / Disney)

The commitment to the character on the part of the puppeteers also surprised the celebrity guests. “For performers like Sabrina, to be like, ‘You’re doing a scene with Kermit,’ and then in between Kermit is just talking while we’re resetting or changing the lighting,” Timbers recalls. “She can continue to chitchat with Kermit. And that was really charming for her and certainly charming for us. And how can you not have fun on a set like that?”

Matt Vogel, who breathes life into Kermit, as well as other characters, and Eric Jacobson, who is Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear and Animal, among others, are also executive producers on this special. No one knows better what the Muppets can or can’t do than their puppeteers.

“Matt and Eric were really involved with this for months in advance,” Timbers said. “I would present storyboards to them, we would go through them shot by shot, and they would talk about what’s possible.”

Timbers describes the Muppets as “a strange brew of maximalism, mischief and heart,” and the special reflects that in how many gags and Muppets it packs into its half-hour runtime.

“We have over 180 Muppets in this special, which is so cool,” Timbers says. “The more Muppets you have in any one shot, the more complex it gets, because there’s not only the actual staging of it, but the staging off camera of the performers is really complex as well.”

Die-hard fans will be pleased to know this “The Muppet Show” special marks the official return of two characters absent from the Muppets world for several years: the adorable Bean Bunny and the hilariously astute Rizzo. The latter even gets a sleek musical number.

“We wanted to give Rizzo a big moment in the spotlight, and I think people are going to be really surprised by the song and by what he and his friends are doing,” Timbers says. Both Rizzo and Bean Bunny are now performed by Bradley Freeman Jr.

Pepe the King Prawn and Miss Piggy in the “Pigs in Wigs” sketch.

(Mitch Haaseth / Disney)

For Timbers, one of the most memorable parts of the experience was working with costume designer Daniel Selon, as well as Albertina Rizzo, the writer, on selecting Miss Piggy’s outfits. Since Miss Piggy is a bona fide fashion icon, they took the process extremely seriously.

“A lot of the outfits were created bespoke for this, and we pored over everything she wore in all the previous seasons of the show, and what color was right, what kind of pearls she would wear,” he recalls. “There’s even this moment where her shoe wear is featured and there was a lot of iteration on that.”

What makes the Muppets so relatable for audiences, Timbers believes, is the disconnect between how the characters think of themselves and how we perceive them. “Piggy sees herself as Meryl Streep, but we see her differently. Fozzie thinks he’s John Mulaney. Gonzo feels he’s Tom Cruise in ‘Mission: Impossible.’ He’s a stunt genius,” he explains. “But Kermit sees the reality, and I think he really lovingly protects them from themselves.”

That reading of Muppet psychology points to who Timbers considers his favorite character.

“As a director working on Broadway, that’s what I do with my actors and creative teams, I set them up for success and try to pedestal their great gifts and talents,” he says. “And so, I do feel like I relate to Kermit the most.”

A lifelong fan of the characters that Jim Henson and Frank Oz conceived, Timbers now associates the Broadway honor of getting a caricature of himself on the celebrity wall at Sardi’s restaurant, a New York institution beloved by theater stars, with Kermit. In the 1984 film “The Muppets Take Manhattan,” the famous frog shows up at Sardi’s disguised in an elegant outfit and a pencil mustache. A caricature of this look hangs permanently at the establishment.

“The coolest part of getting a Sardi’s portrait was that I ended up on the same wall as Kermit’s portrait,” Timbers says. “Sardi’s portraits mean different things to different people, but for me it was like being in the gallery with Kermit for sure.”