I’ve never been one of those fans who thought they should ‘just bring back The Muppet Show‘. For the past 45 years, The Muppets have shown that they need not be bound to the confines of The Muppet Theater to entertain us. Put them in Manhattan, or in a crummy hotel, or in a Russian gulag, and they’ll entertain me all the same. Make a show about The Electric Mayhem and I’ll be first to stream it. So when it was announced that we were getting a brand new episode of The Muppet Show, I was excited, but not because I think that’s where The Muppets shine brightest. And so, as I settled in during a sick day off work to watch The Muppet Show special starring Sabrina Carpenter, I went in without the high expectations of a fan who’s been begging for this for years.
Which I think was the right decision, because this special is wonderful.
Alright, boring recap stuff first: The Muppets are back in the theater doing another show. Sabrina Carpenter is the guest and all but admits she’s stolen Miss Piggy’s persona. Kermit has accidentally booked too many acts on the show and has to cut them, which includes Piggy. She’s determined to get on the show anyway, and does so by ruining Sabrina and Kermit’s song. Piggy forgives Sabrina for stealing her persona, but doesn’t commit to ending the lawsuit. Kermit feels bad about cutting acts and so everyone gets on stage to sing ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ by Queen. Also, Maya Rudolph dies.
Let’s run through the good first, because there’s a heck of a lot to love in this half hour. Firstly, Sabrina Carpenter might be the perfect guest for this special. For years, Sabrina has refused to take herself too seriously, embracing the sillier side of show business and her act. This puts her perfectly in sync with The Muppets, who’ve been doing the same now for 70+ years. There is a certain reverence Sabrina holds for these characters, Miss Piggy especially, which really comes across in her scenes, and she’s really having a great time.
‘Manchild’ is a fun number which feels old school Muppety to me – a bit of Muppet violence never hurt anyone. Here she attacks drunk and cat-calling Frackles with beer bottles and darts in poor Sam the Eagle’s small town bar. I loved the chaos of Crazy Harry running the fan and the chicken’s feathers falling off. I particularly laughed at the new featherless chicken puppet builds. That’s just good clean comedy right there.
Sabrina returns later in the special to sing ‘Islands in the Stream’ with Kermit, and eventually Miss Piggy. While I’d have preferred the number to have remained a cute duet between Kermit and Sabrina, I understand why we needed to have Piggy ruin it in order to get some closure on her storyline. My favorite part though was the random assortment of animals and plants that sang along. Of this entire special, that felt the most like The Muppet Show to me.
Rizzo’s number was a fun surprise. Bradley Freeman Jnr is a spectacular puppeteer, and is doing a great job with the few Rizzo things we’ve seen so far. While it would have been nice to see him interact with Gonzo a little, the special didn’t lend itself to that kind of thing, so hopefully in some upcoming productions we get those two back together again.
In fact, all the puppeteers are at the top of their game here. This is the most ‘Kermit’ that Kermit has felt since Matt Vogel took over (and I’d extend that to the press interviews as well). Eric Jacobson’s Piggy gets to be funny again in a way that isn’t just being a diva. It’s so heart warming to hear Dave Goelz doing Gonzo on a version of the show that launched him out of a cannon and into our hearts. Peter Linz chews the scenery with his Lord Scrabbleton character during Pigs In Wigs. Bill Barretta has a fun bit with Rowlf at the beginning, and Pepe’s bewilderment at his inclusion in the aforementioned Pigs In Wigs made me laugh. David Rudman plays Janice’s quick little cameo in a way that really spotlights how weird they’ve made her in recent years, which I adore. All the other Muppet performers are doing a wonderful job in the background, keeping the world alive. And let’s not ignore the fact that Hilda got a line, performed by our friend Stephanie D’Abruzzo!
Though perhaps the best part of the entire special for me was the random inclusion of Maya Rudolph, for my money the funniest comedy actress working today. Maya has the rare ability to ‘put sauce’ on her lines in a way that’s entirely over-acting, but also entirely works (see her role as Gen in The Good Place as more proof). Her involvement revolves around her falling in love with Beautiful Day Monster before choking to death on Beaker’s eyeball, which is a weird sentence that is also true. Her eventual revival only to reveal that she had been sent to Hell really got a chuckle out of me.
(While we’re on the subject of Beaker’s eyeballs, it wasn’t until my second viewing that I realised that they would pop up in places backstage, like out of Big Mean Carl’s mouth, or hilariously, covering Gaffer the Cat’s eyepatch)
Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t maybe mention some parts of the special that I didn’t love, and in one case, genuinely hated. (Scooter). I’m kidding!
I didn’t love an almost entire lack of Fozzie and some other beloved characters. He was a big part of the original show, and yet here he gets about 25 seconds with Kermit and Seth Rogen, and then all but disappears until the ending. I get it, the show was only 30 minutes, and it was stuffed with a lot of great things, but it sometimes felt like there was a little bit of disregard for some of the old favorites. What’s an episode of The Muppet Show without a few bad Fozzie goofs and an argument with Statler and Waldorf? The Electric Mayhem get barely any time (I wouldn’t consider the final number theirs – more on that shortly). Uncle Deadly is a background character. Does Animal even speak besides a single line in the finale?
(Also, a note with love to everyone involved in The Muppets – we don’t need Miss Poogy.)
I also didn’t need the schmaltzy ending. Sure, Kermit had been stressed about the amount of acts he needed to fit in the show, but the whole ‘breakdown’ and concern on stage about how to show off all his friends just felt entirely out of place and unearned. The part where all the characters walk to the side of the stage and stare at him, hoping? I didn’t love that in the 2011 film, and I didn’t love it now. Sure, The Muppets do well when they show a bit of heart. But there was already plenty of nice moments in this special, we didn’t need to bring the show to a screaming halt and shoehorn it in.
I also didn’t love the awkward condensing of Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ into 45 seconds. It felt like they recorded the entire thing and, discovering that they didn’t have enough time for it, just cut around it to give the cadence of a musical number. Also, why no Sabrina in the final act?
But what did I hate, I hear you ask? One thing grated on me almost every single time it occurred, and that was… the laugh track. Yes, the original series had a laugh track, I get that it’s supposed to be taking part on stage in front of a live studio audience. But this show isn’t actually performed in front of anyone besides some crew guys named Marv who just want their union assigned smoke break, so the laugh track is canned laughter. And it’s WILDLY overused. This isn’t an episode of The Big Bang Theory, you don’t need to remind me something funny happened with obnoxious fake laughter, especially for jokes that garner a nose breath laugh at most. Tone it down, gang, I beg of you.
I started this review by stating that I’m not one of those fans who think they should ‘just bring back The Muppet Show‘. So, how do I feel after watching this special? Honestly, largely the same. I loved this special, and I hope they do more specials. But I want The Muppets to be able to do a lot of fun stuff, not just skits in a theater. And while I want them to succeed, I don’t want them boxed in. So I don’t necessarily hope this ends in an entire new series (I’m already seeing a time where I’ll be eating those words). What I hope is it ends with a series of specials, which leads more people to The Muppets, which leads them to be able to do more things like movies and things like The Muppets Mayhem. Because The Muppets shouldn’t just be in a theater. They should also be on a boat, or in Victorian London, or in a top secret national security facility cleverly disguised as a cement factory.
By Jarrod Fairclough – [email protected]
Click here to wonder why Lord Scrabbleton wasn’t played by Link Hogthrob on the ToughPigs Discord!