Despite the logistical challenges of puppetry-based characters, the Muppets have proven to be remarkably versatile entertainers over the years, equally adept at road-trip comedy, retelling classic literature, teaching children or occasionally shilling for various products. But for some fans, and seemingly some of the creative forces behind the characters, it’s hard to beat the idea of the Muppets using that versatility to put on an old-fashioned variety show. Specifically, to put on “The Muppet Show,” the 1976-1981 worldwide phenomenon that helped launch Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, and other signature creations of Jim Henson and his partners further into the all-ages mainstream.
Strangely, though, subsequent efforts to revive “The Muppet Show” in some form or another have numbered among the Henson Company’s less successful ventures. (At least on TV; count Jason Segel as another “Muppet Show” nostalgic, as he helped make the plot of 2011’s hit movie “The Muppets” more or less center on the group doing the show again, despite the program never really featuring in their previous, often more ambitious films.) The 1989 NBC anthology “The Jim Henson Hour” featured a recurring version called “MuppeTelevision,” with the Muppets running a series of cable channels rather than a variety show, and after Henson’s death, ABC’s “Muppets Tonight” attempted to carry on the “Muppet Show” tradition, but only produced 22 episodes (quite good, too, but never made available on home video or streaming).
Somehow, the format that propelled the Muppets to their greatest fame has never recaptured mass appeal.
One limitation could be that the variety-show format has all but vanished since the ’70s, with only “Saturday Night Live” — which premiered a year before “The Muppet Show,” featuring its own ill-fitting cast of quickly jettisoned Muppet characters — now remaining in the public consciousness. So it only makes sense that a new “Muppet Show” revival would recruit recent “SNL” darling Sabrina Carpenter to lend it some self-aware star power.
Though this ABC edition of “The Muppet Show” is just a one-off for now, the 30-minute episode, in typically self-referential fashion, is clear that if it goes well, more specials or maybe a full series could be in the offing. (Given the number of past TV shows that have been zombified in the past decade, there’s really no excuse for not making more of a non-narrative classic where the characters don’t visibly age, even if their voices will sound different.) Excitement over returning to the Muppet Theater stage drives the special’s backstage plot, where Kermit (Matt Vogel, taking over for Henson’s original successor Steve Whitmire) has failed to put his flipper down and give a firm “no” to any of the acts on tap — giving the show a far longer running order than it can reasonably accommodate. But you try telling Miss Piggy her song is axed for more famous faces!
Carpenter, of course, makes the cut multiple times over, appearing in the traditional backstage segment and multiple songs, including one of hers and a clever cover. Though there’s only room for the slightest of her trademark innuendos, a better fit for her “SNL” pals, she’s nonetheless an ideally engaged guest, capable of looking both tickled and sincere when carrying on a conversation with Miss Piggy (Eric Jacobson), as well as delivering what amounts to an alternate, Muppet-centric version of one of her recent hits. In general, the absurdities of contemporary pop stardom feels like decent training for Muppet Show-ing; it’s easy to imagine, say, Charli xcx, Janelle Monae and Muppet vet Lady Gaga all having fun here.
To say more about the specific segments would spoil the fun of watching “The Muppet Show” and marveling at the production numbers that are both cleverly elaborate feats of puppetry and sublimely silly vaudeville gag vehicles. Producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg hew pretty closely to the original show in that respect. (Rogen is the second “Freaks and Geeks”/Apatow-world alumnus, after Segel, to endearingly make reviving the Muppets a priority; just be thankful James Franco seems unlikely to complete the triumvirate.) There’s a little more visible human involvement in this version: Rogen himself has a cameo, as does the eternally game Maya Rudolph, playing a member of what is now a mixed human-Muppet audience and subject to more frequent cutaways rather than just the implied source of the show’s laugh track. If this calls more attention to the artificiality of the proceedings, as does some of the technical shifts in how the various sketches and songs are presented, well, Henson himself was never to shy away from innovation. “MuppeTelevision” featured a computer-animated character alongside its traditional puppets.
That’s the truly promising aspect of “The Muppet Show”: That new talent and experienced puppeteers might be allowed to both play with classic Muppets and think up new segments and even brand-new Muppet characters. The background of this special already teems with recognizable figures, from classic “Muppet Show” bit players to ’90s-era characters. True to Kermit’s nervousness in-episode, 30 minutes isn’t nearly enough to give them all their due, so the show mostly sticks with Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie and Gonzo, alongside the obligatory Statler and Waldorf balcony commentary. That said, “Muppets Tonight” fans should be pleased that later additions Pepe the Prawn and Bobo the Bear get some lines, too. Of course, at this point, those characters are now older than “The Muppet Show” was at the time of their ’90s debut.
Though “The Muppet Show” is about to hit the same half-century mark that “SNL” reached last year, this is a far smaller celebration; after all, self-regarding as the “SNL” fuss may have seemed, that show has been on the air for 51 seasons and counting. Even including all of its continuations, there are fewer than 200 episodes of “The Muppet Show.” The only way to mitigate the delight of watching this spirited revival would be for this special to stand alone until the next big anniversary.
“The Muppet Show” premieres Feb. 3 on ABC and streams the next day on Disney+ and Hulu.