The Puppet Show: This exciting comeback is so adorable that I can’t even count the number of times I laughed | television

TThe Muppet Show is back! We need this, don’t we? We need them. The TV show ended in 1981, but decades later, memes of Kermit, Miss Piggy, Animal and others are still popular. We give their films Oscars. Their version of “A Christmas Carol” is a non-negotiable tradition for anyone with a brain. Jim Henson’s furry anarchists bring us together like few things do. Like a playful, beady-eyed sponge, I couldn’t help but wonder – why?

In an 1810 essay, German poet Heinrich von Kleist claimed that dolls exhibit pure bliss: a weightless consciousness that humans long for but never achieve. He was talking about puppets hanging on strings. However, puppets are hand puppets; Body extensions. They have weight. As for grace, did you see how Kermit moved? His arms flap, bouncing vertically, as he moves forward. It’s hard to imagine a less efficient outing. This frog, he’s ridiculous.

That’s why we love them. Don’t we also realize that we are strange and unlucky psychological caricatures? Don’t our plans also lead to flaming wreckage? Aren’t we too long to present a vaudeville-style variety show in a classic theater?

Which brings us to The Muppet Show of 2026 (Disney+, starting Wednesday, February 4), with executive producer Seth Rogen. It’s a one-off, but it could lead to a whole new series, the promo reveals, “depending on how the night goes.” Fortunately, it hasn’t been updated, so Fozzie makes some cuts on TikTok, or Rolf protests the streaming rights. The guys are still trying to do this variety show, and everything is still going wrong.

The thing I love and feel about these stick-made geniuses is their lack of false humility. They know we love them. Every famous person in the world would kill to be in the Muppets (even though the negotiations are terrible). They turn this popularity into a farce: Producer Kermit responds to every actor who expresses interest in appearing: “That sounds fun!” It’s the polite way of saying no, he tells stage manager Scooter. “That’s too indirect,” Scooter answers with some skepticism.

Naturally, the overcrowded operating system faces a crisis, with cutbacks having to be made, a disaster for any fragile ego in the vicinity. At least guest star Sabrina Carpenter is flawless. Like Rogen, the former Disney Channel kid is a perfect fit. She’s in on a saucy joke with a straight face, not one-upping the real stars and proving herself. Or birds, given its musical number is backed by a group of chickens.

One of the highlights is when Carpenter meets Miss Piggy, and talks in surprise about how much he has always loved her, and even imitated her appearance. “My lawyers took note,” Biggie basically replies. The pig singer was lively throughout, running backstage to announce to anyone in attendance that she was “on vocal rest.” To protect her place in the running pecking order, she embarks on a romantic, water-based rescue mission, which culminates in a bisexual rug-pulling moment. It does a lot.

Even the show within the show is good. Expect needle-tapping drops on old and new toes. Skits include a parody of the historical drama Pigs in Wigs, and a science segment about screen time, which ends with Beaker losing his eyes. And unlike Sesame Street, where the Muppets also appear, there is no educational agenda. The agenda is electrical chaos.

The Muppets have always been subversive. I get excited by the meta-winks, the comic timing, and the sheer weirdness of this world. There’s a bit where audience member Maya Rudolph dies and appears to go to hell; It’s one of the sweetest things I’ve seen. Considering that young people love K-Pop and makeup tutorials, I wonder if nostalgic parents are now the primary audience. Maybe the kids are just an excuse to watch it.

The show’s resident theater critics, Statler and Waldorf, remain unimpressed with the Muppets. (The fact that they live in a box, and have never missed a show, suggests their reliance on resentment.) They are my spiritual teachers, but this is where we must part ways. This show isn’t half bad. Everything is great. In 30 minutes, I laughed more times than I can count. In the end, it doesn’t matter why we love the Muppets. It is not necessary to dissect joy, like a frog on the table. It’s meant to be felt.