The Muppet Show is making its triumphant return for a special event on Disney+ in 2026 with special guest star Sabrina Carpenter! This covers everything we know about this revival, including a first look at the trailer and poster art, plus why we’re optimistic about the project.
This brand-new installment from The Muppets Studio will feature Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, and the gang as they return to the Muppet Theatre to put on a variety show filled with music, comedy, and plenty of chaos.
The special sees the Muppets return to their theater to produce a variety show for the 50th anniversary of their original variety series. The Muppets themselves are older–it’s the titular talk show’s anniversary. As previously rumored, Alex Timbers will direct and executive produce. Albertina Rizzo will serve as writer and executive producer. Carpenter also serves as an executive producer.
Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver and Alex McAtee will executive produce the special for Point Grey Pictures. David Lightbody, Leigh Slaughter and Michael Steinbach executive produce for The Muppets Studio. The project is also being produced by 20th Television and Disney Branded Television. Albertina Rizzo will write and executive produce.
Let’s start with a first look at the full trailer for “The Muppet Show” special event that Disney just released:
It’s time to raise the curtain on “The Muppet Show,” a highly-anticipated special event featuring special guest star Sabrina Carpenter and Executive Producer and guest star Seth Rogen. Maya Rudolph has also been announced as a guest star.
“The Muppet Show” returns February 4, 2026 for a triumphant special event on Disney+ (12:00 a.m. PST / 3:00 a.m. EST) and ABC (9:00 p.m. EST/PST).
Kermit, Miss Piggy and the beloved Muppets ensemble are back with a brand-new special event. Music, comedy, and a whole lot of chaos are bound to ensue when The Muppets once again take the stage of the original Muppet Theatre with their very special guest, Sabrina Carpenter!
Here are first look images from “The Muppet Show” special event, followed by the previous teaser:
Veteran Muppet performers Bill Barretta, Dave Goelz, Eric Jacobson, Peter Linz, David Rudman and Matt Vogel will perform the majority of the iconic Muppet characters in this production, supported by a talented team of additional performers.
Dave Goelz, who has performed with The Muppets for over 50 years, was one of the performers on the original “The Muppet Show” and originated the characters Gonzo and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, among many others.
According to multiple Hollywood trades that are reporting the news, the “hope” or “expectation” is that the special will serve as a stealth pilot episode to relaunch The Muppet Show in series format. This comports with rumors from the last couple of weeks that were based on production schedule listings containing almost all of the same information as above.
There have been rumors swirling all year that the The Muppet Show is being rebooted. These rumors began back in the spring that that Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, and co. were returning for a reboot of The Muppet Show‘s classic format in 2026, complete with celebrity guests and comedy sketches.
If production listings are accurate, work started on The Muppet Show in September. That summary pitched the show as reintroducing the “beloved ensemble of characters with a fresh twist, blending classic variety-show charm with new comedic sketches…[aiming] to capture the heart and humor that made the original a cultural icon.”
Most notably, The Muppet Show revival is being developed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg of Point Grey Pictures. Disney has been attempting to work with Point Grey on numerous projects, with Rogen’s and Goldberg’s production company having been previously attached to a Figment feature film. That was announced back in 2022, but it seems to have been shelved, with Disney CEO Bob Iger more recently remarking about a possible series or short-form videos featuring Figment.
Sabrina Carpenter’s Involvement
I’m really pleased that Sabrina Carpenter is involved. I am not a fan of Sabrina Carpenter.
It’s not that I dislike her. I just don’t have much of an opinion on her one way or the other, which is seemingly uncommon for polarizing popstars. “Espresso” is very catchy; a good summer song. I can also understand her appeal more generally, and with a range of audiences. I was young once, and enjoyed listening to Led Zeppelin and watching Britney Spears music videos.
I can also see why people dislike Sabrina Carpenter for a variety of reasons. I suspect this is the primary contingent we’re going to hear from in response to The Muppet Show revival news. Those who believe she’s “wrong” for the Muppets, their humor and heart.
Bluntly, this group is wrong. Or at least, missing the point. The Muppets are not popular. Muppet diehards like us, we are a minority–and a dying breed. If you’ve raised your kids right and they are Muppets enjoyers, that’s fantastic. But they’re unicorns. Having this special headlined by a twentysomething popstar is huge. It attracts an entirely new audience, and one that the Muppets desperately need if this actually is going to be a stealth pilot that gets picked up for a series order.
So yeah, I’d personally rather see Christopher Walken or Danny DeVito or Willem Dafoe or some other weirdo (non-derogatory) riff with the Muppets. But that would not expand the audience in any way, shape or form. Even if it were peak cinema, it would fail for one of the same reasons so many other Muppet ventures have in the last couple of decades–failing to attract an audience.
I’d also add that Sabrina Carpenter might be up to the task on the merits. Save for her aforementioned radio hit, my only real exposure to her is via appearances on SNL. She has some comedic chops and has done really well on some of those sketches. Playing off the Muppets will be more difficult, but she has a certain popstar ‘presence’ and that can certainly help. I’m cautiously optimistic about the substance of the show with her as host, and am incredibly bullish on it with her as the marquee draw.
There’s also the chance that Carpenter is a big fan of the Muppets and being an executive producer on the show will be hugely beneficial in attracting talent if it gets a series order. Like so many popstars, she basically got her start with Disney (Girl Meets World and more) and called The Muppet Show gig “career defining.”
Seth Rogen’s Involvement
Of course, Sabrina Carpenter isn’t the only controversial celebrity attached to The Muppet Show revival. Seth Rogen is the other big name who is divisive, albeit one we already covered back when this was a rumor.
Seth Rogen has a “sticky” reputation as a lazy stoner who makes juvenile humor. This image made sense a decade ago when he was producing shock value films like Sausage Party and other crude humor. But that reputation hasn’t matched reality in over a decade.
The output of Rogen and Point Grey in the last few years has grown tremendously and expanded in range. Rogen is one of the hardest working people in Hollywood, capable of making quality shows for a range of audiences–not just potheads.
The 77th Emmy Awards were just held over the weekend, and Seth Rogen’s The Studio was the most awarded show of the night. The Apple TV+ Hollywood satire picked up a total of 13 total wins across the Primetime and Creative Arts Emmys, including best comedy series and best actor in a comedy series for Rogen. If you still think Rogen is incapable of producing sophisticated and sharp content, watch that.
My biggest concern is the revival being able to capture the Muppets’ distinct brand of humor. Disney has missed the mark in capturing that certain je ne sais quoi that makes up the Muppets magic. Their “voice” has been off, for lack of a better explanation. Some of the recent shows have had flashes of this, but they haven’t quite stuck the landing or they got cancelled before getting a chance to find their footing or got buried under an avalanche of other content on streaming.
The closest Disney has gotten to recapturing that magic was with Jason Segel’s The Muppets movie. There have been other smaller projects that “get it” along the way, but that was the biggest and most commercially successful. And it’s no coincidence that Hollywood comedians of a certain age are more inclined to “get” the Muppets, as they were raised on them.
Here’s hoping that’s also true of Rogen, who has worked with the Muppets previously on a couple of smaller projects and seems to be a genuine fan. This strikes me as a passion project for him, just as the movie was for Segel.
To this point, there are a lot of powerful people in Hollywood with an affinity for the Muppets. This is also likely why the Muppets have gotten so many chances despite a slew of flops. Leadership at Disney wants the Muppets to succeed, even if they seem to undermine their own efforts by not nailing the tone and humor.
Given all of this, maybe it’s a good thing that Disney is giving a popstar and a comedian a chance to take a shot at The Muppet Show. It’s also reassuring that they’re doing so with the help from veterans of the Muppets Studio and Jim Henson Company, which should help shape the show and add ‘guardrails’ to the production.
This affinity for the Muppets in Hollywood is also precisely why the reboot could be a success. Not only are Seth Rogen and Sabrina Carpenter popular themselves, but they have a lot of famous friends who they could persuade to appear on the show. The more eyeballs on the Muppets, even if they’re primarily there for whoever is appearing alongside them, the better.
All of this is critical to the success of The Muppet Show reboot.
Disney+ already attempted an original talk show by the Jim Henson Company with Earth to Ned. That show had decent star power (Raven-Symoné, RuPaul, Gina Carano, Joel McHale, Taye Diggs, and Olivia Rodrigo were all guests) and garnered good reviews, but it was nevertheless a flop. It was perhaps a bit too out there and coming out at an incredibly crowded time for streaming.
The media landscape is considerably different now, as is the appeal of the Muppets. I’d also add that now might just be the time to flip the script on the late night television format. One is already being cancelled, and others might follow suit (alongside this news, Disney also announced that ABC is indefinitely preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live!). Now might be the perfect time for the Muppets to come along and reinvent the variety show genre. What’s old is new again!
Past Disney Muppets Projects
The Muppets have received no shortage of revival efforts from Disney. The most recent of these was The Muppets Mayhem, featuring Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. The show was reasonably well-received, but was cancelled after just one season. (This was the original basis for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster overlay rumors.)
Other Muppets projects by Disney have included Muppets Haunted Mansion in 2021, a short-lived series in 2020 called Muppets Now, and an ABC television series in 2015-2016 that was also cancelled after a single season. None of these were bad, and even the much-maligned ABC series hit its stride late in its run. They just didn’t quite capture the lightning-in-a-bottle of the Muppets.
The last Muppet feature films were Muppets Most Wanted in 2014, which was a sequel to The Muppets from 2011. As noted above, the latter Jason Segel vehicle was the closest thing the Muppets have seen to success, at least in the mainstream, in the 2000s.
Walt Disney World Implications?
Earlier this summer, MuppetVision 3D and Muppets Courtyard closed to make way for Monstropolis. Walls are up and demolition is underway as Imagineering works to transform the area to the Monsters, Inc. land. Due to MuppetVision 3D’s historical status, Disney and the Jim Henson Company worked to preserve it, with both offering kernels of hope that it’ll live on in some capacity.
When announcing the closure of Muppets Courtyard, Walt Disney World revealed that Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and more of their friends will be moving right along to Sunset Boulevard. The Muppets will be taking over Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, teaming up with some of music’s biggest stars for a rockin’ music festival.
Most recently, Imagineering pulled back the curtain on the new Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets, revealing that Scooter and the penguin audio engineers in the attraction’s pre-show are Audio Animatronics.
This is a huge win for an attraction that we previously expected to be an efficient and inexpensive project–a “no dough” reimagining that was a passion project for Imagineers, as opposed to a well-funded one. Disney has already teased that there are more reveals in store for RnRC, so we hope that this means even more changes from a show perspective.
Our perspective is that the more ambitious the reimagining of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets, the more likely it is to stick around for the long haul. And in turn, that increases the likelihood of Muppets Courtyard 2.0 featuring MuppetVision 3D once Villains Unfairly Ever After ends.
Another big thing that could increase the changes of a Muppets Courtyard revival is The Muppet Show being a hit that raises awareness of the Muppets and their appeal among younger generations. If this show finds success and isn’t cancelled after a single season, that could be huge.
The Muppets fanbase is aging. But the same was also true with Lilo & Stitch and Monsters, Inc. (two merchandising powerhouses), and those have found surprise success with younger generations. Now Monstropolis is being built in DHS, and I’d be shocked if Stitch doesn’t have an attraction (again) at Walt Disney World in the next decade.
Millennials are a massive demographic with growing spending power and influence. We spent our childhoods watching the Muppets, and college years watching Seth Rogen’s stuff. All it takes is this cohort introducing The Muppet Show to our kids, and we could witness a bona fide Muppetsaissance. It probably won’t happen, but it certainly could happen. And if it does, there is prime space in Disney’s Hollywood Studios that could be devoted to a miniland!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of Seth Rogen and Sabrina Carpenter leading a revival of The Muppet Show along with veterans of the Muppets Studio, Jim Henson Company, and Disney? Think it’s possible this could be just what the Muppets need? Concerned about Rogen’s involvement? Seen the Studio? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!