Since April, there have been rumors that the The Muppet Show is being rebooted. Disney previously shot these down in the spring, but there’s new ‘evidence’ to go along with the rumblings suggesting that it’s happening. As big fans of the Muppets who want to see them live on at Walt Disney World with a lot of thoughts about this remake, we thought it was worth addressing why we’re optimistic about this projct.
These rumors began back in the spring that that Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, and co. were likely returning for a reboot of The Muppet Show‘s classic format in 2026, complete with celebrity guests and comedy sketches. At that time, the revival project was in its early stages, with no firm production plans or celebrity guests lined up.
As those rumors gained traction, Disney denied that a revival of Jim Henson’s classic variety series was in the works. “The Muppets Studio is not in production at this time on any new Muppets series, based on The Muppet Show or otherwise,” a Muppets Studio spokesperson said. That seemed to put an end to it, right? Well, it would seem the classic Disney wiggle words of “at this time” simply suggested it wasn’t happening yet, right at that moment, and they weren’t ready to announce.
Fast-forward to this month, and The Muppet Show project has been published on multiple Hollywood casting & production sites. These are basically industry insider listings for production opportunities, listing all major film & tv projects currently in pre-production & active development. You could think of them almost like classified ads for Hollywood crews.
Accordingly, this falls somewhere between a leak and a rumor that The Muppet Show is being revived by Disney at Fox. It has yet to be officially announced by Disney for whatever reason, but unless multiple trades are wrong, the wheels are already in motion and it’s on the precipice of happening.
Most notably, there’s a listing for “The Muppet Show Pilot” with the Film & Television Industry Alliance’s Production List, with a shoot date of September 1, 2025. Here’s the project summary: “The upcoming Muppet Show pilot is set to reintroduce the beloved ensemble of characters with a fresh twist, blending classic variety-show charm with new comedic sketches. While details remain under wraps, the project aims to capture the heart and humor that made the original a cultural icon.”
A separate listing indicates that filming is slated for mid-September 2025 in Los Angeles on the 20th Century Studios Lot, with reference to 20th Television. Both the Muppets Studio and Jim Henson Company as listed as being involved with the project. A list of producers includes Michael Steinbach, who works for The Muppets Studio.
The director is Alex Timbers, who is known for directing Broadway musicals. He’s also worked extensively with comedians Nick Kroll and John Mulaney, earning a Primetime Emmy nomination; he co-created the Amazon Prime Video series Mozart in the Jungle, which won a Golden Globe.
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.
Disney does have active projects in development with Rogen and Point Grey, including Chippendales at 20th Century Studios and a Darkwing Duck reboot with Disney Television Animation. They also have their sights set on a TaleSpin reboot for DTA and Disney+, but it’s unclear whether that project will proceed.
Rogen and Goldberg have helmed hit projects like Hulu’s Pam & Tommy, Amazon’s Invincible, The Boys and The Boys Presents: Diabolical. More recently, they’ve done Platonic and The Studio at Apple, the latter of which earned 23 nominations at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards. Rogen and Goldberg produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem for Paramount and Nickelodeon.
On the feature front, they’ve done 50/50, The Neighbors, The Night Before, Blockers, Long Shot, This Is The End, The Interview, The Disaster Artist, and An American Pickle. They’ve had their share of misses, but many of the aforementioned projects have been commercial and critical successes.
Seth Rogen’s Involvement: Pros & Cons
Whenever Seth Rogen comes up as being attached to a Disney project, fans inevitably recoil in horror. “I’d rather this not be done at all than have him attached” was more or less the consensus in response to the Figment feature film news.
This is understandable. Seth Rogen has a reputation that precedes him, and one he has purposefully cultivated 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. It’s easy to see why this image has stuck, as Rogen has made no effort to rebrand himself in interviews or appearances since.
Why is beyond me. The output of Rogen and Point Grey in the last few years has grown tremendously and expanded in range. You could make the argument that Rogen is the hardest working or at least most prolific man in Hollywood, and it wouldn’t even remotely be a stretch. He’s not the clueless pothead with the awkwardly nervous laugh that he makes himself out to be.
For concise evidence of this, look no further than The Studio on AppleTV+. This is easily one of our favorite television shows of the year, with some remarkable long takes and sharp, satirical wit. The Studio has a lot in common with Robert Altman’s The Player (high praise–if you’ve never seen that, you absolutely should), and should be enough to make even the most ardent Rogen naysayers reassess him. Platonic is also very good, but closer to Rogen’s stereotypical wheelhouse.
With that said, I can understand the concern over Rogen’s involvement. Fans want this to be the Muppets’ distinct brand of humor, not the Muppets acting as voices for Rogen’s comedic sensibilities. And there’s also the reality that 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.
However, I’d say that 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 I also think it’s no coincidence that Hollywood comedians of a certain age are more inclined to “get” the Muppets, as they were raised on them and styled their own humor on the Muppets.
I’m not sure if Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are two of those comedians. I hope so, and it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if they are, but I’ve never seen it come up in interviews, nor are there any obvious parallels in their output.
One thing I do know is that there are a lot of powerful people in Hollywood with an affinity for the Muppets. We’ve discussed this before with regard to Walt Disney Imagineering (not exactly Hollywood), noting that WDI undoubtedly fought hard to keep MuppetVision. When they lost that battle, they managed to get Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets greenlit. That’ll be a low-dough project, and we’re hopeful that passion can overcome a lack of monetary resources.
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 an outside 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.
Anyway, this affinity for the Muppets in Hollywood is also precisely why the reboot could be a success. Not only does Seth Rogen have a lot of famous friends who he could persuade to appear on the show, but there are a lot of comedians in Hollywood who would love to appear on the show and help it succeed because they care about the Muppets.
This extends to the audience, of course. Those of us who grew up on the Muppets back when the projects were good are mostly Millennials and older at this point, and we’d presumably be interested in such a show. Not just interested for ourselves, but in introducing the Muppets to our kids. Obviously, this is something we plan on doing regardless with Megatron and classics like the Muppet Christmas Carol, but a new series would certainly make it easier.
In both cases, I feel like this window is closing. Audiences with affinity for the Muppets are aging, as are the celebrity backers of the gang. Up and coming “famous” people and those from younger generations are less likely to have awareness or fondness for the Muppets. Something tells me that Mr. Beast did not style his “comedic” sensibilities on the Muppets.
Past Disney Muppets Projects
As noted above, the Muppets have received no shortage of revival efforts from Disney. Many have just been, ahem, misguided.
The most recent of these was The Muppets Mayhem. The Disney+ series followed junior A&R executive Nora, who deals with the madness caused by Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, who come face-to-face with the modern musical business as they try to record their first-ever album. 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.
Honestly, none of these were bad by any stretch–the ABC series, in particular, really hit its stride in the back half of the season–but there also weren’t great and didn’t quite capture the lightning-in-a-bottle of the Muppets. It’s not easy!
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. (Frankly, I’d love to see Segel take another crack at the Muppets; Shrinking on AppleTV is another of the best shows on television, and demonstrates great range.)
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.
We still don’t think this scenario is more likely than not to happen, but that could change. And one big thing that could change that 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.
As noted above, the population of Muppets fans is an aging one. But the same was also true with Lilo & Stitch and Monsters, Inc. (two merchandising powerhouses), and those have found surprise success with younger generations. Granted, those are both far newer franchises, but similar sentiment holds true.
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 Point Grey rebooting The Muppet Show along with veterans of the Muppets Studio, Jim Henson Company, and Disney? Think it’s possible that an outside comedian with strong connections in Hollywood 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!