If there’s one TV moment that fully encapsulates my feelings on how 2026 is going so far, it’s the meme-worthy response from Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) to a colleague’s (James Wolk) cheerful “How are you?” in season 6 of “Mad Men”: “Not great, Bob.”
The world kind of feels like a perpetually burning dumpster fire right now, but thankfully, “The Muppet Show” is back to give viewers a little bit of light and levity during these anxious times. In honor of the franchise’s 50th anniversary, “The Muppet Show” returned with a new special last week featuring guest Sabrina Carpenter, plus cameos from famous faces like Maya Rudolph and Seth Rogen (who also executive produced the special). The new entry serves as a backdoor pilot too, meaning the possibility of more Muppets episodes should the special bring in enough eyeballs for Disney.
If the reaction after its first week on streaming is any indication, the House of Mouse should definitely gear up to make more. As of Thursday, “The Muppet Show” special was No. 1 on Disney+’s top 10 movies in the US list (why it’s listed under movies and not TV shows is a question for another day), and holds near-perfect audience and critic scores on Rotten Tomatoes. It also reportedly pulled in more than 3 million viewers for its televised debut on ABC last week, according to Programming Insider.
Watching Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, and the rest of the gang play the music and light the lights warmed my soul in ways I didn’t think possible in 2026, making me feel like a little kid again walking into Disney World’s old “Muppet*Vision 3D” ride. I’ve increasingly looked to nostalgic favorites like old “Looney Tunes” shorts (TCM recently became home to Bugs Bunny and his pals) to find comfort during this chaotic era for the country, and “The Muppet Show” special is exactly the type of program I want to watch when I’ve had enough of doom-scrolling.
But it’s not just a nice distraction, as the latest iteration of “The Muppet Show” is a really smart and well-crafted variety-style comedy. Unlike, say, “Saturday Night Live” — where viewers are forced to cringe their way through a glut of hit-or-miss music-heavy skits put on by comics who clearly wish they were on Broadway instead of Studio 8H — “The Muppet Show” knows how to integrate music into sketches without sacrificing the laughs.
It was a treat watching Carpenter team up with the Muppet chickens for a campy “Gremlins” meets “Road House” rendition of her song “Manchild,” and then later sing the Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers classic “Islands in the Stream” with Kermit and Miss Piggy. The special ends on an epic high note, with the cast coming together to belt out Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” in a surprisingly heartwarming performance that only the Muppets could pull off.
“The Muppet Show” is zany and wholesome, and above all, brings genuine heart along with the humor, rather than succumbing to cynicism like so much of comedy today (that includes you, too, “SNL”).
The world needs more Muppets right now, and Disney needs to deliver.
Matt Juul is the assistant digital editor for the Living Arts team at The Boston Globe, with over a decade of experience covering arts and entertainment.
Matt Juul can be reached at matthew.juul@globe.com.