THE Muppet Show is making a 50th birthday comeback — with pop superstar Sabrina Carpenter joining as a special guest.
Disney has revealed Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and the gang are back for a one-off special, more than four decades after the curtain came down on the beloved original series.
The show will stream on Disney+ from February 4, promising fans “music, comedy and a whole lot of chaos” from the original Muppet Theatre.
In a teaser clip, Kermit’s green arm can be seen turning on the lights of an old studio, before placing down a mug with his name on it.
The show originally ran from 1976 to 1981, with a generation of kids singing along to the theme tune: “It’s time to play the music. It’s time to light the lights.”
The series became so popular that big name stars clamoured to be guests, including Sir Elton John, Johnny Cash, Diana Ross, John Cleese and Debbie Harry.
It was broadcast in more than 100 countries and in 1978 Time magazine called the show “the most popular television entertainment now being produced on Earth”.
The series won a host of awards, including Emmy, Grammy and Bafta gongs.
Despite the lights going out on the main series, the Muppets Tonight talk show ran from 1996 to 1998.
Other short-lived TV projects followed, including a mockumentary series in 2015, the Muppets Now short form series in 2020 and The Muppets Mayhem musical comedy series in 2023.
A host of movies included The Great Muppet Caper in 1981 and The Muppet Christmas Carol in 1992.
The last film, Muppets Most Wanted, in 2014, starred British comedian Ricky Gervais.
Muppets creator Jim Henson died in 1990 and Disney bought the rights in 2004.
Sabrina, who has had four UK No1 singles and two UK No1 albums, is an executive producer for the new show, as is Canadian comedian and actor Seth Rogen, who was in the 2020 series.
