Muppets Now Review: Rainbow Internet Connection


The Muppets have been an incredible franchise, going from television to film, and then sometimes, even rebooting the movies and now tackling the broadcast. They did not conquer the medium each time. Few remember Muppets tonight let alone the 2015 ABC reality series. Muppets Now It’s much more of the moment at Disney +.

Muppets now Miss Piggy
Miss Piggy | Disney +

This show was in progress before the coronairus pandemic (COVID-19), but modern times have made parody even more appropriate. The Muppets make fun of every Zoom meeting you’ve ever had, with glitches and pixelation, screen sharing, and every Muppet talking to each other to intervene. You’ll want to pause to read all the comments they write on the screen.

The ‘Muppets Now’ have a broadcast program

The basic format is that Scooter is trying to upload the program. The viewer can see all the new sketches that the theater company has put together. They are web episodes, so to speak, but compiled into a half-hour show.

Muppets Now: Linda Cardellini
Linda Cardellini in Zoom with The Muppets | Disney +

Some of the recurring segments include a cooking segment with The Swedish Chef and “Lifesty (le)” with Miss Piggy. Linda Cardellini appears as a famous guest on multiple “Lifesty” despite Piggy’s aggressive passive attitude towards her. Celebrities seem to have a lot of fun doing this.

Real lessons mixed with humor

Some of the segments manage to teach real lessons while keeping it fun. The cooking segments have real chefs (or Danny Trejo) who teach real recipes, while the Swedish chef teases them with gibberish. Anyway, this is essentially a continuation of the classic Swedish chef segments, only with the new online cooking show format and new celebrities. The Swedish chef ends up being the target of most jokes.

Muppets Now Swedish Chef
Muppets Now kitchen segment | Disney +

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In “Muppet Masters”, presented by Walter (who eventually joined as a real player and not an obligation), he actually teaches photography’s thirds rule for shot composition. Kermit then photo-pumps the images so they can satirize a phenomenon from the era of social media. If there’s any Muppet you’d expect to have on Instagram, you can probably guess which one it is.

Muppets Now Beaker
Muppets Now science segment | Disney +

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A new segment of Bunsen and Beaker has educational information, but also satisfies viewers’ indirect pyromania. Modern technology terrifies poor Beaker before Bunsen.

Sometimes they just have fun

Not all sketches are educational, not even satirical. Some are random and strange. That’s what the Muppets always did.

Kermit and RuPaul
LR: Kermit the Frog and RuPaul | Disney +

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So Kermit’s interview segment “Mup Close and Personal” tries to be one-on-one until Gonzo and others interrupt with random questions. “Pepe’s Unbelievable Game Show” isn’t even about the questions. It’s just that Pepe is overly excited and contagious. Fozzy’s bad ideas have grown exponentially thanks to the Internet.

Muppets now Fozzy
Fozzy | Disney +

So the Muppets are back and you can see their new show at Disney +. It may take a few episodes for everyone to have screen time, but that’s fair. The set has grown so large that each episode can focus on a few Muppets.

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