Disney’s ‘Muppet Show’ Reboot Announcement Has Been Flooded With Angry Kimmel Comments

Lovers of Jim Henson’s Muppet characters haven’t exactly been thrilled with their current corporate owners lately.

After abandoning the Muppets film franchise and canceling the streaming series The Muppets Mayhem, Disney further alienated the felt-loving fanbase by shuttering the beloved Muppet*Vision 3D attraction at Disney World, to the dismay of pretty much everyone except Statler and Waldorf. 

But now the Mouse House is making a move that’s sure to please everyone: They’re bringing back the iconic ‘70s variety series The Muppet Show. At least, it would have pleased everyone, had the company not made the announcement at the absolute worst time possible.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Muppet Show will “return in 2026 as a Disney+ special,” and serve as a backdoor pilot for a potential new season. It will be executive produced by Seth Rogen and, oddly, Sabrina Carpenter, who will also make an appearance. The special will find the Muppets returning to their theater in order “to produce a variety show.” So, basically, the exact same plot as 2011’s The Muppets.

It’s kind of shocking that it took this long for Disney to greenlight a straight-up reboot of The Muppet Show after multiple failed attempts to modernize the “Muppet variety show” concept with projects like 2020’s Muppets Now and ABC’s 30 Rock-inspired show The Muppets, which is perhaps best known for being the only Muppet property that dared to explore Fozzie Bear’s sex life.

But Disney’s announcement, complete with a photo of Kermit the Frog’s coffee mug, dropped just minutes after it was reported that Disney’s ABC just yanked Jimmy Kimmel Live! off the air “indefinitely.” 

The decision was made after Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr threatened to penalize ABC affiliates for “offensive” (but not really) comments Kimmel made about Charlie Kirk’s death. Although the actual comments were about right-wing attempts to “score political points” by characterizing Kirk’s shooter as an extreme leftist.

In any case, Disney arguably capitulated to a terrifying authoritarian power move, and a lot of people clearly weren’t in the mood for their self-promotional social media posts about the Muppets. 

“I stand with Jimmy Kimmel. Cancelled my Disney+ subscription,” one user responded on X/Twitter. 

“WHY DID YOU CANCEL JIMMY KIMMEL? WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF?” another commented. 

“Sorry we canceled Jimmy Kimmel, here's the Muppets to distract you from that,” someone else joked. 

Some comments were even harsher, suggesting that they were canceling Disney+ “since you guys cave to fascism.”` The company “caved to Trump’s assault on free speech!” an angry follower wrote. “Love Disney. Hate fascism,” read one post. 

“Fucking cowards,” another person added.

It remains to be seen whether the Muppets themselves will weigh in on the matter, seeing as how Kermit and Miss Piggy have a history with Kimmel.