Disney’s handling of Jim Henson’s Muppets has been the subject of fierce debate amongst fans of the madcap collection of colorful characters. While the Muppets have had a couple of movies, the series The Muppets, and a number of guest appearances on TV, many believe the franchise has been left in the doldrums with no real direction. Recently, The Muppet Studio has put out short-form series Muppets Now, which was shot during the Covid Pandemic, and last year saw the arrival of The Muppets Haunted Mansion Halloween special, which was positively received. Now Disney has a released a first look image of the next step for the Muppet IP, a musical comedy series called Muppets Mayhem, which follows The Electric Mayhem band.

The Electric Mayhem began life as the house band on The Muppet Show, and have never really been explored in their own right. That is all set to change as Dr Teeth, Animal, Zoot, Floyd Pepper, Janice and Lips head off on the journey of their career as they head off to record their first ever studio album. Having played many live gigs over the decades, this new venture will still see the Electric Mayhem on the road, and this will take them to, among other places, the beach as can be seen in the newly released image.

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When The Muppet Show arrived on TV in the 1970s, the show provided family entertainment that delivered colorful characters, huge guest stars and something that everyone from kids to grandparents could enjoy. Over the years, the Muppets have changed and many believe that started once Disney took control of the franchise.

There is no doubt that the fact the Muppets are still around over thirty years after the death of their creator and driving force Jim Henson, the IP is popular enough to withstand a few badly received entries. Similarly, there have been some real highs during Disney’s tenure, but on the whole, there has been a real sense that Disney just doesn’t know what to do with the Muppets. Their anarchic, almost adult-orientated humor has been watered down to make them more child-friendly, but in the process that has lost some of what made the characters such a hit in the first place.

After the reasonably well-received Muppets Now, and the much-improved outing in Muppets Haunted Mansion, there are high hopes around the Muppets Mayhem series. Although there are not many details about the new series, it was recently announced that the human cast of the show will include Lilly Singh, Saara Chaudry, Tahj Mowry and Anders Holm. The show has yet to be given an official release window, but considering there are few special effects required in the puppet-driven project it is likely that even with the series just heading into production now, it should still hit Disney+ sometime in 2023. In the meantime, the original Muppet Show and various other Muppet content can be found on Disney+ now.