Free Republic

Families found the last Muppets reboot lacked innocence. 'Muppets Now' on Disney+ seeks to recapture classic Muppets, while advertising a cross-dressing entertainer. Ever since their first color TV special in 1969, the felt and cloth comedy troupe known as The Muppets have kept their wacky, endearing, musical brand of entertainment going strong. Now updated for the streaming era, the world’s most iconic puppets are back in “Muppets Now,” with new episodes premiering weekly on Disney+.Casting off gimmicky formats of recent years, the beloved characters are mostly back to form with send-ups of popular TV game shows, laughs with celebrity guests,...

Jack Burns, one of the original writers for The Muppet Show and a comedy partner to George Carlin, has died. The writer, actor and comedian was 86. The funnyman was living in senior care for the past two years and celebrated his 31st year of sobriety in December, manager Peter Santana on Tuesday told The Hollywood Reporter. Burns died Monday of respiratory failure in Toluca Lake. Kicking off his career as one half of a comedy duo with George Carlin, Burns performed with Carlin — who would go on to become the first host of Saturday Night Live and film...

Disney did the impossible: destroyed the Muppets. By making the Muppets “edgy” left-wing partisans who attack Fox News, come out as pro-abortion, and hurl sex jokes, the once-universally beloved franchise has been doomed. First, the leftwing Muppets failed at the box office, and now Kermit and Company are on the verge of having their new television show cancelled.

It may be time to light the lights. ABC is filming a proof of concept for a revival of The Muppets, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. The Big Bang Theory co-creator Bill Prady is co-writing the script for a pilot presentation that sources say could be unspooled at May's upfront presentation to Madison Avenue advertisers. Sources tell THR that the project, if all goes well, could go straight to series. Bob Kushell (Anger Management, 3rd Rock From the Sun) will also co-write and is attached to serve as showrunner, with Wilfred's Randall Einhorn attached to exec produce and direct the...

John Henson, a second-generation puppeteer, has died at age 48. Henson — son of Muppets creator Jim Henson — suffered a sudden heart attack on Friday. The news was confirmed by the official Facebook page for the Jim Henson Company, of which John Henson was a shareholder and board member. The younger Henson also worked on several Muppets projects, playing the character Sweetums in films including Muppet Treasure Island and Muppets From Space. He is survived by his wife, Gyongyi, and two daughters.

The Jim Henson Co. says Henson's partner in marriage and Muppets has died. The company says Jane Henson died Tuesday at her Connecticut home following a battle with cancer. She was 78.