What you need to know
- Disney+ is adding The Muppets to its streaming catalog in February.
- All five seasons of the show will arrive on February 19, one month from today.
- It's unclear if these episodes will be the originals or if Season One will be the edited versions due to music licensing.
Muppets fans, rejoice! After having basically every series except the one that started it all, The Muppet Show is coming to Disney+. This was one of the bigger gaps left in Disney+'s backcatalog content — well, except for a literal mountain of early Disney Channel and ABC Saturday Morning cartoons — and it is being filled on the third Friday in February, the 19th.
The Muppet Show ran for five seasons and was an international sensation — even though Jim Henson had to go to England to make it after U.S. networks passed on the project — building the puppet series into a global and enduring sensation that has produced several iconic films, shows, television and of course let's not forget all the fabulous merchandise. The Muppets appealed to a wider audience than their Sesame Street pals, and they were able to play in a wider array of comedy and parody styles, not to mention drawing in big names that were begging just for the chance to get in on the Muppets antics.
Because this show was produced decades before Disney acquired them — and before anyone could even conceive of digital streaming rights — when The Muppets Show released on DVD in the 2000s after the Disney purchase, several songs and bits were cut or edited down due to rights issues for music. Well, it's been fifteen years and Disney's right lawyers have certainly been busy little bees clearing content for its tentpole streaming service, so chances are good that we'll finally be able to watch every song and scene just as they appeared in the 70s.
If you're wanting to brush up on your Muppets before the original brings up the curtain next month, you can binge your way through The Muppets Collection on Disney+ right now, which should give you just enough time to get those ridiculously catchy songs from Muppet Treason Island out of your head by February 19.
Get your fix of Kermit, Fozzie, and the gang.
Disney+ is the exclusive home for most Muppets content, as well as all the Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, and Marvel content you could ever want. There's also a bevy of content from Fox, National Geographic, and even more brands as we head into 2021 with the international launch of STAR on Disney+.
