"Major and important" Muppet announcement coming soon

[LittleJerry92]

I am grateful to have some form of high quality entertainment either way. The truth is Disney has always sucked *** when it comes to releasing shows on dvd. They are the worst major company with that

 

[Chilly Down]

I never thought in a million years that this announcement would happen! So excited!!!

 

[antsamthompson9]

As exciting as this is, I'd still want the DVDs but, this is better than nothing. If all the songs in season 2 are close-captioned on Disney+, that would be one advantage it has over the DVDs.

 

[sesamemuppetfan]

I have mixed feelings. On one hand, it's awesome that Disney+ is finally adding unreleased Muppet content. But on the other hand, I'm with everybody else who'd rather have actual DVDs of the final 2 seasons produced as opposed to subscribing to the service and paying $6.99 a month to watch the episodes considering that we fans have been waiting for almost 13 years to see more of. I'll still give it some thought though.

 

[Chilly Down]

Even though I'm generally a fan of physical media myself, I had given up all hope of getting Seasons 4 and 5 in any fashion. I honestly thought Disney had locked the door and thrown away the key. Now, for $7.99 a month, I can watch TMS in addition to a ton of other stuff I already watch anyway (Star Wars, Marvel, classic Disney, etc.).

If someone has never seen the series all the way through and is tight on money, they could subscribe to Disney+ for 1 month, binge 4 episodes a night for 30 days, and see all 120 episodes before cancelling their subscription. That's a pretty fair deal, especially considering how expensive the DVD box sets were in comparison.

 

[Chilly Down]

Other thoughts...

I wonder what order they'll go in? Most likely in production order like the box sets, but even that's imperfect, considering that Kermit says "we've got another great show for you" in the Juliet Prowse episode, making viewers feel like they've missed something. Plus, Scooter's in that episode, and then he gets "introduced" in the Jim Nabors episode. It's interesting to note that the Muppet Wiki says: "The first region to air the show was the ATV/Midlands region on Sunday, September 5, 1976, beginning with the Joel Grey episode" - and the clip that Disney+ uploaded to YouTube yesterday was the show intro from the Joel Grey episode.

Also, I wonder what finally motivated this. Were there just a ton of subscribers using Disney Plus's request box to ask for the show? Were the movies and other series just doing really well on the platform? Were the numbers high enough on Muppet Now's premiere that (even though people lost interest quickly) it convinced Disney that there was enough of an audience for more Muppet material? Someone mentioned Brian Jay Jones earlier in the thread--were he and other key behind-the-scenes personnel gently nudging the company? Or was this something they always intended to do anyway just to beef up their streaming library, and it took this long to get all the music rights settled? I suppose the "why" doesn't matter very much in the end, but I'm curious and very grateful for it.

I was talking with a younger person who's seen the movies and a handful of TMS episodes but not most of the series. I expressed concern that most people will start with Season 1 even though that's not the best representation of the series. He actually said he's more interested in those because their weirdness and primitiveness will seem very different from what he already knows, and it will be interesting to watch the show and characters develop. He also likes watching the early Mickey Mouse shorts, where Mickey acts very differently. So maybe it's just as well if a lot of people do start with Season 1!

Anyway, looking forward to next month!!

 

[Cookie3001]

I was literally screaming when this was announced and I just can't express how excited I am for this to happen. It's even better given that Dinosaurs coming at the end of this week. Also this is not only good for us Muppet fans but because so many people use Disney+ maybe some people who aren't familiar with The Muppet Show will watch it and if people are enjoying it this could possibly up the chances of more new content from The Muppets

 

[Muppet Master]

This is amazing news. And yeah I'd prefer DVD releases of season 4 and 5 but that ship has sailed. I think just the fact that we're getting all five seasons on streaming is phenomenal.

Though one thing I am bracing for is for newcomers to start watching season 1 and then quit because of how rough it is.

 

[scooterfan360]

This must be true, Disney plus announced it on Facebook.

 

[Muppet Master]

Anyone want to place bets on which episode causes Twitter/social media uproar and gets pulled from Disney+? Since it'll be widely accessible for the first time in about 20 years, there's bound to be some sort of minor backlash. My guess is (if it happens) it'll be the Johnny Cash one since he performs behind a Confederate flag. Have to wonder if they'll have edited that out beforehand.