Hi ho there, Schmoes! In an unexpected move, Disney has announced that they're rebooting THE MUPPETS for their forthcoming streaming service which is set for a 2019 debut.
Disney managed to snag The Muppets Studio back in 2004, to which they then launched of a live-action workplace comedy series featuring Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and all their felt-covered friends on ABC. Unfortunately, the show was a complete bomb for the network, and was cancelled after just one season.
While the search for a writer to pen the new series is underway, it's anyone's guess as to how the Jim Henson-created puppet celebrities will be presented this next time around. Will The Muppets decide to go old school and revive their own variety-style showcase? Is another workplace comedy being contemplated? Or, will The Muppets resurface with something fresh and funny for the iconic comedy team filled with frogs and bears and chickens and things?
THE MUPPETS reboot will join a slate of other shows that are planned for the Disney streamer, including a reboot of HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, and a new series based on the characters from Pixar's MONSTERS INC. There's also a live-action TV version of THE MIGHTY DUCKS from the trilogy's original screenwriter, Steven Brill, that is likely to find its place onto the service as well.
According to sources close to the streaming project, Disney will also host their library of family films on the network in addition to presenting a new generation of viewers with reboots of the feature films: THE PARENT TRAP (1998), FATHER OF THE BRIDE (1991), and HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS (1989).
Break our your wallets and mouse ears, folks, because Disney is in the process of stirring up a perfect storm of entertainment dominance! It won't be long now until there's nowhere left to hide from their puffy, white-gloved grasp. If you're walking in a dark alley, and hear Mickey's iconic laughter through the still night air … run!