The Muppets Mayhem (2023)
Disney+
Creators & Writers: Bill Barretta; Adam F Goldberg
Starring: Bill Barretta; Lilly Singh; Dave Goelz; Eric Jacobson
by Paul Bernardo paulieb2003@gmail.com
So Bill Barretta plays Dr Teeth. Bill Barretta created this show, Bill Barretta is one of the main writers on the show – safe to say, Bill Barretta IS the show.
Bill has a long history with the new era of Muppets. He was in Muppet Treasure Island, Happytime Murders, The Muppets (with Jason Legal), Muppets Most Wanted. He played Swedish Chef, Rowlf, Dr Teeth and sometimes even Kermit. Although he and Matt Vogel switched off mostly. So Bill is invested deeply and can do most of Jim Henson’s old characters. So yea – this is pretty much his show.
The good news is he got Dave Goelz to come back and play Zoot – and Dave is Muppet royalty, so it seems he has the blessing of the old crew.
I will tell you this – Lily Singh is the main human being here, and her expressions are usually exactly the same for every episode. It is almost as if they are going for a Sesame Street vibe here, which is nice, but not exactly must see tv.
The Mayhem are done nicely, Animal steals the show almost every episode with his cuteness and especially when they show Baby Animal, who looks nothing like Animal on Muppet Babies by the way. The new cartoon or the original. They completely rethought Baby Animal, and I like it.
So this series took a cue from the movie by Jason Segel, The Muppets (2011). It is bringing the old, out of place muppets into today’s world and they have a bit of trouble adapting.
Simple as that – and it is fun to watch, and the muppets are handled very well. Janice gets a lot of backstory in this series, which is nice if you are a fan. Her voice and mannerisms are a bit different, but what else can you do. Take what you can get and just enjoy that they are even still around.
Dr Teeth gets his backstory, Floyd Pepper gets his backstory, the band goes through some flashbacks and you get to learn a lot of their backstories and how they all came together. If you are a fan of the muppets, like me, this series is enjoyable and watchable. It has heart and humor and treats issues with kiddie gloves, like we are used to. Nothing hard hitting, or too dramatic. The show goes for fun and it is fun, just seeing our old friends again.
