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Updated! Sadly, Disney has decided not to push on with their digital-only “Muppets” series – said to be titled “Muppets Another Day”. The series, written and executive produced by Josh Gad and ”Once Upon a Time” creators Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis, will not go forward over discrepancy between the writing team’s creative vision and that of the top brass at Disney-owned Muppet Studio.
The new show, says Deadline, was to pick up right where 1984’s ”The Muppets Take Manhattan” left off and focus on Kermit as he must bring the Muppets back together (after being disbanded) to help locate the missing Rowlf.
Along with a scripted comedy series, which underwent two rounds of development with different creative teams, Disney+ had been development a variety series, a reimagening of “The Muppet Show”.
Previously…
In the time since the Wonderful world of Walt swapped cash for Kermit and acquired Jim Henson’s The Muppets, the long-running, sometimes brilliant puppet brigade have had more comebacks than Mickey Rourke and John Travolta combined.
The most successful of the recent “Muppet” relaunches was in 2011, with James Bobin wearing the captain hat and Jason Segel and Amy Adams starring alongside the late Henson’s creations in a sweet, funny feel-good feature film relaunch. A 2014 sequel, “Muppets Most Wanted”, and a short-lasting sitcom “The Muppets” (ABC) didn’t quite hit. Ever since, the Muppets have been seemingly kept in mothballs.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney are about to attempt to relaunch the Muppets again. The plan, at this stage, is for Kermit, Piggy, Gonzo, Fozzie & co to return to TV – where they’ll front a new series on Disney’s new streaming service. The search is now underway for a writer.
The Disney streaming service is going to be quite the hot ticket. In addition to the new Muppets series, they’ll have a live-action “Star Wars” series, a reboot of the “High School Musical” franchise, a series based on the “Mighty Ducks” series, a new incarnation of “Monster’s Inc” and remakes of classic movie hits “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids”, “The Parent Trap” and “Father of the Bride”. At this stage, the service doesn’t have a name.
