The Pitch: Take a legendary, free-wheeling band, add in a hungry, young music industry employee who loves a detailed plan, and ask them to work together to come up with one last great album — it’s a premise that just works. But, as with most things, it’s that much better when the Muppets are involved.
The Muppets Mayhem centers on The Electric Mayhem Band — Dr. Teeth, Animal, Floyd, Janice, Zoot, and Lips — who have been coasting on vibes their entire career. When music-loving, low-ranking label employee Nora (Lilly Singh) discovers that the band received an advance for an album that was never cut, she makes it her mission to pull a smash record out of the act.
The clock is ticking: Nora’s boss wants to sell Wax Records to an entrepreneurial charmer named JJ (Anders Holm), who also just happens to be Nora’s ex. So to make the album happen, Nora is joined by Mayhem super-fan and budding producer Moog (Tahj Mowry) with the occasional boost from her Gen-Z influencer sister Hannah (Saara Chaudry). Over the course of ten episodes, there’s plenty of room for hijinks, and just as much opportunity for some great music.
The Muppets Mayhem was written and developed by Adam F. Goldberg, Bill Barretta, and Jeff Yorkes, while Goldberg and Barretta executive produce alongside Michael Bostick, Kris Eber, and The Muppets Studio’s David Lightbody and Leigh Slaughter. Per usual, the Muppets performers strive to capture the magic of the Jim Henson era that made these creatures such cultural staples, and the voices behind the Mayhem (Dave Goelz, Matt Vogel, David Rudman, Peter Linz, Bill Barretta, and Eric Jacobson) knock it out of the park.
Count Me In: The Muppets as an entity are beloved for a reason. They’ve been ingrained in pop culture for decades, a seemingly endless well of creativity when it comes to the stories that can be told through their furry lens. Since joining the Disney family in 2004, some of the best stories featuring these characters are the ones that treat them like the superstars they are — think The Muppets (2011). To work with the Muppets is no small thing.
To that end, the cameos in this show are head-spinning — there are appearances from Ryan Seacrest, Chris Stapleton, Lil Nas X, and Tommy Lee all within the first five minutes of the first episode. To list out every familiar face that shows up would take up far too much space here, and some of the best cameos should be kept as a surprise, but Disney certainly pulled out all the stops to make it the star-studded affair The Electric Mayhem deserve.
The Muppets Mayhem (Disney+)
