The Muppets Mayhem review: A family-friendly music biz satire
In their Disney Plus show, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem shred their way through the industry
TV Reviews The Muppets
After half a century, The Muppet Show and its spinoffs have shaped who knows how many young minds. Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker turned tots on to science (and fire extinguishers); RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars was taken over by Miss Piggy; even Statler and Waldorf modeled the grim pleasures of cultural criticism. Who corrupted the most youth? Gotta be the Electric Mayhem. The Muppetverse’s resident rockers glorified stupidity and destruction in pursuit of the perfect jam, catnip for authority-averse kids. Now the band has its own Disney+ limited series, The Muppets Mayhem (out May 10), a blend of music-biz satire and sentimental life lessons that makes for an enjoyable road trip, if not the mind-blowing concert you’ll never forget.
The story kicks off with the sobering realization that despite its legendary status—Lil Nas X and Tommy Lee deliver on-camera tributes—the Mayhem is a one-hit wonder. The funky banger “Can You Picture That?” spiced up The Muppet Movie soundtrack, but their output since has been covers. They were under contract to record an album for Wax Town Records but never delivered, as junior executive Nora (Lilly Singh) discovers while shredding Wax files. Acting out of personal ambition more than love of music, Nora makes it her mission to get the Mayhem out of their rut, into the studio, and on digital playlists. Without consulting her obnoxious, hot-sauce-guzzling boss, Penny Waxman (a life-size Muppet voiced by Leslie Carrara-Rudolph), Nora threatens the band with defaulting on a $430K advance.
Drawn along on Nora’s quest is Moog (Tahj Mowry), a sweet Mayhem superfan who follows their tours and becomes a font of band lore. Nora’s sister, Hannah (Saara Chaudry), is an Instagram influencer whose bratty vanity is tempered by affection for her uptight sis. Pulling double duty as love interest and corporate villain is JJ (Anders Holm), a smarmy tech bro who carries a torch for Nora (Moog also vies pathetically for her affections). Predictably, the humans act as foils for the Muppets (and vice versa), each learning the value of self-acceptance, forgiveness, and keeping it real.
The Mayhem you already know. Frontman and gold-toothed keyboardist Dr. Teeth (Bill Barretta) speaks a jazz-daddy patois that favors portmanteau neologisms (“that’s a name I recollize” he murmurs). On lead guitar, Ur–Valley Girl Janice (David Rudman) keeps things chill with fer-shurring and New Age healing rituals. Floyd Pepper (Matt Vogel) is the gravelly voiced bassist and closest connection the band has to reality. In the brass section, Lips (Peter Linz) and Zoot (Dave Goelz) are the goony side men—one an incoherent mush mouth, the other a spacey, sax-blowing burnout. And drummer Animal (Eric Jacobson) is simply Animal: a panting, monosyllabic gremlin with hair issues who likes to smash, eat, and attack anything that crosses his path.
Halfway through 10 episodes, creative tensions in the band start to show: Floyd is a perfectionist, Dr. Teeth can’t commit, Janice is the mommy who represses conflict, and Animal breaks stuff. By the fourth episode, the Mayhem finally gets down to recording in the studio, trying to lay down a cover of “Rockin’ Robin” with a variety of star “collabs”—Kesha, Ziggy Marley, Deadmau5, and Desiigner—all failing rather miserably. It takes a while, but Nora comes to realize the Mayhem don’t need to ride anyone’s coattail: They have a rock magic all their own.
Dryly funny and innately warm, Singh is inspired casting as the Muppets’ straight woman, forever exasperated then inspired by the band’s whimsy and weirdness. Teeth shares his Zen credo with her while sucking down a Mai Tai in a hot tub: “No plan is the plan.” Undaunted, Nora persists. “They’re perfectly happy being exactly who they are,” she complains to Hannah. “Impulsive, aimless, and totally incapable of following any logic or rules or plans.” Nora rides the classic arc of a zealous outsider trying to tame a wild beast, only to realize she’s the one who needs to change.
In some ways, the Mayhem is the purest distillation of the Muppet ethos—messy adult behavior Muppetized and demystified for younger audiences. Kermit is a neurotic, passive-aggressive workaholic. Miss Piggy’s a narcissist with rage issues. The Mayhem takes a milieu associated with seedy sex, drugs, and tragic early death and translates it into creativity and team spirit.
The funniest writing comes out when the band members are flying their freak flags in the van: headbanging to a metal track despite all wearing neck braces; free-associating names for their album that range from the sublime to the ridiculous; or tripping out after ingesting long-expired marshmallows in the desert. An episode where Animal quits over a miscommunication and becomes a hibachi chef leads to delectable sight gags. Another clever bit involves Dr. Teeth’s first foray into Twitter, a bad autocorrect, and a street ambush from superfans—Beliebers, Gaga’s Little Monsters, Swifties, and the BeyHive. As the Mayhem gets closer to a climactic concert at the Hollywood Bowl, they become dangerously obsessed with social media and selling out, and the showbiz satire sharpens.
Pretty much every episode has a problem that gets resolved through a strategically placed cover. (Nora’s heart melts when Janice sings “True Colors” and an alienated Animal returns to the fold when Floyd croons “Bridge Over Troubled Waters.”) The parallel plotting between the band and Nora’s life isn’t subtle—she raised Hannah from childhood, and Floyd reared baby Animal. No one expects subtlety from a Muppet sitcom, but the patterns can grow repetitive. The original Muppet Show may have hewed to a format, but that was a variety show with backstage action. Like way too much TV these days, Muppets Mayhem feels like a neat idea for a movie that has been stretched to fill several hours.
Celebrity cameos and Animal slapstick keep things fairly fresh. There are quick turns from Susanna Hoffs, Morgan Freeman, Paula Abdul, Charlamagne tha God, and “Weird Al” Yankovic (but not Jack Black, oddly). Cheech and Chong pop up, left behind in an abandoned recording studio waiting for pizza (that’s some munchies). One of the best walk-ons is director Peter Jackson, which prompts a joke about Meet The Feebles. The classic covers are polished enough. The theme song “Rock On” is a bop I wish had made it to the final concert. And for parents who stream with their kids, there will be a few well-earned chuckles and ample opportunities to introduce the little ones to that dusty record collection.
The Muppets Mayhem premieres May 10 on Disney+
41 Comments
Excited for this. I’ve heard some complaining that it’s not the Muppets without Kermit. Screw that. Kermit is really kind of a dick most of the time and I’m glad to get some Muppet goodness without him (afaik).
That IS an odd complaint. Especially given the history of the gang. Rowlf was the OG and there were coffee commercial and SNL Muppets before Kermit was the main guy.But I vehemently disagree with the “screw that”. Yes, Kermit can certainly be a dick. GOOD. I know that Disney wants to kiddify the shit out of the IP but goddam it, I want the Muppets to have EDGE. If that means that sometimes Kermit gets grouchy then I’m fine with it. Some weird, flaccid Kermit who was happy shiny people all the time would suck. There’s a reason that Fozzy isn’t the leader of the gang. And there’s a reason that Gonzo’s starring vehicle Muppets From Space is such a dud.(I also just think that Kermit being a dick sometimes is a great reminder that human beings, even the nicest kindest best human beings, are not perfect. And it’s a nice reminder of Jim himself, who could be a driven, aggravating perfectionist.)
These are not the Muppets I want to spend a lot of time with. I always found their brain-fried brand of humor better in small doses. Give me Uncle Dudley or something else I can work with.
Sam the Eagle as a modern political pundit would be a pretty solid idea
Sam’s in an awkward position today. He’s an unwavering patriot, but he’d never want a gauche reality star to be President. He’d be torn on classic literature being sanitized. Probably not a fan of drag queen story hours but could be tricked into dressing as Martha Washington.
That last line?
*Chef’s kiss*
Ya knows yer Muppets, by cracky!
Sam was more of a Bob Dole Republican. With a little Eisenhower and McCain thrown in.
He got cancelled because he felt the need to sound off on gender-affirming care for minors.
He’s already in talks with Fox to take Tucker’s time slot.
Poe’s law and all that. Sam was created as absurd parody of a right-winger who doesn’t actually know that much about the Founding Fathers and other bits of Americana he idolizes, but compared to Q-anon and the like he’s a genius.
Uncle Deadly was kind of a nothing character until they basically reinvented him in the ABC sitcom. Why can’t this show deepen and expand on the Mayhem and flesh them out?
That ABC show was underrated. It wasn’t great at the beginning, sure, but it found its way eventually– just in time for cancellation.
It definitely got stronger as the show went on, but one of my favorite moments is from episode 2 — when Kermit finally figures out how to get rid of Josh Groban.
I think the general conceit of “Muppets have real-world problems” wasn’t the best. But I think there were a lot of really great jokes and it was also one of the visually-best things they’ve ever done. The one musical number where Piggy gets carried around by some dancers is incredibly impressive.
I mean…just do the Muppet Show. Doesn’t need to be a talk show, or a meta-mockumentary, or a webcast, or whatever other reinvention Disney keeps trying. The Muppet Show. Creaky old vaudeville theater. Skits. Musical acts. So-dumb-it’s-smart humor. Kermit’s in over his head. Piggy’s jealous. Fozzy drives the special guest crazy. What do you need, a roadmap?
I assume the entire series crashes to a halt when the child audience is vaulted into adulthood by Susannah Hoff’s appearance.
I think I just discovered third puberty. (Second puberty was hearing Sia singing on Zero 7’s “Destiny.”)
Ten episodes seems like a lot. Even assuming they’re a 1/2 hour is a lot of Mayhem. But I’m in.Love to see a Crazy Harry cameo. O maybe a Lew Zealand appearance that morphs into its own series. That guy can toss a friggin’ fish.
The Mayhem are their own microcosm in the Muppet troupe and I think the only ones that could carry a series on their own if you’re not gonna focus on Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie and Gonzo. Like, you couldn’t do a Bunsen and Beaker show. And the reviews I’ve seen all say this particular gamble worked.
I would watch an hour special titled Bunsen and Beaker: Behind the Burner. This Mayhem show seems like it’d be a better 90 minute movie. But like I wrote, I’m in and will check it out. Seems like the Mayhem would have had a “Behind the Music” parody after all these years. Yup…
Here is hoping they include Janice’s weird thing about constantly being the last person talking when they all speak at once and winding up wildly off tangent talking about nudism for some reason.It was one of those patented Janice things that always cracked me up…
In the clip they showed at NYCC, she mentioned needing a room to do pantless yoga. So, on the right track!
“Jameela Jamil applauds Janice’s refusal to get naked for anyone, even if it is ‘artistic’”
Meet the FeeblesConsider yourselves warned
Whatever happened to that Peter Jackson fellow? Made weird movies like Meet the Feebles and Bad Taste and then basically disappeared.
Yeah, it’s just too bad he didn’t have any big successes, like with sprawling epic fantasy films. Seems like something he would’ve been into.
I’m excited, and not just for myself; my developmentally-delayed son is REALLY into the Muppets, and I can’t wait to show him this.
My only fear with this is spending lots of time with the human characters. A Muppets show should really star THEM. That, plus I’ll feel old when I don’t recognize the modern music celebrity cameos.
It’s just the inverse of the original. I had no idea who people like Zero Mostel were when I was a kid, but I still enjoyed the shows when they were the guests.
10000000%. Reading this review just underlines for me an ongoing criticism of most latter-day Muppets material. Even Muppet Christmas Carol, which happened when Jim was still around, suffers this problem. But that was an exception to most of his output and was an adaptation as opposed to an original story. Since he’s died it’s been just way, way too many human protagonists. Even Segel’s Muppets revolved far too much around the humans. (Even the central Muppet character Walter is basically just a puppet version of Segel. He’s not a hyperbolic or weird “human” Muppet like Bunson Honeydew or Guy Smiley or Scooter et al.) I appreciated that Muppets Tonight tried to bring it back to the gang as primary but I hated the Office-style “reality/documentary” shtick.(Also, not that it’s important but why the hell is the main human in a music comedy being played by Lilly Singh instead of Lily Allen? I *like* Singh but c’mon.)
Muppet Christmas Carol was made after Jim died.
D’oh! You’re right. For some reason I always conflate Christmas Carol with Family Christmas, even though they are completely different things.
Um…that song is not called “Like a Bridge Over Troubled Waters.”
Exactly. It’s “Master of Puppets.”
Not True Colors nooooooooo!!!!
…and Floyd reared baby Animal.I simply will not stand for this Muppet Babies erasure.
The Muppets have a weird thing of rewriting their own history. The Muppet Movie has one story, The Muppets Take Manhattan another, Muppet Babies yet another. In fact, I think that was inspired by a scene in one of the movies where Miss Piggy imagines how it would have been to have known Kermit as a child (implying she didn’t in “reality”)
Haha! You’re right, I totally forgot about the Muppet Babies having it’s origin in a ‘dream’ sequence in The Muppets Take Manhattan.As you were. 🙂
And then the 2011 movie basically pretends nothing happened in the franchise after Take Manhattan.
Too bad this won’t make the show: