Disney Plus has announced today that they have given the green light to The Muppets Mayhem, a comedy series featuring the iconic, world-famous Muppets. The new series will follow rock and roll band The Electric Mayhem as they at long last try to record their very first album. Along for the crazy ride will be YouTube star turned late-night host Canadian comedian Lilly Singh, as human character Nora.
Singh, as Nora, will play the band’s junior A&R executive faced with the daunting task of trying to control the madness that is The Electric Mayhem Band. I think many of us would struggle with trying to wrangle in Animal alone, let alone the others! The band is made up of the aforementioned Animal on drums, Dr. Teeth on vocals and keyboards, Floyd Pepper on vocals and bass, Janice on vocals and lead guitar, Zoot on saxophone, and Lips on trumpet. We will be hearing three original songs from the band over the series.
Developed and written by Adam F. Goldberg, Bill Barretta, and Jeff Yorkes, Jim Henson’s beloved characters will go on a journey to navigate the modern music industry as they aim to get their album to go platinum with the help of young and driven Nora.
In a statement released by Disney Plus, Ayo Davis, president of Disney Branded Television, said, “The Muppets are renowned for quality, creativity and unrivaled, fun storytelling for the whole family,” continuing, “We are thrilled to have Adam, Bill and Jeff at the helm to bring all of these iconic and great new characters to life in fresh and dynamic ways.”
Also on board are Michael Bostick and Kris Eber as executive producers alongside The Muppets Studio’s David Lightbody and Leigh Slaughter. Lightbody appears thrilled at the new venture, saying, “We are so excited to bring the story of The Electric Mayhem Band to the front and center of this new series. They’ve been entertaining audiences since ‘The Muppet Show,’ which debuted 45 years ago, so it’s wonderful that these characters are finally getting to play lead rather than supporting roles,”
The creative team behind The Muppets Mayhem certainly has a lot of love for these characters, “Adam F. Goldberg is our resident Muppet enthusiast at Signature and getting to play in the sandbox with Bill, a longtime Muppet performer, as well as these beloved characters was a dream come true for him, Bill and Jeff,” commented ABC Signature’s president, Jonnie Davies, adding, “Their take is fresh, fun, musical and of course, hilarious. We couldn’t be happier to be the studio that is helping them get the band back together.” Goldberg is probably most well known for his show The Goldbergs, a comedic biopic of his own life growing up as a wannabe filmmaker in the 80s.
This isn’t Disney’s first attempt to create a Muppets series, with a script for Muppets Live Another Day, from Josh Gad not getting beyond the pilot stage. It does, however, follow hot on the heels after the critically-acclaimed Muppets Haunted Mansion, the first-ever Muppets Halloween special, and the first special from The Muppets Studio for Disney Plus. Both Muppets Haunted Mansion and the original short-form series Muppets Now are available to watch on Disney Plus.
