After the success of their recent live-action adaptation of Cinderella, Disney has been announcing plans on a near-daily basis to give more of their classic films and franchises the live-action or reboot treatment over the next few years. The Hollywood Reporter revealed on Friday that Disney may soon be giving Jim Henson’s beloved Muppets a revival of their own, as The Big Bang Theory co-creator Bill Prady is working on a script for an ABC television pilot presentation that has the potential to go straight to series.
While Jason Segel’s 2008 film The Muppets and its 2014 sequel Muppets Most Wanted were only considered moderate box office successes, the potential Muppets television series would fall perfectly in line with Disney’s recent attempts to appeal to nostalgic adults and their children. Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that the project, which is set to film on the Disney lot in April, will likely be officially announced at May’s upfront presentation to Madison Avenue advertisers.
Prady has made a name for himself in recent years for co-creating the award-winning CBS comedy Big Bang Theory, but the producer started his career working for Muppets creator Jim Henson. He was a writer for NBC’s The Jim Henson Hour until a year after Henson’s death in 1990, and then earned an Emmy nomination in 1991 for writing the tribute The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson. Since then, Prady has contributed writing to several of Disney’s Muppet-themed attractions.
If Prady’s ABC revival is ordered to series, it will be the first television show to feature the Muppets characters since Muppets Tonight, which aired on the network in 1996 and aired its reruns on Disney Channel from 1997-2000. The pilot’s concept reportedly includes regular Muppets characters such as Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo and Animal, and revolves around ABC Studios’ desire to create a new Muppet Show. However, the show can only go on if the Muppets can get Miss Piggy to sign on, and that promises to be a difficult task due to the iconic diva’s on-again, off-again relationship with Kermit.
