New Muppet Show’s most controversial element now seems validated

Back in February, the Muppets made a huge comeback with their critically acclaimed new special The Muppet Show, hosted by Sabrina Carpenter. Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the original variety series, The Muppet Show garnered an audience of nearly 8 million views in just eight days. At the time, it was suggested that, if the special succeeded, it may lead to a relaunch of The Muppet Show, and while Muppet fans are still awaiting that announcement, the special just received six Emmy nominations, including ones for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) and Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special, as well as technical nominations for Outstanding Sound Mixing, Outstanding Picture Editing, and Outstanding Production Design.

Most surprisingly, The Muppet Show was nominated for the one element it was most widely criticized for: Matt Vogel's performance as Kermit the Frog.

In 2017, Disney fired longtime Muppet performer Steve Whitmire, who had originated characters like Rizzo the Rat while Jim Henson was still overseeing the Muppets. Whitmire then took over for Kermit after Henson's passing. While the reasons for Whitmire's firing were never made public, Disney said Whitmire engaged in “unacceptable business conduct.” Since then, the duties of performing Kermit the Frog have gone to Matt Vogel, who joined the Jim Henson Company in 1996 and eventually inherited the Sesame Street characters Big Bird and the Count. In 2008, Vogel began performing with the Muppets, doing characters like Floyd Pepper and Uncle Deadly. But while Vogel's taking over for those characters didn't invite any controversy, he's been repeatedly criticized for nearly a decade now for his take on Kermit.

Vogel's first big performance as Kermit was when the Muppets took over the Hollywood Bowl and the online chatter claimed Vogel sounded nothing like Kermit and that Kermit had a "new accent." In 2021, fans were still complaining when Disney Plus aired the special Muppets Haunted Mansion. The criticism got so bad that the always-positive Muppet fan site Tough Pigs urged people to accept the new Kermit, making the case that, with Disney's limited Muppet output, Vogel just hasn't had much of a chance to get used to Kermit, nor have audiences had the chance to get used to Vogel. But by 2026, with the release of the new special, the criticism continued. AOL even carried a piece from TVLine titled "Why Kermit The Frog's Voice Sounds So Different In ABC's New Muppet Show."

I'll even admit that, as a lifelong fan of the Muppets myself, I had a hard time adjusting to Vogel's take on Kermit. Like many fans, I thought Vogel sounded like someone trying to impersonate Kermit, rather than Kermit himself. Also, with the vagueness surrounding Whitmire's departure, it's hard to be on Disney's side. But after nine years of Vogel's Kermit, I'm a complete convert, not because I think Vogel sounds exactly like Jim Henson did as the character, but simply because I choose not to let it stop me from enjoying a character I genuinely love. Plus, getting back to the Tough Pigs argument, by the time the special had rolled along, it seemed like Vogel was finally more settled into the role of Kermit, and I was more primed to accept it.

Now, with the news of an Emmy nomination for Vogel, who is an immensely talented performer, I can't help but feel happy for him and hope that he wins. It'll be some much-needed vindication for a guy who has weathered nearly a decade of online criticism. After all, if this special is indeed going to lead to a reboot of The Muppet Show, I'm not going to let anything get in the way of me loving it.

​​