The Muppets Mayhem is a laugh out loud comedy for the whole family. This time, ‘The Electric Mayhem’ are front and center as an aspiring music executive named Nora (Lilly Singh) hopes to corral the wildly eccentric group into recording their first album. If she succeeds, Nora sees this as her road to power in the music industry.
The problem is that ‘The Electric Mayhem’ is filled with eccentric characters like Dr. Teeth, Janice, Lips, Zoot, Floyd Pepper, and Animal (Bill Barretta, David Rudman, Peter Linz, Dave Goelz, Matt Vogel, and Eric Jacobson) who cannot and will not be contained by traditional means. If Nora is going to succeed, she is going to need to meet the band where they are and learn to adapt to how ‘The Electric Mayhem’ does business.
With the help of the bands roadie Moog, (Tahj Mowry) and her sister Hannah (Saara Chaudry), Nora finds that recording an album with ‘The Electric Mayhem’ requires a lot of finesse including helping the musicians solve past grievances, rediscovering their roots, and ultimately getting the band to commit and record their musical musings.
The Muppets Mayhem has broken the mold of what many viewers would expect with a new Muppet show. We don’t see the origin story, where the audience is introduced to the characters, but we get placed in the current day and are caught up with the exploits of the famed band through a few past clips. Having ‘The Electric Mayhem’ be the focus of the series allows the show to shine as bright as Dr. Teeth’s gold tooth.
Bringing the band to the forefront and making them the stars of the show is a brilliant idea. Everyone who has ever watched a Muppet movie or show knows the band, but do we know who the members of the band are? Can the six members of ‘The Electric Mayhem’ make a compelling story that will hook audiences from the first moment? The answer is a resounding YES amplified by the power of all rock anthems.
Lilly Singh is a talented comedic joy as she embarks on her journey into the Muppet Cinematic Universe. She not only blends the perfect amount of naivete and ambition into her character, but she brings magic and wonder to the role of Nora who mostly misses the awesome power of the band, until half-way through the show. When the light dawns upon Nora and her focus is getting the band together to perform because it’s the right thing to do and not because it’s what will help her career, that is when we see the purest most Muppet moment in the show.
Tahj Mowry plays Moog who is the loveable roadie that has followed the band all over their never-ending tour. Mowry makes Moog more than just a one note character. Moog is delightfully human in this world, and it’s easy to fall for the charm that Mowry displays on screen.
Saara Chaudry as Hannah and Anders Holm as JJ round out the human cast. They play Nora’s sister and former love interest respectively who are critical in helping Nora realize what a special group she has in ‘The Electric Mayhem’.
The human component to the show is talented beyond belief, but the real heart and humor of The Muppets Mayhem is the Muppet performers. Everyone who makes ‘The Electric Mayhem’ come to life is an incredible talent that layers their performance in humor that makes their characters sparkle to perfection.
Dave Goelz makes us laugh because of Zoot’s inability to remember, Peter Linz brings a mumbling Lips to life with such joy and humor that it is impossible to not want to be friends with Lips, David Rudman gives Janice a life that is unique and a standout from everyone else, Matt Vogel makes Floyd Pepper a character that everyone would want to be friends with, and Eric Jacobson brings Animal to life in a manner that moves him beyond being a monster to being a sweet and kind soul that occasionally destroys things.
Bill Barretta as Dr. Teeth has the double duty of being one of the stars and creators, yet he somehow manages to make Dr. Teeth the noblest of lead characters while never outshining the rest of the band. As the leader of the band, and driver of the band tour bus, Dr. Teeth is always seen as the figurehead of the group, but throughout the series we learn that the band is really ‘The Electric Mayhem’, and not ‘Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem’.
This being a Muppet project, there are numerous cameos including the music elite and Oscar winning actors and directors, which amplifies the story, and makes for many moments of merriment. The Muppets Mayhem also pays tribute with call backs to famous moments in Muppet lore, including when Animal became a giant in The Muppet Movie, the Rich and Famous Contract they signed back in the original film, and a clever way to bring in the Muppet saying Mahna Mahna. The Muppets Mayhem knows where it came from, respects the past, but charts a new course to rock nirvana.
The Muppets have managed to span the decades influencing pop culture and attracting fans for generations. No matter your age, everyone has some moment when they connect with the Muppets. Now in 2023, the idea of making the Muppets popular again has been tried multiple times, and finally we are starting to see a new approach to the incredible properties that came from the mind of Jim Henson and his brilliant creative geniuses.
It’s been almost two years since the Halloween spooktacular Muppets Haunted Mansion, which was a great film that focused on Gonzo and Pepe. Now we see a new entry that branches out with ‘The Electric Mayhem’ and allows them to dominate the screen and tell their story.
The Muppets Mayhem is the best new show to premiere this year, and hopefully just the beginning of many great things to come from the Muppet world.