Disney+ Cancels New Series After One Season

The Disney+ series debuted its entire 10-episode first season in May 2023.

By Cameron Bonomolo

It's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights — and it's time to close the curtain on a Muppets show tonight. After getting The Electric Mayhem Band back together in The Muppets Mayhem, Disney+ has cancelled the live-action Muppets series after just one season, Variety reports. Disney+ dropped the entire 10-episode season simultaneously back in May, marking the brand's first television series since 2015's The Muppets, also cancelled after one season on ABC. (The streamer has since released The Muppets Haunted Mansion Halloween special and the short-lived, short-form sketch series Muppets Now.) 

"Huge thanks to the critic & fan love that got us 6 Emmy [nominations] and a #1 Billboard album. Mayhem was truly the most joyful and collaborative experience of my career," Adam F. Goldberg, who co-wrote and co-created the series with Bill Barretta and Jeff Yorkes, wrote on X. "From day one all I've cared about is creating a Muppet-verse and YES I am already cooking up more Muppets with @billbarretta."

Muppets Mayhem received six nominations at the upcoming 2nd Children's & Family Emmy Awards — including Outstanding Children's or Family Viewing Series and Outstanding Puppet Design and Styling — and its soundtrack, featuring a re-recorded version of "Can You Picture That?" from The Muppet Movie, debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's US Kid Albums chart in May. The Muppets Mayhem: Music From the Disney+ Original Series LP was the first time that Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem band topped a Billboard chart since their debut in 1975.

The series follows The Electric Mayhem Band — Dr. Teeth on vocals and keyboards, Animal on drums, Floyd Pepper on vocals and bass, Janice on vocals and lead guitar, Zoot on saxophone and Lips on trumpet — on an epic, music-filled journey to record their first-ever studio album. With the help of a driven young music executive, Nora Singh (Lilly Singh), the old-school Muppet band comes face-to-face with the current-day music scene as they try to finally record their first studio album.

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Lilly Singh (A Little Late With Lilly Singh) starred alongside Tahj Mowry (Smart Guy), Saara Chaudry (The Mysterious Benedict Society), and The Electric Mayhem Band: Muppet performers Bill Barretta as Dr. Teeth, Matt Vogel as Floyd, Peter Linz as Lips, Dave Goelz as Zoot, David Rudman as Janice, and Eric Jacobson as Animal. Guest stars included real-life musical talents Paula Abdul, Steve Aoki, Charlamagne Tha God, Kesha, Lil Nas X, Ziggy Marley, "Weird Al" Yankovic, and celebrity appearances by Rachel Bloom, Nicole Byer, Tommy Chong, Cheech Marin, Jack McBrayer, Nico Santos, Kristen Schaal, Ben Schwartz, James Hong, Kevin Smith, Danny Trejo, and more.

"We go wherever the rock n' roll leads us. We'd be most enthusiastical to play any encore performance with another season of The Muppets Mayhem," Dr. Teeth, the Electric Mayhem Band's lead singer and keyboardist, exclusively told ComicBook in May. Added Floyd Pepper (without his trademark sarcasm): "You know it, you know it. But for now, you know, whatever happens, I'm just glad that we made the show, and it's as good as we could possibly do it."

Based on characters created by Jim Henson, the Disney+ Original series from Disney Branded Television is produced by ABC Signature and The Muppets Studio. The project was developed and written by executive producers Goldberg (The Goldbergs), Barretta (The Muppets, Muppets Haunted Mansion) and co-executive producer Jeff Yorkes. Michael Bostick, Kris Eber and The Muppets Studio's David Lightbody and Leigh Slaughter also served as executive producers.

All 10 episodes of The Muppets Mayhem are now available to stream on Disney+.

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