A lot of Muppets fans were disappointed with the new ABC reboot, and as it turns out, so was the head of the network.
According to Variety, Paul Lee, president of ABC Entertainment Group, recently said at the Television Critics Association panel that The Muppets was not exactly what he was hoping for.
“The show itself didn’t quite feel it had the joy and the laughter and the heart that it should have,” Lee said.
That feeling amongst the network executives contributed to showrunner Bob Kushell being replaced halfway through the first season. The new showrunner is Kristin Newman, who said in a recent interview that she is trying to make the program more joyful than before. In other words, it seems she'll be delivering exactly what ABC wants.
Lee noted that he has seen five scripts for the second half of the season, and he was encouraged by their quality.
The remainder of season 1 will be something of a reboot of a reboot, then, with the new showrunner correcting issues with the series so far. In particular, many viewers found the show to be too cynical, with all the Muppets being overly mean to one another. Newman promises that this will not be the case in upcoming episodes.
The Muppets returns on Feb. 2.