New 'Muppets' showrunner talks midseason changes, says show will be less mean-spirited

If you were a bit underwhelmed with the Muppets reboot, ABC felt the same way, and the new showrunner hopes to correct many of the series' failings.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, showrunner Kristin Newman discussed her plans to make The Muppets more joyful in upcoming episodes. ABC recently brought her on to replace former showrunner Bob Kushell after being disappointed with the direction of the series.

Newman said she wants to make the ABC comedy less mean-spirited, basing all her decisions on the principle that the Muppets all do love each other.

"I walked into the writers' room on my first day and wrote the word 'joy' on the wall," she said. "That's what I'm trying to make every decision based on. What's the most joyful moment we can have here? What's the most fun we can have here? Let's let them do what humans can't do because they're puppets and they're silly."

To achieve that, The Muppets will be introducing a human bad guy that all the characters can struggle against. That way, they're united in opposition to this outside force, which will diminish the bickering so prevalent in the first 10 episodes. This antagonist will be a network executive trying to make drastic changes to Up Late With Miss Piggy.

Newman also discussed the return of a lot of classic Muppets elements, including sketches like "Veterinarian's Hospital" and characters like Camilla and Lew Zealand. Plus, there will be more musical numbers in the vein of The Muppet Show, and celebrities will be relegated to cameo appearances that don't take away precious screen time from the Muppets themselves.

It should be interesting to see if these adjustments can bring audiences back on board, as that's key to ABC giving the reboot another shot with a second season. So far, ratings have been rather disappointing, and the series has lost five million viewers since premiering in September.

The Muppets returns on Feb. 2.