How The Muppets Have Stayed Relevant

"I would have a really bad morning and I would go to set and shoot opposite the Muppets. I would be like, 'Oh my god, nothing's that serious. Look, the Muppets exist and everything's okay.'"

Whether for their vibe, their joy, the inspiration they brought to so many kids during their nearly 70-year run, the Muppets have through very varied projects remained relevant.

Lilly Singh, former host of A Little Late with Lilly Singh on NBC, participated in the their latest endeavor along with Tahj Mowry and Saara Chaudry. They appear as the humans in new Disney+ series The Muppets Mayhem.

And their co-stars are not the usual suspects...

While Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy have shone as the biggest Muppet stars for decades, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem have always accompanied them in the background as the house band.

Dr. Teeth, lead singer and keyboardist, Animal, wild drummer of very few words, and Floyd Pepper, bassist and back-up singer who is a throwback to the sixties, finally get to take center stage in this new Muppets adventure-comedy, which sees the band halt their never-ending world tour in an attempt to make their first ever studio album.

Taking a break from their busy schedules and world tour, Electric Mayhem bandmembers Animal and Floyd Pepper spoke to Newsweek, at the Langham hotel in London. Despite it being King Charles' coronation weekend, and the hotel being essentially locked down due to Japanese dignitaries staying there, Newsweek got its one-one-one time with Muppet royalty.

Seven Decades of Muppetry

"Newsweek!" outrageous drummer for the band, Animal, shouts as we begin our interview in London. "Yeah we've heard of Newsweek," bassist and backup singer Floyd Pepper chimes in. "I read the circular all the time. There's not much else to do when you're stuck in a van with a bunch of musicians. I do a lot of reading."

Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem made their debut as part of The Muppets in 1975. Muppet characters first debuted in 1955, with Kermit and Rowlf the Dog appearing among the originals. Almost 70 years later, Muppet-branded projects are still a cause for excitement, as the Muppets' human co-stars in their latest Disney+ series, Singh, Mowry and Chaudry, told Newsweek.

"[They stand for] unity. Joy. A laid back freeing mentality," said Mowry, the brother of Sister Sister stars Tia and Tamera . "They're just vibing. And we as humans, sometimes we just need to vibe. We just need to chill out."

"They have a certain perspective on life. Yeah, they have real emotions, and they're really deep, but there's a joyousness and youthfulness to them, and it has really taught me personally perspective in life," added Singh.

"And I think in today's context, the Muppets stand for for representation," actress Chaudry told Newsweek. She explained how her dad, who grew up in England first saw a fellow "brown person on camera" on the Muppets.

"This was the first time he was introduced to a neutral space in which he could watch characters that didn't necessarily look like him, but felt the same emotions he did, and laughed the same way he did, and wanted the same things out of life," Chaudry continued. "I think that's that's true with our show too. We're three castmates of color on screen and it's really beautiful that we get to take up space and we can be that representation for families, adults, kids that are watching."

Singh stars in The Muppets Mayhem as Nora, a junior music executive who tries to wrangle Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem into making their first album. Mowry stars as Moog, the band's number one fan, while Chaudry plays Hannah, Nora's social media savvy sister.

The Men Behind the Felt

The Muppets have a long-standing tradition of making celebrities starstruck, and Singh was no different in The Muppets Mayhem.

Ted Lasso's Brett Goldstein has said multiple times it was a career highlight to work with Oscar the Grouch. Jason Segel got to make the 2011 movie The Muppets because he was such a big fan, while Kermit and Miss Piggy even made the guest list to King Charles III's coronation event.

"I don't even realize there's someone there doing their voice," Singh said.

"You forget that there's somebody underneath. It's a real character who you enjoy spending time with," Chaudry said.

"The lines were blurring. We don't technically have to be there for our off-camera lines, but I wanted to be there. I was like 'no, I'm having a conversation. I want to continue this conversation,'" Mowry added. "So to me, that was when I was like, 'oh they're real to me.'"

In the interest of full transparency for our readers, the humans who provide the puppetry and voices for the band are: Bill Barretta as Dr. Teeth, Peter Linz as Lips, Eric Jacobson as Animal, Matt Vogel as Floyd Pepper, David Rudman as Janice and Dave Goelz as Zoot.

"When it was my birthday, Bill Barretta messaged me and said Happy Birthday, then I was like cool'," Singh recalled. "But then Dr. Teeth sent me an [audio] message and I was like 'oh my god. Dr. Teeth sent me a message.' To me they're completely different people."

'Frog Good. Pig Bad'

As we find out in the new Disney+ 10-parter, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem have influenced some major artists throughout the past five decades.

"It felt pretty good to finally take center stage. I think we all got to shine on the show," Pepper told Newsweek. "Don't you think so, Animal?"

"Shine! Shine like star," Animal added.

While there's been dozens of Muppets spinoff TV shows and movies before, this is the first time Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem are getting a major project. Fortunately, they had their Muppet friends to seek out advice from.

"Well, I don't think that any of us had the inclination to speak with Miss Piggy about advice," Pepper said.

"No pig. No pig," Animal said.

"But, our fearless leader Kermit the Frog could not have been more supportive," Pepper said.

"Frog good. Pig bad," Animal said.

"No comment from me."

Their influence on the real world is evident with the amount of familiar faces who guest-star on The Muppets Mayhem, with celebrity cameos from the likes of DJ Steve Aoki, Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee, song parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic, media personality Ryan Seacrest, screen legend Morgan Freeman and many more.

"We didn't have to call in any favors. They came to us actually. We've got an amazing line up of killer guest stars. [Singer-songwriter] Kesha, [Smashing Pumpkins'] Billy Corgan, Paula Abdul [...]," Pepper said.

"We weren't starstruck by anybody, but Animal here, he struck a few of the stars while they were on set."

Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem have been performing on and off for 45 years now, so how has the music industry changed for them from 1978 to 2023?

"Well it's definitely bigger. ("Bigger!") And you know, I think that kind of makes it better in some ways. ("Better!"). There finally some space for talented folks from all walks of life to make their music," Pepper said.

"Make music make music!" Animal celebrated.

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

Thank you to the puppeteers Eric Jacobson and Matt Vogel for helping facilitate Newsweek's interview with Animal and Floyd Pepper.