‘The Muppets’ Gets Full-Season Order From ABC

ABC has picked up three more episodes from new comedy series The Muppets, bringing its first-season order to 16 episodes. After big expectations and a strong ratings start, The Muppets has slipped but has done an OK job opening Tuesday night for ABC at 8 PM, with its ratings running on par with lead-out Fresh Off the Boat, which just received a Back 9 order, bringing its Season 2 pickup to a full-season 22 episodes.

The Muppets had been earmarked for a limited run. Laying out ABC’s midseason plans at the upfronts, network topper Paul Lee said the idea was that after The Muppets ended its limited run, Fresh Off the Boat would move to 8 PM and used to launch new family comedy The Real O’Neals. Of course, if The Muppets had blown up in the ratings, those plans probably could’ve been adjusted to accomodate more Muppets episodes.

Season to date, The Muppets still ranks as Tuesday’s highest-rated new TV show among Adults 18-49 (2.6). On average, the freshman show is improving its half-hour for ABC by 69% in Total Viewers (7.6 million) and by 86% in Adults 18-49 (2.6), standing as the net’s strongest performing Tuesday comedy in 4 years. In its most recent airing this week, The Muppets returned against the World Series with an uptick in Adults 18-49 (+8%).

The Muppets follows Kermit the Frog and the rest of the Muppet gang as they produce late-night talk show, “Up Late with Miss Piggy.” The series stars Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, The Great Gonzo, Pepé the King Prawn, Rizzo the Rat, Scooter, Rowlf and the Electric Mayhem.

Bill Prady (The Big Bang Theory) and Bob Kushell (3rd Rock From the Sun) are co-creators and executive producers. Randall Einhorn, Bill Barretta, Debbie McClellan and Kyle Laughlin are also executive producers. The Muppets is produced by ABC Studios and The Muppets Studio.