I get the first half and do feel sorry for those who will not be riding. After debating a bit myself when it was first announced, I don’t know that it’s the optimal choice, but I think it’s a fun way to embrace the chaotic, mature nature of the IP.
However, Jim Henson very explicitly intended for the Muppets to be treated as a show with a more mature audience in mind compared to other puppet based entertainment. It’s why he created pilots such as The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence. His exact words about it were:
"A lot of our work has always been adult-oriented. So we'll be working a lot with those aspects of the Muppets. Through this pilot, we hope to be able to demonstrate that puppetry can be very solid adult entertainment."
It’s also why we have references to BDSM, sex, infidelity, alcohol, and more throughout the years. His own son was quoted saying:
“The years with the Muppets, it was really all targeted to adults. It was in a time when everything had to be safe for the whole family. But he was targeting adults.”
Even the recent special with Sabrina Carpenter had jokes about kinks, cheating, death, etc. You can find plenty of reviews complaining about it being inappropriate for children (which is silly, but still).
I would never say it strayed away from being accessible to a wide audience, but the mature aspect was frequently emphasized and is critical to the history of Henson’s legacy with The Muppets.
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