Earth to Ned is a puppet Talk Show developed by the Jim Henson Company exclusively for Disney+.
The show stars Ned, an alien who was sent to Earth by his father to conquer it but instead falls in love with its celebrities. So, after burying his ship beneath the Earth's crust, Ned decides to start his own talk show so he can better understand our culture with the help of Cornelius (his second in command and sidekick), BETI (the ship's AI), and the CLODS (Cloned Living Organism of Destruction). He also has to make it look like his "invasion" is being constantly delayed for various reasons to throw off his father's suspicions.
Earth to Ned Provides examples of
- 15 Minutes of Fame: Ned sends Cornelius to the surface to learn about comedy and Cornelius quickly becomes a famous comedian before having a Creator Breakdown and becoming Overshadowed by Controversy over the course of a weekend.
- Alien Abduction: How Ned gets his guests on the show via teleporter, at least at first. Later episodes state that he has started booking people but often it was obvious that they were doing something else before Ned teleported them in.
- Aliens Love Human Food: Ned loves to drink mayonnaise.
- The Ghost: The admiral of the fleet, Ned's father, was the one that sent Ned to Earth so he can conquer the planet. Ned fantasizes about making amends with him, and at one point contacts his father's Dragon, Vincent, but he has yet to make an actual appearance.
- Halloween Episode: "Night of the Living Ned", with guests Eli Roth and Lil Rel Howery, has BETI tell a ghost story about a former owner of the spaceship, Cornelius interview a cemetery owner who turns out to be a ghost, and the CLODS turn into were-CLODS on a full moon night.
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Every episode's title includes "Ned".
- Musical Episode: The aptly-named "Ned: The Musical".
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: The episodes "I've Got a Ned Feeling about This" and "Night of the Living Ned".
- Self-Deprecation: To get more views, Cornelius suggests putting on a puppet show telling the story of how Ned's people conquered his own. Ned dismisses this idea, saying "Nobody likes puppets."
- Shout-Out: In his mission reports, Ned refers to Earth as Planet 2187.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Ned has one with Ben Schwartz.
- Trademark Favorite Food: He loves mayonnaise.
- Wham Episode: In the final episode of season one, “Like Father Like Ned,” Ned’s father arrives at Earth and begins invading since Ned didn’t. Cue credits.
