One thing Disney accused Whitmire of was preventing fresher talent from taking on the classic characters. Maybe that's one of their steps to change that.
Really should have mentioned this earlier: Muppets at the Hollywood Bowl
. Okay, now I'm excited.
Some thoughts:
- Interesting that they mention Gonzo and Pepe, but not Rizzo. I wonder if this means he won't be recast.
- On the other hand, they mention Muppet Labs, so they'll probably be a new Beaker.
- And I'm pretty sure they intend this to be Matt Vogel's debut as Kermit.
edited 16th Aug '17 2:15:21 PM by TropesForever
Rizzo was created specifically to give Whitmire a bigger role in the cast, so I suspect we've seen the last of him.
Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.
Yeah I'm 100% confident this will be Matt Vogel's debut as Kermit.
Leader of the Holey Brotherhood
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
If it helps, Disney might say "You're not the boss of me, Whitmire" and recast him anyway.
I liked Clifford, and we haven't seen him since that mess with Kevin Clash either.
On the upside, Rizzo's become a mainstay a little better than Clifford has, so he might be considered one of those characters who deserves recast over retirement now.
"The difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy, paraphrasing Mark Twain.
I mean, his main role was to give Goelz and Whitmire a double-act since they work so well together. We've seen that downplayed as Kermit's kinda reasserted himself as a main character—one does wonder if he got delegated to the generic hero characters in the based-on-a-novel movies because it was the easiest way to justify making him less flawed, and thus a good way to keep Whitmire from being a jerk. But also, yeah, Gonzo's back to being his own guy these days, which makes Rizzo kinda redundant.
Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.
News: The Muppets will have a live performance at the Hollywood Bowl next month!
This will certainly be the night Matt Vogel debuts his role as Kermit.
.... well I'll be a monkey's uncle! 
I'm optimistic. He's still a bit Constantine-ish, but Steve Whitmire wasn't perfect when he began either. He just needs something to do.
... Matt is doing a fantastic job. Of course I'll have to hear him sing.
The show's started! Well, it started a while ago, actually. Anyway, picture and video links can be found here and here, including, as you wanted, Kyun, Matt's Kermit singing. There's also information about recasts, which include Peter Linz as Robin (rumoured before, but now confirmed), Eric Jacobson as the Newsman (called that one, he's pretty similar to Guy Smiley), and Link and Beaker. The jury seems to be out on whether they're respectively Bill Barretta and David Rudman, or are both Peter Linz. Oh, and Lips appears, though I'm not sure if he speaks and I don't know who puppeteers him.
edited 8th Sep '17 10:53:44 PM by TropesForever
Wow. I need a day off from work to watch all those!
It is that important!
I know. I had to find a way to work around a limited connection, and it was worth it. I'm really hoping someone somewhere will eventually post the whole show.
Anyway, Muppet Wiki now has a picture of the program
, confirming the recasts. Peter Linz is now Robin, Lips, and Link Hogthrob; Eric Jacobson is now the Newsman; and David Rudman is Beaker.
edited 9th Sep '17 1:44:21 PM by TropesForever
A lot of complete clips are now on YouTube. These are even better when they're not just a few isolated seconds. 
edited 10th Sep '17 4:43:23 PM by TropesForever
Another Muppets Series In The Planning Stages For Disney's Streaming Service
edited 21st Feb '18 9:21:31 AM by Zarius
YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES!!!!!!!
Although, the Muppets have had various TV show pitches that never got off the ground over the years, so I shouldn't get my hopes too high. It does seem strange to relaunch them so soon after their last attempt.
I'm glad, but I'll miss the last one. It was pretty funny.
bring back the Fraggles
edited 22nd Feb '18 6:49:38 AM by Zeromaeus
I'd like to see a Muppets program that's about them putting on a Broadway musical (one that gets alterations made to it almost nightly as some Muppets insist on ablibbing while various disasters with props, sets, and actors occur).
That way you get much the same mix of performance numbers, backstage antics, and the madcap nature of putting on a live show that The Muppet Show had, but without being tied to the Deader Than Disco variety show format.
edited 24th Feb '18 11:36:03 AM by RavenWilder
In seemingly unrelated news, Billy Barkhurst, the person who replaced Steve Whitmire as Ernie, has in turn been replaced by Peter Linz, seemingly for no reason other than Linz sounding more like Ernie. It's a bit sad, but not controversial.
Just a bit of a break from the whirlwind of Steve Whitmire news.
edited 19th Jul '17 7:34:51 PM by TropesForever