Why Kermit The Frog's Voice Sounds So Different In ABC's New Muppet Show

It's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights: The Muppets are back on TV! But one of them might sound a little different than you're used to.

A new version of "The Muppet Show" airs as a special this Wednesday at 9 pm on ABC and will stream on Disney+, with Kermit the Frog and his fuzzy pals once again putting on a show and welcoming big-name guests like Sabrina Carpenter and Seth Rogen. Some longtime fans are already in an uproar, though, after watching the teaser and asking an urgent question: Why does Kermit sound like that?

Yes, if it's been a while since you've checked in with the Muppets: Kermit the Frog has been voiced by a new voice actor, Matt Vogel, since 2017. (Vogel also currently provides the voices of Big Bird and the Count on "Sesame Street.") Vogel voiced Kermit on the short-lived Muppets TV show "Muppets Now" on Disney+, which aired for a single season in 2020, and also the Halloween special "Muppets Haunted Mansion," which debuted on Disney+ in 2021. 

Kermit's original voice was provided by, of course, Jim Henson, the legendary puppeteer who created the Muppets and brought them to fame on "Sesame Street" and "The Muppet Show," with the latter airing from 1976 to 1981 in syndication. Henson went on to voice Kermit in hit movies like "The Muppet Movie" and "The Muppets Take Manhattan" before his sudden death in 1990 at the age of 53.

Steve Whitmire, a longtime puppeteer and Henson colleague who worked on the original "Muppet Show," took over as the voice of Kermit shortly after Henson's death. Whitmire voiced Kermit in 1992's "A Muppet Christmas Carol," 1996's "Muppets Treasure Island," and the well-received big-screen reboot "The Muppets" in 2011, followed by the 2014 sequel "Muppets Most Wanted." 

Whitmire also voiced Kermit in ABC's mockumentary-style sitcom "The Muppets," which was axed in 2016 after a single season. But his time as Kermit came to an ugly end: Whitmire was fired by Disney and replaced by Matt Vogel, with a source calling Whitmire's communication style "overly hostile and unproductive." Whitmire countered that he was only being "outspoken about what's best for the Muppets," including giving notes about Kermit's character on ABC's "The Muppets."

Vogel is now the one voicing the iconic Kermit the Frog, and he's not exactly a newcomer at it. In fact, it's been nearly a decade since he took over as Kermit — but with the new "Muppet Show," some fans are just now hearing him for the first time. 

Watch a trailer below to hear Kermit's "new" voice, and tell us in the comments: How does it sound to you?