robert smigel

Robert Smigel, the mind (and hand) behind Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, the legendary insult comic dog hand puppet, is going back to puppets for a special satirical election special over at Fox. Smigel is attached as EP for Let’s Be Real, which will seemingly feature Trump and Biden puppets as to slyly suggest their nature as puppets.

As far as we know, there won’t be any Triumph the Insult Comic Dog like there was in 2016 when Smigel used his hand and a copious amount of miniature cigars to follow the campaign trail for Clinton and Trump as well as the DNC and RNC for Triump’s Election Watch Special on Hulu. Thus far, with this teaser, Let’s Be Real seems to be a little reminiscent of No, You Shut Up! on Fusion that featured an all puppet panel that Paul F. Tompkins, in real human form, had to attempt to wrangle as they argued on either side of the political divide a few years ago.

Having all puppets is undoubtedly a safer route than going to an idiotic Trump rally where Trump encourages attendees to enjoy the event without any sort of face covering, but that probably limits the amount of man on the street bits that Smigel has done so expertly over decades with Triumph.

The general election is not too far away, whether you like that or not, and the premiere of this special is also not too far away either. Let’s Be Real will premiere on network television on Fox on Oct. 1st at 9PM ET/PT.