Earth to Ned

Premise

Sent by his father, the Admiral of the Galactic Fleet, to conquer the planet, Ned arrives on Earth (classified as Planet 2187) only to become enchanted with Earth's celebrities. Instead of invading the planet, Ned buries the Battlecruiser Nova deep below Earth's crust and abducts celebrities by beaming them to his ship for interviews in the style of a late night talk show. Ned serves as the host and the show features Cornelius as an alien sidekick from a race of aliens called Cornisians that Ned's species had previously conquered, his ship's A.I. B.E.T.I., and an unspecified number of much smaller alien beings called CLODs (short for Cloned Living Organism of Destruction) who speak in gibberish and scare the guests. Ned and Cornelius broadcast their show from their spaceship-turned-television studio.

Format

Every episode typically begins with Ned facing some sort of issue or becoming intrigued by an average, every day cultural phenomenon such as sports, pets, or dreams. He will banter with Cornelius and B.E.T.I. before starting up the show. Cornelius will introduce the first guest, who is usually seen getting beamed into a waiting room (apparently while they were in the middle of some other activity) and will converse with B.E.T.I. before arriving on set. Sometimes depending on what Ned is up against, the guest will come straight to the set. Ned will go into the guest's background before segueing into the subject at hand. Sometimes Ned will have them play a game, or have the guest do something relating to their craft, though this is not always the case.

After the first guest is sent home, Ned will send Cornelius to the surface to learn more about the episode's subject. Cornelius will usually interact with a professional of some kind and occasionally will interact with another well known celebrity. Sometimes, Ned will instead play a video or Cornelius will be sent to fulfill a task of some kind instead. Afterwards, he is brought back where Ned brings on the second guest, who is immediately brought to the set. Once again, Ned goes through a similar interviewing set up and will sometimes have them play a game or not.

After the second guest is sent home, Ned will close the show out. A coda usually appears at the end of most episodes with Ned recording a status report of his supposed conquering of Earth which consists of him claiming that something went wrong and that he has to delay the attack. He instead talks about what he has learned about Earth's culture as part of his personal observation. It is implied that he is trying to subconsciously convince his father that Earth is not bad and should be spared.

Characters

Ned (performed by Paul Rugg) -- The 437-year-old spaceship captain and talk show host from an as-yet-unidentified alien race with four arms. He was tasked with leading an assault on Earth, but fell in love with the culture and decided to start a talk show instead. His father is the Admiral of the Galactic Fleet who is charged with conquering of the galaxy and it is heavily implied throughout the first season that he has a troubled relationship with him. Ned is egotistical and brash, but very curious nonetheless and wants to be informed of all things earth-related. He considers Ben Schwartz to be his arch-nemesis because in the future, he hosts the reboot version of this show. His favorite earth "cuisine" is mayonnaise and his real name is a high pitch scream. While providing the face performance and voice of Ned, Paul Rugg is assisted in performing Ned by Morgana Ignis, Donna Kimball, Allan Trautman (who leads the animatronic performance), and Jack Venturo.

Cornelius (performed by Michael Oosterom) - The lieutenant and talk show co-host. He comes from a race of aliens called Cornisians who have always served Ned's species ever since Ned's kind conquered the Cornisians' homeworld of Cornassus and Cornelius lost his family when his planet was destroyed by Ned's species. Cornelius takes to the idea of being a co-host for Ned's show and will introduce the guests. Cornelius often gets sent to the surface to perform field reporting, which usually results in him getting absorbed into the complexities of the subject at hand. He is slightly inept, but witty and makes humorous comebacks when Ned insults him. Michael Oosterom is assisted in performing Cornelius by Nicolette Santino (who operates the left-hand) and Drew Massey while Kyle Pacek is the in-suit performer for Cornelius in full body shots.

B.E.T.I. (voiced by Colleen Smith) - The spaceship's artificial intelligence. She is a charge of energy that powers the ship and doubles as a computer that can glean information. B.E.T.I. is sarcastic and cynical and is not above belittling Ned and Cornelius's intelligence. At one point, she felt insulted when guest Thomas Lennon corrected her about American Gothic. B.E.T.I. typically appears on a giant screen behind the set. B.E.T.I.'s digital build was done by Eri Hawkins, John Hold, Dan Ortega, and Patrick Palmer.

CLODs (various puppeteers) - Short for Cloned Living Organism of Destruction, they are a group of small monster-like creatures implied to be created by B.E.T.I. from clone tissue that can eat mostly any material and speak in unintelligible grunts and growls. Most of them make up the house band in the first episode until Cornelius fired them for destroying their instruments.

Production

Executive produced by Brian Henson (son of Jim Henson) and Vince Raisa (a Jim Henson Company veteran), Earth to Ned combines expert puppeteering with witty banter and carefully selected guest appearances. Henson remarked that the show had been something he had been working on for years and was based on the interesting concept of someone or something wholly unfamiliar with humans trying to figure them out. Because the episodes are available at any time of day and therefore accessible to viewers of all ages, Henson focused on making the content family friendly.

The character of Ned requires four puppeteers and two other operators, while Cornelius requires three puppeteers. All of the puppets are fully animatronic with no CGI involved.

Henson revealed that almost none of the interview segments are scripted, with Ned, Cornelius and the guests for each episode improvising the conversation for the various talk show segments.

Release

Earth to Ned premiered on September 4, 2020, on Disney+. New episodes were released on January 1, 2021.

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 83% of 12 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.60/10. The website's consensus reads, "With imaginative puppeteering and a dose of infectious sweetness, Earth to Ned is an intergalactic treat from the Jim Henson Company."

Anne Victoria Clark of Vulture called Earth to Ned a "joyful answer to our darkest worry," writing "At a time when it can feel like we have plenty of reasons to give up on humanity, it's refreshing to see how hard Ned is rooting for us. If The Muppet Show helped '70s America rediscover irreverent joy, Earth to Ned might be here to convince 2020 America that our world is worth saving." Joel Keller of Decider asserted, "Earth To Ned is weird, funny and actually heartwarming, a formula that's right in the Henson wheelhouse."

Robert Lloyd of Los Angeles Times ranked included the show in their "10 best TV shows of 2020" list, saying, "The humor is dry, the rhythms are loose and the mood is friendly, with a touch of acid." Garrett Martin of Paste ranked Earth to Ned 5th in their "Best Late Night Shows of 2020" list, and 14th in their "20 Funniest TV Shows of 2020" list.

Accolades

Earth to Ned was nominated for Excellence in Production Design for a Variety, Reality or Competition Series at the 2020 Art Directors Guild Awards.