Her audience is Miss Piggy fans. She's a star of stage, screen and television. She doesn't have to be particularly funny or insightful, just famous. Some people will watch anything as long as it has someone famous in it. That's why Leprechaun is promoted as a Jennifer Aniston movie nowadays.

She has a dance troupe on speed dial, and the band is so out of it that they wouldn't think to make sure Kermit approved the number.

Neither- it makes sense for Piggy to do it and she has confidence in it, but the situation is more entertaining than the actual performance.

I use the closed captioning for most of those reasons.

It looked like they were using the hand rods for Piggy during most of the number and I appreciated that old-school touch.

Kermit's expressions have been amazing so far. The reaction shots during the first interview may have been the best part of the episode.

I don't know if keeping people from cat videos is necessarily 'real world suffering'.

And yet another for Sarah Michelle Gellar for The Grudge, I'd imagine.

I think he said Dead Bear Walking, but same basic idea.

There are few songs that aren't.

The joke, for me at least, is that Piggy is the kind of person who turns apologizing into a competition and believes bigger is better when it comes to that type of thing.

An ego like that every night is legitimately enjoyable for some viewers.

It needed one of the relatives to actually appear (looking real mook-y, of course) but I enjoyed it.

Lowered expectations- you go in expecting hack puns and get passable observational humor, you're more likely to laugh.

Agreed. Gonzo's been sorely under-represented so far.

Because she's famous, and people love a famous trainwreck. Most of reality TV is built on that concept.

He's awfully steamed, isn't he?

The list of Season 1 Muppets that virtually disappeared could go on for a while. I wouldn't be surprised either.

Exactly. It tapes at 4 or 5 in the afternoon like most talk shows.

We might just get that if the show makes it to DVD. Almost every weekly Muppet TV show has had a behind the scenes special where they showed the puppeteers operating. Muppets Tonight is the only one I can think of that didn't, but they might make one if that ever gets to DVD.