It's funny that a character who debuted in 1979 is a "modern" character.

There's always a chance they could return. Guy Smiley (a Jim Henson character) has made a few appearance over the last decade, performed by Eric Jacobson (the current Grover and Bert).

Did you know that the Philly Phanatic was designed and built by actual former Muppet builder Bonnie Erickson, who built Statler & Waldorf and the first Miss Piggy? It's true!

"Who can we get to bring this 1970s musical up to date and make it as entertaining as possible for today's audience? I know — Harvey Fierstein!"

I thought that was a deliberate joke. It sounded like "persona non gracious."

Letterman always deliberately got Rickles's wife's name wrong, and it was always funny.

Not to be confused with "somberlarious."

The writers obviously do. I think maybe they're excited to explore Scooter's character because he spent so many years silent or absent after his original performer Richard Hunt died. It's been neat to see them figure out different aspects of him beyond telling people there are 15 seconds to curtain.

It was always a foregone conclusion that Kermit and Piggy would reunite at some point. Maybe it'll just happen sooner than they originally planned.

It feels like they've already been making little fixes to the tone and characters over the last three episodes. If they keep going the way they're going they'll be just fine.

Darn fine town.

It also allows Sesame Street to keep producing new episodes, and more episodes than the past few seasons. There were some detailed articles when the HBO deal was made about how ensuring the future of the show was a major factor in the decision.

Believe it or not, that's essentially the plot of a Sesame Street special from 1994: http://muppet.wikia.com/wik…

They did the "cookie is a flat circle" joke in an Entertainment Weekly video starring Elmo and Cookie Monster a few years ago. Also, the new set is old news, having been reported on this very website back in April: http://www.avclub.com/artic…

The tagline "Life-ruiningly fun!" is not a joke.

At least he retconned it so the real She-Hulk didn't sleep with the Juggernaut after all.

I don't remember that, but my mom was wary of it because in the first episode Earl comes home from work and says to Fran, "I don't give a damn about your day." If it hadn't been a Jim Henson Production I probably would have been forbidden to watch it.

Dinosaurs does not belong on this list. It pulled off satire with cool dinosaur puppets, and several episodes were written by future Better Off Ted creator Victor Fresco.

Dino-Riders?

I'm a fan of the show, but this is correct. They apparently decided to abandon subtlety to deliver their environmentally-friendly message in that one.