Dancing with the Stars

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Dancing with the Stars is a television series that airs on ABC, hosted by Tom Bergeron and Brooke Burke. Samantha Harris co-hosted from seasons 2 to 9. It is based on Strictly Come Dancing in the UK where Bruce Forsyth serves as host.

Sesame Street spoofed the format as "Dancing with Triangles" in a 2007 episode, with Chris, Gordon, Maria, the Elephant, and Telly Monster as contestants, and Parody versions of judges Bruno Tonioli, Len Goodman and Carrie Ann Inaba.

Muppet Guest Spots

 * October 2, 2007 - Count von Count appeared briefly in "The Counting Room" on Jimmy Kimmel's insert (voiced by Jerry Nelson), which was supposed to give viewers some insight on how the audience's votes were counted. He's forced to reset the counting, when Kimmel tells him that Mel B. and Scary Spice are the same person.


 * September 28, 2009 - Gonzo and Animal. Animal appeared before Aaron Carter's and Karina Smirnoff's dance playing the drum intro before they danced to The Muppet Show Theme.  Gonzo blew the trumpet at the judges' table at the end of the number, into judge Bruno Tonioli's ear.  In the interview before the scores, Samantha Harris and Karina make passing reference to Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy.  (This exact same routine was performed on Ellen.)


 * November 24, 2009 - Several Muppets appear on the Season 9 finale. Aaron Carter and Karina Smirnoff reprised their dance to the "Muppet Show Theme" from earlier in the season.  Animal once again appeared before the start of the dance, but this time attired in a tux in honor of the occasion.  Statler and Waldorf appeared in the audience to heckle Len Goodman, (Statler:  I like this show.   Waldorf:  Why?  Statler:  Because of that judge in the middle!  He's older than me!)  And Miss Piggy interviewed past contestants Cloris Leachman, Jerry Springer, Steve Wozniak and Joanna Krupa backstage, and appeared with Maksim Chmerkovskiy backstage.

Connections
Several competitors who were featured on the show have worked on various Muppet productions:
 * Buzz Aldrin appeared in season 10.
 * Lance Bass appeared in season 7.
 * Michael Bolton appeared in season 11.
 * Brandy appeared in season 11.
 * Aaron Carter appeared in season 9.
 * Margaret Cho appeared in season 11.
 * Billy Ray Cyrus appeared in season 4.
 * Joey Fatone appeared in season 4.
 * Cristian de la Fuente appeared in season 6.
 * Jennie Garth appeared in season 5.
 * Kate Gosselin appeared in season 10.
 * David Alan Grier appeared in season 8.
 * Melissa Joan Hart appeared in season 9.
 * George Hamilton appeared in season 2.
 * David Hasselhoff appeared in season 11.
 * Florence Henderson appeared in season 11.
 * Evander Holyfield appeared in season 1, then in the Strictly Come Dancing Champion of Champions 2005.
 * Kathy Ireland appeared in season 9.
 * Joanna Krupa appeared in season 9.
 * Cloris Leachman appeared in season 7.
 * Susan Lucci appeared in season 7.
 * Gilles Marini appeared in season 8.
 * Marlee Matlin appeared in season 6.
 * Debi Mazar appeared in season 9.
 * Shanna Moakler appeared in season 3.
 * Nancy O'Dell was announced for season 8, but withdrew with an injury before the season premiere.
 * John O'Hurley appeared in season 1.
 * Kelly Osbourne appeared in season 9.
 * Donny Osmond appeared in season 9.
 * Denise Richards appeared in season 8.
 * Jerry Springer appeared in season 3.
 * Jason Taylor appeared in season 6.
 * Steve Wozniak appeared in season 8.
 * Kristi Yamaguchi appeared in season 6.

Also...
 * Michelle Williams appeared in series 8 of Strictly Come Dancing.
 * Baz Luhrmann replaced Len Goodman for one week in Season 9.