Minor TV Mentions

The following is a list of Muppet Mentions made in TV shows outside of the Henson/Sesame fold, all of which are too brief or minor to constitute having their own page in the TV Mentions category. See also: Minor Movie Mentions.

The Amazing Race
Gay couple Joe and Bill, from the program's first season, were nicknamed Team Guido, but were often referred to by other teams as Bert and Ernie.

Baby Looney Tunes
Warner Bros. animated series featuring infantilized versions of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and other classic Looney Tunes characters. The setting of the show, with the characters in a nursery under the watchful eye of Granny, is very similar to Muppet Babies.

Episode Unknown: When the TV breaks down, the babies use a cardboard box to make their own TV and shows. One show is called "Caraway Street." Bugs dresses as a character named "Shmo" (a parody of Elmo), Tweety is a character named "Bird" (a parody of Big Bird), and Taz is a character named "The Grump" (a parody of Oscar the Grouch) who lives in a crate. The show is sponsored by the letter "scribble" and the number "1,000,000,000,000,000,000." ("The other show took all the others.")

Connections:
 * Rick Lyon puppeteered Baby Bugs in a Baby Looney Tunes puppet video pilot.

Boston Legal
In the season two episode "Stick It," Paul Lewiston's daughter Rachel can be seen cleaning up her daughter's toys. Clearly visible in one shot is The Sesame Street Treasury Volume 8.

Connections:
 * Candice Bergen plays Shirley Schmidt
 * Corbin Bernsen played Eli Granger in "...There's Fire!"
 * Phyllis Diller played herself in "Brotherly Love"
 * Michael J. Fox played the recurring role of Daniel Post (2005-2006)
 * Heather Locklear played Kelly Nolan in "The Black Widow" and "Schadenfreude"
 * Michael McKean played Dwight Biddle in "Truly, Madly, Deeply"
 * Jenny O'Hara played Judge Kimberly Ohlund in "Squid Pro Quo"
 * Bernadette Peters played Judge Marianna Folger in "Guantanamo by the Bay"
 * Richard Portnow played Judge Peter Harding in four episodes
 * Tom Selleck plays the recurring role of Ivan Tiggs
 * William Shatner plays Denny Crane
 * Nicole Sullivan played Joan Rubin in "...There's Fire!"
 * Lisa Waltz played Dorothy Scanlon in "Trial of the Century"

Degrassi: The Next Generation
In the episode "Ghost in the Machine, Pt. 2", Ashley Kerwin and Craig Manning are having a discussion about their rock band and fellow bandmembers.
 * Ashley: You know, you guys should try going a little more post-Emo. Still punk, but less mopey.
 * Craig: I don't think the other guys even know what regular Emo is. Spinner probably thinks it's a Muppet.

Drawn Together
In the episode "Little Orphan Hero," Foxxy Love, Princess Clara, Spanky Ham and Ling Ling gather around the telephone, going "Yip yip yip yip yip...", like the Yip Yips from Sesame Street. In the scene, all the characters have strange triangular mouths.

Eek! the Cat
In the episode "Eek vs. The Flying Saucers," Eek begs a race of aliens not to blow up the Earth, listing a large amount of reasons, including the Muppets.

Everwood
A television drama that ran on the WB network from 2002 to 2006.

In the episode "The Great Doctor Brown," Amy Abbott reveals to Ephram Brown the origin of her unusual nickname.


 * Amy: Grover.
 * Ephram: Grover?
 * Amy: It's my nickname. I always loved Grover as a kid. I know for most kids it's all Winnie the Pooh and Hello Kitty, occasionally Strawberry Shortcake, but for me, life was about a little blue Muppet named Grover.
 * Ephram: Well, Grover was a very underrated Muppet.

Extras
A British sitcom about film extras.

In episode 2.4, Darren Lamb and Barry discuss Crazy Frog.


 * Darren: I'd have thought he's probably the second-richest frog in the world, after Kermit.
 * Barry: Kermit, yeah! There was his nephew, Robin...
 * Darren: Ah, Robin was good.
 * Barry: [unintelligible]
 * Darren: Oh yeah, he was a very good actor, and singer.
 * Barry: "Halfway Up the Stairs".
 * Darren: Good song.

Growing Pains
A sitcom that ran on ABC from 1985-1992.

In the episode "Feet of Clay", Ben Seaver (Jeremy Miller) finds out that his favorite rock star isn't such a nice guy after meeting him, and decides to stop being a fan. At one point, his father, Jason (Alan Thicke), compares this to the time when Ben learned that Kermit the Frog isn't real. Ben said that because of that he couldn't get himself to watch Sesame Street for awhile.

Connections:
 * Jeremy Miller played Ben Seaver.

Heroes
When Claire researches her birth parents in the first season episode "The Fix," she and her friend Zach find a newspaper article from Kermit, Texas. When Zach wonders why that sounds so familiar, Claire replies, "`Cuz of the frog?"

Connections
 * George Takei as Hiro Nakamura's father

Kids in the Hall
In one sketch from Season 5, a little boy is waiting for the Chicken Lady (Mark McKinney) to finish riding a quarter horse at the mall. He asks "Are you Big Bird?" and CL replies, "No, but I want to meet him, 'cause the Bearded Lady says they call him Big Bird 'cause he's got a really big--" at which point the boy's mother prevents CL from finishing the sentence.

Connections: Like Fraggle Rock, this show was produced for HBO and CBC. As a result, several of the Fraggle Rock crew members also worked on this show.

King of the Hill

 * "Plastic White Female" - Hank and Peggy are arguing over whose fault it is for how their son Bobby turned out. Hank accuses Peggy of letting Bobby watch "all them Muppets! ... They got frogs kissin' pigs - what the hell did they think was gonna happen?"
 * "Edu-macating Lucky" - Lucky comments on Luanne's sense of humor: "I'm datin' a regular Fozzie Bear."

Malcolm in the Middle

 * Malcolm's Girlfriend - After recently breaking up with a cute girl, Malcolm (played by Frankie Muniz) decides to "go back" and play in the moon bouncer at the birthday party for his little brother Dewey's new friend. As he does, the Sesame Street Theme plays (the 1998-2001 version), and then suddenly stops when Malcolm wrecks the moon bouncer.
 * Cheerleader - A sub-plot involves little Dewey wanting a Tickle Me Elmo-type doll called Sleepy-Time Herbie, a blue aardvark. They are very expensive and can be ordered by a special TV offer, and Dewey hallucinates the Herbie talking directly to him from the TV. Once he gets the Herbie, he imagines it saying "Break me."

Newhart
In the episode "Dick the Kid," Dick Loudon (Bob Newhart) spends a week at a Western ranch. On movie night, while the other residents want to watch High Noon, a tough resident wants to watch The Muppets Take Manhattan, and he almost gets his way until Dick takes a stand for the others.

Connections:
 * Star Bob Newhart hosted Holiday Greetings from The Ed Sullivan Show, which featured an appearance by the Muppets. Newhart also interacted with Kermit and Miss Piggy.

NOVA scienceNOW
An episode of the PBS documentary series NOVA scienceNOW featured a segment on the development of sociable robots. One robot in particular, "Leonardo" developed by Cynthia Breazeal, is used in an on-camera study of recognition behavior. The tools used are an Elmo doll and a Cookie Monster puppet, which are presented to Leonardo and vocally asked to find the character by name. After a simple demonstration, the technician holds up Cookie Monster and asks Leonardo to find Elmo, but the robot cannot be tricked.

The Proud Family
Animated series that aired on the Disney Channel from September 2001 - August 2005. The show centered around an African-American teenager, Penny, her family, and her friends. Basically an animated sitcom in format, it was geared towards a pre-teen and teen audience.

Episode 214: Pulp Boot Camp: Penny's family sends her to boot camp because they fear she is becoming a bully, and she steals cookies from a little girl there. The sergeant catches her and says "Well, well. We have ourselves a little Cookie Monster."

Connections: Some actors who have appeared in Henson/Muppet productions performed voices on The Proud Family.
 * Kyla Pratt as Penny Proud
 * Tara Strong as Bebe Proud
 * Soleil Moon Frye as Zoey

Rugrats
Animated television show that first aired on Nickelodeon in 1991. This series focuses on the point of view of a group of babies, including Tommy Pickles, Chuckie Finster, Phil and Lil, and Angelica Pickles.

In the episode "Toys in the Attic," Tommy and Angelica's grandparents, Boris and Minka, argue over which one of them will turn on the "Sesame Seed," an obvious reference to Sesame Street.

Samurai Pizza Cats
On Saban's English dub of Samurai Pizza cats, an episode features a giant Buddha statue that has a bird's face. One of the characters remarks, "A Big Bird? Go Back to public television! We don't want your kind here!"

The Smoking Room
A British comedy first aired on BBC Three in 2004, focusing on the conversations of characters while on their smoke breaks, all shot inside their office's smoking room.

In episode 3, "Pantball," the manager's assistant Janet is trying to get other employees to sign up for a company paintballing event:


 * Janet: No, what I was getting at is - I hope [the sign-up sheet] doesn’t end up covered in jokey names. According to the one downstairs, the only people planning to go paintballing are Marge Simpson, Osama Bin Laden, Barbara Windsor and The Bear in the Big Blue House.

Spieberg on Spielberg
A 2007 television documentary by Richard Schickel for the Turner Classic Movies network features a 90-minute interview with Steven Spielberg about his career. In recalling his inspiration to make Schindler's List, Spielberg remembers his grandmother teaching English to Nazi concentration camp survivors, one of whom would entertain the 3-year-old Spielberg with a trick involving the numbers printed on his arm. He cites this as sticking out in his memory for a time in his life when he was learning his letters and numbers, since in those days, there was no Sesame Street.

Super Mario Brothers 3
In the episode, "Cheatin' Lyin' Nasty Gaint Ninja Koopas," a giant parrot laments about King Koopa using its giant cage to capture Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool: "My whole life was in that cage! My Big Bird poster, my 'Worms From Outer Space' comics..."

Teen Titans
In the season three episode, "Bunny Raven... or... How to Make A Titananimal Disappear," this animated DC Comics spin-off series features two elderly characters who sit in a theatre box and make wisecracks about the mock variety show being performed on stage. The manner in which they laugh at their particular flavor of jokes is reminiscent of, and likely a direct reference to, Statler and Waldorf.

TV's Most Censored Moments
The program, an original presentation of the now-defunct Trio Channel, briefly touches on Sesame Street's state-wide banning from broadcast in the state of Mississippi for one month during 1970, due to its integrated neighborhood.

The Vicar of Dibley
In the Easter Special of 1996, (sometimes entitled "Easter Bunny") the vicar is explaining the truth behind the Easter Bunny to Alice. The vicar (while trying to break it gently to her) says: "Now at 10 your mother sat you down, and she told you that Kermit was really just an old windsock..."

In a sketch entitled "Celebrity Party", aired as part of a Comic Relief (UK) special in 1999, the Vicar and Alice prepare for their party with Johnny Depp.
 * Vicar: Johnny's spent his whole life being surrounded by exotic birds.
 * Alice: Yeah, like Paris and Britney and Big Bird from "Sesame Street".

Connections:
 * Dawn French played The Rev. Geraldine Kennedy
 * John Bluthal played Frank Pickle
 * Trevor Peacock played Jim Trott
 * Liz Smith played Letitia Cropley

WKRP in Cincinnati
Sitcom centered around a rock-and-roll radio station, which ran from 1978 until 1982. In the first season episode "A Commercial Break," from 1979, Venus Flytrap and Herb Tarlek are auditioning jingle singers for an in-house commercial, and trying to coax shy Bailey Quarters into singing.


 * Venus: '' Come on, sing. Sing a song!
 * Herb: Sing out loud! Sing out strong! Sing of good things...

Connections:
 * Loni Anderson played Jennifer Marlowe
 * George Gaynes played Henri in the episode "Jennifer's Home for Christmas."
 * Edie McClurg played Lucille Tarlek in three episodes.
 * Julie Payne played Buffy Denver in the two-part episode "For Love or Money."

Wonderfalls
In the episode "Muffin Buffalo," lead character Jaye is playing Pictionary with her family and her friend Pat. While Jaye's sister draws frantically, Pat shouts out guesses as to what she's drawing: "It's a frog! He's singing! 'Rainbow Connection!'