American Idol

American Idol is a popular reality TV singing competition airing on FOX. Judged by Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul, each year it narrows down a series of finalists until one of them is chosen as the American Idol.

Appearances
During the broadcasts on May 10th and May 24th, 2006, Kermit the Frog appeared in a promotional spot for Ford automobiles. These segments aired each week on the program, each highlighting the remaining contestants and promoting a Ford automobile, in this case, the Fusion. At the end of the commercials, Kermit is shown in the car, saying "I guess it is easy being green," just as he did an ad for the Ford Escape Hybrid aired during the Super Bowl.

Allusions
On the January 30, 2007 episode of the program's sixth season (Birmingham, Alabama auditions), a contestant named Margaret Fowler appeared, dressed in bright yellow feathers. She claimed to be 26-years-old (the maximum age for eligibility to compete is 28), but was later revealed to be 50. Host Ryan Seacrest voice-overed that she looked like Big Bird and a couple verses of the "Sesame Street Theme" were played.