Dancing with the Stars

The Count on Dancing with the Stars

The parody versions of Bruno Tonioli, Len Goodman and Carrie Ann Inaba

Miss Piggy interviewing guests at the season 9 finale

The Muppets performing "Life's a Happy Song" on the November 16, 2011 broadcast.

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, Carrie Ann Inaba and host Tom Bergeron (Tom Twinkletoes).

One of the Xbox Achievements for the game Once Upon a Monster is called "Advancing with the Stars."

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 The Ellen DeGeneres Show.)

• 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.

• November 14, 2011 - A few seconds of Kermit and Piggy's backstage rehearsal for their upcoming appearance is shown.

• November 15, 2011 - The Muppets (Kermit, Piggy, Gonzo, Walter, Scooter, Fozzie, Rowlf, Sam the Eagle, the Swedish Chef, Beaker, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Pepe) appear to perform "Life's a Happy Song." Gonzo aids Tom in introducing the number. Afterward, Statler and Waldorf judge. Tom remarked that it was like having "Len times 2".

Muppet Mentions

• On the October 15th, 2012 performance show, Tom Bergeron commented on Sabrina Bryan's dance costume, saying "How many Cookie Monsters can we make out of this?"

Connections

Several competitors who were featured on the show have worked on various Muppet productions:

• Buzz Aldrin appeared in season 10.
• Kirstie Alley appeared in season 12 and 15.
• David Arquette appeared in season 13.
• Lance Bass appeared in season 7.
• Michael Bolton appeared in season 11.
• Chaz Bono appeared in season 13.
• Brandy appeared in season 11.
• Sabrina Bryan appeared in season 5 and 15.
• Aaron Carter appeared in season 9.
• Margaret Cho appeared in season 11.
• Zendaya Coleman appeared in season 16.
• Billy Ray Cyrus appeared in season 4.
• Joey Fatone appeared in season 4 and 15.
• Cristián 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.
• Harry Hamlin appeared in season 3.
• 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.
• Penn Jilette appeared in season 6.
• Gladys Knight appeared in season 14.
• Joanna Krupa appeared in season 9.
• Ricki Lake appeared in season 13.
• Cloris Leachman appeared in season 7.
• William Levy appeared in season 14.
• Mario Lopez appeared in season 3.
• Susan Lucci appeared in season 7.
• Gilles Marini appeared in season 8 and 15.
• Marlee Matlin appeared in season 6.
• Debi Mazar appeared in season 9.
• Shanna Moakler appeared in season 3.
• Maria Menounos appeared in season 14.
• Martina Navratilova appeared in season 14.
• Petra Nemcova appeared in season 12.
• 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.
• Lisa Rinna appeared in season 2.
• Jeff Ross appeared in season 7.
• Jerry Springer appeared in season 3.
• Jason Taylor appeared in season 6.
• Wendy Williams appeared in season 12.
• Steve Wozniak appeared in season 8.
• Kristi Yamaguchi appeared in season 6.

Also...

• Paula Abdul judged for one week in season 15.
• Basim appeared in season 6 of Vild med dans (Denmark)
• Erik Estrada appeared in season 2 of Mira Quien Baila (USA)
• Savion Glover performed in season 5 on a results show, 26 September 2007.
• Wolke Hegenbarth appeared in season 1 of Let's Dance (Germany)
• Cecilie Hother appeared in season 7 of Vild med dans (Denmark)
• Baz Luhrmann replaced Len Goodman for one week in Season 9.
• Michelle Williams appeared in series 8 of Strictly Come Dancing (the United Kingdom).

Animal's first appearance
September 28, 2009

Baz Luhrman, Gonzo & Bruno Tonioli
September 28, 2009

Well played
September 28, 2009

Animal at the season 9 finale
November 24, 2009

Statler & Waldorf at the finale
November 24, 2009

Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Miss Piggy
November 24, 2009

Kermit singing "Life's a Happy Song"
November 16, 2011

External links

• Gawker.com - Miss Piggy's odd moment on Dancing with the Stars