The Daily Show

Miss Piggy and Jon Stewart

Kermit talks dirty for late night TV.

The Daily Show is a comedy news program that airs on the Comedy Central network, currently hosted by Jon Stewart. The show, helmed by Stewart since 1999, was originally hosted by Craig Kilborn. In 2005, it spun-off The Colbert Report hosted by former Daily Show correspondent Stephen Colbert.

Both Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog have been featured guests on the program, and the show has featured many Muppet references and parodies throughout their reports. The Daily Show appeared on Sesame Street in Episode 4156, wherein Jon Stewart made a special report on "practice" from The Daily Show’s news desk as the Word of the Day.

Appearances

• Miss Piggy appeared on July 19, 1999 to promote Muppets from Space. Stewart takes several cheap shots, including comments about her cleavage and her relationship with Kermit. Two days later, Stewart took part in a comedycentral.com live chat in which he commented on her appearance: "Besides being oddly erotic, you can't help but leave the interview hungry and I was always fighting not to mention pork products." Three years later, in an interview for his alma mater's newspaper, assistant news editor Meghan Williams noted that he has interviewed everyone from Ralph Nader to Miss Piggy. Stewart replied, "By the way — the same person. Ralph Nader is Miss Piggy. Nobody knows that, it's very interesting." video

• Kermit the Frog appeared on the show, to promote nothing in particular, on February 13th, 2001. Mention was made of a new Muppet show that did not end up being produced. Contrary to Piggy's appearance two years prior, Stewart remarks that it's the Frog who's running circles around him (by way of taking the cheap shots). video

Muppet Mentions

April 14, 2005

October 2005

June 19, 2006

December 18, 2006

May 23, 2007

February 24, 2009

November 12, 2009

March 18, 2010

April 7, 2010

• February 8, 1999 — While teasing topics that will be covered in the next episode, Jon Stewart shows a picture of Monica Lewinsky and asks, "Check us out tomorrow at 11 when we'll find out... Which Muppet is this?" video

• February 23, 2000 — An "In Other News" report entitled "Elmo in Deutschland" talks about the sale of The Jim Henson Company to EM.TV. The report discusses how Jim Henson founded his company in 1958 with one single goal: to keep it out of the hands of the Germans. The report shows some fake German Muppet merchandise plus a fake clip from the new German Sesame Street. video

• November 16, 2000 — During the weeks in which the United States was in the middle of a presidential election recount, footage of The Count was used to create the illusion that the Muppet vampire was appearing on the show via satellite. He is introduced as the world's foremost authority on mathematics. video

• June 4, 2001 — A special report entitled "Fozzie Math" shows how due to their failed marketing attempts, the German parent company of the Muppets is putting the characters up for sale. A portion of the report featured an overdubbed clip from The Muppet Movie featuring Kermit the Frog shouting the lyrics to The Rainbow Connection in the style of Adolf Hitler, which was repeated during the show's closing Moment of Zen. video

• July 17, 2001 — In an interview with Edward Norton, referring to Norton costarring with Robert De Niro and Marlon Brando in the Frank Oz-directed film, The Score, Norton says, "Remember on Sesame Street in the old days when they had 'one of these kids is not like the other'? That's how I felt." video

• April 17, 2002 — In an interview with Richard Dreyfuss, Jon Stewart mentions that Dreyfuss' new series, "The Education of Max Bickford," films in the same area of New York City as Sesame Street. Dreyfuss then claims that they share the same parking spaces. They agree that Sesame Street is like "Baywatch meets the zoo." video

• May 6, 2002 — Stephen Colbert hosts a segment on Sesame Street’s "negative" impact on children. Colbert speaks to a group of kids and asks them if they'd eat cabbage if the Cookie Monster was "the Cabbage Monster." video

• July 28, 2002 — In a segment about the growing trend of reading, a clip of Lena Horne singing "The Alphabet Song" on Sesame Street is shown. video

• January 7, 2003 — In an interview with Ray Liotta, Liotta says, "You know, you mentioned Goodfellas, Henry's a dealer, Blow obviously is about that, Narc there's drugs, I mean it seems like I just do drug movies. You couldn't mention Muppets from Space?" video

• March 18, 2003 — A member of the British Parliament is shown in news footage speaking on the Iraq war. Jon Stewart interrupts with a volley of indiscernible mumbling which he claims was provided by the 5th Lord of Waldorf and the Duke of Statler.

• April 4, 2004 — This episode included a segment entitled "The Muppets Take Manhattan From Behind." video

• January 18, 2005 — In the intro to the show, Jon Stewart describes a concert he went to the previous night, which featured "Hilary Duff and, uh, Jojo, and the Muppets. Who the hell knows." video

• February 28, 2005 — A Palisades Toys action figure of Gonzo was used in a shot of Michael Jackson's jury, along with Corey Feldman and Jabba the Hutt. After the shot Stewart commented with, "That was Gonzo! Gonzo couldn't get out of jury duty!"

• April 14, 2005 — Reporting on the 36th season premiere of Sesame Street, Stewart mentions the episode's dedication to healthy eating and names a few guest stars, and reports on the new "cookies are a sometimes food" initiative. "It's perhaps the biggest behavior change in a show regular since 1974, when the then popular Smokey Monster then switched to filter tips. Smokey tragically succumbed to cancer of the googly eyes in '83. We miss you, Smokey." video

• October 31, 2005 — After senior White House official Scooter Libby was indicted on criminal felony charges, the story was covered on The Daily Show: "By the way, it's not the first time a guy named Scooter has been in deep with the law. We all remember a certain incident in 1982. [A Photoshopped picture of a beaten-up Scooter Action Figure is shown]. You think he looks bad, they had to hose Gonzo off the floor." Stewart then followed with what Muppet fans would recognize as Scooter's signature arm-swinging motion.

• January 8, 2006 — A clip from the Harry Belafonte episode of The Muppet Show was used to illustrate a point in relation to Harry Belafonte's comments while speaking publicly in Venezuela. "Don't go in that dressing room. Crazy Harry's in there." video

• January 10, 2006 - Ed Helms visits the town of DISH, Texas, which has changed its name in order to get free satellite TV for all of its citizens. Helms attempts to convince doubtful media professor Mark Crispin Miller that this is a good thing:

Helms: What could a town possibly need that satellite TV can't provide?

Miller: OK, a school system.

Helms: The Learning Channel.

Miller: Police department.

Helms: America's Most Wanted.

Miller: Here's one: garbage removal.

Helms: That's an easy one: Oscar the Grouch.

Miller: What does that do?

Helms: You know Oscar the Grouch? He lives in a trash can.

Miller: I understand that, but-

Helms: He eats trash. That's how he survives.

Miller: Not all of it, no, no. Oscar- he can't eat plastic...I can't believe I'm having this conversation with you.

Helms: I can't believe you're taking grouches this lightly. video

• Starting in 2005, the show began concluding with a "check-in" to the show's spin-off The Colbert Report which airs directly following the program. On the June 19, 2006 episode, Stephen Colbert's show description paid homage to The Muppet Show, even including a video clip of Sam the Eagle from episode 104. video

Stewart: Welcome back to the program. Before we go we're going to check in with our good friend Stephen Colbert at The Colbert Report. Steven.

Colbert: Thanks Jon. Up next on a very special episode: space travel, sure it's possible, but for pigs? An update on Scandinavian cuisine with our in-house chef, and then our very special guest star Harry Belafonte will lead Fozzie and the gang in a chaotic, and hilarious, version of the "Banana Boat Song"...Day-O! It's so good even Statler and Waldorf will allow themselves to smile. All that plus a final off-key trumpet note from Gonzo. Jon.

Stewart: Stephen, it sounds like you have a dubious collection of guests there.

Sam Eagle: (clip from The Muppet Show) With a few exceptions, the characters on this program are weird and peculiar and not to be trusted.

Stewart: That's our show, join us tomorrow at 11. Here it is, your moment of Zen.

• July 12, 2006 — Jon Stewart features a spot on Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum in which his re-election campaign involved distributing flyers titled "50 Things You May Not Know About Rick Santorum." In what Stewart called a fun quiz for his audience, a list of things supposedly found in the flyer were displayed on-screen, some of which are meant to be real, others of which are not. The last in several of these "facts" cites that "Rick is voiced by character actor Frank Oz."

• October 30, 2006 — Samantha Bee presented a segment where she re-visited her "home town" in Ohio (despite not actually being from Ohio). She visits a school that she claimed was her "old school." She begins to "reminisce" about her old school days when an administrator from the school asks her who her teacher was. She looked around the classroom and, upon seeing the Think Different poster with Jim Henson hanging on the classroom wall, hesitantly replied "Jim Henson."

• December 18, 2006 — An image of Elmo was featured in a "This Week in God" segment for holiday toys that aren't suitable for children. Elmo morphs into an evil demon version of himself and remarks, "Tickle my ass."

• January 25, 2007 — The check-in with The Colbert Report featured clips and jokes on Colbert's role in the Sesame Street special All-Star Alphabet, in which he played the letter Z. video

• May 23, 2007 — Discussing the passing of an Iraq war funding bill, Stewart says: "As a matter of fact, let me show you how far they've come. This is Harry Reid, describing a very similar bill put forward by Republican John Warner, Virginia senator and part-time Sam the Eagle look-alike." A picture is shown of Warner next to Sam. Stewart continues, describing the resemblance: "It really is close."

• July 26, 2007 — While covering a doping controversy in the Tour de France, Stewart turns to footage of the day's race. It's initially shown as a clip from The Great Muppet Caper’s "Couldn't We Ride" sequence, admitting that they clearly had the wrong footage for that news feed. video

• October 4, 2007 — John Oliver reports from "Dickensian London" as The Daily Show’s Senior Healthcare Analyst. Dressed as Oliver Twist from Charles Dickens' novel and speaking in a heavy brogue, Oliver reports that 19th century Londoners support U.S. President George W. Bush's veto of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, suggesting that a 7-year-old shouldn't be getting his health care from the government, he ought to be getting it from where he works. Helping to bring Oliver's illusion to life is a backdrop borrowed from The Muppet Christmas Carol.

The Muppet Christmas Carol DVD screenshot.

Daily Show backdrop.

Backdrop, unobscured.

• January 23, 2008 — In the second of a two-part series spoofing 24, correspondent Jason Jones continues his plea with the people of Iceland to send their only troop back to Iraq. During his time of defeat, in which his frustration with the Scandanavian people has crushed his spirits, he lounges in his hotel flipping through the local television channels. He stops on a Swedish Chef sketch from The Muppet Show which quickly lightens his mood.

• April 14, 2008 — Opening the show, Stewart spins off a random list of celebrities involved with the Night of Too Many Stars benefit for autism that he hosted the previous night. He jokingly mentions Big Bird who is explained as not having performed because he was hanging around back stage, suggesting with a hand gesture to have been drinking all night ("Glug, glug, glug").

• June 10, 2008 — Covering the upcoming trial of five 9/11 hijackers at Guantanamo Bay, Stewart jokes that the prison's nickname, "Gitmo," is also the name of "the least popular Sesame Street Muppet ever." Stewart then proceeded to do a brief routine with Gitmo, an Elmo hand puppet equipped with a beard. After Stewart tortures Gitmo by "waterboarding" him, Gitmo confesses that Big Bird is a spy working for the Mossad. Stewart threatens to send Gitmo back to the "untrained puppy room," leading to a cutaway of a dog dragging an Elmo doll around with its teeth.

• June 19, 2008 — Gitmo returns to cover his experiences in Guantanamo Bay. Among other things, he claims to have been a simple cab driver who was falsely turned in by greedy informant Snuf al-Upagus. Stewart later uses the prop to interact with guest Mike Myers.

• June 23, 2008 — During the check in with The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert explains the clean-up required afer Cookie Monster's appearance on the June 19 episode. Although Colbert followed Cookie Monster's bizarre demands for various cookies in the green room, including Triple Stuf Oreos (which had to be made for him, since they don't exist), he still made a mess of the room...because Colbert forgot the milk.

• July 15, 2008 — Discussing the media's celebration of one million names to have gone on the United States' terrorist watch list, news footage reports that President Bush has signed a bill to remove Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Nelson Mandela from the list. Stewart mentions that it's a tightly managed list but that "Elmo's friend Zoe" is still considered a terrorist threat.

• August 27, 2008 — Covering the Democratic National Convention from Denver, Colorado, The Daily Show runs footage of MSNBC's own coverage including Chris Matthews heatedly quipping at Keith Olbermann. Stewart remarks, "It's not just Statler and Waldorf there going at it. It's also Waldorf and Sam the Eagle:" Footage of Joe Scarborough follows which includes Olbermann commenting from off-camera, apparently unaware that the live feed picked up his mic. Stewart comments, "But it's not just Waldorf and Sam the Eagle there, it's also Sam the Eagle and Beaker:" Scarborough is next seen chastising MSNBC correspondent David Shuster.

• October 30, 2008 — Commenting on a CNN interview between Larry King and John McCain, both of whom are often ridiculded due to their age, Stewart remarks, "I'm not sure whether those two guys are going to talk politics or heckle The Muppet Show." Footage of Statler and Waldorf in their box seats on The Muppet Show is dubbed over with audio from the interview. "I'd hate to be a bear telling bad jokes in front of those two."

• December 1, 2008 — Boasting about his Black Friday bargains, Stewart mockingly says to the audience, "Good luck giving your kids ****-me Elmo, cuz I gots me some C-3PO!"

• December 2, 2008 — Waiting for footage of Barack Obama's cabinet to run, a series of clips featuring groups of characters from popular movies are shown. A clip of The Muppets Take Manhattan is among them.

• January 21, 2009 — Covering Barack Obama's inaugural parade, Stewart jokes that the Illinois state float- depicting a costumed Abraham Lincoln character alongside the Chicago White Sox mascot- pays tribute to "Our theme-park Lincolns and their baseball-playing Muppet."

• January 22, 2009 — Gitmo returns to debate Jon Stewart on whether or not Barack Obama's proposed closing of Guantanamo Bay will increase the likelihood of terrorists such as himself attacking the United States. A fearful Stewart attempts to appease Gitmo with a fake "virgin"- actually a Bert hand puppet wearing a burqa- but Gitmo does not fall for it. When told the prison's closing will mean he will no longer be tortured, Gitmo responds, "Then why Gitmo still have hand up his ass?"

• February 2, 2009 — Stewart comments on the election of Michael Steele as the first black head of the Republican National Comittee: "Republicans, I appreciate what you're trying to do here- he's your voice of change, your Barack Obama, but it's not as simple as that. I know you want to take this fight to the Democrats, but Michael Steele, he's like...remember when your kid really wanted a Tickle Me Elmo for Christmas, but all the stores were sold out so you went to Chinatown and got him a Giggle-Time All-Mo? Michael Steele is the Republican Party's Giggle-Time All-Mo."

• February 24, 2009 — Introducing GOP chairman Michael Steele, "former Maryland lieutenant governor and perpetually dissatisfied customer at Grover's restaurant". A short clip from Sesame Street is shown, and an image with Steele and Mr. Johnson side by side. Stewart: "Seriously, Grover! Why can't you get that guy's order right, Grover? Why is it so hard to get that guy's order right? He ordered the f***ing spaghetti and meatballs, what's so hard about that?"

• March 3, 2009 — Stewart again uses footage of Mr. Johnson from sesamestreet.org to illustrate a likeness to Michael Steele.

• April 14, 2009 — Stewart was not sure how to pronounce the city of Manama, and the first guess was provided by the clip of Mahna Mahna.

• April 16, 2009 — Covering the various "Tax Day Tea Party" protests held the previous day, Stewart comments on a protester dressed as a "big-boobed Obama in her underwear holding a mutilated Elmo."

• April 20, 2009 — Lewis Black's segment "Back in Black" covers the Earth Day themed children's videos hitting the market recently. Sesame Street’s Being Green video is mocked for having included an extra cardboard cover in its packaging (although they fail to mention that the materials were printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper or cardstock). Footage from the video is also used at the end of the show for the Moment of Zen.

• April 21, 2009 — The graphics for Wyatt Cenac's trip to Sweden, in a segment titled "The Stockholm Syndrome," features footage of The Swedish Chef. The same graphic is used for part two on April 22.

• April 29, 2009 — A story on Michael Steele is once again prefaced with footage of Mr. Johnson.

• May 19, 2009 — Footage of Grover and Mr. Johnson is used for a 4th time at the beginning of a story on Michael Steele.

• May 20, 2009 — More of Mr. Johnson as Michael Steele.

• June 16, 2009 — Gitmo returns for a story about the closing of The Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp.

• Oct 15, 2009 — Mr. Johnson as Michael Steele again.

• November 10, 2009 — Lewis Black's segment about people not getting the swine flu vaccine leads him to introduce what he calls this seasons must-have toy: Stickle Me Elmo. It's an Elmo doll holding hypodermic needles. "What it lacks in vaccine, it makes up in huggability." After a high-pitched voice says "Lewis Black stole Elmo from a baby," Black tells it to shut up. At the end of the segment, Jon Stewart asks if he really just told Elmo to shut up.

• November 11, 2009 — After a clip in which Michael Steele says that people are afraid of him because he's black, Stewart responds: "I don't think they're afraid of you because you're black. I think they're afraid of you because of the stupid sh*t you say on television. No disrespect, but as far as intimidating black figures go, Michael Steele ranks somewhere between Urkel and the Muppet who sends his soup back. You know, it really is incredible but, when the two of them are in the same place, the only way to tell them apart? Send them soup. Steele doesn't have the balls to send it back."

• November 12, 2009 — One day after Sesame Street's 40th Anniversary, The Daily Show paid homage with a visual nod. During the intro, the globe in the studio, which often flashes cities with names relating to a recent event or a story covered on the show, shows the names "Sesamo," "Streetz," and "Elmoville." (Of these, only Elmoville, Illinois appears to be an actual city.)

• December 10, 2009 — Listing the credentials of guest Gwen Ifill, Stewart quips that she is "the moderator and editor of PBS's Washington Week, contributes to PBS's The NewsHour, is the top appraiser on PBS's Antiques Roadshow, and is the voice of Abby Cadabby on PBS's Sesame Street. She loves PBS. I made some of those up."

• January 7, 2010 — Guest Maggie Gyllenhaal mentions that she watches the 1970s Sesame Street that she likes with her daughter.

• January 18, 2010 — While commenting on various gaffes on Massachusetts state culture by Democratic candidate Martha Coakley during the election to replace the Senate seat of the late Ted Kennedy, including believing that Red Sox player Kurt Schilling's favorite team was the Yankees and misspelling the name of the state in a campaign ad, Stewart jokingly adds that she also believes Larry Bird is a Sesame Street character.

• March 18, 2010 — Performing as a Glen Beck caricature, Jon Stewart comes to the end of a 15-minute tirade of conspiracy theories fuelled by random information strewn across several blackboards. On one is written the words "con-serv-ative" and "li-bert-arian" split up thusly. Positing to pull meaning from the parts, he circles the final segment of the second word, bert. He then unveils a child-sized drawing board, on which has been placed a photo of Bert. "A fastidious, pigeon-worshipping, felt tyrant. Whose draconian Sharia law allows for neither loud noise or rubber duckies. But yet, who spends his day in a children's workshop telling our impressionable youth what to think. Don't think he's dangerous? Well, I wonder what the letter E would have to say about that?" Stewart then places an E magnet over Bert's upper lip and screams, "It's Hitler!"

• March 30, 2010 — Reporting on GOP funds being used at a lesbian voyeur club, Stewart is disappointed to hear that party leader Michael Steele was not himself in attendance. Entertaining a scenario in which he was, a clip of Mr. Johnson at Charlie's Restaurant plays with some lines dubbed: "Yes, I'd like two lesbian sex slaves." Grover goes back to the kitchen and repeats the order to Charlie: "Two lesbian sex slaves, Charlie!" Dance club music begins as two female puppets from the Muppet Whatnot Workshop dance and kiss, and a third male puppet holds up some money and screams, "I have a total disregard for my donors!" After audience applause, Stewart says, "He does look like that guy from the restaurant with Grover."

• April 7, 2010 — Stewart again uses clips of Mr. Johnson to illustrate RNC chairman Michael Steele. Revealing that Steele had backed out of appearing in the show in January, Stewart interviews a puppet from the Muppet Whatnot Workshop built to look like Mr. Johnson, performed by Daily Show regular Wyatt Cenac.

• April 20, 2010 — Stewart shows a picture of himself watching The O'Reilly Factor with all his friends (a couch full of stuffed animals including Big Bird and Cookie Monster).

• June 3, 2010 — Refuting Glenn Beck's claim that only Fox News was showing footage of Israeli commandos being attacked while raiding an aid convoy destined for Gaza, Stewart shows several other news programs airing the footage. Stewart then says that the only place the footage wasn't aired was Sesame Street, followed immediately by a clip that shows The Newsman from The Muppet Show airing the footage.

• June 7, 2010 — An Elmo puppet toy is interviewed in reference to comments made by Helen Thomas about the Israel-Palestine conflict.

• June 7, 2010 — A photoshopped photo of Aasif Mandvi as a child in the 80s features a poster of The Dark Crystal.

• June 8, 2010 — Stewart: "Those 400,000 temporary census worker jobs? Who says they have to be temporary? The Constitution says we have to take the census every ten years, it doesn't say that it can't last ten years. Just tell them to count slower. Or, maybe now that the census workers have all those valuable counting skills, why don't we re-deploy them? Maybe have them fill in for the Count on Sesame Street, he could use a vacation."

• July 5, 2010 — Wyatt Cenac again plays the Michael Steele caricature in the form of a puppet from the Muppet Whatnot Workshop. Later, guest Denis Leary comments on the segment, and Stewart addresses the show's lack of class in turning a Sesame Workshop character into a recurring late night parody. The show's Moment of Zen was an unaltered clip of a Waiter Grover sketch.

• July 7, 2010 — A segment on Queen Elizabeth II visiting New York City was titled "The Crumpets Take Manhattan".

• August 3, 2010 — When children born in the U.S. to non-citizen parents are referred to as "anchor babies", Stewart says "You mean the hottest new show on Nick Jr: Anchor Babies?" A graphic then shows a Muppet Babies-like logo over a picture of four babies with Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, Brian Williams, and Anderson Cooper's heads. (Thursday, 9:30PM on Nickelodeon!)

• August 12, 2010 — Stewart talks about "... growing fears of these, uh, 'anchor babies' we talked about earlier... 'terror babies'... M-M-Muppet Babies coming to our shores. By the way, you should check out the new Muppet character 'Anchor-Me Terror Baby'." A modified image of Baby Skeeter (specifically, this image) is then shown, in which she is wearing a turban and a beard, and carrying dynamite and a machine gun, with an anchor chained to her ankle. "Adorably destructive to our country," Stewart says.

• October 7, 2010 — During an interview with Naomi Watts, Stewart shares an anecdote about the "Night of Too Many Stars" fundraiser for autism awareness which the two of them attended, remarking that at one point Steve Carrell sounded like "Fozzie Bear having an orgasm."

See also

• Jon Stewart
• The Colbert Report

External links

• TheDailyShow.com, official site