Tonight's special guest star is Hal Linden. Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear decides to let Statler and Waldorf host the show. Will it go crazy? You'll see!
Sketches and songs
- Song: "Who Put the Bomp (In the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)", performed by Geri and the Artics
- Song: "Drinking Song", performed by the Salzburg Sauerkraut Singers
- Song: Medley: "Yankee Doodle Dandy"/"Jingle Bells", performed by Hal Linden and Gonzo
- Song: "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", performed by two British Muppet men and their dogs
- Dressing Room/Song: "If I Ruled the World", performed by Hal Linden and Robin
- Song: "Just an Old Fashioned Girl", performed by Miss Piggy
- Song: "When the Saints Go Marching In", performed by Hal Linden with Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem
This episode provides the example of:
- Christmas in July: Somewhat. Hal Linden's first number is supposed to be a tribute to the Fourth of July, as Statler had planned, but Waldorf had planned for a Christmas number. Hal's rendition of "Yankee Doodle Dandy" is interrupted by Gonzo singing Christmas carols from a chicken-drawn sleigh.
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Miss Piggy does this when Link starts freaking out over the fact that Statler and Waldorf have cancelled the regular sketches.Link: Oh, we have been cancelled! Do you realize that we've been cancelled? Oh, no! We have been ca-a-ancel-el-el-ed...!
[Miss Piggy slaps him across the face.]
Miss Piggy: Will you try and act like a grown-up? It's only for one show. - Hats Off to the Dead: Played for Laughs. When Kermit starts to explain to the audience that the reason that he and Fozzie are in Statler and Waldorf's box is that the latter two will be hosting the night's show, Fozzie interrupts him to joke that Statler and Waldorf are dead, holding his hat to his chest.
- Let's See YOU Do Better!: After years of heckling the Muppets, Statler and Waldorf have a turn a hosting. The show ends up being every bit the disaster it would have been had Kermit been the host. In fact, Kermit even notes that the sketches look like things he would have run.
- Literal-Minded: Statler tells Beauregard to go do something useful, so Beau decides to test the backstage trap doors, causing Waldorf to fall through one. When Waldorf tells him not to test any more backstage trap doors, Beau decides to test the on-stage trap doors. Hal and the Electric Mayhem wind up repeatedly falling through the floor while performing "When the Saints Go Marching In".
- Poor Communication Kills: Since Statler and Waldorf didn't agree beforehand on which holiday Hal's opening number should be a tribute to, it winds up being a mishmash of July Fourth and Christmas.
- Swapped Roles: Statler and Waldorf takes hosting duties while Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear sit on their balcony and make silly comments. At the end of the episode, Statler and Waldorf, having learned how tough and chaotic it is to run the show, promise to never insult the show again. Of course, that promise doesn't last long, and they're right back to it by the time The Stinger rolls around.
- Statler: You know, I've never liked their theme music.
Waldorf: Neither did I.
Kermit: [offscreen] You promised!
[The geezers laugh.]
