Ruth Buzzi guest stars, while Kermit is annoyed by a gift from Scooter's Uncle-Who-Owns-The-Theater; a robot TV show host, built in the frog's likeness.
Songs and Sketches
- "Sunny", sung by the Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, but Animal insists on increasing the tempo.
- At The Dance
- "Row, Row, Row" sung by Wayne and Wanda.
- Muppet Newsflash: The Atlantic Ocean has been kidnapped!
- "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", sung by Ruth Buzzi and Sweetums.
- UK Spot: "I Never Harmed An Onion", sung by Rowlf the Dog.
- Talk Spot: Kermit and Ruth discuss nutrition.
- Fozzie's Comedy Spot: Fozzie ends up being the Straight Man to Statler and Waldorf.
- Ruth plays a captured soldier being interrogated.
- Talking Houses
- Panel Discussion: Is the human body obsolete?
- "You Can't Rollerskate In A Buffalo Herd", sung by the Gogolala Jubilee Jugband.
This episode has examples of
- Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: Statler and Waldorf claim that Fozzie is one of the top comics in the business, in the world, in the business world.
- Broken Record:
- The Mechanical Wind-Up TV Show Host ends up breaking when attempting to thank Miss "Buth Ruzzi (hic!) Buth Ruzzi (hic!) Buth Ruzzi (hic!) Buth Ruzzi (hic!)..."
- At the end, Waldorf imitates him when Statler asks if he liked the show, to which he says, "No, I didn't... No, I didn't... No, I didn't... No, I didn't..."
- Characterisation Click Moment: Miss Piggy's karate chopping starts here, when she believes Kermit is messing with her thanks to the robot. Originally, it was meant to be a slap, but they couldn't find a way to make the puppet do it that wasn't ridiculous, so Frank Oz just had her karate chop Kermit instead.
- Faint in Shock: Miss Piggy faints after knocking out Kermit and then seeing a robot Kermit standing right there. Fortunately, there's a squishy frog to break her fall.
- Friendly Tickle Torture: The episode ends with a few of the Muppets tickling Ruth Buzzi.
- Hostile Show Takeover: The Kermit Robot tries getting rid of Kermit and taking over the show, then it moves on to trying to seduce Miss Piggy.
- Hurricane of Puns: The UK Spot "I Never Harmed an Onion" is composed of this, similar to "When I See an Elephant Fly".
- Job-Stealing Robot: The Kermit Robot, who not only takes over as host of the show, but attempts to get rid of Kermit and take over his life, including wooing Miss Piggy.
- Literal-Minded: Scooter shows up backstage with a large wooden crate:Kermit: Scooter, what is this?
Scooter: It's a crate, chief!
[...]
Kermit: May I ask you what is in it?
Scooter: Sure, go ahead!
Kermit: What is in it? - Mirror Routine: Kermit goes to check his appearance in a mirror, and is initially unaware that his "reflection" is actually his mechanical duplicate (which looks exactly like him from the front) mimicking his movements.
- No Fourth Wall: Kermit acknowledges this show uses a Laugh Track during the talk spot.
- Old-Fashioned Rowboat Date: In the Wayne and Wanda sketch, the two are enacting a romantic date in a rowboat while singing "Row, Row, Row". This marks the furthest Wayne and Wanda have gotten through a song. They actually make it through the opening verse, but as soon as they get to the chorus, their boat sinks.
- Repetitive Audio Glitch: During the closing announcement at the end of the episode, Kermit mixes up a couple of words and then starts repeating them over and over with the same inflection, leading to the reveal that it's not the real Kermit but the mechanical duplicate who has been trying to steal his job all episode.
- Robot Me: Scooter unveils a wind-up mechanical TV host, which looks exactly like Kermit (apart from the huge winding key in its back). It repeatedly attempts to replace Kermit as the show's host—and in Miss Piggy's affections.
- Tired After the Song: Animal continually ups the tempo of "Sunny" until the rest of the Electric Mayhem collapse in exhaustion at the end. Animal is still full of beans enough to give a solo flourish and yell "Oh yeah! Oh yeah!"
- Waxing Lyrical: At one point, Waldorf calls an act "Wonderful!" to which Statler replies "Marvelous!", to which Waldorf says, "That you should care for me."
- We Have Ways of Making You Talk: This line is used, then subverted, in a sketch where Ruth plays a prisoner. A guard says the line to Ruth, who goes into an overwhelming stream of babble. The guard desperately threatens, "We have ways of making you stop talking!"
- Statler: Well, did you like the show?
Waldorf: [twitching] No, I didn't... No, I didn't... No, I didn't...
