Steve Martin is supposed to guest star, but Kermit has misread the calendar. The show has been cancelled because tonight they're holding auditions for new acts.
Songs and Sketches
- "Garbage Can-Can"
- "Swanee Ribbit"
- Balloon Guy
- "Tie A Yellow Ribbit 'Round the Old Oak Tree"
- Baskerville the Hound and Lenny the Lizard audition.
- The Fazoobs
- UK Spot: Gonzales and Yolanda.
- "Old Man Ribbit"
- Rambling Guy
- "The Varsity Drag"
- "Yes We Have No Bananas"
- Juggling Guy
- The Zucchini Brothers' human cannonball act.
- Dueling Banjos
This episode provides the example of:
- As Long as It Sounds Foreign: The Zucchini Brothers speak in Italian-accented gibberish.
- Bait-and-Switch Comment: Kermit opts to take a pass on Marvin Suggs's fruit and veg group, so Floyd says the Electric Mayhem have a job for them: dinner.
- Blunt "No": When Gonzo asks Kermit to give his new idea a chance, Kermit's response is an immediate "no".
- Buffy Speak: The Zucchini Brothers use a lot of this, such as the "boomba-boomba" (the cannon).
- Companion Cube: Gonzo's idea for a new act is dancing with a cheese. Not a Muppet cheese, just a regular block of cheese. Female, obviously, because dancing with a male cheese would be weird.
- Didn't See That Coming: When Kermit opens with a special announcement, Statler and Waldorf quip it'd be lucky if the show was cancelled. Kermit announces just that, prompting surprise from the elderly critics.Statler: Have I died and gone to Heaven?
- Formula-Breaking Episode: Since this, of course, is an audition night. Steve still gets to do a few acts here and there, though.
- Hope Spot: Sam thinks that Statler and Waldorf's act means that the show can became more cultural. He's then told that Marvin Suggs and his singing food are next.Sam: For one brief moment, there was light at the end of the tunnel.
- Hypocritical Humor: Kermit tells Fozzie it's actually an enriching experience to see competing acts and expose himself to what different performers bring to the table. The next act auditions to be the host the show, prompting current host Kermit to shout, "NEXT!" Fozzie is quick to highlight this bit of hypocrisy.Fozzie: It was really interesting to see how another emcee works.
Kermit: Oh, cool it.
Fozzie: Yeah, you really must feel enriched, Kermit. - Laugh Track: This episode was supposed to dispense with the usual canned laughter, but the crew's real laughter (and Richard Hunt's in particular) was so loud that pre-recorded laughter had to be added to balance things out.
- Not Listening to Me, Are You?: Inverted. Kermit declares that he's not listening to Gonzo pitching his newest ridiculous act, but Gonzo takes great glee in noting that Kermit obviously was when he responds.Gonzo: [Mocking Sing-Song] You were listening...
- Pet the Dog: Marvin Suggs is far nicer to the fruit and veg than he ever is to the Muppaphones.
- Re-Cut: The number with Gonzo and the dancing cheese was only shown in the UK and didn't air in North America until Disney Channel reran the episode in the early 90s.
- Rule of Three: Mary Louise trying to sing, before getting yanked off stage after the first verse. By the third, she knows what's in store for her, and is Quaking with Fear. Fear that proves justified when she is once more yanked away. This is also when we learn the identity of her abductor, and it's Miss Piggy, determined to be the only girl on the stage.
- Self-Deprecation: Halfway in, Kermit says he hasn't see any acts that are different from the usual fare, so he asks Scooter if there are any good acts.
- Similar Squad: Baskerville the Hound does an act imitating everyone's favorite stand-up bear, right down to an off-key version of his introduction jingle, the hat, and "hiya-hiya-hiya". Fozzie does not approve. Kermit's insistence that it doesn't mean anything is shot down when Lenny the Lizard takes the stage imitating Kermit.
- A Taste of Their Own Medicine: While Statler and Waldorf dance onstage, Fozzie is heckling them from the balcony.
- Territorial Smurfette: Miss Piggy turns out to be sabotaging Mary Louise because she refuses to let any other singing female anythings on the show.
- Vaudeville Hook: Used a few times, mostly by Miss Piggy at the expense of Mary Louise so the former will stay the only female singer in the show.
- Statler: Well, that was different.
Waldorf: Yep. Lousy...
Both: But different.
