"Best of Muppets Tonight" episode summary

The episode begins in the control room, which is darkened. As Gonzo the Great enters, Rizzo the Rat is yelling from a bad dream. Gonzo turns on the lights and wakes Rizzo up. Rizzo asks Gonzo why he's there, since Clifford gave everyone the week off. Gonzo says he's come to pick up his nasal floss. Gonzo reminds Rizzo that he is supposed to be running the tape of the episode they recorded the week before, and Rizzo tries to remember where the tape is. He was having a cheese-eating contest with Carl, and the tape was there with the video machine.

Rizzo: "The tape got eaten!"
Gonzo: "What, the machine ate the tape?"
Rizzo: "No, Carl!"
Gonzo: "Carl ate the tape?"
Rizzo: "No, Carl ate the machine!"
Carl walks in and gives a video-tapey burp.
Carl: "Thank you!"

Gonzo has an idea for the show: they'll show the best scenes from all their shows, and Gonzo and Rizzo will host. Rizzo thinks the idea of them hosting the show is ridiculous. But when Gonzo points out that they're on in one minute, Rizzo suddenly is behind the idea, and goes to get the tuxedos. Gonzo tells Carl to cue up the opening credits, and "don't eat then until they're over with."

Kermit intro: none

Rizzo walks onstage to open the show. He is joined after a few seconds by Rizzo. They are both wearing tuxedos.

Gonzo: "As many of you probably know, Muppets Tonight
	has been on the air for over three thousand years."
Rizzo: "That's not right."
Gonzo: "Well I'm approximating."

Gonzo starts with clips of early appearances of guest stars, including: Michelle Pfeiffer on "Muppet Match-up"; Coolio and Clifford on "Star Search"; Cindy Crawford on "The Kermit the Frog Club"; and Jason Alexander on "Muppet Bandstand".

Gonzo: "Well, those were some of the stars of today."
Rizzo: "But who, you ask, are the stars of tomorrow?"
Gonzo: "Well, you can be sure you won't be seeing them
	in these next clips."
Rizzo: "But what the heck, let's watch anyway."

The next clips include: Seymour the Elephant and Pepe the Prawn doing their song and dance number with the "Elifino" joke; Sid Knishes and his Mosh-pit-tatoes; Seymour and Pepe trying to explain the "Elifino" joke; the Flat Heads playing "The Anvil Chorus" with their faces; and Gonzo and the Refined Young Cannonballs.

Rizzo: "That was surprisingly good."
Gonzo: "And speaking of surprises, watch this."
Gonzo explodes.

Rizzo shows the next batch of clips while he tries to put Gonzo back together. They include: Garth Brooks suggesting to Clifford that they do something different on the show; Sandra Bullock singing "Phenomena" with the Two Snowths; Pierce Brosnan demonstrating that he's not that suave or debonaire with a laser cotton swab; Andie MacDowell and Bunsen Honeydew going wild on a boat; and Rizzo trying to help Bobo the Bear get Cindy Crawford.

Gonzo introduces the next crop with, "Here are some clips the critics loved." They include: Martin Short's agent negotiating with Kermit; Rick Moranis trying to sing "High Hopes"; and Bobo having some trouble with his fan.

When they come back from the commercial, Gonzo says, "Well, if you haven't guessed by now, we're doing a 'best of' show. And what 'best of' show is complete without clips like these:" Billy Crystal doing a "When Harry Met Sally" screentest with Miss Piggy; and Jason Alexander as Hercule Poirot in "Murder on the Disoriented Express".

Rizzo introduces the musical clips with a blues song. They include: Tony Bennett and Kermit singing "Firefly"; Garth Brooks singing "We Shall Be Free"; Coolio singing "Get Up Get Down"; and singing "Starfish and Coffee".

Gonzo introduces a batch of television parodies, though some people might call it "biting the hand that feeds you." Rizzo bites Gonzo on the hand (to demonstrate the point). Gonzo points out that he feeds Rizzo with his other hand, so Rizzo bites the other hand. The television parodies include: "Bay of Pigswatch"; and "Seinfeld Babies".

Next they have a montage of painful moments they like to call "Muppets Tonight's Greatest Hits". They're set to the "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

As Gonzo and Rizzo walk off the stage, they notice Statler and Waldorf sitting at a control panel. Apparently they have just finished broadcasting their own show, "The Worst of Muppets Tonight". Of course they showed the exact same clips that Gonzo and Rizzo showed.

Outtakes

The show includes the best of the outtakes, such as: Sandra Bullock blowing a line; Martin Short as the agent getting a smelly hand from touching Kermit; Jason Alexander blowing a line with Seymour and Pepe; and Gary Cahuenga blowing a line with .