Well, Ernie and Bert
were scheduled to appear at this event to sing "Rubber Duckie" and "Doin' the Pigeon", but they were unable to attend.
Bert had front row tickets to see a C-SPAN speech live. He also submitted a proposal there to have the eagle on the dollar bill replaced with a pigeon.
Meanwhile, Ernie visited the United States Mint. Ernie wasn't interested in seeing the money. He saw the word "mint" and went looking through the U.S. Mint looking for mint chocolate chip ice cream.
Don Music was also scheduled to play "Yankee Doodle" at this event (via satellite from Philly), but he got arrested during the rehearsal. Instead of hitting his head on the piano, he hit his head on the Liberty Bell instead, making it crack even more.
Except for the "Elmo's World" theme song, every song the characters sang on this special were classics from the 1970s! How much more classic can you get than the Sesame Street Theme, C is for Cookie, I Love Trash, Somebody Come and Play and Sing?
If you haven't seen it (or they didn't play it in your area), check the Muppet Wiki. They have info on it, plus a clip.
Convincing John