Heck, the only recent new Muppet character to stick around was Pepe, and that is partly because of his upstaging personality.
Well, the ones that really seemed to stick were Pepe, Johnny, Sal, VanNeuter (at least for MFS and a game show appearance), and Bobo. We did, unfortunately lose VanNeuter and Sal to Brian's unavailability. We also had a lot of dud characters come out of MT. So new characters always have a massive trial, and some stand out on top. That's why Zoe and Rosita managed to stay so long on SS, when Benny, Sherri Netherland, Monty and a host of others. Of course, A) Sesame Street has been continuously running on TV and B) there's also a lot of performer availability that gets in the way. Clifford would probably be a bigger staple in the Muppets today, if it wasn't for the performer being Elmo's performer.
In response to some of the most recent posts here, here's why I don't think they would've let Rowlf co-host a cooking show like this--he'd probably get his brown hairs all over the food.
I think Bill's doing a great job with Rowlf and I think he's becoming more and more comfortable with him. I think he does slip into Bobo's personality from time to time (there was an interview posted somewhere... among the things he discussed was that Bobo's performance was meant to be an homage to Jim, making him sound as much like a Jim character would sound... so there's always that).
Which also brings me to this. Again, it's not that I really dislike Angelo (I'm probably one of the few people that really enjoys him, but wants to see him bloom into a more complex character), But I think the concept needed a little more gestation time. Instead of having a new Muppet co-host character, they could easily have rotated cast members they already had... pushing Angelo into the role of a behind the scenes person that isn't supposed to be seen on camera (I don't know what they call it in cooking shows, but the person who cleans up or sets up the equipment and ingredients) but always manages to get caught.
Or of course, I say split the difference and use Bobo as the bumbling assistant in a role similar to his LTS/MFS appearances (only with Cat having a sense of humor about him screwing up).
That's exactly what I was thinking - they could easily have the Swedish Chef sign off the program by judging the resulting dish as "Okie-dokie!" Just a nod to the famous Muppet Swed that will help new viewers who've wandered into a single episode.
Yeah. Like something disconnected yet connected. Like he's watching the show trying to make food that doesn't blow up that they can actually eat. Something at the beginning and or end to tie everything together.