There are a few hundred reasons why this was amazing but I'll whittle it down to a few:
*Jimmy's earnest, almost emotional, description of NBC's Muppet Pipes (and Frank Oz's re-discovery of them)
*Jimmy's plugging of MMW and mentioning that he doesn't have a cameo in a voice that teeters between "just pulling your leg, I'm not upset" and "I would DIE for a Muppet movie cameo"
*The choice of an ADULT performance of an ADULT song, which is something The Muppets (and particularly The Electric Mayhem) have always done beautifully despite non-Muppet fans' insistence to the contrary
*The loving shot-by-shot tribute to
The Last Waltz (which I had never seen and therefore didn't recognize until it was pointed out earlier on this thread)
*Terrific vocals from everybody, especially Whitmire as Kermit, Jacobsen as Piggy ("ANNNND" Animal), Baretta as Dr. Teeth and Pepe (Baretta has an incredible vocal range, doesn't he?), Vogel as Floyd (BEST EVER), Linz as Walter, and Rudman as Scooter and Janice (I know he's still working out the kinks on Janice - I'm willing to be patient on this one, fer shure, rully...)
*The audience cheering every time a new Muppet showed up, with the biggest cheer for Kermit
*Subtle touches like the Muppets adjusting their mics (particularly Dr. Teeth)
*The Muppets were not only doing the song with Jimmy, they were totally in on the "Hey, where's he going?" segue between
Late Night and
The Tonight Show to wrap it up
*And, I always had a soft spot for "The Weight."
Marvellous. Well done, everybody. As an isolated performance or the latest piece of The Great Muppet Wave of 2014, this is a moment that deserves its own special place in Muppet history.