Sure, but again, that's no in-universe reason for her to headline a talk show. Above all, the most important trait for a talk show host, more important than being funny, is likability - see, Jay Leno's entire career. And Piggy is just not likable. It'd make more sense, and probably be a better show both in- and out-universe, if Fozzie were the host.
No, I think Kermit would be the most natural host. He's the one with the most charisma and approachability (when written right), as well as the confidence to be a well-respected figure that people want to let into their homes each night. Fozzie is likeable enough, but he's too much of a bumbler and too lacking in self-confidence. He's a lovable loser, a natural-born sidekick, not really star material on his own.
But I agree it's the wrong role for Piggy. Her perennial role is as the
wannabe star, someone who aspires to greatness and pretends she's already achieved it in the hopes of convincing herself and others that it's true.
Come to think of it, I'm not sure talk-show co-host is the right role for Fozzie either. I've never watched many late-night talk shows, but aren't the co-hosts usually the straight men? It's the hosts themselves who are the comedians.
Yeah, the Kermit-Piggy relationship has never worked one bit for me, either, except maybe in Muppets Treasure Island, where I can at least tell myself that it's Smollett and Benjamina more than Kermit and Piggy.
Back when the folks behind the Muppets were still keeping it ambiguous, I preferred to believe that the whole Kermit-Piggy romance was entirely in Piggy's mind. After all, that's how it seemed in the original show -- she would flirt and he would rebuff, and he would be frustrated when she acted as though they were an item. So the tendency of later productions to assume that they actually were a couple has never quite sat right with me.
Still, that's not what I was talking about. It wasn't them actually being an item, but the fact that Kermit was willing to put up with her at all and still count her as a friend and colleague and show her kindness when she needed it, despite her behavior.
Again, I have no problem with Piggy being one of the crew, on the level of Gonzo or the Swedish Chef or what-not. But every time she pulls one of her diva antics, I can't help but think that she gets such a spotlight because she happens to be the only major notable Muppet apart from the hippie guitarist, rather than any inherent strength or interest in her character.
Except that she was originally a fairly minor character on
The Muppet Show and became a breakout character over time. So she's only notable because the writers saw potential in her and audiences responded to her. She was originally created as "Piggy Lee," a parody of jazz singer Peggy Lee, for a musical sketch on a variety show. According to
The Muppet Wiki:
Miss Piggy soon developed into a major character, as the Muppet creators recognized that a lovelorn pig could be more than a one-note running gag. Frank Oz has said that while Fozzie Bear is a two-dimensional character, and Animal has no dimensions, Miss Piggy is one of the few Muppets to be fully realized in three dimensions.
I have to admit, while I've never been personally that fond of Piggy, Oz had a point in the above quote -- she does have a lot of layers and psychological complexity, a lot of inner contradictions. She's probably the most deeply, intricately neurotic character in a troupe full of neurotics and obsessives.
An instructive comparison for Piggy is Tintin's Bianca Castafiore. Hergé said that he never made much use of female characters because in Tintin's world, everyone suffers pratfalls and blows as a source of humor and visual gags, and it's just not anywhere near as funny seeing women get hurt.
Maybe that's why Piggy developed her karate expertise. It let her participate in the slapstick as the aggressor rather than the victim. And given the gender attitudes of the time, it was a comical subversion of expectations for a female character to be tougher than the males.
With Castafiore alone, he found a working gag in that our heroes couldn't abide to hear her sing, but still, in-universe, the rest of the world considered her a master opera singer. But, in this comparison, what is Piggy good at?
Glamour, self-promotion, self-delusion, and kicking ass. I'd say she's one of those people who are famous for being famous, who've created celebrity images around themselves that surpass their actual accomplishments. Not like a Hilton or a Kardashian, though, since she's not an heiress; according to her Wiki bio, she was raised on a farm (she is a pig, after all) and has spent her adult life running away from her humble origins.
