Miss Piggy didn't appear on last year's big 50th anniversary "Sesame Street" special for the simple reason that she was never on "Sesame Street" to begin with. An anniversary special would be a weird time for a debut, even for someone as, let's say, self-confident as Piggy.

It's an easy mistake to make -- the histories of "Sesame Street" and "The Muppet Show" (Piggy's real TV home) are forever intertwined.

The term "muppet" refers to the distinctive type of puppet created and popularized by the great Jim Henson, first in his variety show act and later on a string of TV and film hits. Two of those hits were, of course, "Sesame Street" and "The Muppet Show."

They each retained their own distinct cast of characters, and though there were occasional crossovers, the only full crossover character -- the only one whom you could call a full cast member of both shows -- was Kermit the Frog.

Though she of course came to fame on "The Muppet Show," Miss Piggy, like many other Muppets, was part of Henson's prior variety show performances. She appeared (in slightly altered forms) on 1974 episodes of "The Tonight Show" and "Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass."

When "The Muppet Show" debuted in 1976, she was just a background character, but the creators soon realized her potential, and she became a fan favorite.

"She started out in 'The Muppet Show' as a chorus girl and as you know, she's now a big diva," Muppet designer Bonnie Erickson said.

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