Congratulations were offered to new royal parents Will and Kate by Head of states, fellow royalty, public fans and many a celebrity, but it's no question the biggest honour paid to them must go to Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog, another high-profile-and arguably far more animated- couple seen regularly on screen, who congratulated the new parents in a YouTube video now trending.

This got us thinking about how much we miss the bickering twosome that negate the laws of nature whenever they are missing from our screens. To us, they are as real as the Prince and Princess, no matter how sad that seems. MIss Piggy personifies (or should we say pigifies....sorry) us at our most hormonal, drunk or diva-dramatic. Kermit reminds us of the calmer half everyone knows among their couple friends, not to mention he has his own song 'It's Not Easy Being Green'. What's not to love?  

Here's a reminder of those puppets that have lit up our screens, often more so than their real human counterparts. Let's be honest, if you could trade one or two of your friends in for a Muppet or Sesame Street character, we bet you would already have a first choice ready at hand. 

1. The Sooty Show
Sooty was on air for nearly forty years and even had his own catchphrase- 'Izzy wizzy, let's get busy!'...Let's not mock this, it'd be too easy and in fairness, it was invented in the fifties. Sooty was paired up with Sweep the Dog, and Soo the Panda, so evidently animal kingdown crossovers are no problem for most puppets. Calls to mind the phrase 'why can't everyone just get along?!' Why not Sooty, why not?


2. Bosco 
Bosco was pure Irish TV at its best, up their with all the modern homemade shows we say (cough). Alright, alright, there's not much in the way of storytelling but it was made in the seventies and eighties, and re-run many a time in the nineties. Not much else was going on back then on Irish telly's limited, pre-digital channels. The same is sure to be said in explanation of Nationwide in twenty years time when critics question whether the public really cared about Maire's homemade jam in Offaly. 


3. The Muppets 
The Muppets are like chocolate, if even a close friend admitted to not liking them at all, for a brief moment you'd consider ex-communicating them from your gang. Jim Henson, the puppet god, should be tributed with creating some of the best TV characters to hit our screens such as Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Beaker, Swedish Chef, and Animal. 


4. Sesame Street
Technically all of the Sesame Street characters are part of The Muppets, but what the hell, they had their own show. Try spicen up any maths problems you have by doing the Count von Count songs, or enjoy dessert like Cookie Monster. Oh, we know how to live alright!  Ernie and Bert showed us what a true friend was and we still love 'em for it; they were the precursor to Joey and Chandler, J.D. and Turk, Will and Grace. Whoever, they were there first. To top off how much they've been in your life, we bet at least once you thoguht about dressing up , or did, as Big Bird for Halloween. 


5. Dustin the Turkey
He's a scrappy Dubliner turkey who has shot to fame through his slot on RTE's children programmes and more recently, The Eurovision. Now try apply that line to anyone else on TV. He's so gangsta we couldn't but love him.