WHY have "the Muppets" recently taken over "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" ... ?

I love "the Muppets" as much as anyone born or raised in the 70's... but when Cookie Monster turned up on "The Colbert Report" tonight, and a relative of "Elmo" named "Gitmo" has recently been a recurring character on "The Daily Show..." (Yes, sadly... he was waterboarded...)  I begin to wonder about the connections between "The Muppets" and Comedy Central... I mean, seriously... you have to WATCH those Muppets... they're always up to SOME sort of mischief.... 

~~LQ