Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show In 1999,
Jordan Schlansky and the Triumph entourage crashed the 123rd annual
Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at
Madison Square Garden, New York City, and after some video shooting, were later ejected by security guards.
Star Wars In May 2002, Triumph paid a visit to
Star Wars fans lining up for the premiere of
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones outside the
Ziegfeld Theater in New York, airing 2002-05-17, mocking their actions and stereotypical
nerd culture. Notable moments include a wedding that took place at the line, and the appearances of
Blackwolf the Dragonmaster (Richard Washington), a real-life
fantasy gaming fan and the "Unofficial Wizard of New York", and
Spock who gave everyone
the finger. Smigel has said "It's still the Triumph sketch I hear the most about and I'd say it's still the best. The simplest explanation is that it features the funniest straight men Triumph's ever encountered. So you're laughing not only at the jokes but the faces, the costumes and committment [sic]. There's so much to enjoy."
Space Ghost Coast to Coast In 2004, Triumph appeared as the guest star on the hit
Adult Swim series
Space Ghost Coast to Coast in the episode "Dreams". Triumph offhandedly mentions having anal sex with
Lassie, which causes friction between
Space Ghost and Moltar over such topics being brought up on television.
MTV Video Music Awards and incident with Eminem In 2001 and 2002, Triumph appeared in the audience at the
MTV Video Music Awards. In 2001, Triumph interviewed
Carson Daly before spotting
Jennifer Lopez and asking if he could sniff her butt. In 2002, Triumph interviewed
Moby before spotting
Eminem, who covered Triumph with his hand, saying "I already got my TV time". Triumph was then shoved away by Eminem's bodyguards. The following day, Triumph appeared on ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien,'' and gave a press conference about the incident while wearing a neck brace. Triumph later appeared in Eminem's music video for "
Ass Like That", and at the
2004 MTV Video Music Awards, Eminem began his performance by voicing a lookalike puppet.
2004 presidential campaign Triumph filmed a number of segments during the
2004 US presidential election cycle. In November 2003, in the early days of the
2004 U.S. presidential primary campaign, Triumph was the "lead guest" on
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno the same night that Democratic candidate
John Kerry also appeared on the show. Kerry made a dramatic entry, riding his
Harley-Davidson motorcycle onto the stage; Triumph, in characteristic style, poked fun at him with a series of scathingly rude remarks, to Kerry's evident discomfort. (Among his jibes: "The poop I made in the dressing room had more heat than John Kerry!") In July and August 2004, Triumph followed up with visits to both major parties'
national conventions. During the
Democratic National Convention in
Boston (from which he was ejected), Triumph and
Michael Moore attempted to crash
Bill O'Reilly's set. O'Reilly shouted, "If I have to come out there, Insult Dog, you're gonna be talking a lot higher than you are now." He also gained entry to the Republican convention in New York, and even debated actor
Ron Silver during the wrap-up on
MSNBC.
2008 presidential election In September 2008, Triumph traveled to
St. Paul, Minnesota to attend that year's Republican National Convention, where he filed a series of reports as he joked around with delegates inside the hall and protesters in the streets outside the convention. He also conducted a -minute interview (at a hotel across the street) with independent candidate
Ralph Nader. In October 2008, Triumph made an appearance at
Hofstra University in
Hempstead, New York during the final presidential debate between
John McCain and
Barack Obama. He interviewed and made jokes with political party supporters and with other members of the press, including the host of
Fox News Channel's
On the Record with Greta Van Susteren, making a surprise appearance on her show with
Mr. Met, the mascot of the
New York Mets.
SpongeBob SquarePants In November 2009, Triumph was one of certain celebrities (along with
Rosario Dawson,
Eddie Deezen,
LeBron James,
Tina Fey,
Will Ferrell,
Craig Ferguson,
Robin Williams, and
Pink) in the
SpongeBob SquarePants season 6 episode "
Truth or Square". Tom Kenny's Patchy the Pirate made another attempt, this time to call the dog about guest starring on his 10th anniversary special, only for Triumph to insult his likeness (primarily referencing
Jack Sparrow and
Cap'n Crunch) and later hang up on him.
The Jack and Triumph Show Triumph was a main character in the short-lived
Adult Swim series
The Jack and Triumph Show with
Jack McBrayer and
June Squibb. The program was nominated for an
Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special. In November 2016, after the election of
Donald Trump as president, Triumph appeared on
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to discuss Trump's victory. In November 2018, Triumph covered the Texas Senate campaign between
Ted Cruz and
Beto O'Rourke for
The Late Show. In February 2020, Triumph appeared on
The Late Show to attempt to interview congresspeople during the
first Trump impeachment trial. After holding up a sign behind Senator
Lindsey Graham during a CNN interview, he was escorted out of the building before finishing the segment outside.
2022 U.S. Capitol arrest In June 2022, Smigel and six staffers from
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert were arrested by the
United States Capitol Police for an alleged unlawful entry in the
Longworth House Office Building while filming a segment with Triumph during the
January 6 attack hearings.
2024 election In October 2024, Smigel appeared in the background of multiple crowd shots during the vice-presidential debate between Tim Walz and
JD Vance. Two Triumph puppets were in use, dressed as Vance’s grandmother and WWE star Hulk Hogan. They were briefly interviewed by CNN’s Jake Tapper before the broadcast ended. On October 27, 2024, Triumph interviewed attendees waiting to attend a Donald Trump rally at Madison Square Garden. At one point, he dons face paint and Viking horns to resemble
Jacob Chansley. Triumph caps the segment with a crowd song parodying conservative sentiments. Both incidents aired as correspondent pieces for
The Daily Show. Triumph reappeared at the
People's March in
Washington, D.C. in January 2025 as well as that year’s red carpet for the White House Correspondents dinner.
2026 White House Correspondents' Dinner Triumph appeared at the
2026 White House Correspondents' Dinner, and was interviewed by
C-SPAN's John McArdle, shortly prior to the shooting that occurred at that event. == Trademark lawsuit ==