Kermit and Crew Back Again!

 I usually don't get excited for rehashes of pop culture greats and I'm not just talking about recent flicks like The A-Team and Charlie's Angels. I was gravely offended when Ferris Bueller himself thought he could out gadget the original Inspector Gadget in the late 90's. But "The Muppets" is coming back with help from none other than Jason Segel.
 For those of you who don't know who he is, Jason Segel co-starred in this summer's "Bad Teacher," co-wrote and co-starred in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" back in 2008 in addition to being one of television's all-time best husbands Marshall Erickson in "How I Met Your Mother." And I'm predicting that if he re-energizes the brand of Kermit, Ms. Piggy and company, he'll become a real threat to become a movie star once "How I Met Your Mother" ends soon.
 The previews for "The Muppets" look awesome. Segel costars with the lovely Amy Adams and Rashida Jones makes a cameo which is even better. In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, Segel mentioned that there will be a new muppet added to the gang named Walter. While the premise is not knew, the fact that Segel decidedly wanted to help push the Muppets into the 21st century is great for several reasons.
 I hate to say it but cartoons and children's programming nowadays aren't the same. Either they are exclusively aimed at young, developing preschoolers or way too advanced for their age tweens. There's no quirky middle ground. Even back in the 1990s when I was growing up there was great programming on both Disney and Nickelodeon that you could watch and not get bored or offended by watching.
 "The Muppet Babies" cartoon was one of them. It featured Fozzie, Gonzo, getting into various situations and acting a fool but they learned a critical lesson at the end. Parents could also appreciate the fact that they didn't sneak in strange innuendo like "Spongebob." It was good, clean fun.
 And hopefully with a new sensibility, we'll being seeing more of Kermit and company.

Muppets Redux