In case you haven’t heard, Jason Segel, the frequently nude star of Forgetting Sarah Marshall has been given the job of resurrecting The Muppets. He’s writing the next movie for Kermit and his pigs, chickens and things. In fact, he’s just handed in his first draft.

In a recent interview with IESB he dropped all sorts of tidbits about the project, and sounds pretty enthused about it. Speaking as a Muppet fan, I am too. Segel may seem like a strange choice to carry on Jim Henson’s dream, especially when you consider how firmly rooted in raunch his career has been till now, but if you can look past the scat humor… he’s weirdly perfect.

So far, everything he has to say about the project is Muppetastic, and it sounds like he intends to ensure no character will be left behind. They’re all in it he says, “Sam the Eagle is definitely in it. Statler and Waldorf - the whole gang!” I hope that means background chickens. Lots of background chickens. You can never have too many feathers in a good Muppet musical number.

Segel doesn’t reveal a lot about the plot of his script, but he sounds committed to steering them back to what Jim Henson’s vision of them was before his untimely, tragic death. Says Jason, “All I can say is that we are trying to bring it back to the early '80s movies where it's not Muppets in the Sahara or Muppets Underwater. It's the Muppets getting back together to put on a show, to save the studio.” That sounds absolutely perfect, as long as nobody starts throwing around the word reboot. The 90s seemed to be about the Muppets parodying other movies, and that was fun. But they were always at their best when they were doing their own thing in the 80s: traveling across the country in a Studebaker to make it big and fighting to save the Muppet theater on TV. The Muppets are at their best when they’re the underdogs, succeeding by using their unique weirdness to beat the odds.

And to me, the most reassuring Segel has to say in the interview is that they’ll actually use Muppets. That might seem like a given, but it wasn’t long ago that there was a push to start replacing the actual Muppets with CGI versions. Happily, when asked if they would be CGI Muppets he says, “No, no, no. Hopefully it will fall right in the pantheon of The Great Muppet Caper, Muppets Take Manhattan, Muppet Movie, you know, we're trying to make one of those.” Jason Segel, if I put on a pig nose will you marry me? I can’t wait to see your movie.

If you’re a Muppet fan (and if not, consider purchasing an inner child), make it a point to head over to IESB and read the rest of their fantastic interview with the man who will carry on Jim Henson’s fantastic legacy: Jason Segel.

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Muppet-Newsflash-Jason-Segel-Talks-Kermit-9079.html