Pre-production is moving forward on a sequel to The Muppets (cue Kermit’s “Yaaaay!”), but Jason Segel won’t be attached as a writer this time around.  According to Vulture, director James Bobin and original co-write Nicholas Stoller will handle the script for the sequel.  However, Segel won’t have time to work on the screenplay due to his commitments to How I Met Your Mother, his burgeoning film career, and doing publicity for the upcoming comedies The Five-Year Engagement and This Is Forty.  It’s a bit of a bummer since he and Stoller were so gung-ho on getting the Muppets back to the big screen, but there’s still a chance he could star in the sequel if the script has a place for him.

One of the great things about The Muppets is that Segel didn’t make the movie all about his character.  Gary’s got a character arc, but the film really belongs to Walter and Kermit.  While I have nothing against Segel, I can see a Muppets sequel without Gary.  Now on the other hand, if Bret McKenzie doesn’t come back to do the music, then I’ll be concerned.

It looks like the Muppets are coming back in a big way.  Not only do they have a tentpole film coming up this November (appropriately titled The Muppets), but there’s also a new album, Muppets: The Green Album that has popular artists covering songs from The Muppet Show and the previous Muppet movies.  There’s Weezer covering “Rainbow Connection”, My Morning Jacket performing “Our World”, OK Go doing their rendition of the “Muppet Show Theme Song” and nine more tracks.  I haven’t had time to listen to the full album, but these tracks sounded good.  I will give the disclosure that my opinions of music should always be taken with a grain of salt.

You can listen to the full album after the jump.  Muppets: The Green Album will be available to buy on CD and MP3 on August 23rd.

Disney has released new images from both The Muppet Movie and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. While it’s taken Walt Disney a number of years to get a new Muppet movie off the ground, every official image they release and every leaked photo from the set is getting me more excited to see Kermit, Miss Piggy, and the rest of the gang back on movie screens.  I really think The Muppets is going to be a huge hit for the studio.  I know I can’t wait to see it.  Hit the jump for the new images:

The world is split into two people: those who like the Muppets and those who don’t. The people who say the only good Muppet movies are the first two or three aren’t real fans either. If you’re a fan, you’re a fan through and through and It’s A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie is one for the fans. This 2002 made for TV movie has it’s typical doses of celebrities in goofy roles, celebrities as themselves, pop culture references, original songs and a recycled plot. Continue reading for my full review.

Last December, with little to no fanfare, Iowa Public Television posted a rare 1969 clip of Jim Henson teaching the art of puppet making.  The clip (from the show Public See) is obviously only the first in a what was a series of segments featuring the famous puppeteer.

The 15-minute video is a wonderful look at the man who usually hid himself below the stage.  It is also bursting with great ideas for parents who are looking for ways to keep their children busy.  Henson, along with Don Sahlin (the head Muppet’s designer until his death in 1978), demonstrate how easy it is to make simple puppets out of common household objects such as socks, tennis balls, styrofoam cups, wooden spoons, envelopes and even produce.  My 7-year-old has already made it clear that she’s not going to let me rest until we’re created at least one of each.  As a bonus for Muppet fans, it even features a cameo from Rowlf the dog!

This clip is a rare treat which less than 10,000 people have viewed so far.  All you have to do to enjoy it yourself is to hit the jump.

Known for writing, producing or starring in such memorable recent comedies as Get Him to the Greek, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Knocked Up, along with his successful television series How I Met Your Mother, Jason Segel is on a roll in Hollywood. Making his animated debut in Despicable Me, the actor voices the villainous Vector, super arch-nemesis to Gru (voiced by Steve Carell).

During a press conference to promote the film, Jason Segel talked about finding the right voice for Vector, his tips for being funny and how he’s more proud of this film than anything he’s ever done. He also gave an update on how his Muppets movie is coming along, and hinted at what fans can expect from the upcoming season of How I Met Your Mother. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

If you’re nervous that Nicholas Stoller’s (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) second film would somehow disappoint, I’m happy to report Get Him to the Greek is extremely funny and definitely worth seeing.   Since we’ve been covering the film a lot over the past few months (here’s my set report, a bunch of new images, on set interviews with Jonah Hill, Russell Brand and writer/director Nicholas Stoller) I’d like to think most of you are familiar with the film and are excited to see it.  But for the three people that have no idea what it’s about, watch this awesome red band trailer.  Trust me, you’ll laugh a lot.

So with the film about to come out, I recently got to talk on the phone with Nicholas Stoller for an extended interview.  We talked about Get Him to the Greek and all his future projects (Muppets, Stretch Armstrong, more).  He also talked about how he got started writing, what it was like to edit Greek, what it’s really like to make a movie, and so much more.  Hit the jump to either read the transcript or listen to the audio:

“A Muppet Christmas: Letters to Santa” is an hour long TV special, brought to you on DVD so you can strengthen the DVD market and bolster Halloween sales. And uh, celebrate Christmas. I mean, family. I mean, I respect all creeds and what is important is that family’s qxythdshg. I’m sorry, I just passed out and hit my head on the keyboard. LTS centers round the secular version of the Christmas holiday that seems to make the least people uncomfortable, and make the most money for retailers. The action features the Muppets mailing letters, singing and dancing, accidentally not mailing some letters, and hamming it up with celebrity guests. Spoiler Alert: They take the letters to North Pole, meet Santa, and sing some more. Hope I didn’t ruin the surprise. More after the jump: