Universal has announced plans to once again update The Little Rascals, the series of Hal Roach-produced Our Gang shorts that so lifted the spirits of the nation in the early 20th century with their hilarious, adorable exploitation of child labor. Fittingly, the only confirmed star as yet for this, the first revival of the franchise since Penelope Spheeris' 1994 film, is 7-year-old Eden Wood, who was whelped in the same Toddlers & Tiaras mill that produced Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. Unfortunately, while Wood's own spinoff, Eden's World, similarly succeeded in providing the all-important schadenfreude that comes from watching an untalented child's dreams be repeatedly crushed, it lacked fat, self-described "rednecks" farting and gleefully destroying their bodies, thus failing to capture the zeitgeist.


However, Wood will now get the consolation prize of playing the equally precociously egomaniacal Darla in a new Little Rascals movie, which should keep her hanging on to her unhealthy dreams of celebrity for at least a couple more years. And like its director's previous efforts Inspector Gadget 2 and Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2, the new Little Rascals will be released straight to DVD, enabling it to take full advantage of the, let's say, crowd-averse sort of person who watches Toddlers & Tiaras.