Will the 'HIMYM' star's absence hurt or help this iconic franchise's reemergence into the movies?

Less than a month before The Muppets comes to DVD, the film’s (human) star Jason Segel of How I Met Your Mother has confirmed he will not be back for the sequel as an actor or a writer. Of course, the other big news is that a sequel is in the works. Some of the Clackers got together and talked about the news and The Muppets.

Bob: He won’t be involved, but another Muppet movie has been green lit. I find both tidbits to be extremely good news (sorry, Katie).

Katie: While I’m thrilled we’re getting another movie, I’m actually a little disappointed they aren’t going with a television show … the end of the film sets them up so well and I think the show within the movie proves the Muppet Show format is still great. I don’t think it’s a bad thing that Segel is out for the movie. I had no problem with him in the film, but the sequel doesn’t need his character.

Bob: Well, he won’t be involved with the script either. I generally enjoyed the film, but wanted more Muppet. I think it was odd that a Muppet movie starred Jason Segel and Amy Adams — it should star Kermit and Piggy, shouldn’t it?

Frank Oz refused to direct because he didn’t like the script. Frankly, Segel should have been canned for that awful villain rap number anyway … what was that?

Katie: Well, the rap scene could have been completely canned and it would have been a better film. Honestly, even the part where the villain says he owns the Muppet name makes the end weaker. If it had just been the building they’d lose, the Muppets would have walked out with their heads held high, only to have their fans support them. The deus ex machina moment at the end with the villain giving back the studio wouldn’t have been needed if the rap scene was taken out. I really wanted to give the movie 4 1/2 stars instead of 5, but since we do whole numbers and I felt it was better than 4 stars I ended up rounding up.

Also, I didn’t mind the human element though because it was really Walter’s story. Segel and Adams just supported him more than anything, and that reminded me quite a bit of the human actors in Muppets Take Manhattan.

Ivey: After the last film, I’m incredibly unlikely to be interested in the second.

I’m obviously just a casual fan, not nearly as faithful as Katie or Bob, but I do have an idea in my head of what I appreciate about the Muppets — the wit and “smarter” humor that goes right over the heads of the kids for the adults in the room to laugh at. And the first half of the film had that … but somewhere around the halfway mark, it lost that voice, and became this overly sentimental mass of sappy mess.

Again, I’m just a casual fan, but I was disappointed.

Katie: I found it to be just the right amount of wit and heart at the end, actually — except for the rap. The rap was pretty bad. But for me, The Muppets proved there’s still room in the world for dreamers who fight hard enough for their dreams. And I don’t mind if that’s sappy.

Now I’m going to go listen to “Rainbow Connection” and have a good happy cry.

Photo Credit: Disney