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I am pleased to have a sweet guest post for today’s “Life & Times of Gen X” from Lee Skallerup Bessette, PhD. Lee keeps it going over at her site College Ready Writing, a blog about all things higher ed. She’s also active on Twitter.  

During her downtime from preparing students as writers and users of the English language, Lee cheers for the Montreal Canadians. That’s hockey folks, and that’s an eduClaytion win. Of course, if her beloved Habs come back in round 1 they may end up against my Penguins. Yes, I remember that her team knocked my team out of the playoffs last year. No, I don’t want to talk about that.

But maybe the best thing I can say about Lee is that she loves her some Muppets. So do I. So should any true Gen X’er.

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I love the Muppets. Scratch that. I love Jim Henson.

As a Gen X’er, I was raised not only by Sesame Street but also The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, The Storyteller, and (shudder) Muppet Babies. You can read about my love for Jim Henson and all things Muppet here, a post I wrote after visiting the travelling Henson exhibit in Chicago.

Muppet movies are awesome because the songs were great, the jokes were neither too smart nor too dumb, and the cameos were well-placed and hysterical without overwhelming the movie (I’m looking at you Muppets From Space!).

I fear that [writer & actor] Jason Segel will be fighting an uphill battle to meet the high standard Jim Henson created since meta (work of fiction in which characters know they’re in a work of fiction), irony, and celebrity mugging have become so commonplace in kids “entertainment.”

In honor of the upcoming Muppet Movie, let me run down my four favorite Muppet films. I know the new one’s already been written and shot, but I can only hope Segel took notes. Continue Reading…