Sam Jones | Disney

Amy Adams and Jason Segel star as Mary and Gary in Disney’s “The Muppets,” coming to theaters on Nov. 23, 2011.

The Muppets were a very important part of my childhood. I was Beaker for Halloween once and won a costume contest.

Watching the Muppets 4D experience at Disney World remains the only time I’ve ever been okay with a 4D movie. So when I heard they were making a new movie, I was both excited and terrified. The franchise had been dormant for so long—could they really revive it? The answer is yes, and in near-perfect form, too.

“The Muppets” is the story of Walter, a puppet (voiced by Peter Linz), and his brother Gary (Jason Segel), a human, living in Smalltown, USA. Gary and his girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams) go on a romantic getaway to Los Angeles, and Walter tags along. They go to Muppet Studios, where Walter overhears the diabolical plan of the oilman Tex Richman to buy the studio and destroy it for more oil. The only way to stop him is if the original Muppets can get back together and raise $10 million.

And so Walter, Gary and Mary travel to round up the Muppets. At this point, the movie truly begins to feel like a Muppets movie. They break the fourth wall and find themselves in absolutely ridiculous yet hilarious situations. There are explosions, maniacal laughs, and montages set to ’80s music. At one point, they kidnap Jack Black. And all of the best Muppets appear, including Kermit, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, the Swedish Chef, and Statler and Waldorf.

Segel, an actor I am not fond of, won me over with his pitch-perfect portrayal of someone who would believe that a Muppet was his brother. He also co-wrote the movie, and his passion for the Muppets really shows. Adams is also great in the girlfriend role, though some of her musical numbers feel like “Enchanted: Fully Loaded.” Chris Cooper is dynamite as the villain, and at one point he raps. Academy Award-winner Chris Cooper raps. And it works brilliantly. The cameos are all worthwhile. My personal favorite was Emily Blunt (“The Devil Wears Prada”) as Miss Piggy’s secretary at French Vogue.

It’s not a Muppets movie without musical numbers, and those are some of the highlights of the movie. The new songs fit right in with the Muppet canon, and the old songs are given their due. Bret McKenzie of “Flight of the Conchords” wrote the songs, which look to be Oscar favorites in the Best Original Song category.

Most importantly, “The Muppets” will introduce their brand of classic characters to a new generation, which will hopefully love the Muppets as much as I do.

Now that you’ve been utterly convinced, please direct your attention to either “Freaks and Geeks” or “Undeclared.” They’re among the best shows to last only one season, and, more importantly, they’re both on YouTube. If you’re a true champion, you could even finish both in about 24 hours. But for those of you with sleep schedules and/or social lives, here’s a quick way to decide where to start.

“Freaks and Geeks”

Smile, it’s picture day! Be sure to crank out a half smile before the camera flashes and whisks you away. And, yes, that is Joan Jett yelling, and no, she doesn’t give a damn about her bad reputation, and neither does James Franco, Jason Segel, Seth Rogen, or any of the Apatow club members who first appear in this high school masterpiece. It stars the lovely Linda Cardellini as Lindsay Weir, the goody-two-shoes mathlete who dons an army jacket and tries to position herself as one of the freaks. They smoke behind dumpsters, talking about Jimmy Page while air-drumming to Rush, and ooze nostalgia for the late ’70s that even someone barely born in the ’80s can succumb to.

As Lindsay descends into the land of the underachievers, bucking the advice of her balding ex-hippie guidance counselor, the earnestness of her plot becomes sidetracked by the geeks. Lindsay’s brother Sam and his cripplingly uncool friends tackle freshman year, evading mandatory post-gym showers, and discovering and then being scarred by first encounters with pornography and other hopefully semi-autobiographical misadventures that echo both the humor and the heart of “The 40 Year Old Virgin.”

Best part: Lindsay’s stuck-in-the-mud dad trying to be scary. “You know, I had a friend who used to smoke. You know what he’s doing now? He’s dead!…Let’s go dig him up now and see how cool he looks.”

And then, seconds later: “There was a girl in our school who experimented in premarital sex. You know what she did on graduation day? Died!”

“Undeclared”

So maybe “Freaks and Geeks” lays it on too heavy for you—you have your own problems; you can’t cringe at every misgiving that comes to screen, after all. So you might try “Undeclared,” an earnest college comedy that is, perhaps, the most accurate representation of your college experience. It follows Steven Karp, his suitemates and a rotating cast of other floormates as they explore the proclivities of freshman year, with the added terror of Steven’s recently divorced dad consistently stopping by unannounced—the sort of thing that makes you glad Washington University is 1,000 miles away from home.

Together, they make the same mistakes that all of us have, tracing over familiar plotlines (parents weekend, work-study, pledging) with the same crises of immaturity that, according to Apatow’s movies, don’t actually go away until you’ve impregnated someone, or been diagnosed with cancer, or anything else that’s caused you to stop being nice and start getting real.

Steven’s suitemates consist of Seth Rogen (actually of college age at the time); Lloyd, his sexiling British roommate; and Marshall, a goofy slob who, even after two months here, already seems too familiar. Through a wonderful balance of tenderly designed characters and college-necessitated absurdity, “Undeclared” makes Animal House-ian antics seem within reach, enabled by absurd cameos: Jason Segel plays an obsessive boyfriend who manages a Kinko’s-type copy store, Adam Sandler plays himself touring a college circuit, and Will Ferrell plays a ghostwriter with a speed problem.

Best part: A prank war with an RA leads to a hallway slip-and-slide. It’ll only take you a couple of minutes to realize how feasible this actually is…and how much more everyone would like you if you actually did this. I mean, really, all you need is tarp and laundry detergent.

(Ron P. Jaffe | CBS)

It’s a strategy that’s worked for years. Throw the same funny people into different situations every week and hilarity ensues. Luckily, “How I Met Your Mother” knows how to follow a formula. If you’re not family with HIMYM, the show is about its central character, Ted (Josh Radner), and how he – you guess it – met the mother of his children.

Spending four years trying to reveal the identity of one woman could be about as interesting as watching water boil. But that is why HIMYM is an ensemble comedy. Ted is the heartfelt architect searching for his one true love. Marshall (Jason Segel) and Lily (Allison Hannigan) have been together since college, but have a relationship as stale as freshly baked bread. Barney (Niel Patrick Harris) is the suit-wearing cad with a secret heart of gold. And Robin (Cobie Smulders), the Canadian ex-pop star who can’t find her path, rounds out the group.

In last May’s season finale, we learned that Ted was going to become an architecture professor at Columbia. And more importantly, we saw Robin and Barney, who had spent more than a year in will-they-or-won’t-they relationship limbo, make out passionately. All summer, viewers were left to wonder if they would get together.

Monday’s season five premiere, “Definitions,” was pretty simple. Ted nervously begins his teaching career as an architecture professor at Columbia. He awkwardly tries out a few teaching styles to see what kind of professor he should be. Unfortunately for Ted, nothing works. Not because he’s a bad teacher, but because he walked into the wrong lecture hall. Once Ted realizes this, he runs to the right architecture classroom. When he arrives, he has lost his jitters and becomes an awesome professor.

Meanwhile, Robin and Barney had spent the summer hooking up secretly, because they were not quite ready to define their relationship. Lily was devastated when she learned they weren’t dating, so when she found out that RoBarney were actually still together, she takes matters into her own hands. Lily locks the clandestine couple in Robin’s room and, in the morning, refuses to let them out until they have “the” relationship talk. Barney and Robin eventually decide to lie about being a couple, just so they can escape. As the episode ends, it dawns on Lily, Marshall, and Ted that Robin and Barney are actually falling in love, as much as they try to resist.

While the main plot is pretty funny, the genius of “How I Met Your Mother” lies in the little moments. Marshall gives Ted a fedora and whip to start off his new job, hoping that Ted could channel Marshall’s favorite professor, Dr. Indiana Jones. In one scene, Ted and Barney flashback to a conversation they had in their favorite bar years ago on tuxedo night where they discuss how the rules that apply to gremlins (i.e. never feed them after midnight), also apply to women. The utter randomness of this show makes it a joy to watch. There are a few utterly awkward scenes per episode that also spice up the show. In my favorite moment from “Definitions,” Ted wakes up from a nightmare to find Barney standing beside his bed. Ted starts to explain his dream, not even questioning why Barney is in his room, only to find his friend looking for condoms.

This was an extremely promising season premiere. It will be interesting to see if the Robin-Barney relationship can last without the show losing any quality. I’m more interested in how this new relationship will change the dynamic within the group of friends. Although the characters in “How I Met Your Mother” have their own lives, this show will always be about how Ted, Barney, Robin, Marshall, and Lily interact. After four years, the writers know and love the characters they have created, which makes for an amazing series. With any luck, “Definitions” will be the start of season five’s winning streak, and this season is going to be legen…wait for it…dary!

“How I Met Your Mother” is on CBS, Monday’s at 7 p.m.