Love Quote by Jason Segel

Calling Kermit “the Everyman, the original Tom Hanks” is Segel tipping his hand about what he thinks pop culture is for: not aspiration, but reassurance. Tom Hanks is shorthand for decent-guy credibility, the celebrity you trust to narrate your conscience without making it weird. By casting Kermit in that role, Segel frames The Muppets as emotional infrastructure, not just children’s entertainment. Kermit is the steady center who keeps the chaos humane, the adult in the room who still believes in the show.

Then Segel swerves to his real affection: Fozzie Bear, “the classic borderline hacky entertainer.” That phrase is doing double duty. On the surface it’s a punchline about corny jokes and low batting averages. Underneath, it’s an endorsement of the vulnerable performer who keeps going anyway, who risks bombing in public because the point isn’t perfection, it’s connection. Fozzie’s “waka waka” persona is basically an anxiety disorder in a porkpie hat: he wants approval, he wants to belong, he wants the room to laugh with him rather than at him.

The context matters: Segel didn’t just grow up on The Muppets; he helped resurrect them for a new era. His taste here isn’t nostalgic trivia, it’s a mission statement. Kermit is the ideal self we want leading the group. Fozzie is the messy self we recognize when we’re trying, failing, and still showing up for the bit.