It's been a long time coming, but The Hub network is finally releasing some new episodes of Strawberry Shortcake's Berry Bitty Adventures. They also have started to adhere more to the original lineup of characters in that they are now adding a boy character, Huckleberry Pie, for the season three premiere.

Those who were familiar with the 1980's incarnation of the series, Huckleberry Pie was the only boy character among the cast, and he originally was more styled after Mark Twain's famous Huckleberry Finn, with a straw hat and overalls.

When the series re-booted for the first time in the early 2000's, he was transformed into a more modern boy with a backwards baseball cap and a skateboard to ride. This time around, he gets transformed once more into an even more timely young man with a Justin Bieber-esque haircut and a trendy layered-shirt styling. While his original pet friend Pupcake was transferred to Strawberry in this series, his pooch pal also returns with a new name (although a similar look to the original), Tom Tom.

In the premiere episode, which airs on Saturday, February 23, Huckleberry gets his pup van stuck in a ditch just outside of Berry Bitty City, where the current cast resides. He is on his way to Berry Big City to set up a dog shelter to adopt out the various pooches he has on board. He is invited to stay with Strawberry while his van is repaired. Alas, his pups get the best of her guestroom and he must fix the damages.

Huck is very much a typical boy. He's a little reckless and he claims to be good at everything in order to get the others to like him.

Blueberry helps him realize that he must be true to himself in order to allow others to get to know and like the real Huckleberry. If there's one thing this series does well, it espouses lessons about being a good friend and being a good person, and this season appears to be no exception to that rule.

The premiere comes as part of a two episode event. The second episode deals with Huckleberry returning to the Berry Patch to assist Blueberry in writing a mystery story for a magazine submission. However, Huck isn't the best writer, and seeks help from Cherry Jam, which makes Blueberry jealous. It would seem a relationship is forming between the two, but given the age demographic for the show, I'm sure it will be nothing more than a special friendship.

My son was never really interested in Strawberry Shortcake initially, and I think it was mainly due to the lack of characters with which he could identify. However, in watching these episodes, he was definitely more attentive. Huck comes across as humorous and likeable, and definitely widens the audience for Strawberry Shortcake, a show that was very pink and girly previously. It's surely a good move to broaden the appeal on the part of The Hub. It also serves to bring back a beloved character from the original series; something fans from the '80s will no doubt be happy about.