MSN TV Blog: Animation

'Click & Clack' ... Clicked

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:27:38 GMT

Wednesday marked the premiere of PBS's "Click & Clack's As the Wrench Turns." I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.

I'm not a fan of their radio show "Car Talk," which is about the two brothers joking around and dropping the occasional bit of car knowledge. Maybe it's because I don't care about cars. Maybe it's because I find their voices somewhat annoying. Not quite sure.

But the cartoon -- at least judging by these first two episodes -- are less about cars and more about random issues.

In the first outing, the show took a swipe at elections and campaign financing. The plot was that because the brothers sucked so badly at pledge drive times, they had to raise $5 million or the network and their show would go under. So they enlist a James Carville-type who suggests that they run for office and use the sweet, sweet federal matching funds to pay off the public-radio debt. But their campaign fails to attract even one vote when the brothers and everyone else fail to back them. Fortunately, they had campaign contributions to fall back on and public radio is saved.

In the second, the brothers decide to outsource their show to India (which amused because it was "revealed" that Rush Limbaugh, Garrison Keillor and Howard Stern had all beaten them to it.) When the outsourced version of "Car Talk" outperformed the regular version, the brothers take an extended vacation. But their producer feels like she's unnecessary and is on the verge of quitting. That is, until the real "Car Talk" crew creates a situation where following the Indian "Car Talk's" advice leads to a huge lawsuit.

Along the way, we got to meet some of the other characters: Beth, the show's producer; Crusty, an old intellectual; Fidel, a Latin Lothario; along with a few others.

All in all, there were enough amusing moments to make it worthwhile. (if politicians named Phil Lander and M. Bezzle don't make you smile or wince, then maybe the show is not for you.)

Of course, with Wednesdays currently being a TV wasteland on broadcast, the bar wouldn't have to be that high.

- posted by Raoul

Strawberry Shortcake: The Next Generation

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 02:46:45 GMT

The New York Times has an interesting article about how dowdy old Strawberry Shortcake is among a number of toons getting a 21st-Century makeover.

The illustration of the new version is at the link. Basically, it looks like someone took the old-fashioned Strawberry Shortcake and ran her through whatever machine produced those Bratz dolls.

Also, the makers of her upcoming cartoon are emphasizing that she'll be "fruit-forward" -- she'll be more about actual strawberries and less about sugary snacks.

Mixed up with this news is that Warner Bros. is going to let people produce customized versions of some of its characters online. The Times quotes one WB exec as saying, "You want a dark, Goth version of Tweety Bird? Have at it."

The Care Bears aren't going to have big ol' bellies.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are going to have more muscles and less 'tude.

And Disney is even thinking about revising Mickey Mouse, for whatever reason.

These actual and proposed changes make me feel like the crabby old man Dana Carvey used to play on "Saturday Night Live." Back in my day, Strawberry Shortcake didn't have a cell phone. And WE LIKED IT!

- posted by Raoul

Holy Crap! 'Family Guy' Mastermind to Become TV's Richest Writer-Producer!

Tue, 06 May 2008 00:33:35 GMT

I just came across this story about how Seth MacFarlane of "Family Guy," "American Dad" and soon "The Cleveland Show" fame is set to become a $100 million man.

What a turnaround from just a few years back when FOX prematurely canceled "FG," huh?

I'm very happy for Seth as a huge fan of both "Family Guy" and "American Dad." But I can't help wondering: could he possibly deserve to be the richest writer-producer in TV?

Aren't there people who are more clever, who get better ratings for their shows, who deserve a bigger payday? Shonda Rhimes, for example? The brains behind "Lost"?

Here's hoping FOX gets its money's worth.

- posted by Raoul

'The Boondocks' Is Back!

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 01:14:49 GMT

Today marks the return of "The Boondocks" on Adult Swim, a show that I've been anxiously anticipating. And to get you in the mood, here's some of the results of a conference call I was in with the creator of the show, Aaron McGruder. Enjoy!

On his initial goal for "The Boondocks":

My goal was to get a job, and to do the kind of thing and the kind of humor I wanted to see, which wasn't out there very much, black political satire. I think when you go down that road and you get any kind of success, shaking things up goes with the territory. No one starts with the goal of shaking things up. It's more, I've got an idea, I think it's funny and I want to share it with people.

I didn't expect the strip to be as big as it was as quickly as it happened. ... That sort of thing takes a long time even if you're really lucky. When the trouble started early, that was a little bit of a surprise.

On the "n-word":

I use the word in the show because I'm a bad person. I cannot in any way defend what I do. (Laughs)

On Samuel L. Jackson:

We try to be really respectful to Sam and not put his name out there. We didn't promote it during the first season either. But yeah, he's in an episode this season.

On the animation changes between Seasons One and Two:

When we finished the last script of the first season, none of us had actually seen the first episode come back from overseas yet. So we'd written the entire season blind, essentially. None of us knew what the show looked like. So just knowing what the show is, obviously, played a huge role in how we shaped Season Two. I think we had much better control over the animation, which really allowed you to tell the stories in a proper way. When you're fighting over the animation or the animation's controlling you, you're limited in what you can do. ....

As we got more comfortable with the animation, I think we got more ambitious in terms of some of the scope of what we were doing and some of the action sequences. There's a lot of fighting in the show this year. A lot of the comedy is more sophisticated because we can get better performances out of the characters with better animation. So in the first season, we tried to push things in terms of what you could see on TV and sometimes we succeeded and sometimes we didn't. I think we succeed a lot more often in Season Two.

On the ending of the comic strip:

I do think the show played a pretty big factor in me having to walk away from the strip. I didn't want to do both badly. In the first season, I tried to do both but it took a huge toll on me. ... I constantly play with the idea of coming back, not to newspapers but online, wireless or something. It's something I think could happen. Whether it happens after the show or maybe even while the show's still running, depends on how everything goes. ... I can't meet [newspapers'] schedule. Seven days a week is just too much and they don't let you go, "I'll let you go for two or three." They make you go all or nothing. I can't meet that kind of deadline situation. A weekly perhaps, but as of now, I just feel however it happened if the strip were ever to come back it would have to be under my terms. Over the last year and a half when I was working on the show, I couldn't even handle the weekly.

On the freedom of TV:

There absolutely is much greater freedom. There's the freedom of storytelling that comes from animation and having all these people work for you and you can go way beyond the scope of what a strip can do. And then in terms of content, newspapers are a very conservative and very sanitized medium. So just in terms of the expression of ideas, we're allowed a lot more range on television. The impact is what it is. The show is a pretty different thing from the strip, and the end of the day, a lot of the stuff we did last season, take the M.L.K. episode, would have just been totally beyond the scope of a newspaper strip. You're limited in not seeing it come to life like you can on TV. ... I have free rein to do what I want. [Adult Swim has] never said no to anything.

On the MLK episode and other scandals:

You'll be happy to know there will be no controversial storylines this season. (Laughs) We went in a totally different direction with the show. Yeah, Al [Sharpton] came after the show and I'm a big supporter of Al. I also went after the show. Unfortunately, the whole second season, we had to write that. That's all written now. I feel terrible about it, 'cause now it's coming on and I can't change it. It depends on what you think is controversial. Some people thought the Martin Luther King episode was controversial. I didn't think so. Everyone draws that line in a different place. There may be some episodes that some people think of as controversial. For me, I don't know. It's hard for me to say.

On how current the show can be:

It's amazing how we write these things, it takes a year, a year and a half, and somehow they all become relevant again. We've done a lot of stuff, Gangstalicious Part II. There's a lot of going on socially and politically that for one reason or another, they've become news stories recently. So I feel like even though we wrote it a long time ago, it's all going to seem on top of things. ... You have to be careful in terms of what specific items from the news you try to play off of. .... No matter what happens in the world, this has to be funny a year or a year and a half from now. With the strip it was like seven days. But the rule is still the same.

- posted by Raoul

Lucky I Saw 'Family Guy Live'

Sun, 16 Sep 2007 21:22:04 GMT

Saturday night the cast of "Family Guy" breezed into Chicago to do the latest of their "Family Guy Live" shows. They packed the Chicago Theater with fans who loved every off-color minute of it. And I was loving it right there with them.

Disclaimer: The following contains spoilers for the season, as well as potentially offensive jokes. You've been duly warned.

I got to chat with three of the four main cast members before they took the stage. Mila Kunis, the voice of Meg, didn't come out to play, at least not while I was there.

First up was Seth Green, who provides the voice of Chris Griffin, the family's overweight and clueless son. I have to say that I've interviewed a lot of people, but few of them made me feel like a nervous fanboy in the process. Green definitely did. That guy's got some charisma going on.

He explaned how the live shows work. The cast performed one in Montreal for a comedy festival and then moved on to do them in New York and Los Angeles. The cast reads from a script on stage and show some video clips. Then they answer some audience questions. "Mainly, [we] try to be incredibly entertaining," he said. It's a different vibe from doing an actual show, because they often are performing in isolation in the studio. Doing things live, they have the energy of the crowd to feed off of.

He talked about how people request particular bits, and how as a viewer of the show, he's been stunned by some of the jokes make it to air, particularly the digs against celebrities.

I asked him what all to expect this season.

His reply: "I have no idea. You know what's funny? Because of the way the show's recorded, I never read the scripts in advance. I go in, I perform it. it's recorded line by line so I get the inference of what's happening in my scene and I don't get any of the rest of the script. That way, when I watch it on television, I can watch it like I'm a fan, because I'm a fan of the show."

He listed the combination of episodes the cast is performing tonight as among his favorites.

"Meg has a job at a convenience store and then Chris winds up working there and befriending the guy who runs the place and ends up being a better employee than her and she gets fired so he has to get her rehired," he said. "But I think there's some interplay between characters that's really funny."

I asked him about how he gets in the mindset of Chris, because he seems like the anti-Seth Green, uncool, unmellow, etc.

"I kind of get into a core reference to get in the voice, and I just perform," he said. "It's fun. It sounds really obnoxious, but I'll shut out the lights in the studio when we're recording and I'll separate myself as best as possible."

As I started to ask about the chance of a big-screen "Family Guy" movie, he got distracted by the arrival of Alex Borstein.

"Alex Borstein is wearing a Bears jersey with no pants on," he said. "She's going to be the big hit of the night. She said she was going to do it and I didn't believe her." He laughed and then turned to my question.

"'The Simpsons' took over 20 years to get to their on-screen debut, so I don't feel a tremendous amount of pressure. 'The Simpsons' have been getting it right for years and years and years, so their path to feature films was a careful and well-plotted one. I hope we'll do the same."

After he plugged "Robot Chicken" DVD sets (the first two seasons are available now) and mentioned that he's tired all the time, he said he didn't know if any movement was happening for a fourth "Austin Powers" movie.

"I heard Mike Myers mention something when he was doing press for 'Shrek,' but I don't think he was serious," he said. "I'm always last to hear about it anyway, so I don't worry about it."

Next up was Seth MacFarlane. In case you don't know, MacFarlane's normal speaking voice is essentially that of Brian, the family's talking, martini-loving dog, so it's odd to hear him. Besides being the show's creator and executive producer, MacFarlane provides the voices of Peter, Brian, Stewie and Quagmire.

He mentioned that the FCC has had somewhat of a chilling effect on the raunchy misadventures of Quagmire and said he hopes a Democrat wins in 2008 to give him a break.

He said the protracted fight between Peter and the giant chicken will continue this season. "I've got to be able to pull off commitment in some form," he said.

As for what's up this season, he said, "The season premiere is our hour-long 'Star Wars' episode, so that's going to be pretty big. It was done in conjunction with LucasFilm. A two-parter, our hundredth episode, comes in November. Stewie kills Lois."

He was totally nonchalant about this, by the way. After all this time, Stewie kills Lois??!?!? What he means he doesn't say. "Those are the big ones," MacFarlane continued. "There's some fun stuff in the works later on, but those are the big ones."

Ideas for gags, he said, can come from anywhere: things that happened to one of the writers recently, or as a child, from stuff in the news, or some crazy thing that's popped into our heads. "It's really just whatever neurons happen to be firing in our heads that day."

On the subject of people recognizes his voice. "If I'm on the phone, ordering a pizza, sometimes I get that, people say, 'Oh, it's Brian.' But generally no, for some reason."

I asked MacFarlane what's the one gag you wish you could have done. He replied with a sigh. "Ahhhh. There's so many. There was the Last Supper gag, where Jesus says, 'Drink this, all of you.' And the disciples put the goblets to their mouths. And then he says, 'For this is my blood.' And they all do this huge comedy spit take, which is pretty funny. They said it was inapprorpiate. It's been 2,000 years. Let's move on, for crying out loud."

MacFarlane also talked about how he knew a million Peter Griffins while he was growing up and that of the various celebrity parodies he's done Ellen Cleghorne stood out as the only one to make an angry call to the studio. He added that LucasFilm signed off on the "Star Wars" parody that's going to kick the season off next week.

When the subject of a "Family Guy" movie came up, MacFarlane said talk about it had heated up in recent weeks. But the difficulty, he said, would be trying to find the free time to actually do it.

If I had gotten more time, I would have asked about the possibility of a "Family Guy"/"American Dad" crossover episode, or maybe tried to get him to let me record him doing an answering-machine message. That would have been wicked cool. But MacFarlane had to go.

Finally, Alex Borstein had her say.

She too explained what "FamilyGuy Live" is about. "Most of what people are paying for is to watch Seth MacFarlane do different voices. The rest of us sit there and hope he stays healthy so we get to keep our jobs." She said the live shows can get pretty wild with Mila Kunis prone to perform naked. (Sadly, I went to the early show). She adopted her Lois voice to say, "Lois Griffin is very thankful to the fans."

A Chicago-area native, Borstein said she's glad to be back home and able to perform in a big venue like the Chicago Theater. "This is a nice way to do it without having to actually audition and work hard like a real actor."

She elaborated a little on what to expect this season. "We already had an episode where Stewie gets his comeuppance against Lois. The 'Star Wars' episode is coming up, which is near and dear to so many of our hearts because we're all such nerds. That's the most excited one for me. We're doing several of them. I don't know if you know that. we're doing a 'Star Wars' one, we're doing 'Empire,' and we're doing 'Return of the Jedi.'"

And what about the prequel trilogy?

"If it were up to me, I'd forget it ever existed," she said. "That was like an exercise in green screen. It's tough to do a prequel because everyone already knows what happened. It's hard to tell a story creatively because everyone's always second-guessing. I personally was like, 'We know they're going to screw, we know they're going to make Leia and Luke. Stop running in the fields and get on with it.'"

It's sometimes tough to be Lois. "The hard thing about playing Lois is you see some of the guy characters have a little more fun," she said. "It's really hard being Lois, (slipping into her Lois voice) because I'm married to a fat idiot who could crush me. (Back in her real voice) But as a character it's hard being sane in the center of all that madness. Playing Lois is a treat because most sitcom moms are really boring. They don't like sex. They hate cooking. They fight with their husband. We have so many scenes of their having pure joy together, the two of them against the world. People like that."

So is victory really Stewie's this season?

"Lois does get killed by Stewie," Borstein said. "That's why I have to do all the other characters. I do Tricia Takanawa and I do Loretta because you never know when you're going to get killed off the show. It's like the final week of 'The Sopranos.' Anybody can get whacked. Stewie does shoot Lois. That's the only thing I can tell you. He shoots her. And then there's a trial. And somebody goes to jail."

The writers range from people barely out of college ("fresh meat," Borstein calls them) to people in their 50s, so they have a range of experiences to draw from. A lot of the writers spend a lot of time on the Internet. So if some of them have found this blog, "Hi writers!"

"We like to make a nice, strong living out of other people's mistakes and failures so we're always looking," she said. "Poor Britney, huh? Britney and Paris have given us a lot of fabulous material."

Her plans for her stay in Chicago: "Eat. I'm going to fill this jersey. That's my plan. I'm going to tub it out." She was also planning to see the Bears game and see if she could get backstage and take Rex Grossman out. We wondered why coach Lovie Smith still has Grossman starting. "What is he? He thinks it's a movie and the kid's got heart? Bull----. I don't care about heart. We need an arm and good choices. Somebody who knows to throw it to his own team."

Aside from "Family Guy," Borstein said she's developing a couple of live-action projects and a series of animated shorts for "MadTV" based on a character she did there called Miss Swan that'll be called "Swanime."

I asked her about how weird it is that the show was cancelled and now it's back on the air and doing live performances. "It's like Jesus. We're Jesus. We've arisen, and we're going to make everything alright. People are saying 'He's coming back,' but they don't realize he's here and his name is Seth MacFarlane."

Then it was showtime.

MacFarlane introduced his cast one at a time. Mike Henry, the voice of Cleveland and dirty old man Herbert, got a great reception when he did "Party over here" in Cleveland's voice. And the audience liked Danny Smith doing his "Wacky Waving Inflatable Arms Flailing Tube Man" bit.

But Borstein got probably the most enthusiastic applause, as Green predicted. "What the f--- is up with Rex Grossman?" she asked in Lois's voice to even more applause. Then returning to her regular voice, she said "I actually think it's wonderful that the NFL would have a mentally retarded person. I think it's a big step."

The cast performed three story arcs: Peter blows his fingers off with firecrackers and Lois has to come in to his work to prevent him frm being fired; Chris gets Meg fired from the convenience store where they both work and Brian gets ribbed from Stewie and others over his bimbo girlfriend who says things like somebody should get around to stopping that awful Hitler.

A screen occasionally shows the performers close-up, and it's kind of neat to see how they change their facial expressions in the process

The crowd's not the only ones laughing. A bunch of times Kunis cracked up.

Then a singing-and-dancing MacFarlane performs "Shipoopi," and Henry does a ballad to Chris in his Herbert voice. But he forgets a bunch of the lyrics towards the end. Then MacFarlane and Borstein do a Peter-Lois version of "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" that gets pretty darn nasty, with lyrics that include, "You don't cup my testes" and "You don't bite my nipples."

After that, they screened some of the "Star Wars" parody. The Star Destroyer chasing Leia's ship at the beginning has a Bush/Cheney bumper sticker. When the Imperials don't bother to shoot down a ship because it has no life signs on it, one says to the other something like, "What, are we budgeting by the laser now?" A sampling of jokes: Herbert-as-Obi-Wan Kenobi takes out a flaccid light saber which stiffens up when he sees Chris-as-Luke-Skywalker. Cleveland-as-R2D2 pulls a gun from his body and shoots a TIE-fighter, gangsta-style.

Then the floor gets opened up for questions.

One audience members asked, "How do you get a girl like Mila, who's hot, to play a girl like Meg?"

Green said, "I'll tell you exactly how it happened. 'Hey Mila, want to be on TV?'" He held out a dollar. She snatches it and puts it down her blouse. The audience laughed and clapped.

Later, Green talked about another gag that got cut: In an episode in which Meg was experimenting with being a lesbian, he recalled, "there was a montage sequence with her doing all sorts of lesbian things. In the midst of that, there was a scene of her and another girl going to a carpet store."

And that's as good a place as any to call this post quits.

- posted by Raoul

'Simpsons Movie': Woo-Hoo!

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 16:46:08 GMT

The results are back from "The Simpsons Movie": nearly $72 mil in its opening weekend.

Choose your Simpsons character catch-phrase to describe that take:

A) Excellent

B) Scrumpdiddilyumptous

C) Ha ha!

D) Ay Caramba!

E) Hot Diggity!

F) Take 'em away, boys!

G) Thank you, come again.

H) OH YEAH!

I saw the movie Friday and despite my worry that it would just be no different from a bunch of regular episodes stitched together, thought it well deserved that kind of take. And as Maggie says toward the end of the film, the audience reaction and the box office mean just one thing: "Sequel."

- posted by Raoul

Kwik-E-Mart Kraziness!

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 21:46:32 GMT

You may recall that a certain number of 7-Elevens would be converting themselves into Kwik-E-Marts to promote the new "Simpsons" movie coming out shortly.

Well, that conversion has taken place. And since one of those locations happens to be in Chicago, I decided to go across town and check it out.

It was a very cool scene. The parking lot was packed. People were taking snapshots of the front of the store, which had both signs changed to Kwik-E-Mart along with Simpsons characters on top and in the windows.

Inside there were a ton of people. One of the people, I'm guessing the manager, was wearing the name tag of "Apu" and kept using his signature line of "Thank you. Come again."

Mesmerized like Homer, I picked up a bunch of the "Simpsons" tie-ins: a box of Krusty-Os, an official Simpsons sprinkalicious donut, a can of Buzz Cola and a blue vanilla Squishy. I did manage to stay strong and not get the t-shirts or other knick-knacks that they had on sale.

Over at eBay, it looks like a bunch of people are trying to flip some of these Simpsons goodies. Best of luck with that.

I haven't cracked the Krusty-Os open yet. While the Squishy was alright, neither of the other things were much to write home about. D'oh!

But that could just be the sugar rush talking.

- posted by Raoul

May the Farce Be with You

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 20:12:12 GMT

With a tip of the hat toward TV Squad, I found this "Family Guy" spoof of the original "Star Wars" pretty funny.

Lois gets recast as Princess Leia, Peter as Han Solo, Brian as Chewie, Stewie as Darth Vader and so on.

Have fun!

- Posted by Raoul

When Jack Bauer Met Bart Simpson

Fri, 04 May 2007 17:54:01 GMT

I'm not sure which I love more: The plotline for the "24"-meets-"The Simpsons" installment, or this photo from the episode.

The crossover ep, which also serves as "The Simpsons'" 400th episode and the animated show's season finale, airs May 20 on Fox (8 p.m. ET), and finds "24"-ers Jack Bauer and Chloe O'Brian (voiced by stars Kiefer Sutherland and Mary Lynn Rajskub), making an emergency run to Springfield Elementary. Why?

Turns out that the Springfield Elementary CTU--the Counter-Truancy Unit--is hot on the trail of a stink bomb, and needs Jack and Chloe's help in disarming the foul bomb. Of course, it's not really a bomb at all … Homer just left behind a container of yogurt that has since spoiled.

Clever, clever, clever, no?

- posted by Kim

Weird Al's R. Kelly Spoof

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 19:56:16 GMT

Here it is, Weird Al Yankovic's spin on the oh-so-spoofworthy R. Kelly saga "Trapped in the Closet." Al's version: "Trapped in the Drive-Thru":

Trapped In The Drive-Thru

- posted by Kim
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This'll Get You Through the Slow Holiday Workdays …

Wed, 27 Dec 2006 00:08:57 GMT

A link to the 50 greatest cartoons of all-time. I'm sure we'd all argue that a few of our own favorites are missing from the list (like "Hair-Raising Hare," the first 'toon that pitted Bugs Bunny vs. the big orange furry monster named Gossamer), but this is a fun round-up, with links to free online videos of all but a handful of the 'toons.

My faves: "What's Opera, Doc?" "One Froggy Evening" (the 'toon that launched Michigan J. Frog, and, eventually, a whole TV network) and, perhaps my no. 1 fave, "Duck Amuck," the clever little classic in which the difficult Daffy Duck wars with his animator.

What's your fave, and what do you think is missing from the list?

- posted by Kim

New Animated 'Star Trek' Heading to the Web?

Fri, 15 Dec 2006 22:19:34 GMT

Trek Movie has a long article about a potential project that would bring a new variation of "Star Trek" to hungry Trekkies everywhere.

The proposed show would be set in 2528, the future of the "Next Generation"/"Deep Space Nine"/"Voyager" shows. The Federation would be still reeling from a major war with the Romulans and a mysterious technobabble-particle attack that left its territory essentially hard to traverse. The Vulcans have pulled out of the Federation, the Klingons were -- at least for a while -- conquered by the Romulans. Andor has been destroyed. And Federation ships do little more than border patrol.

But Captain Alexander Chase wants to stick to the Federation's founding values of exploration.

The idea, according to the article, is for the show to be somewhat of an allegory for post-9/11 life.

Yeah. Because they did that so well in the last two seasons of "Enterprise."

Seriously, I mostly like the idea. The designs seem pretty cool, and more "Star Trek" is almost always a good thing. I'd probably prefer to have a series set in or around the established time frames, with some of the characters we already know. Something more modeled along the "Justice League Unlimited" series where one episode might feature Riker, Troi and Tuvok on the Titan and another might feature Janeway and Kira at Deep Space Nine. But you take what you can get.

One potential issue is that they are talking about bringing it back in six-minute segments, and that seems like a mistake. It works for, say, "Clone Wars," because such a cartoon is mostly about action. An animated "Star Trek" should still be mostly about ideas, IMHO. I say if you're going to do it, go all the way for half-hour episodes.

- posted by Raoul

It's a 'Scrubs'/'Peanuts' Hybrid, Charlie Brown

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 00:30:47 GMT

My Christmas just got a little brighter, thanks to Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune and the cast of "Scrubs."

They went back and put dubbed over dialogue in the voices of their characters from the NBC sitcom and put it over scenes from "A Charlie Brown Christmas."

The results: hilarious!

J.D. is of course Charlie Brown. Dr. Cox is Linus. Elliott is Sally. Turk is Schroeder and Carla is Lucy.

I'd spoil some of the jokes, but you really should see it for yourself.

You will never think of the dance scene quite the same, though. Enjoy.

- posted by Raoul

Bully for You, Charlie Brown

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 02:15:33 GMT

Tonight was the 50th "Peanuts" prime-time special, and the last script to have been written by late creator Charles Schulz, "He's a Bully, Charlie Brown."

As you may have intuited from the title, the bully gets taught a lesson. (I'd love for there to be a twisted children's special where the bully wins out in the end. That'd go over well.)

At summer camp, ReRun gets victimized by Joe Agate, who hustles little kids for their marbles. With training from Snoopy, Charlie Brown gets good enough to beat him out.

Yes, the show wasn't the same for me as when I could watch Peppermint Patty and Marcie holding hands and not read anything into that.

And yes, it wasn't going to make anyone forget the high points of the "Peanuts" specials.

And yes, I figure that some day someone in the Schulz estate will greenlight more "Peanuts" specials just because they can.

But for now, I like it that the perpetual loser gets to ride off into the sunset a winner. Don't you?

- posted by Raoul

D'oh! Did You Miss the new 'Simpsons' Movie Trailer?

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 16:23:02 GMT

The new clip debuted last night on Fox during a new episode of the show, and though it's short, it's sweet, and totally Homer-centric. It's also online now at the movie's Website.

- posted by Kim

FOX Cartoons and Their Wacky Themes and In-Fighting

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 22:17:18 GMT

Wifey and her co-workers were talking about an aspect of last night's FOX comedies. "The Simpsons" had Krusty tell an audience that he was going to leave the stage to vomit. "That's right, kids," he says, looking a little guilty. "That's how Krusty keeps the weight down."

And then "American Dad" followed, with Stan getting anorexic after Steve started dating a heavy girl.

Coincidence? Probably so. But the bit on "The Simpsons" took just a few seconds whereas Stan's anorexia took the whole episode to be unfunny.

I'm not saying that weight issues aren't something to joke about. All I'm asking for is a little more humor out of them.

In unrelated news, "Family Guy" threw in a jab at "The Simpsons" this week, talking about the time Stewey sold out. It showed him going, "Nobody better lay a finger on my Butterfinger. D'oh!" Which might have been funnier if more people remembered that campaign with Bart Simpson. The last spot apparently aired five years ago.

But in my mind, that episode redeemed itself with the Peanuts reunion bit, featuring a tatted-up, pierced Charlie Brown crying about having killed Snoopy by selling him drugs. Maybe you had to be there.

- posted by Raoul

'Family Guy' Reference to Mr. Braga -- Shout-out or Swipe?

Wed, 03 May 2006 02:11:19 GMT

Something in Sunday's "Family Guy" caught my eye. There was a bit in which a mock film in the style of those 50s documentaries explained how to tell if a person were gay. The scene from the film had someone sitting in a doctor's office.

"Let's take a blood sample, Mr. Braga," the doctor says.

"If instead of human blood you find a deadly corrosive acid, you've got a gay!" the narrator says as a red stamp that says "Gay" goes over Mr. Braga's face. Then a huge "Alien" style creature burst from Mr. Braga's body and skittered around the room until the doctor blew it away with a shotgun. "Not this time, nancy boy!" the narrator concludes.

What does all this have to do with anything? Well, the only Mr. Braga I know is Brannon Braga, formerly of the Star Trek franchise and of "Threshold." One of the executive producers of "Family Guy" is David A. Goodman, who worked for Braga on "Star Trek: Enterprise."

So the name choice can't just be a coincidence. Nor can it be a coincidence that one of the recurring points of "Threshold" was that aliens had taken over humans and only a blood test could sort out who was who.

I'm kind of divided if that could have been a friendly dig, a nasty bit of humor at Braga's expense, an attempted outing or what. I mean, Braga was linked romantically to Jeri Ryan, so how gay could he possibly be?

- posted by Raoul

Isaac Hayes Tells 'South Park' to Make Sweet, Sweet Love to Itself

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 02:40:10 GMT

Isaac Hayes, the voice behind "South Park's" Chef, is quitting because he can't take the show's mocking of religion any more.

I think Matt Stone totally called it when he said it was more a question of Hayes not being able to take it after the show made fun of his religion. The show's been a pretty equal-opportunity offender for a decade.

I'm not a regular "South Park" viewer, but I'm sure that for fans it sucks chocolate salty bballs that Hayes is departing. Any thoughts on whether they should recast the part, write Chef out, or what?

- posted by Raoul

Ricky Gervais and 'The Simpsons': Together at Last

Fri, 24 Feb 2006 22:41:04 GMT

Two of the great comedic forces of our time have teamed up, and you'll be able to see the results March 26. But in the meantime, Ricky Gervais took time Friday to have a little Q&A. And wow, could he have been more flattering to "The Simpsons." I don't think so. At various times, he compared it to Laurel and Hardy, Cadillac, George Washington, the Beatles and the Stones. He said it was one of the greatest programs of the 20th century. He called it "an honor" to work with the writers and actors and said jokingly he half-expected that Hollywood allowed him the writing and acting gig out of pity because he was unbeknownst to him about to die.

The role is Charles, a guy who swaps spouses with Homer and falls in love with Marge. For more on his experience with the show, the American version of "The Office" and various other topics, here's an abridged version of the Q&A:

On how he hooked up with "The Simpsons":

"I first met Matt and Al and the 20 writers and producers a day or two after I won the Globes. I heard that Matt was a fan. I think he saw it on a plane to or from England before it was on BBC America. He bought a British DVD player so he could watch them all. And then I was called for an audience and I went along. We just chatted about stuff. They knew 'The Office.' They knew it all by heart, which is incredible, because it's my favorite comedy show of all time, I think, 'The Simpsons.' It's just stunning. Any connoisseur of comedy, any comedian, forget it. It's the best. It's the Beatles and the Stones."

On his "Simpsons" role:

"What I did, it's a bit of an homage to Brent, for people who know the English version of 'The Office.' I didn't want to do David Brent exactly, because I didn't want to do a fictional character in a fictional thing. I don't know. And I'm not famous enough to play myself. They have Paul McCartney and Clinton. This character is so much fun. It just gets me where I needed to be in the episode." ...

"My character, Charles, is married to a woman who married beneath himself. Marge comes to stay with me. My wife goes to the Simpsons. She thinks she's landed in caveman times. She can't believe it. Marge is nice to me, the first woman who has been nice to me in years. I instantly fall in love and write I think the most excruciating love song ever. If I could get in 'The Guiness Book of World Records' for that it would please me. It's just a dreadful, dreadful, drunken attempt to woo a woman." ...

"It might be nice for this character to pop up again. I don't think I have time to write another one."

On whether he could, with his many talents, draw something like "The Simpsons":

"I could now, but all the hard work's been done, isn't it, by the creative process. You can always emulate something that's been before. The genius is coming up with something that hasn't been done before.

I've created a series of my own cartoons called 'Flanimals'. ... [with] delinquent teenagers and mentally challenged adults. It's just bizarre creatures. It's sardonic in a good way. It deconstructs sort of nature and everyone of them dies ironic deaths. They're just strange creatures. That's also going to be a TV series as well. ... We're making it at the moment. It's going to be claymation. It's funny. It's gruesome. It's quite action-packed. What's nice about it is it's on two levels. It's silly and ridiculous."

On whether he's happy with his "Simpsons" drawing:

"No, I'm having it withdrawn. (pause). Yes, I would be happy with anything they did, because 'The Simpsons' to me is the greatest TV comedy of all time. I'm in awe of it and have been for at least 10 years. When I first got into comedy, my ambition was to get a joke on 'The Simpsons.' So writing and starring in one is ridiculous. It's got everything. It never forgets to be funny. It's wickedly satirical. It's like one of the greatest Trojan Horses for the best satire I think on television at the moment. When they nail a joke, they put it to bed. You might as well not visit that particular avenue of observation again because they've done it best. It's warm. It's got heart, and Homer is the greatest comic creation since Laurel and Hardy."

On the possibility of a British version of "The Simpsons":

"You don't touch perfection. You don't mess with perfection."

On his favorite "Simpsons" episodes and characters:

"I love the one where there are no photographs of Maggie. (Homer) has got them where he needs them most: at the nuclear power plant. It just chokes me every time. Thinking about it, it's just beautiful."...

"Homer is the greatest comedy character of all time. It's as simple as that. I love Lenny and Carl. And Moe. But the family unit is where it's at. ... It's stunning what they've done with a cartoon that was essentially for kids and made one of the most important programs of the 20th Century."

On what it was like for him to do 'The Simpsons':

"It was an honor. It felt like an honor at the time. It was surreal. I was very nervous. It's the most joyous feeling of meeting your hero and they're better than you imagined. That's across the board: the actors, the writers, the directors. The spirit of 'The Simpsons' is what has kept it the best show for 15 odd years. they don't forget why they're doing it. They're trying to be funny. They're trying to bring some joy into the world. It's there. It's just apparent. It's fantastic."...

"It was mad because everyone was so nice and accommodating. And all I was thinking before I opened my mouth is 'There's people around the table interrupting themselves to do another character.' In midflow, they're doing all these voices and I have to come up with one little weedy voice. I mean, I can't read at the best of times. I don't audition. I'm not an actor as such. I was thinking, 'If I can get away with this, that'll be great.' And it went down pretty well. You lose your nerves pretty quickly. And the recording process was one of the best days ever. Doing scenes with Homer and Marge, I mean, was ridiculous."

As far as the writing:

"They left me alone to do it on my own, but then of course it goes through their mill and comes out better. We wrote it via e-mail, back and forth to Al Jean. ... He did all the hard work. I just gave them a big bag of ideas and a few scenes, and he sent it back to me, 'Do you mean this?' and I said, 'Yeah.' Somehow with his help and everyone's help, we got it into a nice 22-minute form. I made sure I put in my favorite characters and I could write a song for 'The Simpsons.' Again, it was like my special day."

On whether he could ever match the longevity of "The Simpsons" with one of his own shows:

"Absolutely no way. I have to have a lie-down after six episodes with something I create. It's all or nothing with me. ...The intensity about worrying about everything from creating the characters, writing the dialogue, casting...I worry about the font on the back of the DVD. That can stress me out. That can give me a sleepless night. It would send me mad to do more than six."

On his podcast:

"We did try it for free, but it costs money. Because we never thought it would be downloaded this much. We thought it would be a thousand people. It cost us a fee per download to host it. We got about five million downloads. So we have to charge a dollar. But we're going to do a lot for that. It's going to be at least four. I worry about promising to much, but we're going to do more than four. So the more we do, the less it will work out per podcast. ... It's great. It's the favorite thing I do at the moment. It's nice to be there at the beginning. It's sort of in its infancy."

On "The Office":

"It's a tale with a moral. Everyone could have panicked in the early days, particularly NBC. They could have panicked and watered down and pressured us into getting stars and joke it up and have a laugh track and they didn't. They really stuck to their guns. It's heart-warming to see something like this work. The first time we got a result back from the pilot focus group, I think it scored the lowest ever NBC score. Everyone was depressed. I sent back, 'That's a great omen. We scored the lowest on BBC too.'...The people who get along with focus groups...they're people who are force-fed big, broad comedies with laugh tracks and guest appearances. They're not going to like 'The Office' the first time they see it because they're not going to know what they're watching exactly. But if you stick to your guns and you really keep to your vision and auteur it the way you think it should be done, there are enough people in the world who are like-minded who are going to find it. They're going to find it, and it's going to be their favorite show."

He called the American version of "The Office" his favorite sitcom of the moment, and said he and his writing partner are almost finished with a script for it to air next season.

"Steve Carrell is remarkable. I mean, remarkable. I watch his performance and he's working so hard, he's working on so many levels. He's such a good actor. He's so likeable.... The Jim and Pam story hit the ground running better than we did with Tim and Dawn. Dwight just keeps growing on me. They've done so well. The writing's so clever. For network American TV, it's really uncompromising comedy going out on prime-time network television. I want to say well done to NBC for not panicking and not watering it down. It was absolutely a joy to write for it."...

The writers of "The Office," American verision "have made it their own. ...It's just a parallel universe. I don't even look it as a remake now. I just watch it as my favorite new sitcom."

On his versatility and other possible collaborations:

Gervais says he still hasn't watched his guest-turn some time back on "Alias." "I can't watch me being serious. I can watch me beign a putz, but I can't watch me being serious." ...

"I've turned down so many American blockbusters and I've given the directors my reasons. I met with Ron Howard, who wanted to give me a little part in 'The Da Vinci Code,' and I said 'I'll ruin your film.' A number of British comedians I've seen pop up in a really good Hollywood film and they've just ruined it for me. I know what I'm good at."...

"I think I have 100 offers. I don't take offers really. I want to come up with an idea myself and then put it out there. Almost everything that I do apart from a half-dozen things in my life has been my idea and my creation because that's what excites me. I did my turn as a serious actor with 'Alias,' I've taken on two projects which aren't my creation which are 'The Simpsons' and Christopher Guest's new movie. There are some things you don't turn down. At the moment, I've gotten to the place remarkably where I'm cherry-picking jobs, but I'm cherry-picking jobs of my heroes. They're my heroes, Christopher Guest and 'The Simpsons.'"...

"I don't let ego take over. If someone tells me I can be the romantic lead, I explain why I can't. It's always very flattering. I think that's where a lot of actors make their mistake. They fall victim of vanity. I know exactly what I'm good at and what I'm not. I also don't want to just be an actor, per se, excited to see my fat face on the screen. What excites me is the creative process and bringing something into the world that maybe only I could have done."

On "Extras":

He's going to be taping new episodes in July, which will likely be showing in England in the fall, and probably on HBO around the same time.

On the TV landscape:

"I've been fascinated with the reality game shows, docu-soaps, fame, Andy Warhol's prophetic statement, 'In the future, everyone will have 15 minuts of fame.' 'The Office' was born of me watching those reality game shows, those docu-soaps. I'm fascinated with fame and what makes people desperate to be recognized. It's extraordinary." ...

"I'm still in mourning over 'Arrested Development.' That along with 'Curb Your Enthusiasm,' were my favorite new comedies. I think it's so audacious. It's so complex and clever. I just love Jason Bateman. He was so watchable. ... I've just seen a couple of 'My Name Is Earl.' It's nice. There's something retro about it. It's like the shows I used to watch growing up. I'm a fan of Americana anyway. ... I love 'The Daily Show.' I love Letterman."

"I think American TV is the best in the world. ... We're not as good as you. You beat us in everything. You beat us on drama. You've got 'The Sopranos.' You've got '24.' On comedy, you've got 'The Simpsons,' 'Seinfeld,' 'Larry Sanders,' 'Arrested Development.' We've got 'Monty Python' and 'Fawlty Towers.' I can't think of anything that competes with you in the last 40 years. Maybe in documentary. We're good at documentary. But American television to me, as Randy Jackson would say, is the bomb."

- posted by Raoul

Back to the 'Futurama'?

Wed, 04 Jan 2006 17:35:25 GMT

It's a double dose of good news to start off the new year for fans of Fox's "Futurama": Not only is the network considering reviving the series, thanks to the show's DVD and Cartoon Network success, but there's also rumored to be a "Futurama" big-screen movie in the works.

Time to bring those Bender and Leela toys out of the closet and proudly display them on your desk once again!

- posted by Kim

New 'Pooh' Coming to You

Fri, 09 Dec 2005 22:27:24 GMT

Disney is going to produce a new Winnie the Pooh cartoon for 2007. But instead of Christopher Robin, Pooh will have a new human companion in a six-year-old tomboy.

British fans are upset since A.A. Milne wrote the stories to his son, Christopher Robin Milne. But Chris' widow says he hated the character Christopher Robin so much he wouldn't have minded at all.

My reaction: Oh, bother.

- posted by Raoul

'Simpsons' 101

Wed, 07 Dec 2005 16:38:09 GMT

Today a bunch of Chicago academics are going to gather to discuss "The Simpsons" as a force for cultural criticism, political insight and social commentary.

A teacher at Columbia College teaches a course on the subject that has students dying to get in.

Why didn't they have more classes like this when I was in college? My GPA would have gone up a full point.

- posted by Raoul

"The Boondocks" Welcomes Itself to Cartoon Network's Neighborhood

Fri, 04 Nov 2005 20:56:52 GMT

Ah, "The Boondocks." It's long been one of my favorite comic strips. So I was looking forward to the animated version, which debuts Sunday at 11 p.m. EST on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, for a long time. But I was also wary that it could go south the way the animated "Dilbert" did. Checking out a preview tape with the first two episodes, my worries are gone.

A lot of it is humor that can't be reproduced here, and the N-word is used a little too cavalierly for people's taste. Plus, some people might not care for the racial humor it features.

The first episode, "The Garden Party," has the Freemans invited to an upper-crust affair, where they meet a Gulf War vet who's influenced by hip-hop and the self-hating black person Uncle Ruckus.

I liked the second one better, "Guess Hoe's Coming to Dinner?" To give you a bit of a sample, it starts with Grandpa in a supermarket encountering a spoiled brat. He tells the mother, "Have you ever tried beating his ass?" Then he takes off his belt, shows the mom how to use it, and smiles at the result. When the titular hoe praises him for coming to the woman's aid, his response is, "I guess I just hate to see a child go unbeaten."

It joins "Family Guy," "The Simpsons" and "American Dad" on the TiVo.

- posted by Raoul

Marvel Cartoons Coming Soon

Mon, 17 Oct 2005 15:54:08 GMT

Variety reports that Marvel is going to launch a new "X-Men" cartoon centered around Wolverine in 2007, a season after a new "Fantastic Four" cartoon debuts.

Geeks everywhere, rejoice!

It'd be great if they could get Hugh Jackman to do the voice for Wolvie, but somehow I doubt he'll have the time.

- posted by Raoul

An Ad Campaign Only Gargamel Could Love

Wed, 12 Oct 2005 14:29:28 GMT

UNICEF has launched an anti-war ad campaign featuring the Smurfs suffering a devastating bomb attack. Smurfette is killed. Baby Smurf is left orphaned and crying.

The ad, shown on Belgian TV, is only airing after 9 p.m. But you know that some kids are going to see it and be seriously screwed up. So WTH?

It's meant for a good cause: raising money for UNICEF projects in Sudan, Congo and Burundi. But there had to be another way.

Apparently, the ad is a little more toned down than the folks at the ad agency that created would have liked. One agency exec is quoted as saying, "We wanted something that was real war--Smurfs losing arms or a Smurf losing a head, but they said no."

Not very Smurfy, UNICEF.

- posted by Raoul

'Simpsons' TiVo joke

Mon, 26 Sep 2005 16:03:44 GMT

If you caught this week's "The Simpsons," you might have noticed that the intro had the family sit down on the couch to have a TiVo-like screen show up over them and have someone select the option "Delete this recording now."

It's not the first TiVo related gag they've done on "The Simpsons."

But I wonder if this one may have been in response to news that TiVo may have episodes of the show deleted before the user wants them to be.

- posted by Raoul

Class Is in Session at 'Tickle U'

Mon, 22 Aug 2005 07:22:27 GMT

Cartoon Network is launching "Tickle U" today. It's a morning block of shows starting at 9 a.m. designed to appeal to little ones. Instead of the classic cartoons CN used to show in the time-slot, "Tickle U" will be full of shorter segments and easier to follow. But the block will be, as the name implies, less about education and more about entertainment.

Will you be enrolling your children in "Tickle U"? Or will you want them to be learning more than laughing when they are watching the tube?

- posted by Raoul

'Trek' 'Toon Tribute

Thu, 04 Aug 2005 17:37:55 GMT

There's a mini-marathon of Craig McCracken's endearing "Powerpuff Girls" follow-up "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" on Cartoon Network this afternoon (2 p.m. ET), and the line-up includes one of the show's most clever episodes, "The Trouble with Scribbles."

The installment, an homage to the classic "Star Trek" Tribbles episode, finds the Foster's gang overrun with Scribbles – the rapidly multiplying, unwanted drawings of children – when ornery Bloo opens the forbidden door and allows the Scribbles to run amuck.

- posted by Kim

'Simpsons' Guest Stars

Mon, 01 Aug 2005 01:56:48 GMT

FOX recently revealed that the upcoming season of its veteran show would include guest voice work by lots of people, including William H. Macy, Lily Tomlin and Kelsey Grammer as the erudite yet deadly Sideshow Bob. Which raises a question: Is the show more like Grammer (plenty of legs left) or future guest-voice Dennis Rodman (arguably a gimmick who stayed on well past his time)? Me, I usually find something worth laughing at in any episode of the show, but give me "Family Guy" over it any day. "The Simpsons" got to be way too safe years back.

Also, who would you most like to see as a "Simpsons" guest-star? Who could you most do without?

- posted by Raoul