A Muppetastic Comeback?

The British newspaper The Telegraph writes:

The Jim Henson-created characters may be on their way back thanks to a new Disney Film. In the movie, written by...Jason Segel, the Muppets reunite to save their studio with one last variety show. Should the film go well, it opens up the possibility of a television programme, also written by 28-year-old Segel.

Variety elaborates on how the writer/actor lined up the gig.

In “[Forgetting] Sarah Marshall” Segel’s character writes a “Dracula” musical performed by puppets. Those cloth creatures were custom-made by the Henson puppeteers, and the experience emboldened Segel to pitch his concept for a Muppets movie when he was invited in for a general meeting with exec Kristin Burr. Segel got a deal in the room and enlisted [Nick] Stoller to co-write and direct the project.

Fingers are crossed this project gets done and done right. No word on when production might get underway or when the movie could hit theaters. In the meantime, watch Statler and Waldorf as they bring their balcony curmudgeonliness to the Internet: below, here and here.

UPDATE: The Hollywood Reporter says:

NBC is getting into the holiday spirit with “Letters to Santa -- A Muppets Christmas.” Whoopi Goldberg, “The Sopranos” alums Tony Sirico and Steve Schirripa, “Harry Potter” regular Richard Griffiths and Madison Pettis are set to star in the special alongside Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, Miss Piggy and the rest of the muppets gang. “Letters” is set on Christmas Eve when Kermit and company mistakenly avert three letters en route to Santa Claus, which triggers a race against time to bring a happy Christmas to the kids whose wishes were lost in the mail.

But why would Disney, which owns both ABC and the Muppets, sell this to NBC? Why, Bob Iger, why?

MUPPDATE: The New York Times on the planned comeback: “[T]his time the Muppets are getting the “Hannah Montana” treatment, being blasted into every pop-culture nook and cranny that the company owns or can dream up.” The Hannah Montana treatment? Uh-oh. Well, at least Statler & Waldorf are weighing in on the Presidential debates. Harrumph.

Hamlet: The Facebook Newsfeed Edition

Sarah Schmelling recently wrote a terribly clever and funny piece for McSweeney’s, condensing Shakespeare’s tragic story about the Prince of Denmark into a series of status updates, apps and group memberships.

How does “to be or not to be” fare? The existential question is reduced to: “Hamlet wonders if he should continue to exist. Or not.” Here’s how the whole thing opens:

Horatio thinks he saw a ghost.

Hamlet thinks it's annoying when your uncle marries your mother right after your dad dies.

The king thinks Hamlet's annoying.

Laertes thinks Ophelia can do better.

Hamlet's father is now a zombie.

- - - -

The king poked the queen.

The queen poked the king back.

Hamlet and the queen are no longer friends.

Marcellus is pretty sure something's rotten around here.

Hamlet became a fan of daggers.

Read the rest here. For more literal, and funny, takes on Facebook utilities, check out this video from The Idiots of Ants on BBC. For more rottenness in Denmark, there’s Hamlet 2.

It’s hularrefic!

Some infomercials are funny and don't even know it. “Hawaii Chair while answering phones, using the computer, balancing books or filing paperwork.” How about while performing Lasik surgery? Even Ellen gets into the hot seat with this one.

Huckabee Grudge Match

This blog isn’t typically a forum for antics reminiscent of the Three Stooges. There are, however, notable exceptions.

Judd & Jerry

This interview between a teenage Judd Apatow and a not-yet-famous Jerry Seinfeld is nothing short of prophetic. Seinfeld lays out his plan for success, while Apatow proves himself an astute student of comedy -- at an age when most kids still struggle to write a decent essay. The interview is one of the online features that accompany the profile on Apatow in a recent issue of The New York Times Magazine as part of the publicity for his new comedy Knocked Up. (Which by the way, recouped its production costs the opening weekend, pulling in nearly $30 million.) Meanwhile, Seinfeld plans a mini-comeback to NBC primetime via one-to-two minute shorts (tinytainment, in his words) that promote his upcoming animated feature Bee Movie. Seinfeld debuted two minisodes last month in front of advertisers at the network's upfront session. One was a fictionalized tour of the Dreamworks animation studios -- complete with overworked animators crashing on cots in the hallways. In a second minsode, a writers' assistant offers up coffee and script ideas to Jerry and his crew. Jerry is critical of the suggestions until he learns the assistant's last name is...Spielberg.

30 Rock Rocks

The NBC sitcom 30 Rock just finished its 21-episode, first season on Thursday. Good news is that it'll be back for a second season. The troubling news is that it's been in third place and, sometimes, fourth -- behind CSI, Grey's Anatomy and (gasp) Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? Along with The Office (yes, the American version), it's the best written comedy on TV right now. So how can you as a non-Nielsen household show 30 Rock some love? Watch the episodes for free (with limited commercial sponsorship) here. Or even better, buy episodes -- or the whole season -- at iTunes. (NBC will be watching both of those numbers.) If you haven't seen the show, the clip above does a great job of explaining the premise.

Some episodes that were real highlights this season include: Blind Date, Jack the Writer, Up All Night, Hard Ball, The Fighting Irish and Fireworks. And just a note on the music written by Jeff Richmond, who happens to be married to Tina Fey. It's the perfect acccompaniment for the show's shenanigans in and around Rockefeller Center. For fans of Kenneth the Page, here's a video interview with Jack McBrayer on The Sound of Young America. Oh, and keep your fingers crossed that Alec Baldwin comes back next season.

Nora & Conan

You may have seen Nora, the piano-playing cat on YouTube. (One clip has had more than 3 million views.) Well, Nora made a "guest" appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien this week, as shown in the clip above. The sketch didn't go exactly as planned. Herding cats -- or getting them to play the piano -- is never easy, but it can be funny.

Jon Stewart, unscripted

On October 8, 2006, Jon Stewart stepped out from behind his desk on "The Daily Show" and spoke with David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker. In this audio clip of the conversation, Stewart talks about: the similarities between politics and show business; Fox News; and the perception that his show is a news source. (Stewart's interview starts at 12:05.) A few transcribed quotes are below.

On Washington vs. Hollywood: "We traffic in government and Hollywood, for the most part. And the similarities between the two cultures are so stunning that it's hard to imagine they are ever at odds with each other...They always used to say that politics is show business for ugly people, but I believe that show business is politics for the powerless."

Stewart on the "rudderless protoplasm" of news today: "In the media atmosphere, you either bring clarity or noise. And for the most part, the people that have overtaken the business have the biggest noisemakers...I think Fox knows what they're doing and CNN doesn't...They don't know why they exist...There's no editorial point of view...Fox News is actively pursuing something. They are actively pursuing what they feel is an editorial slant in the other media that they need to correct. So they believe that they are a corrective...a salve to whatever they thought is festering in the media culture. They're wrong...We are reactive in the same way, except we just think that what's wrong is that most of it is theater and very little is authentic. So, the reason that you have to be reactive is government and corporations work non-stop, incessantly, 24 hours a day to create noise. And if you're just reporting...what you're reporting is the smoke from the machine."

On his show as a news source: "People put up our show as a news show because they feel underserved by news shows. It says nothing about our show's news ability...We're not journalists. We have one guy with a TiVO...We're cranky people, like, that would sit in a bar and yell at the TV. Only somebody gave us a show. But the reason people keep presenting us in that manner is because they feel sad about what they're being served with."

In a related story, Ben Karlin, the executive producer and former head writer for Stewart's show, is stepping down. (No punchline to follow. But here's an NPR interview with Karlin from April 2006.)