TVSquad

It looks like some extra goodies are being included with the South Park Season 11 DVD set. Not only do you get great episodes such as "Cartman Sucks", "More Crap" and the immortal "Imaginationland" story arc (I pray the season DVD includes the full commentary of the "Imaginationland" one), but the DVD also includes a 3-song download for the XBox version of the video game Rock Band.

This marketing move makes sense on a couple of levels. First, Trey Parker and Matt Stone are big gamers so they probably got some cool stuff that other gamers only wish they had access to. They even confess their hobby on one of their DVD mini-commentaries. Second, the season includes the episode "Guitar Queer-o", which uses the predecessor game Guitar Hero as central to the plot.

Comedy Central is reviving The Gong Show. The original '70s variety show featured amateur acts who tried to impress the celebrity judges panel and avoid ... the gong.

The new show, which is currently casting for tapings on both coasts in Los Angeles and New York, will be hosted by Dave Attell. Yeah, remember him? The former stand-up comic from New York had his own show on Comedy Central called Insomniac with Dave Attell. I used to love that show. Attell would walk around the streets of different cities (mostly here in the States, but he went aboard too) and talk to people who were completely inebriated. He also occasionally talked to people who worked night shifts. I think he'll be a great host for this new project.

I think that because this show is on Comedy Central, it's going to be way more interesting and entertaining than the train wreck that is America's Got Talent. What do you think? Will you watch the new Gong Show?

[via BuzzerBlog]

(S12E07) While the kids are on an educational field trip to a living museum called Pioneer Village, Cartman forces Butters to sneak away with him from the class to go to the amusement center located nearby. While they're having a good time at the amusement center, a group of thieves break into Pioneer Village and take the class hostage. Hilarity ensues.

This episode is the last of the first half of season 12. South Park will return later in the year with seven more episodes.

(S12E06) South Park, along with the rest of the country, has lost the Internet. As a result, Randy Marsh takes his family on a trek to California to find it.

As someone who is an Internet addict, I certainly can understand the dilemma of this situation. I don't think we could go back to being a society without Internet, much as we can't go back to being a society without phones, television or cars.

As someone who works with the Internet for his day job, I had some problems with the simplistic way that it was presented. The Internet is used for much more than shopping or e-mailing (or, indeed, porn). Entire industries rely on it. The only part that struck me as truthful was seeing people live in a Great Depression-type state without the Internet.

As the first Futurama straight-to-DVD movie, Bender's Big Score, begins airing on Comedy Central (they'll air the movie as a four-episode blok on Sunday night), Fox has announced the name and release date of the second straight-to-DVD epic.

AnimationMagazine.net reports that Futurama: The Beast With A Billion Backs will be released on June 24, and they note that Fox calls it "the most tentacle-packed Futurama epic." Since it's a continuation of Bender's Big Score, I'll talk about the plot of the new movie after the jump, for the benefit of those who haven't seen the first movie yet.

In the last twelve years, Lewis Black has gone from being "that angry guy on The Daily Show" to a comedy icon. Now, he finally has his own show.

In Lewis Black's Root of All Evil, which airs on Wednesdays at 10:30 PM ET on Comedy Central, two comedians argue why the pop culture item they represent is "the root of all evil." Last week's premiere episode, for instance, pitted Oprah against the Catholic church. Black plays the judge who controls the proceedings and makes the ultimate verdict. Sounds corny, but the first episode, which featured Paul F. Tompkins and Greg Giraldo, was wickedly funny and just a tiny bit subversive, everything you want in a good comedy.

I spoke to Black by phone last week; he was in Atlantic City on his stand-up tour. We discussed everything from the 2008 election to being on a cable news show with Ben Stein to sharing a jail cell with Jim Norton. The interview is after the jump.

Before we begin, let's talk about Stephen Colbert, because you all know I never pass up a chance to do so. He announced Monday night that The Colbert Report is hitting the road and covering the Pennsylvania primaries from Philadelphia the week of April 14. Did any of you all manage to score tickets? Despite the fact that the location will be able to seat, like, 900 people each night, the tickets ran out pretty quickly. My friend called me up in the middle of the night to tell me that I'm coming with her that Monday, which was a pleasant surprise that didn't really hit me until the next morning when I was fully awake and had the time to catch a rerun and find out what was going on. Anyway, if you'll be attending on the 14th, hunt me down in the crowd and we can be buddies. I'll be the awkward Asian girl getting dragged away by security after trying to break into Stephen's dressing room.

This time we've got five copies of South Park Imaginationland on DVD for five lucky, random commenters. The DVD is available in stores tomorrow.

To enter, simply leave a comment below before 5:00PM Eastern, Friday, March 14, simply telling us your favorite quote from South Park. As always, we'll randomly choose five winners amongst the eligible entries. Some other details:
Click here for complete Official Rules.

Leave it to Stephen Colbert and the Colbert Nation to turn a parody of Lance Armstrong's "LiveStrong" cancer awareness bracelet into a massive donation to a charitable cause. As the AP reports, since Colbert began selling his red "WristStrong" bracelets as part of his "wrist awareness" campaign, begun in response to Colbert breaking his own wrist, he has raised an incredible $171,525. And, on last night's broadcast, he presented the proceeds to The Yellow Ribbon Fund, a real organization that helps injured service members.

Stephen Colbert continues to find ways to turn his mock commentator into a true industry leader, all the while keeping tongue firmly in cheek. Is it any wonder that he's surpassed Jon Stewart as the buzz du jour of the teen and college set? Personally I really hope we get a Democrat in office in this next election, even if only to see how the decidedly right-winged Colbert persona is able to respond to everything he or she does.

[via Yahoo!]

Apparently, someone created a comic book in which the cast of Futurama meets the cast of The Simpsons. As a fan of both, let me say that it would be pretty cool to see on television.

It's not outside the realm of possibility for the two universes to collide since both products are owned by Fox, much as having the Flintstones meet the Jetsons (both owned by Hanna-Barbera). Matt Groening does own the creative rights to Futurama, whatever that means.

However, since they're now on two separate channels (The Simpsons is on Fox and Futurama will be on Comedy Central), it seems less likely that the two universes would come together on television. Maybe if both were still on Fox, but not now.

I do think it's funny having Morbo filming next to Kent Brockman. And having Flanders running from the Robot Devil. Or having Miss Crabapple flirting with Zap Brannigan. Hell, it's all funny.

[via Digg]

Believe it or not, Futurama has been airing on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block for about five years. During that period, fans of the show have probably watched every single episode at least once, or twice, or fifteen times. Now, those same fans will get the chance to watch every single episode one more time as Adult Swim begins a Futurama marathon.

Starting tonight at 11:00 PM, and continuing until 11:30 PM on the last day of the year, there will be nothing on the schedule but Fry, Leela, Bender, and the rest of the team from Planet Express. On December 31st Adult Swim will air the show's first episode, 'Space Pilot 3000' and the last episode, 'The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings' (great episode, by the way) at 11:00 pm and 11:30 pm respectively. This is all in preparation of Futurama moving from Adult Swim to Comedy Central starting on January 1st.

Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist is on my short list of shows that were good from start to finish. This consistency is due to the show's brilliant comedic cast and the fact that every episode followed the same simple, perfect structure. The show's weekly guest stars are among the most talented and successful stand-up comedians around. Many of them went on to star in popular TV shows and films--people like Dave Chappelle, Ray Romano, Richard Lewis, and Wanda Sykes. There were also noteworthy appearances from now-deceased comedians Rodney Dangerfield and Mitch Hedberg, actors like Winona Ryder and David Duchovny, and award-winning writer David Mamet.

If you're like me, and have trouble picking a favorite season of Dr. Katz, the Complete Series box set is an ideal choice. At a cost ranging from $88 (comedycentral.com, on backorder) to $112 (amazon.com), the set definitely belongs in the "splurge" category, but it's well worth it.

It's time for us to give away some stuff ... again! One of today's giveaways is for three copies of Chappelle's Show - The Series Collection on DVD, which is already available in stores. All you've got to do is submit a comment below before 5PM Eastern, December 7, and mention why you'd like to own the series. We'll randomly choose three winners to receive the DVDs!

Some other details:

• To enter, leave a confirmed comment below stating why you'd like to own the Chappelle's Show - The Series Collection DVDs.
• The comment must be left before December 7, 2007 at 5:00PM Eastern Time.
  
• You may enter only once.
• Three winners will be selected in a random drawing.
  
• Three winners will receive a copy of Chappelle's Show - The Series Collection on DVD (valued at $49.99).
  

Click here for complete Official Rules.

The fine folks at TVShowsonDVD.com almost make me happy. Trey Parker and Matt Stone really hit it out of the park with their "Imaginationland" South Park trilogy, and the stellar ratings prove that everyone agrees on this point. In response, Comedy Central says they'll be collected in a special DVD set released March 11, 2008. That's like four months away! Okay, I can't blame TVShowsonDVD for that, but I like to kill the messenger ... the post office doesn't deliver mail to my house anymore.

I want to know why it's going to take so long. The boys can make an episode in 27 minutes, I can burn a DVD in two, and it takes about four days to ship goods by ground from the coasts to the Midwest, where I live. By my factoring, if they get started right now, I should have it Monday afternoon. I know the industry likes to release DVDs on Tuesdays, so I'll even give an extra day. I'll be in the stores next week looking for it. Don't make me come looking for the messenger.

The giveaways continue today! Not only are we giving away five copies of Christmas Time in South Park, we've also got five copies of Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist - The Complete Series for five lucky, random commenters. The set is available in stores now.

To enter, simply leave a comment below before 5:00PM Eastern, Friday, November 30, simply telling us why you'd like to own this set. As always, we'll randomly choose five winners amongst the eligible entries. Some other details:
Click here for complete Official Rules.