TVSquad

(S35E04) I remember sitting down and staring at Gerard Butler as he made funny, smarmy faces at the camera. And then I blinked, only to see Butler was thanking the cast and viewers for a wonderful show. I looked on the computer screen. There were half-remembered notes haphazardly tapped out at some point.

Somehow, I had jumped forward ninety minutes. Had I finally mastered short-term time travel? Or did I just watch an incredibly forgettable episode of Saturday Night Live? Probably the latter. However, I vaguely recall a destructive robot adorably struggling through a wall. If that was actually a dream and not real life, please don't tell me.

Recently I came across a blog post from the Los Angeles Times suggesting that 21 year-old teen heartthrob Zac Efron will be playing Jonny Quest, the 11 year-old kid adventurer of those old Hanna-Barbera cartoons. My first thought: would that work?

I think that casting would be confusing, but I also think that having Jonny spell his name without an "h" in it is confusing.

Of course, strange casting choices and Hollywood go hand-in-hand (Michael Keaton as Batman? Kevin Costner as Robin Hood?). In an industry that believes that a teenaged Matthew Perry would look exactly like Zac Efron, this shouldn't be a big stretch.

I'm a big fan of The Venture Brothers and their take on the whole Jonny Quest myth. This big screen version of the character would likely be a little less parody and a little more Indiana Jones. What a shame.

On the plus side, I think Dwayne Johnson is a perfect choice for the role of Race Bannon. Who would play Hadji, I wonder?

(S34E18) When I heard The Rock -- I mean, Dwayne Johnson -- was hosting again, the first image that popped into my mind was him in that Mr. Peepers sketch with Chris Kattan back in the day. I believe red overalls, apples, and aggressive humping was involved. Though Mr. Johnson traded in his red overalls for a sequined black halter top in this episode, he still did incredibly well. I had forgotten: Those aren't muscles; the guy has had charisma surgically inserted into his upper body over the past decade for easy access. Anyone else would have looked like an idiot trying to pull off The Rock Obama. Check out some video highlights and see what I mean.

I went to see Get Smart the other day. Judging by the box office numbers, I wasn't alone. Of course, I was curious about how one of my favorite TV shows from the '60s would be translated to the big screen. Would it be an inventive retelling in the tradition of The Fugitive, Maverick and The Addam's Family, or would it make me want to weep in horror like the dreadful I Spy, Bewitched, The Wild, Wild West and The Avengers? (And that's only the tip of the awful iceberg).

Would you believe it if I told you Get Smart falls somewhere in between? I could use the line many other reviewers have copped; you know, "The new Get Smart missed it by that much." Yes, well, it's true. Get Smart is not great on the big screen. It's okay. Nothing too shameful, but neither is it that inspired or wickedly built on the premise of the original situation comedy.