Mel Brooks-related stories
Posted Sep 12th 2009 8:42AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: TV Royalty, Obituaries, Reality-Free
Yesterday brought sad news for anyone who's a comedy writer, aspired to be a comedy writer, or just appreciated a well-turned and funny phrase.
Larry Gelbart passed away; he had been diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. He died at his Los Angeles home yesterday morning at the age of 81.
Gelbart is probably best known for his writing on
M*A*S*H during its early years. The almost lyrical comedic dialogue he gave Hawkeye, Trapper, and the rest of the gang is what drew me to the show, and he influenced almost everyone who worked on the show afterwards, including FOS (Friend of Squad) Ken Levine, who was just "too devestated" to write
a tribute on his blog (expect one on Monday, though).
Continue reading Larry Gelbart dead at 81
Posted Sep 15th 2008 12:03PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
It was reported way back in 2006 that
Spaceballs was being made into an animated series. Well, the wait is over.
The promo is available online (It's definitely NSFW. It's also in Quicktime format and not embedded in a Flash application like you usually see nowadays). Further details of the show can be found on the
official G4 site (Please note the series has already been shown on
Canada's Super Channel).
I have a sick mind that laughs at things aimed at the lowest common denominator, so I found the promo to be funny. The animated Princess Vespa is certainly more, uh, accented than Daphne Zuniga was in the original movie (talk about
Major Boobage).
I'm ecstatic that Mel Brooks himself is providing the voices of his characters from the movie in the animated version. This has been in development for a long time. I'm a tremendous fan of the original movie (and of Brooks' work in general) so I can only hope and pray that this doesn't suck on the level of the animated
Clone Wars.
Posted Jun 24th 2008 11:41AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: TV on the Bigscreen, Reality-Free
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.
Continue reading Get Smart on the big screen - a movie review
Posted Apr 16th 2008 10:04AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free
There's something really great about being able to buy an entire season of a TV show, or the entire run, on DVD. It can be addictive, too. But isn't it interesting that even though there are scads of great -- and some not-so-great -- series committed to DVD and readily available online or at the local superstore, there are a ton more that aren't? And what about great TV specials? When I read this
list, it got me thinking about which TV programs I would buy in a heartbeat. My list is very subjective -- maybe even eclectic -- but here's my ten TV shows that need to be on DVD.
The Bob Newhart ShowRecently, when the
American Masters did a special about Bob Newhart, they showed footage from
The Bob Newhart Show. No, not the one with Suzanne Pleshette as Emily. They had clips from the 1961-62
Bob Newhart Show on NBC. It was a variety hour, showcasing many of his now classic routines. It looked really funny, filled with his inspired sketches and bits. And it was critically acclaimed, too, winning Emmy and Peabody awards. Naturally, NBC canceled it after just one season. I'd love to think that there's enough footage from those shows to create a DVD.
Continue reading Ten shows that desperately need DVDs - VIDEOS
Posted Jul 27th 2007 3:14PM by Julia Ward
Filed under: Industry, Celebrities
Friday at Comic-Con got underway with the Warner Brothers presentation. The swag bag included a
Get Smart t-shirt with "KAOS" written on one side and "CONTROL" on the other. Not so surprisingly, no one under the age of 20 seemed to know what this meant, but Warner Brothers needn't worry because the kids love The Rock. And, because this is Comic-Con, The Rock (Agent 23) put in an appearance along with his
Get Smart co-stars Steve Carrell, Masi "unofficial Comic-Con poster boy" Oka,
Studio 60's Nate Torrence and
Borat's Ken Davitian mercifully wearing pants.
Continue reading Comic-Con: Warner Bros. Panel Report
Posted Sep 21st 2006 11:04AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Cable, Industry, Programming, Animation
If you were worried that G4 was in the process of turning into yet another obscure cable channel that just shows reruns of old TV shows, I'm right there with you. Apparently we shouldn't be so quick to write them off. In a partnership with MGM, Berliner Film Companie GmbH, and Brooksfilms Ltd. the one time video game network is set to bring the animated
Spaceballs series to viewers.
Mel Brooks co-wrote the pilot for the new show with Thomas Meehan. The pair also worked together on the original
Spaceballs,
To Be Or Not To Be, and the musical version of
The Producers.
The pilot will be similar to the movie with Dark Helmet kidnapping Princess Vespa and King Roland hiring Lone Starr and Barf to rescue her. Berliner is already at work producing the initial run of 13 episodes. They are set to begin airing on G4 in the fall of 2007.
Posted Aug 26th 2006 8:50AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Cable, TV Royalty, Talent, Celebrities, Talk Show
I miss Dick Cavett's talk show. In fact, I miss Dick Cavett's type of talk show on television. Charlie Rose comes close I guess, with the spare set and the serious devotion to subjects, but it's not the same. Luckily, Cavett is coming back to television (sort of), on Turner Classic Movies.
The movie network is going to run eight classic episodes of Dick Cavett's 70's show throughout the fall. The shows will run every Thursday night, as part of a theme night about a certain star or director. The first episode will air on September 7 and will include a brand new interview Cavett has with Mel Brooks. Later Thursdays will have classic interviews with people such as Katherine Hepburn, Groucho Marx, Robert Mitchum, Alfred Hitchcock, Woody Allen, Ingmar Bergman, and Bette Davis.
Posted Aug 18th 2006 9:05AM by Adam Finley
Filed under: FOX, OpEd, The Simpsons, Animation, Retro Squad
(S06E17)
Lisa: Hey, dad, whatcha doin'?
Homer: Daddy has very important work to do. He's looking through the want ads to find a part-time job.
Lisa: Dad, that's a gag paper we we got at the carnival.
Homer: Oh. No wonder I didn't hear about Bart being elected 'World's Greatest Sex Machine.'"
This episode begins in Moe's bar with Homer passing out cigars to his friends. It seems he's found the path to financial success by investing in pumpkins. They've been "going up the whole month of October" after all. Naturally, Homer's plan to sell come January fails and he winds up broke. He comes home to find Patty and Selma celebrating their promotion at the DMV, and eventually Homer is pushed to the edge and throws them out. Marge tries to explain to her sisters that Homer is complicated, and Homer pops his head out the window, smashes a plate on his head and yells, "wrong!"
Continue reading The Simpsons: Homer vs. Patty and Selma
Posted Jul 27th 2006 7:07PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, TV Royalty, TV on DVD
We told you a while back about the first season Get Smart DVD set that will be released via mail order (and only mail order, for now at least ) from Time-Life. Now comes information on what extras we'll see in the set.
Actress Barbara Feldon and creators Mel Brooks and Buck Henry will do commentary on episodes. Feldon on the "Kisses for KAOS" ep and Brooks and Henry on the pilot. There will also be an episode of The Bill Dana Show, the episode where Maxwell Smart made his first appearance (I never knew that). The set will also include the Museum of Television & Radio roundtable from 2003 that included Don Adams, Feldon, Bernie Kopell, director Jay Sandrich, and producer Leonard Stern.
Posted May 31st 2006 3:00PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, TV Royalty, TV on DVD
It looks like earlier news that HBO would be putting together the
Get Smart DVDs was mistaken. Instead, Time-Life will put out the 5 DVDs!
No word yet on the exact street date for the DVDs, but an inside source has
told TVShowsonDVD that the first season set will include all 29 episodes, the black and white pilot, commentaries from Barbara Feldon, interviews, and a gag reel.
I was obsessed with this show when I was a kid (watching reruns in the 70s). The show was funny, but I was also intrigued by the opening, where Maxwell Smart went through all the secret doors and finally went into the phone booth into headquarters. I even used to like to see which car Smart was driving when he pulled up in front of the building, because it changed over the seasons. I liked the blue Karman Ghia.
Posted Apr 16th 2006 8:04AM by Adam Finley
Filed under: TV Royalty, Celebrities
This September, Turner Classic Movies will air a one-time, one-hour
Dick
Cavett Show special in which the famous TV talker will sit down with filmmaker and comedy legend Mel Brooks. The
special will be filmed before a live audience on an updated version of the set of the original series. In addition to
the new interview with Brooks, who is currently adapting his movie
Young Frankenstein into a musical, TCM has
also secured the rights to Cavett's "classic" interviews with the likes of Robert Mitchum, Bette Davis,
Ingmar Bergman, Alfred Hitchcock, Woody Allen, Groucho Marx, and Katharine Hepburn. Those interviews will also air
during the month of September. Now I just have to remind myself to remind my Tivo to record the Woody Allen, Alfred
Hitchcock, and Groucho Marx episodes.
Posted Jan 20th 2006 1:33PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Talent, Programming
"The President's waiting for you in the Oval Office - and I have a yogurt." -
Margaret, to C.J., on The West Wing. - "Sure, they're not always dressed, and sometimes there's more than one, but I only go to the classy web
sites." - Ralph, to Gabrielle, saying he saw her picture on an X-rated web site, on Desperate Housewives.
- "Taste is for cowards...if you break the rules, you'll live forever." - Mel Brooks, in a CNN
interview.
- "I only sing in front of my turkey." - American Idol contestant Garet Johnson, auditioning
in Denver.
- "A 20 year old student at Cal Tech set a new world's record when he solved the Rubik's Cube in 11
seconds. Which would be impressive, if this was 1983." - Conan O'Brien
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