TVSquad

You'll note that I didn't call it a "Muppet short film," because there are no Muppets to be found in the eight-minute short below. It does, however, feature a young Jim Henson. The short, called Time Piece, was nominated for an Oscar in 1966.

Something tells me I would have appreciated this short more when I was in college. Back then I lived for surreal, nonsensical stuff like this: tearing it apart, trying to figure out what it all means. I'd borrow films like this and Un Chien Andalou from the college media center and revel in how different it all was.

Remember when I told y'all that Perfect Hair Forever was coming back, but that it would be online only? Well, that time has come, so click here and enjoy parts one and two of "Return to Balding Victory."

The last time we left our hero, he was on a quest to Tuna Mountain. Also, there was a hamburger necklace, and some dude and a talking giraffe in a hole. If you were wondering what all of that stuff meant, you can rest assured that absolutely none of that is explained in these new episodes. Why? Because as one character explains: it's all just a big anime mindf**k. So inject LSD directly into your eyeballs, sit back in your computer chair, and enjoy the ride.

I've said before I'm kind of an intermittent fan of the Andy Milonakis Show, but after seeing the season three premiere in which Andy first arrives in Los Angeles, I have to say that the show has improved greatly. If you hated Andy before, you'll probably still hate him, since his brand of humor isn't for everyone, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much more fully realized the show now seems. The first season had some very funny moments, but it seemed to lack focus, as if it wasn't sure what it was trying to be. I think both Andy and his show have finally found themselves, and Milonakis may have figured out a way to turn his penchant for oddball non sequiturs and general nonsense into real, honest to goodness comedy. Our little weirdo has finally become a butterfly, with peanut butter on his hands ("peanut butter slap")!

The six season three episodes are available on iTunes and will also be made available on MTV2.com and MTV.com.

April 13 can't arrive fast enough. I'm so thrilled about the upcoming Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters the first thing I did after seeing the new trailer was call my mother to tell her the good news:

Adam: Mom! Did you see it?

Mom: Adam, it's 3:00 a.m.

Adam: I know, isn't it awesome? I just wonder how they're going to stretch an eleven minute TV show into a full feature.

Mom: I have to get up for work in three hours.

While you're in the process of preparing yourself both physically and mentally for the release of The Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters on April 13, make sure you snatch up the soundtrack, which comes out on April 10. I haven't purchased the soundtrack for an animated movie since The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, but I may have to get my greasy hands on this one. It'll feature a brand new version of the ATHF theme from Schooly D, not to mention tracks by The Hold Steady, Mastodon, Killer Mike, and Nine Pound Hammer (the band behind the 12 Oz Mouse theme). The CD will also feature sound bites from the movie and skits.

While this is Adult Swim and Williams Street first foray into animated movies, they've been collaborating with underground musicians for some time now. Check out this page for a bunch of downloadable audio goodness.

We were so ready to greet Master Shake, Frylock and Meatwad on the big screen come March 23, but now we have to wait until April 13.

However, that's not such a terrible thing, because Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters is also getting a much wider release, opening in almost 2,000 theaters. Rumors have it that the new wide release is to cash in on increased awareness of the oddball series brought on by the recent marketing misfire in Boston. So yeah, it sucks that we have to wait, but at least now more people will have a chance to see it. I'm lucky enough to live in a major city, so I was pretty much guaranteed to see it anyway, but I feel for those who live places where limited release movies are harder to come by. I think the small town where I grew up just recently got the first Beethoven movie. Sad, really.

I posted it before, but here's the trailer again. It's hysterical. Enjoy:

(S01E01) I have no plans to review this new series from Eric Wareheim and Tim Heidecker every week as I did their last series for Adult Swim, Tom Goes to the Mayor, mostly because this new series is so random and eclectic it'd be almost impossible to write a coherent review every week.

I became a fan of Tim and Eric a couple years before Tom Goes to the Mayor was developed for Adult Swim, having stumbled upon the various shorts on their Web site. What immediately struck me was not just that these men were funny, but that their humor was constructed within an entirely different paradigm. I imagine it's somewhat how American audiences first responded to Monty Python, which at the time must have been so different from what people were used to that many were simply turned off by it. I'm not making a direct comparison between Monty Python and Awesome Show, but I am saying there's a difference between comedy that works because it's been done before countless times, and comedy that really dares to be different.

First it was Perfect Hair Forever and The Brak Show, and now Adult Swim is also bringing back 12 Oz Mouse with exclusive Web-only episodes, according to this interview with creator Matt Maiellaro. The new episodes are set to begin production next month. Maiellaro also mentioned a future DVD release, so there's plenty for 12 Oz Mouse fans to be thrilled about.

From the very beginning with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Adult Swim has provided folks like myself with the kind of goofy surrealist comedy we crave. What's particularly intriguing about 12 Oz Mouse is that it manages to be a weird show even in contrast to the weird shows that surround it. It doesn't provide the eleven-minute comedy pummeling of other Williams Street fare, but instead unravels slowly, revealing a little bit more of what's underneath the surface while also piling on more and more questions. It is the most simplistically drawn of all the Adult Swim shows, and yet the most complex in terms of story. It's that paradox that kept me engrossed in the series right up to the last televised episode.

[via Toon Zone Forums]

I'm a big fan of Wonder Showzen, not only because I find it subversive and hilarious, but also because the show can make a person downright uncomfortable at times with some of its graphic scenes. I recall an animated segment in a recent episode in which a dog pulls a bloody fetus out of a woman while she's being killed in the electric chair. That's just one example of many in which the show tries to simultaneously tickle both your funnybone and your gag reflex. This has led me to the conclusion that John Lee and Vernon Chatman, the creators of Wonder Showzen, should make a horror film. I think the surreal, visceral approach they sometimes use could result in a horror flick that's truly unique. I imagine something along the lines of Dario Argento's films, horrific but oddly fascinating at the same time. I doubt they have any intention of doing so, but they could, that's what I'm saying.

(S02E05) Last night's episode of Wonder Showzen was incredibly surreal, even for Wonder Showzen. The show began with a science fair in which Sthugar reveals a propeller beanie powered by sadness, and Wordsworth creates a television which shows his dreams. Unfortunately, Wordsworth's deepest fears manifest themselves into an actual monster who escapes the TV and wreaks havoc on the town. Chauncey demands Wordsworth face his fear, but Wordsworth is too afraid. Therefore, Chauncey and Him use Him's shrink ray (which doesn't actually shrink an object but instead makes everything else bigger, giving the illusion of shrinkage) and journey into Wordsworth's brain in order to bypass his free will and make him fight the giant monster. The segments inside Wordsworth's brain included some great meta moments, especially when they find themselves inside his short term memory center and they become sensory echoes themselves, multiplying and repeating into infinity.

Andy Milonakis fans can now rejoice, and those who loathe him can... not rejoice, I guess. The Andy Milonakis Show is coming back to MTV2 for a second season, so we can expect to see more crazy hijinks, angry people on the street, and whatever surreal nonsense Andy can come up with. The new season will kick off on March 31 as part of MTV2's "Sic 'Em Friday" lineup. The new season will correspond with the DVD release of the first season.

I admit it. I have a proclivity for watching weird TV shows done in languages I don't understand. Since I know I'm not the only one out there who does this, I invite you to take a gander at some of these clips of Japanese game shows. I think the videos are safe for work, depending on your company's tolerance for scantily-clad women (and men). If you click the above link you'll also find more videos listed in the comments. I'm not making any claims about the content of those, however. You'll have to venture into that particular jungle on your own. 

[via Boing Boing]