Category Archives: Freak Out Control

2010/11/15 · 8:26 pm

Muppet Monday: Christmas 2011 Can’t Come Soon Enough

Well, there’s more than just Muppet movie casting news these days.  No, what we’re getting now are actual photos from The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made, and not just promo shots of Jason Segel and the gang, but photos from the set.   Behold, the Henson Company Studios in Hollywood transformed into Muppet Studios, a once thriving studio that has fallen into disrepair.  It’ll be Segel’s character Gary, and his roommate, the new Muppet Walter, who ostensibly rally the Muppets to reunite and revive the studio.

(one of our greatest regrets from our time living in LA is not trying to take a tour Henson Studios, or at the very least stopping at the gate on La Brea Ave and attempting to bribe the guard with pepperoni pizza).

Read and see more at Slashfilm.

Tipped off by two of our besties, Glazer and Mechanic.

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2010/11/12 · 5:42 pm

Dreams Do Come True: Paul Rudd is in for the Muppet Movie!

It’s official!  As we, and everyone else on the Internet, predicted, Paul Rudd is joining his Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and I Love You Man co-star Jason Segel in The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made (but we maintain we called it first).  As soon as word leaked the Segel was writing the movie with his Sarah Marshall director Nicholas Stoller, we began speculating which members of the Apatow-verse would be joining in, and Rudd was at the top of the wish list.  When we learned that Apatow-charter Rashida Jones and comedian of the moment Zach Galifiniakis were also slated to appear, Rudd seemed like an inevitability.  And, now, according to Production Weekly, it’s a reality, with Rudd on board to voice the new “anything Muppet” Walter, who, as we previously noted, will portray Segel’s roommate in the movie.  And this, even without any direct Judd Apatow involvement, cements The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made‘s status on the Judd Apatow Chart.

But that’s not all!  Production Weekly also reports that fellow Apatow-charters Jack Black and Jane Lynch are in, as is Rashida Jones’ former TV flame John Krasinksi (who we suggested over a year ago might make for a great Muppet), Krasinki’s Office co-star (as well as Galifiniakis’ Hangover castmate) Ed Helms, Krasinski and Helm’s NBC Thursday night comedy brother Donald Glover, and Danny Trejo, who cameo’d in the Apatow-produced Anchorman (and Modern Family’s Eric Stonestreet, whom we’re having trouble connecting to the rest of the cast).  So in a word: WOW.

Oh, and Lady Gaga, apparently.  Whatevs.

Here’s a preview of what the Muppet-Rudd collaboration might look like:

via Vulture

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Filed under Dunder Mifflin, this is Pam, Freak Out Control, Intersection of the venn diagram of things that I love, Judd Apatow, Mancrush, Muppets

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2010/11/11 · 6:59 pm

‘Doug’ Movie: Best Thing On the Internet in a Long Time?

We’ve made no secrets about being huge Nickelodeon, and Nicktoons, fans here at Jumped The Snark, so this trailer for a live-action Doug movie just about made our head spin:

Awesome.  Thank you, Internet.

And thank you, Doug.

via AV Club

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2010/10/28 · 5:39 pm

FINALLY! Billy Joel & Michael Ian Black!

Well, not quite.  But during a recent appearance on Howard Stern’s Sirius radio show, Stern did ask Joel if he had read Michael Ian Black‘s essay “What I Would Be Thinking About If I Were Billy Joel Driving Towards A Holiday Party Where I Knew There Was Going To Be A Piano” (from his delightful anthology, My Custom Van, now available in paperback), so it’s almost as if they collaborated.  Sure, Joel hadn’t read or even heard of the essay, but now he knows about it, and we’re sure if he did read it he’d agree with every word (we think he’d also particularly enjoy the essay “Why I Used a Day-Glo Magic Marker to Color My Dick Yellow”).

Beyond the brief discussion about Black’s essay and Joel’s actual experience of going to party and finding out he’s supposed to be the entertainment, it’s a thoroughly enjoyable interview that delves into Joel’s personal past, and also goes in depth about Joel’s new concert film/documentary Last Play at Shea.

So that makes it Billy Joel, Michael Ian Black, and the Mets all in one conversation!  That’s like Christmas for a Long Island Jew Comedy Nerd!  Mazel Tov!

Thanks to Kieran for the tip

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Filed under Freak Out Control, Intersection of the venn diagram of things that I love, Literarally, Local Flavor, Marconi & Cheese, Matt Christopher Books, The Big Screen, The State, Tyranasaurus Sex, Woody Allen, Bar Mitzvahs & Bagels

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2010/10/25 · 5:49 pm

Uh Oh, My Nephew is Going to Go NUTS

We better start saving up for merch.

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2010/10/18 · 4:57 pm

Muppet Monday: Rashida Jones May Join ‘Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made’, Moving Us Closer To A State-Muppet Movie Directed By Judd Apatow

In things-that-I-love-meeting-other-things-that-I-love news, reports indicate that Rashida Jones is close to joining Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller’s forthcoming Muppet motion picture, The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made (in addition, the adorable Amy Adams and the cute Chris Cooper are also in talks to come on board).  Now that Jones appears to be in, we can only assume that Paul Rudd will not be far behind.  And when you have Paul Rudd and Rashida Jones there’s a pretty good chance that you’re eventually going to see Judd Apatow and at least one member of The State.  Rudd, we all know, is one of the key faces of Apatowian comedy, as well as frequent a collaborator with State members David Wain and Ken Marino (see: Role Models, Diggers).  Jones, in addition to appearing in the Apatow-esque I Love You Man with Segel and Rudd (plus State member Tom Lennon), had a small role in Apatow’s masterwork Freaks and Geeks, and has shown up in State related productions Stella, The Ten and Wainy Days.  So from there it’s only a matter of time before Jones, Rudd, Segel, Apatow, The State and the Muppets all team up.  We already know that The State and the Muppets have a history together:

Vodpod videos no longer available.

One complaint:  Sources say that Jones would portray an ABC exec in the movie.  Between her roles on The Office and The Social Network, we think we’ve seen enough of her in business attire.  No more blazers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For further information, please consult the Judd Apatow Chart

via Vulture

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Filed under Discos and Dragons, Dunder Mifflin, this is Pam, Freak Out Control, Intersection of the venn diagram of things that I love, Judd Apatow, Muppet Mondays, Muppets, The Big Screen, The State, Yasmine Bleeth

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2010/10/08 · 2:00 pm

Justine Bateman Knows Way More About The Internet Than I Do

The legendary, lovely, luminous Justine Bateman appeared on this week’s Urly Show, the podcast hosted by our dear friend Eliot Glazer and his team over at Urlesque, and she basically blew our minds.  We thought we spend a lot of our time looking at Internet junk, but Justine has got us beat.  Sure, you could argue with all the money she’s making off of Family Ties residuals she has nothing but time to look at animals in casts Tumblrs and Cigar Guy memes and fake Christine O’Donnell broomstick Twitter feeds.  But she actually makes us feel like we’re not doing a good enough job of looking at Internet junk.  Like, she wants it more.  To us, her relative wealth would have led us to believe that she’d think of herself above the web fray, and instead of checking out the latest Sad Keanu photoshop job or post about spaghetti tacos she’d be using the New Yorker app on her iPad while sitting by the pool, possibly being fanned by a young Filipino boy.  Turns out that she’s not above the fray, but instead thoroughly in the midst of it, and we have a new-found admiration for her because of it.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

The best part is that Eliot played a few clips from How Can I Tell If I’m Really In Love, a full length PSA from 1986 that features Bateman (as well as Ted Danson) educating teenage girls about the evils tricks adolescent boys use get into their pants.  Eliot unearthed this time capsule when we were in high school, and we spent several nights watching the VHS in his parents’ basement, completely fascinated and confused (questions like: why did they insist everyone sit in such uncomfortable positions?  And: Is this a joke?), so it’s unbelievable to see Bateman watching and commenting on it now (although, she has little to no recollection of shooting it.  But we can’t really blame her for that).   See for yourself!

Speaking of Family Ties and things that blew our minds, let’s take this opportunity to remind you of this and this.

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Filed under Flashback!, Freak Out Control, Intersection of the venn diagram of things that I love, Interweb, Nostalgia Corner, Other people's stuff, Sha la la la

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2010/09/23 · 7:29 pm

Gentleman, Start Your DVRs: Quick Thoughts On The NBC Thursday Night Comedies

It seems like May sweeps was just yesterday, but here we are on the cusp of the return of Thursday night TV-pocolypse.  Luckily for our DVR, Survivor was shifted back to Wednesday nights, and Parks and Recreation is (egregiously) on the shelf until mid-season (of course, while that might be good for our DVR, it’s terrible for our collective well-being).  But we’re still left with what is now the NBC comedy old guard, The Office & 30 Rock, and the returning sensation, and probably the best of the bunch, Community.  And later we have a little cable fun with It’s Always in Philadelphia and Delocated (if you’re eyeballs aren’t bleeding by then).  But, for now, let’s quickly focus on the NBC line-up.

The big story on NBC Thursday nights, as we noted above, is not what’s on, but what’s not, that being Parks and Recreation, benched in favor of the already critically reviled Outsourced.  Sure, NBC has the right to air whatever it wants, and if it thinks another show will be more successful, and has the potential to be an anchor the way that The Office is and shows like Friends, Seinfeld, Frasier and Cheers were, then we can’t begrudge them that.  But Outsourced hasn’t even aired yet and it seems the verdict is already in: it’s a waste of valuable space.  One has to wonder if NBC, who proved with the Jay Leno Show that they’re willing to sacrifice quality programming for profit, chose to promote Outsourced because it’s an in-house production, even knowing its an inferior program.  Because even if it pulls in rating as low as Parks and Rec, maybe even lower, NBC will still grab a bigger slice of the pie.  That’s just conjecture at this point, but there’s certainly a precedent for it, and we know that TV, network television in particular, is a business above all.  Let’s just hope that Outsourced is so terrible that it’s yanked sooner than planned and Parks and Recreation can reclaim its rightful place (especially since they rushed the show back into production for its third season to accommodate Amy Poehler’s pregnancy).

More: ‘Community’ is up, ‘The Office’ is down, and ’30 Rock’ is still here.

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2010/09/01 · 10:11 am

Not Very Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Random, Belated, Emmy Thoughts

The Emmy’s were handed out three nights ago, and in the internet world that’s about the equivalent of a fortnight, and everyone who can say it better than me has already said it better than me.  But, just to put it on the permanent record, and to get us ready for the impending fall TV season, we thought we’d follow-up with a few humble thoughts of our own, in concise bullet-point form:

  • Loved the opening bit, even if it was somewhat of a rehash of 6-Bee‘s glee club rendition of “We’re Not Going to Take It,” a performance that we still giddily cue up on our screen on a regular basis (as well as an audio version on our iPod).  But with Tina Fey, Jon Hamm, Joel McHale, Jorge Garcia AND Tim Gunn it was like the Ocean’s 11 all-star version of the original Late Night piece, and it truly demanded some freak out control.  Our worlds colliding, but in an amazing way.
  • Speaking of Jon Hamm, now that his comedic genius has finally been exposed to a wide audience (30 Rock is still critically adored but commercially ignored, his appearances in viral videos only legitimately reach a small segment of the online viewing public, and even two turns hosting SNL don’t necessarily make you a household name these days), can we start having him be funny full-time?  He’s so gifted, and so natural, it honestly feels like a waste forcing him to be so stoic and dour and cold on Mad Men (and we know we sound like a broken record on this, but we’re going to keep bring it up until it happens.  Or until Mad Men becomes a farcical satire.  Maybe in season 5).  Sure, he’s magnetic, sexy and mysterious on the AMC drama, but it’s when he’s allowed to do comedy that he truly lights up.  But after being seen dancing like an idiot on HDTVs all across the country maybe someone will give him a chance to headline a comedy.  Perhaps something in the Apatowian genre.  I think that’s a hit.

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2010/08/31 · 3:12 pm

What About That One Episode Of ‘Veronica Mars’, TMZ?

Today in their “Where are they now?” posting, TMZ featured Rider Strong, AKA Boy Meet’s World‘s resident bad boy/sensitive poet Shawn Hunter.  However, we take an exception to their ostensibly derogatory summary of his post-World career, as they write:

In 2004, Rider graduated magna cum laude from Columbia University.

In 2009, Strong appeared in one episode of “Castle.”

That feels like a dig to me, no?  How does it feel to you?

I think we all remember his role in the season 3 episode of Veronica Mars “My Big Fat Greek Rush Week” as Wallace & Logan’s classmate and fellow participant in the Stanford prison experiment.  Strong, you may recall, played a guard in the exercise who bullied concurrent guest star and captive Samm Levine into pissing his pants (it was quite the guest star-studded episode, as Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer Simpson, appears as the professor conducting the experiment.  What Veronica was doing this whole time I don’t recall).

So to say that in the intervening years since the end of Boy Meets World that Strong has only gone to college and appeared on one episode of a somewhat popular ABC show is unfair, and plain wrong.  And, in addition to his spot on Veronica Mars, he also keeps up a pretty strong twitter presence.

We’re kidding here, of course.  But Strong, according to his twitter, has been working on his own films and even doing some theater.  And, more importantly, one time about 6 years ago we ran into him on the N train.  And he was gracious and kind, even as we completely geeked out, and no doubt made him feel uncomfortable from across the train car.  He was the first (but not the last) cast member of Boy Meets World that we have had the good fortune to meet, and for that he’ll always have a place in our heart.

And that, TMZ, is the kind of fact you can’t find on IMDB.

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