A Thursday clip show, with Harold, Kumar and even Black Dynamite

Before we get into any of that, does anyone remember Amy Sherman-Palladino? Before she quit her own show between the sixth and seventh (final) seasons, she was the creator of "Gilmore Girls," a show that was miles better than it had any business being.

The CW show starred Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel as a single mother and her teenage daughter, and on paper that should have been enough to keep me away. And for the first couple of seasons, it was, but I eventually caught on an up, and I'm certainly glad I did.

Along with the great relationship - and two electric stars - at its core, the show had genuine quirk, not the forced and piled on kind (though there was a whole lot of it), but the organic kind that genuinely makes you laugh (and is sorely missing almost everywhere else on TV.) And it also had very fast - and almost equally smart and funny - banter, something you don't find outside of Aaron Sorkin's best work.

And I tell you all that to tell you this: After first attempting a post-"Gilmore Girls" comeback with the disastrously short-lived "The Return of Jezebel Jones" with Lauren Ambrose and Parker Posey (how in the world do you make her not funny? Sheesh), she's now back in a pretty big way, scripting a pilot for ABC based on the best-selling book "The Nanny Diaries."

If that sounds familiar, it's already been made into a movie I somehow managed to miss starring Scarlett Johansson and directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini (who also made the delightful "American Splendor" and, more recently, "The Extra Man," well worth a rental.)

And on paper, this new show, about an NYU undergrad hired to care for the 4-year-old child of a wealthy New York family, sounds as unpromising as "Gilmore Girls" first did to me, too, but since I was wrong once, I'll probably at least tune in for the pilot for this, when and if it ever materializes. Welcome back.

OK, after that today, it's nothing but filthy fun, I promise, starting with the first trailer I've seen for "A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas." Yes, 3D, but as you'll see from the trailer, it's as much a target as a prop, and should be put to some pretty friggin funny use. I'm not sure there really needs to be a premise for a Harold and Kumar movie, but this time out Harold (John Cho) is happily married when Kumar (Kal Penn), of course, shows up to drag him back into his hedonistic ways. I hope I never get too old to enjoy a good stoner movie, and here's hoping also that this turns out to be one (I'm betting on yes) when it opens in November. Enjoy.

And finally, satires don't get much smarter or funnier than what Michael Jai White and director Scott Sanders cooked up with "Black Dynamite," so I was plenty happy to hear the saga was continuing in animated form on Adult Swim. I have no idea if this is going to series, but with the first short episode embedded below, I can tell you two things: Though it's not quite as funny as the movie (and really, few things are), it's still pretty darn good, and also, please be warned, this is EXTREMELY not safe for work. Enjoy it when you're sure it won't get you in trouble. Peace out.

New "Beavis and Butthead"? Well, that won't suck

Actually, I was tempted to use that word in association with Mike Judge's craptastic last flick, "Extract," but let's just be nice and simply say perhaps the man should just stick to TV.

In easily the best combination of crazy and great news today, it seems that Judge is indeed now "outlining" 30 new episodes of "Beavis and Butthead," and if anything, our world is even more deserving of their deconstruction than it was when the duo first debuted in 1997.

There's no deal yet in place with MTV, but seeing as how it hasn't shown anything resembling a music video almost since our heroes left the air the first time, I can't imagine they'd turn this down. Actually, wouldn't that be a problem? Do people even make music videos anymore? If so, why, since no one shows them?

Even if that means the format would have to be tweaked somewhat, the potential return of Beavis and Butthead is still nothing but good news in this little corner of the world.

And in their honor, the synopsis is out for the the third adventures of Harold and Kumar, "A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas," due out Christmas Day 2011. Here goes:

The new "Harold & Kumar" comedy picks up six years after the duo's last adventure. After years of growing apart, Harold Lee (John Cho) and Kumar Patel (Kal Penn) have replaced each other with new best friends and are preparing for their respective Christmas celebrations. But when a mysterious package arrives at Kumar's door, his attempt to deliver it to Harold's house ends with him inadvertently burning down Harold's father-in-law's prize Christmas tree. With his in-laws out of the house for less than a day, Harold decides to cover his tracks rather than come clean, and reluctantly embarks on another ill-advised but hilarious journey with Kumar, taking them through New York City on Christmas Eve in search of the perfect Christmas tree.

Nothing but potential funny there, so here's hoping the third chapter is a whole lot better than "Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay," which, while still being a hoot, just too often crossed that fine line between clever and simply stupid.

And all I have after that today is a trio of videos that caught my eye this morning, starting, of course, with something in honor of the return of "Mad Men," coming July 25 with season four on AMC. The show's return is a definite entertainment highlight in any summer, but in this season of suck, it's even more vital. To whet your appetite, here's a clip some devoted and inspired fan with some time to kill made that compiles some of the best pickup lines and rejections. Enjoy.



Actually, in terms of movies that won't suck, the reviews I've read of "Despicable Me" indicate that should be a winner, and it should initiate at least a three-week streak of good flicks, being followed by Christopher Nolan's "Inception" (for which the early reviews could, without exaggeration, be called rapturous) and then Phillip Noyce's "Salt," starring Angelina Jolie. With flicks like "The Quiet American" and "Catch a Fire," Noyce has made himself into easily one of my favorite directors, and he's clearly at home with spy games, so I'm expecting this to be pretty great, and one of the surprise megahits of the summer. Enjoy this clip.

And, it being Thursday, where else to end than with a clip from tonight's new "Futurama"? Last week's episode featuring everything from the Eye Phone to that thoroughly disgusting Susan Boyle boil was comedy gold, and as you'll see from this clip, tonight's episode is all about "robosexual marriage." Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.

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Is "Toy Story" now the best movie trilogy of all time?

Actually, before we get into any of that, I saw an update on a contender for the title of movie I'm most looking forward to for the rest of this year, and it's one I had almost forgotten about.

If you haven't seen Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck's minor league baseball/immigration drama "Sugar," there really are very few rentals I can recommend higher. It was easily one of my favorite movies of 2009, so it's certainly only good news that they're coming back this fall, especially when they've got such a good cast in tow.

Their next movie, set to be released Sept. 24 by Focus Features, will be called "It's Kind of a Funny Story," adapted from the Ned Vizzini novel of the same name. It's about a teen (Keir Gilchrist) who checks himself into a mental institution only to find himself stuck in the adult unit, where he encounters a bunch of colorful characters.

The supporting cast somehow includes Zach Galifianakis, Emma Roberts, Lorelai Gilmore, Viola Davis and Aasif Mandvi of "The Daily Show," and it was described in Entertainment Weekly by producer Kevin Mischer as being like a "teen version of 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,' but the tone is more similar to 'The Breakfast Club,' it's funny." OK, I'm in.

But before I got distracted by all of that. this was supposed to be all about movie trilogies, spurred by a comment from one of my fellow cubicle slaves, reporter Phillip Ramati: "So, is 'Toy Story' now the best movie trilogy ever?"

Having thought about it for a couple of days, I'd have to say yes, and with no hesitation. Think about it. The first "Toy Story" was as groundbreaking as it was simply entertaining, the second one was just miles better in terms of story and humor, and the third installment was the best of all, just a fun ride from the start to a finish that's making grownass people around the world cry (yes, me too.)

For that consistency, I'd have to say that yes, it certainly is the best movie trilogy ever made. Below are the eight others that were in contention in my mind, but before that a bit of a digression about the third installment in a trilogy that, while it will almost certainly never make anyone's best of list of any kind, certainly brings the funny.

Kal Penn has quit the White House to reteam with John Cho for the third "Harold & Kumar" flick, "A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas," coming as the perfect Christmas day gift next year. The story finds Harold as a suburban dad who's awakened from his new world by the return of stoner buddy Kumar. We've already learned that, thankfully, Neil Patrick Harris will somehow be revived and veryfunnyguy Patton Oswalt will be involved in this somehow too. And now comes word that Thomas Lennon of the late "Reno 911" (and, rather amazingly, the co-writer of the "Night at the Museum" movies too) has joined the cast as Harold's neighbor.

That's a whole lot of funny for one movie, so here's hoping the duo goes out on a very high note (sorry, I couldn't resist.)

And here, without any further digression, are the eight movie trilogies that, in my mind, could even enter the same conversation with the "Toy Story" saga. As usual, please feel free to add any at the end that you think I've snubbed.

"Back to the Future": For sheer fun, there probably isn't a trilogy that delivers more than Robert Zemeckis' flicks starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd. 'Nuff said.

"Evil Dead": I've sung the virtues of Sam Raimi's "Drag Me to Hell" here, well, probably way too many times, but the reason it's so good is it was a return to the form Raimi was in when he made these priceless zombie flicks.

"Goal!":I may well be the only person in the world who holds these movies in such high esteem, but the the soccer series about Mexican futboler Santiago Munez and his journey from L.A. to Newcastle United to Real Madrid and then, of course, to the 2006 World Cup (hey, this is a fantasy, after all), really is just about my favorite sports underdog tale.

"The Godfather": Though the first two movies in Francis Ford Coppola's epic saga get regular and unconditional love, I'd like to take a second to clear up a misconception about the third installment: It's really not a bad movie at all. Not nearly as good as the first two chapters, but a solid ending to the story, especially when you compare it to the simply awful third chapters of, for example, "Spider-Man" and "X-Men."

"Lord of the Rings": I have no idea what's going on with "The Hobbit," which may or may not somehow going to be directed by "LOTR" helmer Peter Jackson, but my favorite moment in the whole Rings trilogy shows just why a "Hobbit" movie would be so amazing. Of the entire nine hours or so, the best stretch for me is still the first 20 minutes or so of the first movie, which take place with the hobbits in the Shire. I'm probably the only person in the world that thinks the rest of Jackson's flicks fail to reach that high point, but there it is.

"Major League": Really? Yes, really. And rather amazingly, writer/director David S. Ward, who's responsible for the first two installments of this baseball comedy epic, says he has a script ready for a fourth chapter, and has even had at least primary talks with Wild Thing Charlie Sheen about it. How could you make another "Major League" perfect? Make it about a winning season for my beloved Baltimore Orioles, because at this point, nothing would be funnier than that.

"Star Wars": Just in case anyone needs any clarification (which I rather seriously doubt), I'm talking here of course about what I believe, thanks to George Lucas, are somehow now called chapters IV-VI. But the abortions that were I-III have been wiped from my mind, so these are really the only three "Star Wars" flicks, and even with the Ewoks at the end, they're all three great.


"Blue," "White" and "Red":
Nothing like saving the artsiest for last. I actually Netflixed and watched all three chapters of Krysztof Kieslowski's sublime trilogy over a recent weekend (yes, I live a wild life), and I think the second chapter, "White" with Julie Delpy, is my favorite, though they're all sensational. Though it appears last on this list somehow, this is the movie trilogy I'd put right behind "Toy Story" in terms of overall appeal.

And there you have it. Please feel free to add any you think I've snubbed, and have a perfectly passable Wednesday. Actually, I'm gonna leave you with easily the funniest picture I saw this morning, which really needs no explanation from me. Peace out.

Seth Rogen as "The Green Hornet": Not as bad as you might have imagined

The first trailer for Michel Gondry's "The Green Hornet" has indeed been unveiled (and the first picture is above), but if you'll indulge me for just a few seconds during a short post today (have to get to work early so I can take off during tomorrow's U.S.A.-Algeria match), there were a few great things that also caught my eye.

First up comes some confirmation that when Harold and Kumar finally return again for Christmas day 2011 with "A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas," they're gonna bring the serious funny. Shooting has just begun, and word came out yesterday that veryfunnyman Patton Oswalt has joined the cast, though I'm not sure yet in what capacity. "Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay," while far from awful, wasn't nearly as funny as "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle," but here's hoping that as Harold at least finally tries to grow up in the third installment, the guys go out on top (assuming this will be the final chapter of the stoner saga - but here's hoping I'm wrong again.)

Secondly, and this can really be a shock to absolutely no one, HBO has gone ahead and ordered a fourth season of "True Blood" just as the third season is getting going. While the first two season three episodes have been heavy on exposition, they've also been as wickedly funny as the show has ever been, and though I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't read Charlayne Harris' sensationally entertaining Sookie Stackhouse novels, I'll just say that the arrival of lovably dimwitted Jason (Ryan Kwanten) in Hotshot is going to signal a major transformation, probably as soon as episode three, that you definitely don't want to miss. Stay tuned ...

And thirdly before we finally get to "The Green Hornet," I just assumed the World Cup ratings headline in the U.S.A. was going to be "Blame it on the Vuvuzuelas," but I guess I should have a little more faith. In fact, per the Hollywood Reporter, "through the first 14 matches of the World Cup, ESPN and ABC have delivered an average crowd of 3.35 million viewers, marking a 64% increase from the same period in 2006, when the nets drew 2.9 million fans. The initial portion of the round-robin stage was distinguished by the much-anticipated June 12 U.S.-England tie, which drew 13 million viewers on ABC, making it the most-watched first round World Cup game in U.S. broadcast history." Bully. And again, just in case you're looking for an excuse to drink a beer or two for breakfast tomorrow, U.S.A. v. Algeria for all the marbles tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. Tune in.

OK, indeed the main event here was supposed to be the unveiling of the first trailer for "The Green Hornet," and here it is. And although the idea of Seth Rogen as a superhero raises its fair share of doubts, he really doesn't embarrass himself here. The problem, at least in this snippet, is that it really doesn't show any of the signature trippy style of director Michel Gondry, who seems to have been tamed by the superhero flick. Anyways, there are certainly worse ways to spend two-and-a-half minutes of a workday morning, so enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Tuesday. Peace out.