Remember when Eddie was funny?

I know it can be hard to do. And I'm not talking about the family-friendly, super-silly funny of "Daddy Day Care" or "Dave" (actually, I can't confirm or deny that there was anything funny about either of those, since I didn't bother to watch them.)

I'm talking about really funny. Rude funny. "Raw" funny. Well, luckily, Bill Condon - most recently the producer of this year's rather pedestrian Oscars broadcast - does, and he wants to do something about it.

He's currently shopping around a script for the biopic "Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said," with Murphy attached to play the great Mr. Pryor himself. And to me that sounds like nothing but cool.

Richard Pryor, of course, created so many great comic routines, but my favorite was that one about the "big water-head boy." It was just so foul and funny at the same time, and like the best of his routines it made you feel thoroughly uncomfortable as you were unable to stop laughing. Much like Paul Mooney, who was adopted by Dave Chappelle and given a rebirth on Dave's Comedy Central show. I sure wish Richard Pryor had lived long enough to get in on that action.

I couldn't find the "water-head" boy clip anywhere, but I did find that one of Mr. Pryor explaining why (like Mr. Mooney) he's not gonna use the N-word anymore. Enjoy, and relish the thought of a first-rate director leading a once-seriously funny guy in a biopic about one of the true comic geniuses. Bring it on.



Seth Green about to cash in big time

Given all that Seth Green has done in animation with "Robot Chicken," which though it's thoroughly crude and ADD-inspiring is also insanely funny, it's certainly about time he gets to cash in with a big-time animated movie, especially one that sounds as good as this.

Robert Zemeckis is producing a performance-capture movie of "Mars Needs Moms" for Disney, and Green has signed on to voice the lead.

But what is "Mars Needs Moms"? Though I had never heard of it, it's apparently a children's novel by Bloom County creator Berkeley Breathed. The story is about a boy named Milo (of course), to be voiced by Green, who stows away aboard a spaceship to rescue his mom after she's kidnapped by aliens.

That all sounds great to me, and it's just well about time that Oz gets some big-time respect and, of course, cash.

Yes, I watch "Gossip Girl"

It's probably nothing I should ever admit, but I've done so here before, so I suppose that cat's already out of the bag.

And yes, I'm well aware that I'm far too old and male to be among the show's intended target audience, but I just enjoy shutting off my brain after a long day of work and ingesting entertaining trash, and "Chuck" creator Josh Schwartz is a master at delivering it.

When he's not paling around with McG to create the adventures of everyone's favorite accidental superspy, Schwartz is an expert at peddling soapy teen trash, first with the "O.C." and now with the almost-as-good "Gossip Girl." And now, not surprisingly given the CW's appetite for such fare, he's deep into a "Gossip Girl" spinoff coming to the network in May.

It was announced this morning that Brittany Snow will play the lead role in the as-yet-untitled series, which focuses on the teen adventures of Lily van der Woodsen, a k a Serena's mom, who was hopefully for our sake more than a little of a wild child. On the show, Lily has a falling-out with her parents and has to move from posh Montecito to the San Fernando Valley to live with her black-sheep sister and go from private to public school in the 1980s.

I know this means absolutely nothing to most of the people who would bother to stop by and read this site, but it does to me, so thanks for bearing with me, and hopefully this last bit will serve as a bit of a reward.

Go on a "Boat Race" with "I Love You, Man"

The more I see of this March 20 flick starring Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones, Jamie Pressly and, thankfully, J.K. Simmons, the more I'm convinced that it's gonna be exactly the kind of R-rated comedy that I love.

And the red-band clip below certainly does nothing to lessen that. Be warned, if you watch until the end, that the finish is as funny as it is simply thoroughly disgusting. Enjoy, and have a fantastic weekend. Peace out.

A "Veronica Mars" reunion? Well, sort of

Just how in the world did Rob Thomas become the hottest property on TV?

I mean, I'm all for second (or third) chances, and I've made clear my devotion to Thomas' way-too-short-lived "Veronica Mars," but three pilots in one season? Sheesh.

Just 'cause I'm in that kind of mood this morning, I'll start with the least interesting and work my way up to the news of the day (just in case you couldn't figure it out from that none-too-cryptic headline.)

The first is some kind of reimagining/update/sequel to "Beverly Hills 90210." Now, I'm an admitted fan of trashy TV, tuning in as I do week after week for the CW's "Gossip Girl" even though I'm at least a few years beyond its target demographic (hey, knock it if you will, but I work 10-hour days and rather enjoy a little mindless entertainment at the end of the day.) Even so, I just can't see any possible way I'll tune in to this one.

The second must give Thomas some solace after his failed attempts to resuscitate "Veronica Mars" in a slightly altered format. For ABC he's getting to revive another of his shows that fans (though I can't say I'm one, since I missed it the first time) would say died too soon, "Cupid." I don't have too-high hopes for this one unless he's able to bring back star Jeremy Piven, which doesn't yet seem to be in the works.

And now, finally, to the big news of the day: Kristen Bell let it slip to E! Entertainment's Kristin Dos Santos here that she is indeed in final negotiations to reunite with Thomas for his third - and by far most interesting - pilot of the season. Also for ABC, he's developing something called "Outrageous Fortune," which is based on an Aussie series and centers on a family of criminals in which moms tries to make everyone go straight after dad gets sent to the big house. In less interesting casting news, Rene Russo is about to sign on as the mom. Sorry, but I've just never cared for her much at all.

Man, even if Mr. Thomas really likes to work, that just seems like a recipe for burnout. If Bell is indeed able to fit it into her schedule - along with a confirmed return engagement on "Heroes" and her continuing narration on "Gossip Girl" - "Outrageous Fortune" at least is one well worth keeping your eyes on this fall.

New "Muppet Movie" clearly in the right hands

For me, the Muppets are just something you don't mess with unless you have the purest of intentions, and it seems that Jason Segel and Nick Stoller indeed have a great, old-fashioned idea for the beloved critters.

According to this report at CHUD, the plotline they're developing in fact sounds like it fits right in the Muppet world. The Muppets will apparently be doing what Muppets do - putting on a show - this time to save their theater from an evil character who wants to tear the place down to get at the oil underneath.

Sounds great to me. Segel next stars with Ms. Bell in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," which will hopefully be the year's first great comedy when it finally drops April 18, and there's some other pretty cool casting news out about another of his upcoming projects.

"I Love You, Man" will star the very funny Paul Rudd as a man who's about to get married and - realizing he has no friends - goes on a series of man-dates to find a best man, which turns out to be Segel. Rashida Jones is on hand as Rudd's fiancee, and in great news, Jamie Pressly - the funniest gal on TV on "My Name is Earl" - has now joined the cast as her best friend.

Now, this is apparently written and directed by John Hamburg, who made the rather wretched "Along Came Polly," but he also directed some episodes of Judd Apatow's "Undeclared" back in the day, so I'm willing to cut him a break. Besides, if he actually manages to come up with something bad with a cast like that, it will indeed be a rather monumental failure.

Your daily dose of Nazis

What could brighten your day more than a photo of Tom Cruise and, even better, the great Bill Nighy in their best Nazi garb on the set of Bryan Singer's "Valkyrie"? Well, I couldn't think of anything, so here's the best photo from Empire magazine, and you can find a few others here. Peace out.

Horton Hears ... a nation of immigrants?

Before I go any further, a hearty huzzah to the Georgia Bulldogs, who pulled off the seemingly impossible in winning four games (the number of conference games they won all season) in one weekend to win the SEC tournament and earn a matchup with Xavier in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday at noon. It was so nice to see embattled coach Dennis Felton having fun as he cut down the nets on Georgia Tech's home court, so I swiped the AP Photo for all to enjoy. Congrats, indeed!

But that's not really what I want to talk about today, because along with watching a whole lot of basketball this weekend, I also broke my fairly longstanding policy of not going to see big-budget Dr. Seuss spectacles (which lasted through both "The Cat in the Hat" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas") and sprung for "Horton Hears a Who," and I'm mostly glad I did.

Now, its clearly at least a bit of a waste of my time and yours to review a movie that's already made $45 million (the biggest opening so far this year), but I like writing them and hopefully someone will enjoy reading this.

So, what lured me to "Horton Hears a Who"? Well, like everyone in the world, I have nothing but love for Dr. Seuss, and this was the first flick in many years to bear his name that actually looked like it should (rather than being stacked with human beings in hideous makeup designed simply to inflict nightmares.) And kudos to the Blue Sky folks (creators of the "Ice Age" flicks) for accomplishing this seemingly simple feat where others failed.

And secondly, I'm not much of a moralist at all (and, given my vices, would probably be a pretty darn bad one if I ever decided to give it a try), but I will say it was nice to see a G-rated movie that earns its rating honestly. My former cubicle mate Dan Maley must have been smiling when the closing credits rolled and there hadn't been a single fart joke for his two kids to imitate for the next two weeks or so.

But beyond that, is the movie any good? Well, in order to stretch a Dr. Seuss tale to 90 minutes you apparently have to cram a lot of outside stuff into your story, and "Horton" does get bogged down and lose its way about a half hour in or so. In the opening credits it listed three people I really like, Isla Fisher, Jamie Pressly and Jonah Hill, as providing voices, but I couldn't possibly tell you who they were (without cheating with photos like this one) in this way-too-crowded field.

The last third or so, however, is fairly inspired in that slightly twisted Dr. Seuss way. Now, I may be the only person who found - in "A person's a person, no matter how small" - a plea to turn down the rhetoric a bit in the debate about immigration to the U.S. of A, but bear with me.

There's a moment, as poor Horton is trying to find a safe haven for the tiny Whos of Whoville but ends up in a cage, when that odd notion just struck me hard. As the overbearing Kangaroo (Carol Burnett, with one of the few voices that truly stood out) is threatening to destroy the speck (or spic, maybe?), all of its inhabitants, led by the governor of Whoville and his son JoJo, are pleading "We Are Here!"

Now, maybe I'm just thinking about this way too much, but that's how it struck me anyway. And I certainly don't have any solutions to this problem - and probably wouldn't offer them in this space if I did - but it's just nice to see (even if it's only in my own mind) some recognition that we are, and always should be, a nation of immigrants.

And then the filmmakers had to go and just about destroy all that good will (believe me, I'm really not spoiling too much here) by having everyone break into an insipid pop song. For all its virtues, the "Shrek" franchise has apparently doomed us to see this contrivance in just about every kids movie that gets made nowadays.

But enough of that. So, is there a greater lesson to be learned from "Horton Hears a Who," or am I just crazy (I'm very willing to concede that it might be a little of both)? Peace out.