Demko's DVD shelf: Why I love the Muppets so much

In one of my many moments of daily distraction yesterday, I stopped to think of just why I miss the Muppets so much. Was the show ever really that good, or am I simply letting nostalgia cloud my vision?

Well, this week on DVD comes the evidence that it's most likely the former. With season two of "The Muppet Show," you get guest stars including Judy Collins, Don Knotts, Bernadette Peters, George Burns, John Cleese and Bob Hope. And, of course, all your favorite Muppets, from Kermit the Frog on down to the Swedish Chef.

But just what made the Muppets so great, beyond the fact that it came on TV when I was 6 years old and, therefore, rather susceptible to a TV show with awesome puppets? Looking at what passes for "quality" TV nowadays (with a few exceptions that I still tune in for every week), I think I have the answer.

When's the last time there was a genuine variety show on primetime television? The closest thing I can think of (and yes, I understand it's not often on during primetime) is "Saturday Night Live," which hasn't been as funny as "The Muppet Show" since the late 70s. Dave Chappelle, by including great rap acts to close out every show and, of course, offering the funniest skit television in many years, came awfully close too before he cracked up (absolutely no pun intended.)

But the Muppets, in their own way, were every bit as funny as Dave Chappelle, albeit in a much more family-friendly way. Season 2 offers proof in the form of 24 episodes with great skits like "Pigs in Space" and "Veterinarian's Hospital" (there's no way you can't laugh at Rolf operating on his fellow animals.)

And the Muppets weren't just funny. The music, by Muppets and humans alike, was almost always fantastic too. In season two, you get Kermit crooning "It's not Easy Being Green" and Judy Collins' "Send in the Clowns," among many others.

If you don't like the Muppets, well, I guess I can understand that, but, well, I just kind of feel sorry for you.

Other picks this week:

The Simpsons: Season 10: Watching these again on DVD, I've yet to find the point where the shows stopped being fall-down funny. It had to happen sometime in the last five years or so, but until I find the turning point, I'll keep being a sucker for the DVDs.

Bubba Ho-Tep: I can't see any reason to put out yet another version of this on DVD except that we're soon to come upon the 30th anniversary of Elvis' death. Pretty shameless timing, but a great movie nonetheless. A nursing home with Bruce Campbell as Elvis and the late, great Ossie Davis as JFK as residents? It's even better than it sounds here, and almost as touching as it is funny. If you haven't seen it yet, do so now.

Crime Story: Instead of shelling out your hard-earned cash for yet another "Rush Hour" crapfest, why not rent a great Jackie Chan Hong Kong movie. In this one supposedly based on a true story, Jackie's a special agent (shocker!) assigned to protect a wealthy business magnate who gets kidnapped in a daring ambush. Jackie being Jackie, he kicks many butts to get him back, and its just fun to watch.

The most inappropriate Youtube clip ever?

Well, probably not, but I've yet to see one that made me laugh this hard, and it's been at least a week since I pimped for "Superbad," so here goes.

Be warned before you even think of clicking on this one at work: It features, many, many times, Jonah Hill's character drawing pictures of, well, the male unit. If that bothers you, please don't watch this, and I can't stress enough, please don't do so around any of your co-workers. I don't want to get anyone fired here.

If you do watch it, however, be prepared to laugh out loud. I can't tell you anymore except that it contains the words "Ghostbusters lunch box dick treasure chest" in that order. Enjoy!



And, if I didn't lose you with that perfectly crude bit of entertainment, why not another plug for the current best way to waste time on the Internet,
Clarkandmichael.com. Click on it for a very funny series of webisodes featuring George Michael Bluth Cera and bud Clark Duncan trying to pitch a TV series. It's just extremely funny stuff.

And, brace yourself, because it's about to get completely shameless around here. I have no idea if the movie "The Other Boleyn Girl" will be any good or not, and we'll have to wait until December or so to find out, but for now we get this poster featuring Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson in rather alluring attire (and, if your eyes can find him in the middle, that is indeed Eric Bana.) Hope this makes your Tuesday just a little more bearable. Peace out.

Harry Potter gets even more star Wattage

Although she can only say she "considers" herself British, Naomi Watts has joined the long list of British stars who seem to have been guaranteed a role in the "Harry Potter" movies.

Naomi, who is apparently about to give birth to a child conceived with actor/partner Leiv Schreiber, will step in to the role of Narcissa Malfoy, mother of that dreadful little Draco. Now, I'm only on about page 109 of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," so please don't spoil anything for me, but I would think this would give her the chance to have some real fun vamping it up with Bellatrix Lestrange, brought to vivid life in "Order of the Phoenix" by Helena Bonham Carter.

In other "Half-Blood Prince" casting news which may be of more interest to the ladies, Joseph Fiennes (yes, the brother of Ralph, a k a He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named), has also joined the cast in some capacity.

I have more than 1,000 pages of Potter to read by sometime before "Half-Blood Prince" comes out in theaters, so I'll have Harry on the brain for a while now (because I'm a slow reader even if I didn't have this pesky job to occupy my time.) For those of you who have already finished "Deathly Hallows," please be kind and don't give away the end of Harry's saga!

'Southland Tales' finally coming out?

Since Richard Kelly's new movie originally debuted to disastrous results at Cannes more than a year ago, I'm still skeptical that it will ever really come out, even with this news.

It seems that "Southland Tales," Kelly's apocalyptic tale about Los Angeles starring The Rock and Buffy as some kind of porn/reality tv star (no, I'm not making that up), has finally been given a release date of Nov. 9 by Samuel Goldwyn Films. Given the star power (Mandy Moore and Justin Timberlake are somehow in this too), it may even reach far enough to play in my little corner of the world.

Though this has "danger" written all over it in bright neon letters, I have nothing but mad love for Kelly's "Donnie Darko," so I'll definitely take a chance on this one, if I ever really get to.

Dardenne brothers get boost

I count their "L'Enfant" easily among my favorite movies, so any news about the Dardenne bros. (Pierre and Luc) is good to me.

They've apparently just been handed 360,000 euros (about $500,000) by something called Eurimages to work on their next flick, the French-Belgian pic "Le Silence de Lorna." The movie centers on an arranged marriage of an illegal immigrant from Albania to a drug addict, and it stars "L'Enfant" headliner Jeremie Renier. Sounds like exactly my (and their) kind of flick, so I'll definitely be keeping my eyes on this one.

Two delightful time-wasters

Ever wondered what a week in the life of Alfonso Cuaron would be like? He makes it all sound remarkable mundane when he describes it to London's Telegraph, but it does involve jetting around Italy with Terry Gilliam to scout movie locations. I guess boring is in the eye of the beholder.

In case you need any more incentive to read this, it contains the following phrase: It is amazing how fast your testicles can go up and down. Click here and enjoy.

Another fun time-waster is this supposed list of the 50 funniest movies of all time compiled by London's Observer (via the Guardian.) I won't spoil it for you any further than this: There is no way "Life of Brian" should be at No. 1, even though it is a very funny movie (which I first watched, oddly enough, at an Episcopal youth group gathering.) I can't seem to find my list of the 10 I laugh loudest at, but I do know I had Stephen Frears' "The Snapper," based on the great little novel by Roddy Doyle, at No. 1. Anyways, click here to see what they picked, and feel free to grouse about it.

Two TV tidbits

I used to like Michael Rapaport quite a bit, I promise, but his starring role for two years on Fox's "The War at Home" just wiped all that goodwill away. I guess starring on simply the most excremental TV show in history will tend to do that.

Now comes word that he's sticking around TV to tarnish one of the few sitcoms I actually tune in to, NBC's "My Name is Earl." With Earl (Jason Lee) starting the upcoming season in jail, it seems Mr. Rapaport will be have a recurring role as one of his cellmates.

I'm a firm believer in second (and more) chances, but Mr. Rapaport has a lot of work to do to win me back. Here's hoping this is a good start.

In possibly much better news, it seems that the Henson folks are hard at work on the pilot for a new version of "The Muppet Show." Just typing that makes me smile. Paul McCartney is the guest host for the test episode of what I can only hope will be many more. Read more about it in TV Guide here.

Two intriguing (well, one anyway) posters

Whew. Long post today, but since I've taken three out of the last four days off, there's a lot out there, including these two posters courtesy of Comingsoon.net.

First comes Jerry Seinfeld's "Bee Movie," which I frankly can't say I'm too excited about. He just looks so damn smug, even with his bee face, in the trailers I've seen and in this poster. There's a strong chance I'm wrong and this will be somehow be good, and hearing but not seeing Renee Zellweger is a solid step in the right direction, but I'm still really skeptical.

Next, for a movie I'm much more excited about, comes "3:10 to Yuma," set to come out Sept. 7 with Christian Bale and Russell Crowe in the leads. Based on a short story by Elmore Leonard (huzzah!), it's about an infamous outlaw (Crowe) and the struggling Civil War veteran (Bale) who volunteers to deliver him to the "3:10 to Yuma" train so he can stand trial for murder. There's few things in life I like more than a good Western (and I'm watching "Deadwood," which certainly qualifies, now), so to this one I can only say bring it on.




And finally, a sublime trailer

Originally we were on some kind of spiritual journey, but that didn't really work out.

I have extremely high hopes for Wes Anderson's "The Darjeeling Limited," and the look and feel of this trailer only have me more excited. The colors alone mark it as an Anderson movie, and the snippets of dialogue we get from brothers Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman and, of course, Owen Wilson show that Anderson seems to be back on top of his game (after the rather disastrous "Steve Zissou.) Enjoy, and have an entirely bearable Wednesday. Peace out.