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.

Take a bite: Three glimpses of "True Blood" season two

I love it when a rumor turns into truth, but even more when that truth turns out to be even better than believed, as is the rather amazing case with "Futurama."

Collider reported earlier this week that Comedy Central was in negotiation for 13 new episodes of the fantasticly entertaining animated show, but it turns out that was half the deal. The network has apparently ordered 26 new episodes, so far, to run over two seasons.

"Futurama" creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen are already working on stories for the next season, set to premiere in mid-2010 with all the original voice cast returning.

Now I like "Family Guy" enough and I love "Scrubs," but seeing as there haven't been any new episodes of "Futurama" since 2003, I'd have to say this is the most remarkable story yet of a tv show getting resuscitated, and in honor of Bender, I'll just say "bite my shiny metal ass" and bring it on!

And this summer, two of my current favorites are returning, and I have to say, the more I hear about "Mad Men" show runner Matthew Weiner, the more I admire just how much he's an ornery sort. AMC apparently wanted to add two minutes of commercial time to the brilliant show about ad men, but Weiner balked and the network understandably gave in rather quickly, so the show will run until 11:02 or so when it returns at 10 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 16. And to answer the first question that popped into my mind, AMC assures viewers that DVRs will indeed record all 62 minutes.

But here today it's supposed to be all about Charlayne Harris' Sookie Stackhouse novels and how they've morphed into "True Blood," which returns this Sunday and is the only show in several years good enough to get me to re-up on HBO for three months (but I'll surely be back again when "The Wire" creator David Simon's New Orleans show "Treme" hits next year.)

I like stories about vampires ("Let the Right One In" has lingered as my favorite movie of all of 2008) and especially funny ones, so I'm ashamed of how long it took me to come on board with Harris' trashy-in-all-the-best-ways novels. They're certainly far from high art, but for airplane reads there are few series I can recommend higher. I've read two-and-a-half of them so far, and I have to say Harris' mix of horror, humor, romance and Southern flavor, while perhaps not unique, is extremely addictive.

So, what's gonna happen in season two? I have no way of knowing everything, of course, but from what I know happens in the second Sookie Stackhouse novel, "Living Dead in Dallas," and with the help of these three clips courtesy of HitFix, I can give you at least a taste.

Though you certainly won't hear who it is from me, season two opens with the murder of one of the show's most colorful minor characters. Along with looking into that, in an unrelated case, Sookie (Anna Paquin, whose certainly all growed up) is called to Dallas to investigate an anti-vampire church/cult that has kidnapped the brother of Dallas' vampire sheriff (yes, really.)

One big and mostly good way the show differs from the novels is that it builds up minor characters that Harris largely ignored and gives them new life, the best example being Tara Thornton, played for great comic effect by Rutina Wesley. In this first clip, we find Tara still staying at the home of her rescuer Maryann ("Battlestar Galactica" 's Michelle Forbes), who I can tell you plays a big part in the early parts of "Living Dead in Dallas," and here meets Tara's mother (Adina Porter.)



Another character who gets a lot more play in "True Blood" than in print is Sookie's brother Jason (Ryan Kwanten.) He pretty much disappears after the first novel, "Dead Until Dark," but on TV, "True Blood" mastermind Alan Ball has him become involved with the anti-vampire sect, as you can see from the clip below.



And, of course, Sookie is called in to investigate the Dallas case, or more accurately ordered to by the local vampire sheriff, Eric, played by Alexander Skarsgard. In this final clip, Eric explains his order to Sookie's vampire paramour Bill (Stephen Moyer), who understandably isn't terribly pleased about it.



Anyways, that's probably way too much to write about one TV show, but it's summer and, well, there's not much else on at all. And for anyone who cares about this kind of thing, apparently Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer are now a couple in real life, too. Peace out.