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TV FUNHOUSE!! LOONEY TUNES!! ROBOT CHICKEN STAR WARS!! SPACED!! SOUTH PARK!! BATMAN!! HercVault!!

Published at: July 23, 2008, 2:22 a.m. CST

I am – Hercules!!

The boundlessly wonderful “TV Funhouse” is rivaled only by “South Park” and “Mystery Science Theatre 3000” for the title of Funniest Thing Ever to Air on Comedy Central, so I was a little shocked to read on the back cover of the complete series set streeting today that the enterprise was originally cablecast in its entirety way back in December 2000 and January 2001. In the back of my mind I’ve been hoping that Comedy Central would at any moment come to its senses and greenlight a second season of this instead of more “Mind of Mencia” or “Drawn Together.” For those unfamiliar, “Funhouse” was the brainchild of Robert Smigel, the screenwriter (“The Wedding Singer,” “You Don’t Mess With The Zohan,” SNL's William Shatner “Get A Life” sketch) who voices Triumph The Insult-Comic Dog on "Conan" and creates the Saturday TV Funhouse segments for “Saturday Night Live.” The Comedy Central series combined Smigel’s penchants for animation and puppetry to forge an adult kiddie show whose lynchpin was the hilariously foul-mouthed puppets who would each week ditch the kiddie show and head off on their own very grown-up adventures. AUDIO COMMENTARIES Provided on all eight episodes by creators Robert Smigel, Dino Stamatopoulos and Andy Breckman and host Doug Dale. EPIDSODE ONE: WESTERN DAY. Learn that the original Fox pilot (sadly, not included) featured Dale as a clown. Learn that Dale and Smigel were roommates and did comedy in Chicago together. Learn that the toilet in Smigel’s real house was used to transport the turtle puppet every time the reptile elected to get somewhere by “taking the pipes.” Learn that Smigel was excited to do the cartoon “Wonderman” in the style of the Fleisher Bros.’ “Superman” short of the ‘40s because his SNL cartoons were typically based on shitty ‘60s cartoons. Learn that “Late Night” writers Smigel, Stamatopoulos, Brian Stack and Jonathan Groff provided Anipal voices. Learn that the Anipals were inspired by both Triumph and the “Conan” turkey puppet, which would interact with real turkeys. Learn that Smigel’s wife found the original Triumph puppet at a furniture store. Learn that Smigel began giving Russian voices to dogs when he was eight because his mother’s side of the family was comprised of Russian immigrants. Learn that the hippy-ish “real” puppeteers were fired because they were making the Anipals behave too much like real animals. Learn that the Anipal snake’s voice was based on Adam Sandler’s Judd Apatow impression! Lean that Comedy Central suggested replacing Dale for the (never produced) second season. Learn that Andy Richter’s wife, Sarah Thyre, played the lady in “The Baby, The Immigrant and the Guy on Mushrooms.” Learn that the main Funhouse set was built three feet above the stage floor with a puzzle-like floor to accommodate the copious puppetry. Learn that while Smigel loved the tail-obsessed dog Xabu, he considers the operation of Xabu his most miserable puppetry experience. Learn that “Policeman” was co-written by Louis CK and used the same music used on “Sesame Street.” EPISODE TWO: HAWAIIAN DAY. Learn that the duck’s voice was based on Smigel’s father and that the lobster’s was based on Ann Landers. Learn that “Kidder, Downey & Heche: Private Trespassing Investigators” was co-written by “Monk” creator Andy Breckman. Learn that Ana Gasteyer did Anne Heche’s voice. Learn that the show wasn’t renewed because it went “insanely overbudget.” Learn that the bugspray commercial was originally written years before for SNL. (There’s also talk on the commentary track of rerecording the Anipal cussing for the DVD set because the uncensored voice tracks were lost -- but the there’s still plenty of bleeping, so they may not have gotten around to it. EPISODE THREE: CHRISTMAS DAY. Learn that the lobster’s singing voice was inspired by Jim Nabors’. Learn that during the production of this episode, a duck defecated in Stamatopoulos’ mouth as he was puppeteering. EPISODE FOUR: MEXICANS DAY. Learn that the “living-slides” faux stills with Doug that open every episode were pioneered on “Conan.” Learn that the endangered lizard was based on “Conan” producer Frank Smiley. Learn that Smigel hid from “Mexicans Day” guest star Sally Jesse Raphael because he had just done an SNL cartoon that featured horseshit morphing into the talk-show host. Learn that members of Raphael’s staff would phone Smigel at SNL with ideas for Raphael parodies. Learn that Louis CK joined the show’s second-season writing staff and that the writers worked a month to create eight treatments for the show’s second season. Learn that a plan was hatched to move the show from New York to Toronto for the second season to save money, and that Stamatopoulos was going to move to Canada to supervise production. Learn that Smigel’s realization that he “can’t afford to work this hard again for such little money” was probably what killed the show’s second season. Learn that the Fox pilot contained primate mobsters. Learn that “30 Rock” star Scott Adsit unwittingly helped create the bit with Dale and the tequila worm. EPIDSODE FIVE: CAVEMAN DAY. Learn that this episode was conceived to save money. Learn that the sauna set was actually an oversized stadium set built for the baby chicks in episode two. Learn that Dale was almost hired for the cast of SNL in 1985, but was beat out by Jon Lovitz. Learn that Chris Elliott auditioned the same year, long before he was actually cast on the show. Learn that “Mischievous Mitchell” was originally pitched as “Dennis The Supremist.” Learn that “Ladysmith Black Mambazo in Outer Space” was originally conceived for the Comedy Central series. Be reminded that the Black Sabbath cartoon was created before Ozzy Osbourne’s MTV reality show. EPISODE SIX: SAFARI DAY. Learn that Smigel can distinguish between Fogey and Triumph’s voices. Learn that it took Smigel a month to greenlight the “Stedman” cartoon because he thought it was too mean. Learn that Tim Meadows played Stedman and Maya Rudolph played Oprah. Learn that James Brolin, whose cartoon image appears unflatteringly in “Stedman,” would go on to guest star on a nervous Breckman’s “Monk.” Be reminded that “Funhouse” did copious puppet vomit years before the release of “Team America.” Learn that Comedy Central’s president insisted “Porn For Kids” never be aired again. (It did, however, run again as “Porn For Everyone”). Learn that guest star Robert Goulet wasn’t contacted until three days before this episode started shooting. Learn that this episode’s ending was written by a chimp. EPISODE SEVEN: ASTRONAUT DAY. Learn that Robert Goulet wrote the joke mocking Wayne Newton. Learn that producers fretted over whether the “Behind the Music” parody on George Washington fit the kiddie-show format. Learn that Stamatopoulos came up with “Safety Gang” while writing for “Mr. Show,” but abandoned it because there was not really a Bob Odenkirk or David Cross role in it. EPISODE EIGHT: CHINESE NEW YEAR’S DAY. Learn that Tammy Faye Bakker was considered to replace Doug for season two. Learn that Xabu was named for Smigel’s wife’s dog, who also enjoyed chasing his tail. Learn that season-two plans called for the Anipals to sneak into the Playboy mansion disguised as a hot girl, stacked on top of each other in a skimpy dress (with Hojo the turtle as the head), only to have Hugh Hefner fall in love with “her” and take “her” to bed. Another episode would have put the rooster Chickie to work handing out flyers in front of a bitter Adam West’s restaurant, Sergeant Baatt’s Chicken. Yet another episode would have seen Chickie managing his sons in a boy band. Another episode would have parodied “The Last Detail” as the Anipals befriended a mayfly with 24 hours to live – the resolved to show the insect a good time before he expired. Yet another episode would have dealt with Chickie hiring a wolf nanny, then using a nannycam to make sure the nanny wasn’t eating the kids. One unrealized cartoon might have dealt with the further deterioration of Mr. Magoo as he lost his sense of smell. Learn that because the final episode depicted terrorists, Comedy Central wouldn’t repeat it after 9/11. Learn that when Conan O’Brien took over David Letterman’s “Late Night,” Smigel and O’Brien wanted to retitle the show “Night Night.” OTHER EXTRAS * Video commentary with Chickie, Jason, Xabu and Dave (6:46). This deceptively titled feature is actually comprised of footage of an exhausted Smigel and Stamatopoulos supervising an editing session while in character as their rooster, chick, dog and lizard characters. * Outtakes from the Anipals and Doug (7:45). More than half of this reel deals with the puppeteers’ efforts to unveil the Hojo the turle’s penis. Also included is the mosquito-centric deleted ending of episode six. * Behind The Scenes: Killing Bob Hope and Horse Cock (4:43). The former scene gives us a better look at the old guy who played Hope. The latter demonstrates how producers integrated a stallion into the penis-unveiling steamroom scene. * Extra Triumph Appearance: On The Rob Reiner Roast (8:15). The insult-comic dog makes sport of Vanilla Ice, Brett Butler, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Kevin Pollak’s hairline, Alan King’s privates and Reiner’s girth. “David Crosby thinks you’ve let yourself go!!” * Extra Triumph Appearance: On The Daily Show (5:16). Interviewed from his dressing room off the “Conan” stage, the acerbic canine informs Jon Stewart that Kermit is “queer” and that Triumph has worms in his stool that have shows on Comedy Central. * Lost Sketch: “What Do We Know, Part 2” with Bob Odenkirk (2:40). A traveling documentarian appears to finance his work by working as a drug mule. * Comedy Central Quickies. Scenes from episodes of “The Colbert Report” (1:27), “The Sarah Silverman Program” (2:39) and “South Park” (2:34).

Actor-writer-director Seth Green concocted “Robot Chicken: Star Wars,” a 30-minute stop-motion animated Cartoon Network special which mocks scenes from the movie franchise. Green made it in collaboration with LucasFilm. He got George Lucas to play himself and Mark Hamill to play Luke Skywalker. Others lending their voices to the project include Conan O'Brien, Robert Smigel, Malcolm McDowell, Hulk Hogan, James Van Der Beek, Donald Faison, Abraham Benrubi and Joey Fatone. Variety said:
... in many respects … more satisfying than the source material's recent chapters. … even in this lightweight diversion resides a lesson highlighted by Cartoon Network's animated "Clone Wars" shorts -- namely, that Lucas' fantasy has frequently sailed the smoothest when he takes a back seat and leaves the starship piloting to someone else. …
The Chicago Tribune said:
Anyone with a deep fondness for George Lucas’ “Star Wars” films should not miss Sunday’s episode of “Robot Chicken”…
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer said:
… Even if you are not a total "Star Wars" fanatic, you will laugh hard at this special. I mean, milk- spraying-out-of-your-nostrils hard. …

I am not familiar with “Spaced” beyond the fact that it was made by the same Britons who went on to make the big-screen comedies “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz.” The new set contains audio commentary by the show’s creators as well as famous American fans of the show, among them Quentin Tarantino, Matt Stone, Bill Hader, Kevin Smith, Patton Oswalt and Diablo Cody.

My great pals, the super-talented Drew McWeeny and Scott Swan, wrote an episode of the second season of "Masters of Horror.". The whole season is housed in a human skull!!
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