The (Yellow) Simpsons Take Over Universal
Ashlee and Pete's wedding wasn't the only Simpsons event today.
The Simpsons Ride debuted at Universal Studios Hollywood with a yellow carpet premiere, a human cannonball stunt and plenty of celeb families looking to go for a spin with Homer and his family.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa even got into the act. "Today, my name is Mayor Quimby," he said, joining show masterminds Matt Groening and James L. Brooks and Simpsons alums Lisa Kudrow, Kelsey Grammer and Fred Willard for a day at the park.
Larry Birkhead showed up with Dannielynn, and actually showed some good parenting skills. "She's too little to ride, but I'm gonna go for it," he said.
Good choice, Larry, because the immersive motion ride is packed with twists and turns, Simpsons-esque puns and gags, a Pirates of the Caribbean spoof, a giant, radioactive Maggie and more, when Sideshow Bob sets out to sabotage the already shady Krustyland attraction.
The ride got a thumbs-up from everyone from the mayor ("I looooved it") to Hanna Montana costar Mitchel Musso ("It was trippy, crazy, awesome, unbelievableall of that in one").
Even Mr. Burns would be hard pressed to disagree.
The ride, along with a similar attraction at Universal's Orlando branch, officially opens to the public on Monday. And from what we're hearing, Willard may still be there.
"I think I would be happier in cartoon land than in real life," said the Back to You star. "Everything's happier and more colorful. And if terrible things happen, you just bounce back. If you fall off a cliff you get right up. It all happens as birds fly over your head. It's great, isn't it?"
Totally Tube Reviews: Fox
TV enthusiasts, Totally Tube review mania continues today, with the lowdown on Fox's fall offerings.
So, read up—and don't forget to express your own opinion by voting in the Watch/Pass poll afterward!
Also, if you saw last night's K-Ville premiere, let me know what you thought of it in the Comments section below! Are we being too harsh?
DVR IT FOR NOW: Back to You
Premieres: Wed., Sept. 19 @ 8
Starring: Kelsey Grammer, Patricia Heaton, Fred Willard, Ty Burrell, Josh Gad, Ayda Field, Laura Marano
After Chuck Darling's accidental on-camera outburst goes viral on YouTube, the major-market news anchor is fired and finds himself back in Pittsburgh, coanchoring the city's nightly broadcast with Kelly Carr—a woman with whom he has quite a history. Starring sitcom vets Kelsey Grammer as Chuck and Patricia Heaton as Kelly, the chemistry between the new twosome is palpable in this traditional three-camera comedy, complete with laugh track. Unfortunately, your own laughs may feel a bit forced while watching the pilot. But take heart, the premise here is good, and the pedigree of all parties involved—including the accomplished producers and director—is promising. (Spoiler alert: There's an October Road-esque twist.) Give the writers a couple weeks to reach their stride, and we just might have an old-school hit on our hands.
Bottom Line: Trust the experience of this News team
DVR IT FOR LATER: K-Ville
Premieres: Mon., Sept. 17 @ 9
Starring: Anthony Anderson, Cole Hauser, Tawny Cypress, Blake Shields
Shot on location in Louisiana, K-Ville is the story of a New Orleans Police Department SWAT team that is, in essence, still cleaning up the town in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Anthony Anderson is Officer Marlin Boulet, a N'Awlins native who loves his city dearly and would do anything to protect it. Cole Hauser is Trevor Cobb, his mysterious new partner who joins the force after doing a tough tour with the special forces in Afghanistan. Overall, K-Ville is reminiscent of Miami Vice, set a few states over, and with a more bohemian flair. They're a hotshot team professionally, but they struggle with some fundamental trust issues on a personal level. Sadly, the show is a bit formulaic and unimaginative, which makes it passive television. They're going to need to do some rebuilding if this thing is going to last.
Bottom Line: Under construction
Back To You producer never wanted to be on FOX anyway
I think Back To You producer Steven Levitan is echoing the sentiments of many TV viewers when he says about the show’s cancellation, “we were surprised, but not shocked…nothing surprises me with [FOX Broadcasting] anymore.”
As we told you earlier, FOX decided to dump Back To You but keep ’Til Death. This surprised many fans of the show, as they thought that out of the two of them FOX would probably go with the Kelsey Grammer/Patricia Heaton/Fred Willard show instead of the Brad Garrett/Joely Fisher show. Funny how Garrett played Heaton’s brother-in-law on Everybody Loves Raymond and now it’s his show being renewed while she is kicked to the curb.
Levitan says that the show was on the wrong network from the beginning, but that he and his team take full responsibility for being talked into the deal. ABC and CBS were interested, but Levitan says that “FOX had the better deal and lots of big promises they didn’t keep.”
There is one glimmer of hope in all this: Levitan is shopping the show around to other networks, including CBS. Who knows if that will work out, but I can picture the show in the Monday night lineup of comedies (not sure where it would fit but I can imagine it in the mix).
Fred Willard is The First Live Action Pixar Character
At Comic Con this year, WALL-E director Andrew Stanton confirmed that there would in fact be a live action element in the upcoming Pixar film.
“We’re not doing anything like Happy Feet,” said Stanton. “There is a live action element involved but that’s the most I can say.”
And that is a good thing because I thought the live-action integration in Happy Feet was very off putting. Last month actor Jeff Garlin added that he is the “only animated character that speaks” in the film. Garlin plays the Captain of a starliner ship, which most of humanity (now couch potatoes) call home.
“A lot of the film is silent and they’re robots so they make noises and such and there’s sound but I’m one of the only characters that speak – not one of them – I am the only animated character that speaks,” Garlin said. “There’s another character but I can’t talk about it. But I’m the only animated character that speaks.”
The film follows a small Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class robot (or WALL-E for short)’s fantastic journey across a universe of never-before-imagined visions of the future. We’ve wondered for a while now who this other character was and if he was the live action element of WALL-E. And thanks to Rotten Tomatoes, we now have the answer:
The Live Action Element of WALL-E is… Fred Willard. You know, the guy from the Christopher Guest mockumentaries. Apparently Willard plays Shelby Forthright, the CEO of the Buy N Large corporation.
“[Buy N Large] practically owns everything in the world. It’s kind of a take off on Wal Mart.”
You can actually visit the official website for the fictional corporation at buynlarge.com. So how will a live-action Fred Willard look in the computer animated world of Pixar? Well…
“I appear on a TV monitor but I’m more than a voice. Jeff Garlin is a voice but people are saying, ‘Oh, you’re a voice.’ No, I actually appear. People will say, ‘Oh, that’s Fred Willard.’”
Having the live-action human character on a monitor might be a lot less jarring than seeing a human interact with with the Pixar animated characters. Willard has already recorded his footage for the film, which hits theaters in June 2008.
Photo credits: Futuristic TV, Spaceship Hallway