“Somebody flag down that hot dog vendor!”

John Goodman has been tapped to star in a Fox comedy called “The Station,” which will be produced by Ben Stiller’s Red Hour Films.  The promising premise:

“The Station” revolves around a group of lackluster CIA operatives at a covert South American outpost, where they’re charged with installing a new dictator. [Goodman] will play Ted Gannon, a gruff CIA vet and head of its Altamara Station.

Goodman joins a cast that includes Justin Bartha [the groom in The Hangover], Whitney Cummings, Rob Huebel ["Human Giant" actor with a funny Twitter feed] and Julio Oscar Mechoso. [Variety]

The reason I’m so optimistic about this — other than the fact that South American puppet governments are hilarious — is that David Wain has signed on to direct.  And of course Wain (who wrote and directed Role Models) comes from the “State”/”Stella”/Wet Hot American Summer comedy family that I get all hot and bothered for all the time, so I’m morally obligated to give this show positive publicity until I watch it and it lets me down.  Just like a CIA-engineered South American dictatorship.  Too bad about Pinochet.  He seemed like a cool guy.  Real go-getter.

Do webisodes and web series count as TV?   I dunno, but David Wain’s “Wainy Days” for My Damn Channel looks better than 90% of televised sitcoms, so I’m forging ahead with this post.  In this video, Wain — a co-creator of “The State” and the director of last year’s Role Models — recaps the first three seasons of “Wainy Days” and previews the fourth season, which debuts on May 7th.  Lots of cool cameos here, including Elisabeth Banks, Paul Rudd, Michael Showalter, Jonah Hill, your mom, and more.  Your mom plays a total slut.  Must’ve been a real stretch.

[Videogum]