This one’s been circulating under the radar for a little bit now, but it wasn’t brought to my attention until WTF podcast host Marc Maron tweeted about it, writing, “Whoa, sh*t! The path of truth right out of circulation.” He’s referring to an “SNL” sketch that aired on March 14, 1998, and never again: “Conspiracy Theory Rock.”

The “Schoolhouse Rock”-spoofing clip, written by Robert Smigel, is about media deregulation; it shows a Mickey Mouse-headed octopus eating the ABC logo, with lyrics about how PCBs from GE are killing us but you never hear about it because the electric giant owns NBC. The most unsettling line: “Let them dump toxic waste where the young ones play/GE made the bullets that shot JFK.” What would Jack Donaghy think about that?

Lorne Michaels cut the clip out of syndication because he claimed “it wasn’t funny.” That’s only a half-truth, of course, considering “SNL” airs on NBC. Check out the clip below and decide whether it’s amusingly satirical or whether you’d just rather see something, or someone, get pooped on.

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Not that we need any more reason to tune into Conan O’Brien every night, but now there’s news that Triumph the Insult Comic Dog was at the Bonnaroo festival in Tennessee this weekend — mainly to do four live sets, but more importantly (for us) to film his first segment since Conan moved to “The Tonight Show.”  And I haven’t seen any of it, but I’m guessing that dirty hippies are in Triumph’s wheelhouse.

He also appeared, in character, at a backstage press conference, where Triumph sat on a folding chair with [Robert] Smigel operating him, shrouded behind a black cloth. He offered pithy observations about the festival like: “They’ve got more stages than syphilis.” About one Bonnaroo act, the now middle-aged Beastie Boys, he said: “They’re a little more like the Pep Boys logo.”

More serious musicians sharing the press conference stage with Smigel and Triumph — Elvis Perkins, Tift Merritt and Alejandro Escovedo — had to take their licks. When the moderator suggested they weren’t accustomed to sharing a panel with a dog, Triumph protested that that was no way to talk about (the very attractive) Merritt. [AP/SF Chronicle]

That’s right, not only am I writing about the return of Triumph to late night TV, but I’m doing it because the AP saw fit to make it a story.  Think about the impact of a late-night puppet character being national news.  Now fast forward to three or four months from now.  Who’s gonna give a f-ck when “Jaywalking” comes back?

(Side note: Triumph’s Star Wars fan report gets the most love, but my favorite is him doing the weather for a local affiliate in Hawaii.)