Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite, Blades of Glory) will star in a new Comedy Central sitcom next year. The as-yet untitled series will be produced and written by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay (Anchorman).
Comedy has ordered a 10 episode first season, with the option to purchase an additional 90 episodes after the initial run… Heder will play the lead role as a computer IT specialist who leaves the big city to move home with his parents.
Ferrell, McKay and Chris Henchy will write and produce the series, which will premiere in 2010. [B&C]
This is promising, I think. Napoleon Dynamite was such a huge character in pop culture that it limited Heder’s range as much as it projected his career. He’s stumbled a bit with his follow-up roles on the big screen, so maybe what he needs is a TV series to create a character who we don’t expect to say “GOSH!” every time he opens his mouth.
Or not. Who knows. Ferrell and McKay still make boatloads of cash even when they mail it in, so this could just as easily be lousy. And who can blame them? I mail it in all the time, and I don’t even make boatloads of cash. More like rubber duckies of loose change.
Like many people, I’ve gotten kind of tired of Will Ferrell. It’s not that he isn’t funny, I’m just fatigued from him ALWAYS being silly. Even in interviews, he’s still in character, and the fact that he never seems like a regular human being makes me less likely to go see Land of the Lost (even though I probably will, because c’mon: dinosaurs).
And that’s what made last night’s “Man Vs. Wild” so enjoyable: there were moments of genuine awe and panic from Ferrell. In the clips below, Bear Grylls actually trusts Ferrell with his life as he prepares to dead-man belay down a cliff, and then Ferrell reflects on the entire experience, sounding honestly impressed without pausing to tear off his clothes to reveal a skimpy leprechaun outfit. I admire that restraint.
Here is everything that happened at the MTV Movie Awards last night: Eminem walked out after Sacha Baron Cohen put his ass in Eminem’s face, and Twilight won everything. And when Twilight wasn’t winning something, the audience was screaming for someone in Twilight. Watching the entire show was an excellent way to get dumber.
While I’d prefer to not say anything positive about the show, there were a few bright moments thanks to host Andy Samberg. The video above is a solid digital short featuring Will Ferrell that pokes fun at the way movie characters walk away from explosions without looking back, and I’ve got a couple more not-bad clips after the jump. Watch everything here, and you’ll be able to have an informed opinion without having wasted two hours of your life. You win!
Remember last week, when we all talked about how great Justin Timberlake was on “Saturday Night Live”? This is the opposite of that. And it’s not like Will Ferrell was bad, it’s that the writers basically took the week off. “Oh hey, Will Ferrell’s coming back? Sweet, just have him reprise all his most famous characters.”
Anyway, what with it being the season finale, we got some good cameos, including Tom Hanks as himself and Norm McDonald as Burt Reynolds in this too-long “Jeopardy!” skit, plus Amy Poehler re-joining Seth Meyers to do “Weekend Update.” But that wasn’t nearly enough to save this crap factory. It really put the “turd” in Saturday. Four thumbs down from me. (I have some extra severed ones lying around.)
Will Ferrell will appear in a June episode of “Man Vs. Wild” as part of a synergistic alliance between Discovery and Universal Pictures. The details, from Variety:
In the episode, Ferrell joins Grylls in the far north of Sweden, where they spend 48 hours performing tasks such as rappelling down hundred-foot frozen waterfalls, tandem-abseiling off a helicopter and staying warm overnight in subzero temperatures. The two also find food in the forest, improvise snow shoes and drink their own urine.
“Will did an amazing job in subzero, very unforgiving conditions,” Grylls said. “He trusted me when it mattered, and we survived. … He should be very proud of how he performed.”
Phew! They survived! Those hard-ass producers put the lives of their show’s host and a huge Hollywood star in danger, but Bear Grylls came through when it mattered! Bear should be proud. Take the rest of the day off, bro. Spoil yourself with a nice big slice of elephant crap.
