LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian

Season three of The Mandalorian seemed to run out of steam, and the feature film The Mandalorian and Grogu was a box office disappointment. What's Disney to do? Might as well roll with the punches and make it into a comedy! The LEGO Star Wars series is very good at that, so now we have a TV special titled LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian.

The LEGO version leans heavily into roasting the main effect of the show- how we all thought a "baby Yoda" was so adorable and turned the cynical badass Din Djarin into an unlikely father figure with those huge eyes. In this version, everyone else in the galaxy is just as smitten with him. But the real star of this teaser trailer is Luke Skywalker in a scene that highlights how The Mandalorian series was first and foremost an exercise in fan service. LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian will premiere on Disney+ September 2nd. 

Real World Sesame Street

(via Fark)

Conan Sends Letterman a Trojan Horse

This aired on Late Night with Conan O’Brien more than 30 years ago. It was a cunning plan, until... well, you know New York. They got busted for illegal parking. 

How Rod Serling Writes Characters

The Twilight Zone will always be remembered as a creepy, entertaining anthology series that made us think. A story was presented, and then there's a twist that revealed some allegorical truth to ponder. While some viewers just enjoyed the science fiction and horror stories, others reveled in the allegories, which sometimes referred to historical events, but often just revealed something disturbing about human nature. How old you were when you watched a particular episode could vastly affect how you saw it, because everything in the script had more than one meaning if you were able to catch it. Zane Whitener of In Praise of Shadows explains what made The Twilight Zone so special.  (via Laughing Squid)

New X-Files LEGO Set

Watching someone open a box has never been my cup of tea, but what's inside this one is pretty cool. Gillian Anderson comes out of retirement to portray FBI Special Agent Dana Scully confronting a mysterious delivery. Inside is the new 1,478-piece LEGO set depicting The X-Files TV series! It was submitted to LEGO Ideas by Brent Waller of Brisbane as part of the LEGO Ideas ’90s Nostalgia Challenge. It has Fox Mulder’s office on the bottom, topped by an eerie forest scene, over which a UFO is hovering. It includes eight minifigs, both human and alien. 

Kids won't be all that excited about this theme, since the show ran from 1993 to 2002. But adult fans will want to check out the set, and read more about its features here. (via Laughing Squid) 

John and Judas Do Obi-Wan and Anakin

"You were the Chosen one!" When you have memorized your lines and have lots of time between actual filming, actors do what actors do. 

For those of you who are confused, these are the actors who portray John (Obi-Wan) and Judas (Anakin) in the TV series The Chosen. Versatility is the key. 

Kelly, No!

(via Bad Newspaper)

Eternia or Ikea?

Alamo Drafthouse presents a new quiz show that challenges your ability to recognize or guess names. They give you a name, and you have to decide whether it's from the fictional kingdom of Eternia from the TV show He-Man and the Masters of the Universe,  or from the non-fictional kingdom of IKEA furniture. There is a certain demographic who should ace this quiz, since they grew up on He-Man and now buy IKEA furniture. For the rest of us, it's a toss up because each of these strange names can go either way. 

As the game progresses, you can start to see how these kingdoms are somewhat alike. IKEA gives its furniture names instead of simply stock numbers to enable customers to share their favorites, creating free publicity. Eternia names its characters so you can keep up with them in a TV show- but that TV show was born to promote a line of toy products. It might help you to know that some He-Man characters are named for their unique features, while IKEA doesn't do that- or if they do, it's in Swedish. (via Geeks Are Sexy) 

How to Film a Canada Lynx in the Wild

The Wild Canadian Year is a five-part TV series about Canadian wildlife. Sam Ellis' assignment for the show was to film a Canada lynx in its natural habitat. Not an easy task, as remaining invisible is a big part of a lynx's lifestyle. But over time, Sam tracked and got to know a cat he called Mad Max. He spent 76 days trying to get some good footage of Max hunting. So here we have a videographer following a cameraman following a lynx following rabbits for more than two months, so let's appreciate the result. 

You Bet Your Life Outtakes 1959-60

When anything can be a euphemism, everything is a euphemism in the hands of Groucho Marx on the set of You Bet Your Life.

Laughing

(via reddit)

Colbert's Musical Sign Off

Last night was the final broadcast of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He ended it by living out a fantasy of performing with Paul McCartney at the Ed Sullivan Theater, where McCartney was introduced to the US more than 60 years ago, and where The Late Show was based. Other musicians included Elvis Costello, Louis Cato, Jon Batiste, and The Great Big Joy Machine.  

The show began with an intro by other legends of late night TV, followed by Colbert's last monologue,  a science ficton sequence, and you can see other clips from the show at YouTube. Will we see Colbert elsewhere? No doubt, and probably sooner than you think. But he's busy writing a script for a new Lord of the Rings movie, so we may have to be patient.  
    
    

School's Out

Alice Cooper performs his classic tune of the season on The Muppet Show in 1978, with choreography by the Monster Muppet Players.

Auctioneers

I missed this Saturday Night Live bit from a couple of weeks ago. Matt Damon and Sarah Sherman are married auctioneers having a fight. The idea is typical SNL, delivering an everyday occurrence in a ridiculously odd way, but this was impressive. No breaking, no stumbling. This took skills. (via Laughing Squid) 

Jeffrey Epstein's Ghost

Saturday Night Live wrapped up season 51 last night with Will Ferrell and Paul McCartney. The guest host never appears in the cold open, but Ferrell stepped in to portray Jeffrey Epstein, who haunts Trump's dreams. 

War is Hell

(via Universal Soldier)

You Bet Your Life Outtakes 1960-61

The most innocent chitchat took on a salacious tone when Groucho Marx was around. These two compilations are from only one season of the show You Bet Your Life. 

A Few Drinks After Work

Matt Damon hosted Saturday Night Live last night, and they couldn't resist bringing back his portrayal of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Having him meet SecDef Pete Hegseth (Colin Jost) and FBI Director Kash Patel (Aziz Ansari) in a Washington bar was just too easy. 

The Edge of Destiny

Last week, Saturday Night Live had a skit that was supposedly a riff on 1980s nighttime soap operas. But it was really about the joy of seeing someone awkwardly being thrown down the stairs. It was just plain goofy. But even funnier is how they did it. 



I''m glad they decided to share that with us. 

Press Conference

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and FBI Director Kash Patel answer questions from the press in the opening skit from last night's Saturday Night Live. Alcohol may have been involved.