Return of the Jedi 'Chicken': Seth Green strikes back
EXCLUSIVE Seth Green talks about the new "Robot Chicken" spoof of "Star Wars" and spending time with George Lucas.
I got a chance to talk the other day to Seth Green who, as always, was a man in major motion. "There's a lot going on these days," he said. "But there's always a lot going on, right?" This week Green was in New York for the final episode of MTV's "Total Request Live," he was in L.A. chatting up Kevin and Bean at KROQ-FM and then he was jetting north to the Bay Area to meet with Lucasfilm folks about his ongoing and quirky relationship with the "Star Wars" universe. Green is, of course, a busy actor (more on that later) but he is especially near and dear to hearts of fanboys everywhere for his work on "Robot Chicken," the deliriously funny pop-culture spoof show that is at its very best when goofing on "Star Wars" and its mythology.
Green and his "Robot Chicken" puppeteer partners-in-crime have returned to the universe of the Jedi for "Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II," which Green directed and which makes its premiere at 11:30 p.m. Sunday (Nov. 16) on Adult Swim. As usual, it's got fall-down-funny satire of the greatest space opera of them and features voice contributions from Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Seth MacFarlane, Ahmed Best and Conan O’Brien, just to name a few. (I've got some images here from it as sneak peek; I got a good chuckle out of the Imperial stormtrooper who made the mistake of participating in "Bring Your Daughter to Work Day," which you can see after the jump...)
"When we do 'Star Wars,' it does seem to really work so well and I think it's because everyone is so familiar with the mythology, it's universal, everyone instantly connects and also there's also a lot there to have fun with, in our very loving and slightly weird way," Green said. He said this entire production went back at pretty amazing pace of 14 weeks from blank page to completed footage. "We've become super efficient," he said. "Alarmingly efficient, in fact. And when it's 'Star Wars' we're always swinging for the fences and we're very happy with the finished product. It's about 100 people collaborating, counting the writers and the actors and the costumes and the puppeteers and everything else. It's a huge endeavor but it's going so smooth and it's just so much fun. "
I told Green that I have a theory that the greatest service performed by Emmy-winning "Robot Chicken" is to "Star Wars" creator, George Lucas; I think the parodies -- and the fact that Lucas has given both his continued blessing and even the occasional voice contribution -- have gone a long way in humanizing the sometime remote wizard of Skywalker Ranch.
Are you 'endearingly sweaty, hairy, lewd...?'
This just came in from the folks at Adult Swim and wins our coveted "Press Release of the Day" trophy. A No-Prize is in the mail now...
Adult Swim today announced the nationwide search for a Carl look-alike to appear in the first-ever live action episode of "Aqua Teen Hunger Force." The search will begin Saturday, July 26, from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m., at the Omni Hotel in San Diego during this year’s Comic-Con convention, what some consider to be the epicenter of Carl-like men.
Aqua Teen Hunger Force, one of Adult Swim’s most popular animated action-adventure, comedy-dramas, follows the strange everyday lives of three human-sized food products who live in New Jersey. Their next-door neighbor is Carl, a simple man who’s endearingly sweaty, hairy, lewd, fashion-challenged, horny, nasty and oftentimes annoying. All men remotely fitting that description are encouraged to show up. It would also help to be bald, have a mustache and wear a dirty white tank top, sweat pants and flip-flops. For background, video of Carl’s awesomeness can be seen at AdultSwim.com. Aqua Teen Hunger Force co-creator, Dave Wills, who is also the voice of Carl, will be on site at the San Diego search.
I'm making a mental note to avoid the Omni at all costs on Saturday afternoon.
-- Geoff Boucher
Photo: Cartoon Network
