There’s something particularly enjoyable about the awkward superhero equivalents of our favorite, otherwise unheroic TV characters. These alter egos’ bizarre get-ups and peculiar antics are often so far removed from their shows’ realities that we can’t help but chuckle. But, then again — why wouldn’t Conan O’Brien’s tall, beefy superhero cartoon use an oven mitt and a jai alai glove to save a school bus? And of course Jack Donaghy’s animated superhero self would use his powers to taunt a nine-year-old Brian Williams. Regardless of the strange “gifts” these TV characters might instill in their fictional superhuman equivalents, we’d still feel safe with Super Ray or the occasional Quailman patrolling our neighborhood. Check out some makeshift masks, capes, kitchenware, and tighty-whiteys after the jump. Read More »

Ever since it was revealed that Zooey Deschanel had written and recorded the theme for her new hit sitcom, New Girl, the admittedly lackluster song has attracted more than its fair share of derision. But it’s not always the case that TV themes sung by the show’s cast are terrible. After the jump, we’ve collected some of the best theme songs sung by actors over the years, from Jason Schwartzman to The Muppets to the cast of That ’70s Show.

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Today at Flavorpill, we discovered that some of our favorite writers have voiced their support for the Occupy Wall Street protests. (On a related note, we read about a new “I’m Getting Arrested” Android app that could come in handy for a few of them.) We were happy to hear that Sons of Anarchy has been renewed for another season. We questioned one woman’s desire to make South Park’s Mr. Hankey the official mascot of rectal cancer. We learned how to make our own chomping Pac-Man costume. We celebrated National Boss Day with some hilarious New Yorker cartoons. We were thrilled to see that John Hodgman is now on Tumblr. We wished that we had an office baby to dress up in this adorable French bulldog Halloween costume. We saw the world through the eyes of a pug. We found this Christopher Walken/Walking Dead mash-up highly entertaining. And finally, we were glad to see the wedding of Improv Everywhere founder Charlie Todd was just as wacky as you would hope it would be.

Today at Flavorpill, we wondered if the world is really ready for an Aqua comeback. We laughed out loud over some of these Masterpiece Theater “missed connections” from David Hart at McSweeney’s — particularly “MY HEART SAYS YES BUT MY STATION SAYS NO.” We checked some emotional baggage. We got a kick out of these comic logos made from food. We were totally shocked that Susan Boyle would even know who Depeche Mode is, let alone cover one of their songs. We wished that this very cool photo-based street art project would travel stateside. We listened to VH1′s 100 greatest songs of the last decade. We were excited to finally see some photos from the set of The Avengers. We looked at some of the best buildings to go up in LA in the last 10 years. We were impressed by the results of FilmDrunk’s “Movie-Themed Food Trucks: Action Movie Edition.” We watched a trailer for the upcoming South Park documentary. And finally, we were fascinated by this cautionary tale of how a bad breakup almost led a girl to accidentally join a cult. (Don’t worry, it ends with a huge tax refund.)

Remember that time Johnny Depp came to your elementary school dressed as a pirate? Or when Larry David made fun of that annoying dude who sits behind you in lecture? Yeah, we don’t either, but sometimes these things actually happen. Recently, Matt Stone and Trey Parker shocked some NYU freshmen with a guest lecture on South Park‘s storytelling strategies — on the first day of class, no less. Watch videos of these celebrities, and many more, crashing classes (and football practice) after the jump.

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1. Ben & Jerry’s has officially launched its new Schweddy Balls flavor — based on the famous Saturday Night Live skit starring Alec Baldwin — and it’s purportedly “loaded with fudge-covered rum and malt balls.” Says Baldwin: “For a long time, I thought that ‘Here Lies Pete Schweddy’ would end up on my tombstone. Now, thanks to Ben & Jerry’s, the goodness of the Schweddy family recipe won’t go with me to the great beyond.” [via Time]

2. ABC plans to adapt Candace Bushnell’s 2008 book One Fifth Avenue into a new series that’s being described as “Sex and the City meets The Good Wife,” with Gossip Girl executive producer Josh Safran on board to write the script. [via THR]

3. An 84-year-old driver ran into Reese Witherspoon yesterday morning while she was jogging in Santa Monica, but luckily the Oscar-winning actress only suffered mild injuries. [via MTV]

4. Apparently Ryan Gosling feels bad for breaking up that art heist/street fight in the East Village because the thief really loved the work of art that he was trying to swipe. “…he finally steals the painting and he’s getting his ass kicked by his hero, and then the guy from The Notebook shows up and makes it weirder. The whole thing, nobody wins. Nobody won.” [via Vulture]

5. South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker delivered a surprise guest lecture at a class called “Storytelling Strategies” at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts yesterday. Watch a brief clip here.

Bonus Buzz: The Dog With The World’s Longest Ears

1. Last night, Justin Timberlake visited Jimmy Fallon to promote Friends With Benefits, and the pair used it as an excuse to debut the second installment of their incredibly awesome collaboration, “The History of Rap.” Watch them pay homage to House of Pain, 50 Cent, Outkast, and plenty of other hip-hop favorites, here.

2. Discovery Channel is planning to air a new reality series this fall called Weed Wars. The show is set in Oakland’s Harborside Health Center — which is home to the country’s largest medical marijuana distributorship — and will star its owner, pot reform activist Steve DeAngelo. [via Inside TV]

3. Ron Howard and Dustin Lance Black are teaming up on an adaptation of Jon Krakauer’s book Under the Banner of Heaven, a story about two Mormon brothers who murder their younger brother’s wife and infant daughter because God told them to do it. Considering that Howard just had his Dark Tower project fall through, and Black has written several episodes of Big Love, this sounds like a good fit. [via Slashfilm]

4. South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone just signed on for two more seasons with Comedy Central, guaranteeing that you’ll be seeing new episodes of the series through at least 2013, no matter where their success on Broadway takes them. [via Aol.TV]

5. We find this oddly entertaining: The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and Museum, which is currently under construction in Washington, DC, has signed on Clint Eastwood as its Honorary Chairman — and it sounds like they did it because they need more money to finish the project. [via UnBeige]

Bonus link: Top 10 Comic Book Moustaches

You know Cheesy Poofs are awesome, but have you ever wondered how awesome? Sure, the flabby figure of Eric Cartman, chief Cheesy Poof devotee, is some indication, but there’s no real way to be sure. Except that now there is. To celebrate what is (kind of unbelievably) the 15th season of South Park, Comedy Central has coordinated with Frito-Lay to produce 1.5 million bags of Cheesy Poofs for the real-world public to purchase at — where else? — Wal-Mart, starting October 15th. “It’s fair to say the viewers of programs on Comedy Central overlap well with consumers of our products,” a Frit0-Lay spokesman told the NYT. Um, burn? Or maybe not, we don’t know. Dearest readers, will you buy and/or eat Cheesy Poofs this fall? Let us know in the comments! [via NYT]

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the publication of J.D. Salinger’s much-beloved novel, The Catcher in the Rye. The book has been much argued over in the years since its publication, but no one can deny that it has influenced countless artists, writers and troubled teenagers and had a lasting impact on American culture.  Holden is in many ways the original angsty American teen, sex-obsessed and confused, and as a tribute to the occasion of his 60th (or should we say, 77th?) year, we’ve collected a few of our favorite Holden variations, incarnations and iterations here. Click through to see our list of troubled teens, social dropouts, misguided misanthropes and other heirs to our dear Holden Caulfield, and let us know how the man, the myth, the legend has affected your own inner life in the comments. But, of course, don’t be phony.

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Chilly Gonzales has been on an artistic rampage for well over a decade now. The Canadian-born, Paris-based artist once known as Jason Beck has collaborated with Peaches, Feist, and Jamie Lidell; released numerous albums of rap, pop, and instrumental piano music; wrote, starred in, and released his own feature film; and broken the world record for solo piano performance (after playing for over 27 hours straight).

His latest is The Unspeakable Chilly Gonzales, an album that blends rap with orchestral music, arranged by his film composer brother, Christophe Beck. We caught up with Chilly at home in Paris for an interactive video interview, in which he reveals his love of Jewish humor, explains the connection between hip-hop and South Park, and challenges John Mayer to a duel.

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