SUPER FREAK

Well, this should be interesting....

In the past, we've seen actors play live-action versions of cartoon characters. John Goodman and Rick Moranis were Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble of 'The Flintstones'. Mark Addy and Stephen Baldwin followed up in a sequel in the same roles, with Alan Cumming as the Great Gazoo thrown in for good measure.

Dave Thomas and Sally Kellerman were 'Boris And Natasha', while Jason Alexander and Rene Russo played the same roles in 'The Adventures of Rocky And Bullwinkle'. (Christopher Neame and Robert DeNiro were their respective Fearless Leaders.)

Brendan Fraser was 'George Of The Jungle' and for Toobworld, there's also Patrick Warburton as 'The Tick'.

Now we'll have a new addition, thanks to a TV movie being developed for HBO by Dreamworks:

"Freakazoid!" with James Roday!

I think it'll be a good match. Roday has demonstrated, both in his TV series 'Psych' and in the movie "Repli-Kate", to have the sense of humor as well as the physical energy to play the slapstick-prone superhero. And even if there had been no technological advances in CGI since 1994, Jim Carrey's "The Mask" proves that the film-makers can more than handle the demands of the character.

Apparently, "Freakazoid!" will be rushed into production in order to accommodate James Roday's schedule. I guess he needs to wrap it up before 'Psych' goes into production for its next season. (They're speeding this through channels so quickly, that they don't even have a page up for it yet at either HBO or at IMDb.com!)

Frankly, I'm surprised that Steven Spielberg, who also executive-produced the original cartoon series, isn't aiming for a bigger market on the big screen. But obviously he knows the market better than me and probably has it already figured whether or not it would make a dent in the glut of summer escapist flicks. Besides they can always go the movie theatre route with its release overseas.

I think the blend of James Roday and the character of Dexter Douglas (aka Freakazoid!) is a perfect fit. But whatever happens, I just hope Ed Asner is on board as Mike Cosgrove!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby