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Spaceballs Being Retooled for TV
Source: Variety
January 20, 2005

Mel Brooks' wacky 1987 "Star Wars" spoof Spaceballs is being retooled for television via a three-way project involving the producer, MGM TV and German company BFC, reports Variety.

Brooks is partnering with Berliner Film Co., whose principal pitched the idea to the producer some months ago, and with MGM, which owns the rights to the original movie. Variety says the idea is to deliver an animated TV series that takes on the latest wave of sci-fi and fantasy icons, including the "Star Wars" prequels and "The Lord of the Rings."

Brooks will be working with his Producers collaborator Thomas Meehan, who co-wrote the Spaceballs movie, to produce the pilot and supervise the writing of the other episodes.

Brooks will again voice two of the returning characters, President Skroob and Yogurt. He's also voicing a character in 20th Century Fox's upcoming Robots.

Under the agreement with Brooks, BFC and MGM will produce an hourlong pilot and 13 half-hour episodes.

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With "Star Wars" again hotter than an iron that's been left on for a day, it's no surprise to hear that there's renewed interesrt in "Spaceballs" again.

For those that don't recall, "Spaceballs" was the brainchild of Mel Brooks, a piss-take on anything Jedi, Wookie and Yoda, that was released a good decade after the original George Lucas money-spinner.

It was announced in January that Brooks will be returning to the world of 'The Schwartz' with a "Spaceballs" cartoon series.

BFC Berliner Film Companie has partnered with Brooksfilms and MGM Domestic Television Distribution, a unit of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (NYSE:MGM) , to create the show.

Brooks told Maxim Magazine, says Contact Music, that he'd love to come back and reprise the voices for the characters he played in the film.

"There's an animated Spaceballs TV concept in the works. I told them I'll be happy to look over the scripts and do some voices. I'd love to play President Skroob - he's the perfect president - or Yogurt, the sweet little spiritual, magical man", he says.

"I'm crazy. I'm liable to get into that make-up again when I record the voice - just to get back into the character. Okay, now that would be stupid."

Under the agreement, BFC and MGM will produce an hour-long pilot and 13 half-hour episodes of the series.

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'Spaceballs' to become TV cartoon

LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) -- Mel Brooks is developing an animated TV series based on his comedy feature "Spaceballs."

Like the 1987 movie, which parodied well-known science-fiction movies, "Spaceballs: The Animated Series" will spoof current blockbusters as well as every genre of entertainment from movies and reality TV to culture and politics.

It is set to debut on cable network G4 in fall 2007. Production has already started on an initial batch of 13 episodes.

Brooks, who will voice two characters in the show, co-wrote the pilot with longtime collaborator Thomas Meehan, who will oversee all writing for the series.

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