MTV’s “Popzilla’’ pokes fun at pop culture and the week’s top celebrity stories, including Britney Spears.
(Reuters)
‘Popzilla’ a parody for a new generation
MTV’s “Popzilla’’ pokes fun at pop culture and the week’s top celebrity stories, including Britney Spears.
(Reuters)
HOLLYWOOD - Dave Thomas has kept a mostly low profile since his “SCTV’’ days in the 1980s, but now the Canadian comic is back with a new animated MTV series, “Popzilla,’’ which spoofs celebrities in the age of Twitter. It airs Thursday nights at 11.
Q. You created “Popzilla’’ to make fun of celebrity culture. But haven’t we reached the point where celebs are almost beyond parody?
A. I think what we can do is find another angle on it and have a little more fun with it. A lot of this stuff is really ripe for fodder. Like the earnestness of the tabloids with Jennifer Aniston seeking true love and happiness. How does somebody have that much bad luck finding a guy?
Q. Do you intend to go political?
A. We have some Obama pieces. It’s tricky. We were advised by MTV not to get too political, because then . . . you’re talking about somebody and the audience has no idea who they are. Especially the younger kid audience. Fortunately, they know who the president is.
Q. Most people know you best from “SCTV.’’ Is “Popzilla’’ an “SCTV’’ for our times?
A. I’m still doing what I did back then. Back then, the language of common reference was television. So we did parodies and spoofs of television stuff. Now America has become a full-on pop culture where the celebrities are like royalty - all over the tabloids and the television set. People don’t want to be actors or dancers or singers anymore; they just want to be celebrities.
Q. Your biggest hits on “SCTV’’ were the “Great White North’’ sketches you did with Rick Moranis, about two beer-swilling, regular-guy Canadians. You even had a movie (“Strange Brew’’) and a radio hit with Rush frontman Geddy Lee. Do people still come up to you humming that song?
A. Oh God, yeah. That became kind of a college, beer-drinking movie. So it stayed popular for way longer than Moranis and I ever thought it would.
Q. Any idea why?
A. The list of Canadian icons is a short list. Bob and Doug became Canadian icons.
Q. How often do people confuse you with Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy’s?
A. Not so often that it becomes irritating. And then he died, of course, which cut off a lot of media.
Q. At 60, aren’t you a little old to be spoofing today’s celebrity culture?
A. I hire a bunch of young writers to work with me. They’re way more connected with the young audience than I am, and I rely on that.
Q. How often do your young writers propose a skit making fun of so-and-so, and you think, “Who’s that?’’
A. All the time.
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