Welcome to another edition of On the Radar where we delve into all corners of the entertainment, tech and geek Internets for news, views and whatnot that may have escaped our regular coverage during the week. Let is know if we missed something interesting.

• While things aren’t going so well for the Uncharted or Assassin’s Creed film adaptations, that hasn’t stopped a studio from moving forward on a film based on the classic monster game Rampage.

• The heads of action fans everywhere may just explode when they see the very first poster for The Expendables 2 featuring Norris, Van Damme, and the whole cast.

• Take a jump in a depressing time machine as you see young Tim Burton acting as normal as ever in this footage from Disney Studios circa 1980.

• It looks like the internet is seeping into mainstream media again, as The Annoying Orange was just announced to have a show coming up on Cartoon Network.

• Exactly how many times did The Force get brought up in all 6 Star Wars films? We have no idea, but here they all are.

• You may know the prime Muppets, but here is a list of the best known Muppets from around the world that you may have never heard of. Like Oscar the Grouch’s Israeli cousin.

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This past weekend Cartoon Network aired a one-hour special showcasing their next DC animated series, Green Lantern. Cartoon Network has a long history of eclectic and generally fantastic shows based on DC characters, and 2012 looks to be a banner year for Warner’s Super Hero stable.

Green Lantern: The Animated Series begins with this new special, setting up a  plot that sees Hal and Kilowog in deep “frontier space” fighting against the Red Lanterns. The show itself will air regularly in 2012 as a marquee show in Carton Network’s new DC Nation programming. It joins Young Justice and a slew of shorts, news and other fun DC tidbits next year.

The most interesting thing about this series is that for the first time ever a Bruce Timm produced show is animated in full CG. Timm’s artistic style is clearly the inspiration for the designs and despite the full CG animation there is clearly an effort to make this show fit alongside the others in the pantheon of Timm-verse shows.

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Last Sunday, Adult Swim premiered their newest foray into the realm of live action spoofs: The Heart, She Holler. Consider it Twin Peaks meets Passions with loads of incest and moments you can’t forget if you tried.

We got the chance to speak with the series’ star, Patton Oswalt, about the insanity of the show on Friday, and even he couldn’t do it justice with a description. Now, we’ve got the mastermind behind the show, Vernon Chatman, to shed some light on the its origin. Let’s see if he can do a better job.

Chatman is best known for some of the weirdest and funniest television of the past few years like Wonder Showzen, Xavier: Renegade Angel, and even doing tons of work (not to mention being the voice of “Towlie”) for South Park.

After the jump, check out what Chatman had to say about The Heart, She Holler, and catch the miniseries airing every night this week, and repeating every night after Sunday at 12:45pm, only on Adult Swim. 

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Last night, those in the Los Angeles area were treated to a nice surprise. The hip folks over at Cinefamily’s Silent Movie Theater premiered the full miniseries of Adult Swim’s newest live action comedy, The Heart, She Holler. Opening to a packed house, the show definitely hit it big with this audience, incest jokes and all.

The show comes from the Vernon Chatman, the brilliantly twisted mind behind shows like Wonder Showzen and Xavier Renegade Angel. If you think you know anything about how Adult Swim picks their new content, you don’t know anything about this show. Here’s a brief synopsis that does little-to-no justice to the madness of the show.

Boss Hoss Heartshe owns 98.5% of Heartshe Holler and keeps the other 1.5% in a hidey hole.  Upon his death, the hole is opened to reveal a secret son, Hurlan. Watch as his blood grubbing heirs Hurshe, the coquettish daughter closest to Hoss’ heart and nether regions and Hambrosia, Hoss’ other only child with a fearsome ability to scorch eyeballs with her mental powers, wrestle for every sort of supremacy that power provides. Their miseries and mysteries collide in this first-ever Adult Swim six night miniseries event.

Think Twin Peaks meets Passions with a really sick spin.

We got the chance to sit down with comedy-flavored renaissance man and star of the show, Patton Oswalt, about what to expect from the show, who he doesn’t want to watch the miniseries, and what his problem with DC Entertainment is. Take a look at what he had to say after the jump.

Catch the premiere of The Heart, She Holler on Adult Swim Sunday, November 6th at 12:30am, followed by new episodes every night next week, and repeating every day this month.

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Adult Swim has been on an absolute tangent with their slew of live-action parody series. It all started with Rob Corddry’s webseries Childrens Hospital which is now going into its fourth season on the network, then Chris Elliot took off in a Walker, Texas Ranger spoof titled Eagleheart. Their latest venture into the third dimension of funny has been in Paul Scheer’s NTSF:SD:SUV::, which just got picked up for a second season.

Now, the network is hoping to capitalize on the growing popularity of the creepy horror shows that are shrouded in mystery but as original as bad soap operas. That’s where The Heart, She Holler comes in. Here’s the rundown.

The Heart, She Holler is a new live-action series starring Patton Oswalt, Kristen Schaal and Heather Lawless. Boss Hoss Heartshe owns 98.5% of Heartshe Holler and keeps the other 1.5% in a hidey hole.  Upon his death, the hole is opened to reveal a secret son, Hurlan. Watch as his blood grubbing heirs Hurshe, the coquettish daughter closest to Hoss’ heart and nether regions and Hambrosia, Hoss’ other only child with a fearsome ability to scorch eyeballs with her mental powers, wrestle for every sort of supremacy that power provides. Their miseries and mysteries collide in this first-ever Adult Swim six night miniseries event.

While Adult Swim may not be completely backing the idea with a full episode order, they are giving it a 6 episode miniseries run that will air every night starting on Sunday, November 6th at 12:30am and go through Friday, November 11th. Check out a preview of the series after the jump to see what awesomely random and horrifying stuff you’re in store for.

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While New York Comic Con had tons of scoops and news hit over the weekend, one bit of news that both fans of comics AND animation were eager to hear about was more on Cartoon Network’s upcoming Green Lantern: The Animated Series.

Unlike the rest of the DC animated series to cross paths with Cartoon Network, this one is a bit different, as it’s animated using CG, rather than cell animation. Here’s info from the official release.

As Earth’s Green Lantern, Hal Jordan is used to being in dangerous situations — but he’s never faced anything like this! Set at the farthest reaches of deep space, Green Lantern: The Animated Series finds Hal on the Guardian Frontier, where he must face down an invasion by the Red Lantern Corps.

Powered by pure rage, the evil Red Lanterns have sworn to destroy the Green Lantern Corps and everything they stand for. Dispatched on the experimental spacecraft The Interceptor, Hal is soon joined by an all-new group of heroes on a mission to protect Guardian Space — and the Green Lantern Corps itself!

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For the past year, Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim has been branching into less of the animated comedy and more into live action spoofs. It started by bringing Rob Corddry’s Childrens Hospital from the web to the TV, and continuing with Paul Scheer’s NTSF:SD:SUV::. With Hospital into its third season, it looks like the network’s second spoof is getting some love too.

NTSF has been picked up for a second season, and will continue to rip on shows like 24 and every CSI show on the air. Here’s the official press release for more:

The ratings have consistently built throughout the first season and we love what we’re seeing from the show,” said Mike Lazzo, head of Adult Swim, “and how can you not love SUVs?”

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A few weeks ago, we brought you our exclusive interview with both Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick, the creators of The Venture Bros., in which they told us about their upcoming special, From The Ladle To The Grave—The Shallow Gravy Story.

The special is set to hit on Adult Swim this Sunday, and we’ve got one of the stars, Dr. Venture himself, James Urbaniak, to tell us a bit more. Before we go in-depth, here’s a breakdown of what you can expect in the special.

Follow the meteoric rise, the equally meteoric fall, and the decidedly un-meteor-like second coming of the most important band Hank Venture, Dermott Fictel and H.E.L.P.eR. robot have ever been in: Shallow Gravy.  If you’re hungry for rock, then open wide, because here comes a ladle of heavy metal fire and metaphoric meat drippings.

Urbaniak was able to give us more of a scoop on the special, as well as some details on what he’d like to see in the upcoming fifth season of the show. Take a look at the interview after the jump, catch the special this Sunday at Midnight on Adult Swim, and grab an official digital download of the songs featured in the special over at AdultSwim.com. Go Team Venture!

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Good news everyone. Well, good news for those of you who are fans of Children’s Hospital. Good, I see some hands there.

As you can probably discern from the title of this post, Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim has decided to renew Rob Corddry’s comedy series Childrens Hospital for a fourth season. Thr show will get a 14-episode order for that new season.

This is good news, at least to us, as we’re big fans of the show. It’s been steadily funny this entire season so far and, according to reports, is doing well in the ratings.

I guess that’s one of the reasons Cartoon Network decided to bring it back for another season. Smart of them, I say. Production will begin later this year for a 2012 premiere.

In addition to Corddry, the series co-stars Malin Akerman, Lake Bell, Erinn Hayes, Rob Huebel, Ken Marino, Megan Mullally and Henry Winkler. It airs Thursday nights at midnight on Cartoon Network.

Whatever your feelings about Star Wars, and in particular the second trilogy, Cartoon Network is doing a pretty good job with their animated series The Clone Wars. The show has already been on the air for three seasons and is very popular with fans new and old.

With season four about to get underway, Cartoon Network has revealed today the premiere date for that season and also sent us a cool trailer to help get you ready for it. And this new season promises to deliver even more thrills and excitement for fans.

Here’s the scoop for season four directly from the network:

As the heroic Jedi Knights and their clone army fight to preserve order, their efforts continue to be met with strong resistance from the massive Separatist droid army. Escalating and expanding into uncharted corners of the galaxy, the scope and scale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars continue to grow – with exotic adventures and enhanced animation strengthening ties to the Star Wars saga.

Within the galactic battle, fearsome foes from the past return to settle the score. As unexpected alliances are formed on both sides of the battle, the action explodes and the course of the war takes an unforeseen turn!

Star Wars: The Clone Wars premieres on Cartoon Network, Friday, September 16 at 8PM (E/P). Click through to check out the trailer for the new season.

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Animated programming for adults has been a battle writers and networks have been having for years. Luckily, with the birth of Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, there is a new home for cartoons that kids just may not get.

With Adult Swim comes some amazing programming like Sealab 2021, Harvey Birdman, and Venture Bros. Sadly, the former two have since fled the airwaves, but Venture Bros is still going strong.

The show has been on break for nearly a year, but on August 28th, our favorite family of adventuring misfits is returning for a special entitled From The Ladle To The Grave: The Story of Shallow Gravy.

The special is a faux documentary in the tone of Behind the Music in which Hank’s punk metal band Shallow Gravy and how its mediocre success has effected Brock and the rest of the family.

We got the chance to speak with creators Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer about the special and the upcoming next season of Venture Bros. Check out what they had to say and be sure to catch The Venture Bros. special on August 28th, only on Adult Swim.

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When they first seated the cast and crew of the new Adult Swim animated comedy Black Dynamite at my table, I don’t think they realized we were there for the roundtable discussion.  Spending the first 5 minutes of the interview talking about YouTube videos and their co-star J.B. Smooth spitting all over the recording mic, I honestly was just enjoying seeing them hang out.  Eventually, they realized I was there for the interview and we got down to business.

Among those at the table were executive producer Carl Jones, best known for producing The Boondocks on Adult Swim, co-executive producer Brian Ash, and cast members Kym Whitley and Michael Jai White, who you can check out  in Matt Raub’s video interview later.

Quick background:  the Black Dynamite animated series is actually a spin off of a 2009 blaxploitation spoof.  Starring a lot of the same cast including Michael Jai White and Byron Minns, the film premiered at Sundance that year.  Director Scott Sanders shot the movie on Super 16 film as a direct homage/satire of the cult genre from the 70s.  Here is where I would give a quick plot recap, but I will never word it better than the description found on the official website:

“When ‘The Man’ murders his brother, pumps heroin into local orphanages, and floods the ghetto with adulterated malt liquor, Black Dynamite is the one hero willing to fight all the way from the blood-soaked city streets to the hallowed halls of the Honkey House.”

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