Locations from our favorite TV shows can seem as familiar as our own neighborhoods. That should explain the shock of recognition you’ll feel as you scroll through this selection of pieces from Tim Doyle‘s Unreal Estate show, which finds the illustrator and print-maker revisiting some unforgettable small-screen sets in a series of prints. See Arrested Development‘s infamous banana stand, the diner where Seinfeld‘s characters were regulars, and Moe’s bar from The Simpsons in a brand-new way after the jump. If you’re in the Bay Area, be sure to check out the exhibition in person, at San Francisco’s Spoke Art, between February 2nd and 23rd.

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Have you ever wondered if the guy in the Chewbacca suit is just as hairy as the character he plays? Or if there’s occasionally a person inside ALF? We certainly have, and usually we’re too lazy to pause and consult the Internet. But not today, folks! Today we’re solving the mystery of costumed characters once and for all — or at least for ten of film’s and TV’s favorite masked mortals. We’ve compiled some kids’ characters, a couple sci-fi villains, and a handful of cuddly creatures paired with the suit actors within. Check ‘em out after the jump, and let us know of any other costumed characters that have piqued your pop-culture curiosity.

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Today at Flavorpill, we identified perhaps too strongly with this supercut of Parks and Recreation‘s April Ludgate not giving a “$&!#.” We allowed this tilt-shift video of holiday-season Los Angeles as a snow globe to melt our icy hearts. We followed @realshitgirlsay, the feminist answer to the viral sensation of the month. We learned that Alec Baldwin really, really isn’t running for mayor of New York, because he’s not “horny” for the job the way other candidates seem to be. We were impressed by Spin‘s “20 Best Avant Albums of 2011″ list. We decided that John Krasinski and Sesame Street are almost as adorable together as Jason Segel and the Muppets. We agreed that Banksy’s latest sculpture is “a little on the nose.” We watched a five-minute sneak peek of NBC’s new legal drama, The Firm, even though we’ve yet to find the TV legal drama that thrills us. We were relieved at the news that the Joss Whedon-free Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie that’s been in the works for about a year may not happen after all. And finally, were amused that The Fresh Prince of Bel Air cast reunited — without either of the two actresses who played Vivian Banks.

Today is the 56th birthday of one of our most beloved childhood companions: Bill Nye (yes, the Science Guy). To celebrate, and to prove that TV doesn’t always rot your brain, Mom, we’ve compiled a list of the coolest-ever educational shows for kids, on everything from biology to grammar to drawing. Click through to see our list and indulge in a little smarty-pants nostalgia, and be sure to let us know which of your favorites we’ve missed in the comments (yes, we left out Schoolhouse Rock, but it isn’t strictly a television show). Hey, maybe you’ll even learn something! Full disclosure: we did. Read More »

Have you ever wondered if The Count’s extreme affinity for counting stems from a numeral-based neurological condition? Or if Belle from Beauty and the Beast really just had Stockholm Syndrome? Sometimes, kids’ film and TV characters are just plain diagnosable.  Not in a bad way — just in a way that, if these characters existed in real life, their quirkiest qualities might be explained by a few fascinating syndromes and conditions that most of us never knew existed. We decided to channel our inner Lucy van Pelt, check out a few quirky characters’ symptoms, and lightheartedly diagnose them with some of the world’s most peculiar conditions. Read on for some foreign accents, sun-sneezes, and blue people; the doctor is in. Read More »

Elvis Costello’s heartbreaky “(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes” appeared on his debut album My Aim is True. A different version of the sad tune appeared recently on kiddie show Sesame Street — which had Costello singing alongside Elmo, Cookie Monster, and friends. Since the children’s program couldn’t have their little red puppet belting out a song with lyrics like, “She said ‘Drop dead,’ then left with another guy,” they opted to change the words to tell a story about Cookie Monster eating a the number 2 (deep stuff). Hit the jump to watch Costello’s collaboration with the puppet program and to compare it to the original song performed back in ye olde 1977.

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1. Sesame Street’s YouTube channel was hacked over the weekend, and all of its content was taken down and replaced with a 7-minute hardcore porn. [via The Daily What]

2. If you’ve ever fantasized about Lady Gaga giving Bill and Hillary Clinton a Marilyn Monroe-style serenade, then it’s your lucky day. Watch a clip of her performance at a birthday party/benefit for the former President’s foundation here.

3. In an effort to compete with traditional publishers, Amazon is planning to release 122 fiction and nonfiction books of its own this fall, in both physical and e-book form. Says longtime agent Richard Curtis: “Everyone’s afraid of Amazon. If you’re a bookstore, Amazon has been in competition with you for some time. If you’re a publisher, one day you wake up and Amazon is competing with you too. And if you’re an agent, Amazon may be stealing your lunch because it is offering authors the opportunity to publish directly and cut you out.” [via NYT]

4. According to a theory put forth in a new book, Vincent van Gogh didn’t commit suicide. Rather, the famed Dutch painter was shot by 16-year-old Rene Secretan, a local boy who often bullied him. [via The Daily Beast]

5. McDonald’s is planning to launch its own in-store channel. Reality TV king Mark Burnett , BBC America, and KABC-TV Eyewitness News have all signed on to provide content for the new network, which will focus on “local news and entertainment features, such as spotlights on upcoming films, albums and TV shows.” [via LAT]

Bonus Buzz: Fan-Made Opening Sequence To ‘The Adventures of Tintin’

Psychedelic maestro Vince Collins is responsible for some of the most striking and phantasmagorical films of the ’70s. With the kaleidoscopic reverberations of the previous decade swirling around his palette, his style is unmistakably indebted to the ’60s, and partly inspired by indie animators like Larry Jordan and Jeff Hale.

Although he’s since graduated to a different style that favors computers over experimental, cel-style animations hand-rendered with inks and paints, his early works are like a “trip through a trunk full of memories,” as the artist muses. Malice in Wonderland — which Collins actually considers to be pornographic, even if it doesn’t comply with today’s glossy, glamorized erotic aesthetic — marked the end of an era for the pioneer, who contends that the indie film scene had all but vanished in the late ’70s. While the sexy, hallucinatory version of Lewis Carroll’s iconic story is one of Collins’ most memorable, several of his other other stunning works also merit mention. Brace your eyeballs for impact, take a trip down memory lane, and get acquainted with Collins’ recent work.

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Welcome to “Trailer Park,” our regular Friday feature where we collect the week’s new trailers all in one place and do a little “judging a book by its cover,” ranking them from worst to best and taking our best guess at what they may be hiding. We’ve got seven new trailers this week, ranging from the joy of Elmo and Dolly to the horrors of Katherine Heigl; check ‘em out after the jump.

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Get ready to learn all about the letter ‘G’ with Sue, Rachel, Finn, and er, Mr. Guester. Sesame Street‘s 42nd season premiere airs Monday, and it features a killer parody of Glee that is sure to delight children and parents alike (the episode also includes a significantly more manly parody of The Deadliest Catch, if you balk at musical television but dig puppets). Though Sesame Street has aired parodies of several popular TV shows, including True Blood, Mad Men, and even Law and Order: SVU, we have to admit this one is our favorite, if only for its casual deconstruction of about fifty percent of Glee‘s plotline in the first five seconds, as puppet Rachel blabbers at puppet Finn, “I like you Finn. I’m looking at you longingly!” In addition, Bert and Ernie drama aside, is it possible that this is the first stereotypically represented homosexual puppet to appear on Sesame Street? If so, we can’t think of a better pioneering gay puppet than Kurt Hummel. Click through to watch the video, and let us know what you think in the comments!

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