For years, fans of the cancelled Fox series Arrested Development held out hope that the ensemble comedy would be brought back to life as a feature film.  It seemed a quixotic fixation, one of those stories that would show up every few months without ever actually resulting in a Bluth family reunion.  Now, six years after Arrested Development last produced new content, it is happening.  Just ask series co-executive producer Dean Lorey.

Though their popularity has ebbed and flowed, Alvin and the Chipmunks have been a part of the landscape for over half a century.  Believe it.  Ross Bagdasarian Sr. first created Alvin, Simon, and Theodore for the 1958 recording "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)," which was a number one record and won no less than three Grammys.  The trio of high-pitched singing squirrels have been around pretty much ever since, principally as the central figures on a variety of animated television series.

In 2007, the Chipmunks joined the ranks of popular and enduring cartoon characters to be brought to life as CGI creations in a live action feature film, Alvin and the Chipmunks.  While they were squeakily voiced by Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Jesse McCartney, one crucial character who required physical representation was Dave Seville, the Chipmunks manager and father.  Jason Lee stepped into the familiar role, which he briefly reprised in 2009's Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel.

Lee will once again portray Dave in the second sequel, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, which hits theaters this Friday.  Lee, a former professional skateboarder, scored his first leading role as the foul mouth misanthrope Brodie Bruce in 1995's Mallrats and has gone on to star in films such as Almost Famous, Mumford, A Guy Thing, Chasing Amy, and Vanilla Sky, as well as playing the title character on the popular NBC comedy My Name is Earl.  He even voiced the villainous Syndrome in Pixar's The Incredibles.  In a roundtable interview including several entertainment journalists, Lee talked to IAR Managing Editor Jami Philbrick about acting along with non-existent Chipmunks, fatherhood, independent film, and the enduring appeal of Alvin and his Chipmunk siblings.

Comedian Greg Proops may just be The Smartest Man in the World, or at least he pretends to be on his extremely funny and popular podcast of the same name. Proops is an improvisational comedian that is best known for his work on both the UK and US versions of Whose Line is it Anyway?. But he’s also appeared on such shows as Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Chelsea Lately, Drew Carey’s Green Screen Show and Flight of the Conchords, as well as lending his voice to popular films like The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. But now the comedian, who is constantly on the road making appearances, has truly found his voice with his groundbreaking weekly podcast The Smartest Man in the World.

The podcast is recorded in front of a live audience each week and usually takes place during one of Proops’ sold out shows. I recently had a chance to speak with the comedian right before he took the stage in Cleveland for one of his performances. The interview was only supposed to last ten minutes but because he is such a fascinating person to talk to, and very gracious with his time, Proops and I ended up chatting together for almost an hour. It would be impossible for me to include everything we talked about in this article, but I have attached the audio below so that if you’d like to hear the entire interview, you can. We discussed an assortment of topics in addition to his podcast including stand-up comedy, politics, the Republican debates, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Sarah Palin, The Ohio Players, the Oscars, Eddie Murphy, Ellen DeGeneres, Star Wars, George Lucas, Winter’s Bone, comic book adapted movies, romantic comedies, Judd Apatow, Wes Anderson, Zach Galifiankis, and the trappings of success.

The unspeakably intelligent and consistently hilarious Fox series Arrested Development was cruelly canceled five years ago, cut down in its prime after just three seasons (more like two and a half, actually).  Since then, the possibility of a cinematic resurrection for the Bluth family has been like a mirage in the desert for fans of the show, an oasis teasingly glimpsed so, so far off in the distance every few months when a castmember, series creator Mitchell Hurwitz, or some anonymous source claims that Arrested Development will begin production somewhere down the line. 

At this point, it's not unreasonable to doubt that we'll ever see Tobias Funke's cutoff jeans on the big screen, but according to Hurwitz, along with stars Jason Bateman and Will Arnett, the movie will indeed happen, along with an abbreviated one-season television revival that would serve as a reintroduction to each individual player in the Bluth saga.

When Fox first cut short the third season and subsequently canceled Arrested Development in 2006, fans placed their fervent hope in the idea that one of the funniest, smartest series ever to grace the idiot box would find new life on a cable network eager to invest in its obvious quality.  That didn't come to pass, obviously, and since then, a cinematic adventure for Bluth family has been like a mirage in the desert.  Every few months, updates arise, usually claiming that a feature written and directed by series creator Mitchell Hurwitz is all but inevitable, reuniting the cast headlined by Jason Bateman.

Way back in February, Hurwitz commented that Arrested Development could maybe, possibly, hopefully happen soon.  Though we've heard not a peep since then, the faithful retain their belief that we could one day see Tobias Funke's cutoffs on the silver screen.  A new, wholly unsubstantiated rumor suggests that the possible Arrested Development film's storyline would revolve around a film about the Bluth family.  Two films, actually.