Because NBC likes to jerk us around wants us to get excited about the new season of Community, NBC chief Bob Greenblatt has stepped forward and said that the network is “absolutely hopeful” that the show will have a fifth season. “I’d love nothing more than to see it continue,” he said. OK, yeah, sure. It would’ve been nice if you’d shown such faith in the show a wee bit earlier, but I see this statement as nothing more than PR-speak, so whatever.

But it’s what he said about season four, premiering on February 7th, that I find a bit more interesting. If by interesting you mean infuriating. And I do.

Of all the news items I expected I might see today, this was not one of them. There was a rumor floating around that David Lynch met with NBC executives about a Twin Peaks reboot. My hopes were up. Then producer Mark Frost came forward and said the meeting didn’t happen. Hopes down.

Yeah. I know. Everything’s feeling very surreal and Lynchian right now.

While the xenomorph (that is, the Alien) has become an enshrined part of horror cinema, the kind of cultural artifact that you can absorb easily whether or not you’ve actually ever seen the original source, like Godzilla, Frankenstein, or Ghostface from Scream. I can’t speak from personal experience, but in 1979, when the R-rated Alien actually hit screens, I doubt that it was that easy. Instead, little kids had to learn to fear the alien from, apparently, really clashingly upbeat commercials where they futilely fight off a horrifying embodiment of our existential dread of unfathomableness of space and our own bodies. Fun for the whole family!

On the other hand, we would totally go nuts for the Ripley action figure with Turbo Torch action that showed up later.

Once upon a time, some parents filmed their kids opening a brand new Nintendo 64. Years later, somebody took the audio and did this.

Yes, yes, you can find the original video below the jump.

Have you been sitting on the edge of your seat ever since we posted the first installment of Batman Shampoo vs. Bane-Ana? I know I have. There were a lot of unanswered questions. Will Batman Shampoo succeed in his plan to clean the hair of everyone in Gotham? Or will Bane-Ana manage to dirty everyone up again by putting banana in their hair?

Well worry not, my friends, for Batman Shampoo Returns is here. With special guest star Conditioner Gordon.

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If you follow Gail Simone on Twitter (or anywhere else) you know she’s not shy about expressing her opinions, sometimes sarcastically, sometimes not. She’s a creator who’s very vocal with her fans so while her many tweets yesterday did not come as a surprise, the content of one of them did. DC Comics has told her she is no longer writing Batgirl. 

You might know Julia Gillard as the first female Prime Minister of Australia and leader of the Australian Labor Party. Or you might know her as one of the few world leaders out there who is openly atheist. You might also know her as somebody who can deliver a pretty awesome smackdown. But today, you know her as a lady with a sense of humor, after she recorded this clip for Triple J, a national Australian radio station dedicated those spry young folks.

(via Mediaite.)

The first post of a Monday morning is one that I usually use for cute videos completely unrelated to the general content of the site. I realize that this video may be stretching the definition of “cute.”

But it does have a banana in a Bane mask in it, so there you go. Happy Monday.

Today in movies we can’t believe are actually being made: Asteroids. As in, an adaptation of the classic Atari game that had no real story or anything, just a white triangle shooting white dots at white blobs against a black background. The movie’s been around for a while, but I must have blocked it out. Can you blame me? Anyway, Universal has just hired someone new to work on the script: The improbably named Jez Butterworth.

Look, I was expecting to be reeling from a hurricane this morning. I wasn’t expecting to hit the end of my work day with the news that Disney now controls all of its own properties, those of Marvel comics, and those of Lucasfilm. But it’s true. As confirmed by Reuters and several legitimate business sources, Disney has acquired Lucasfilm, and with Lucasfilm the Star Wars franchise. They’re also promising Star Wars Episode 7 by 2015, the same year as The Avengers 2 and Warner Bros. putative Justice League.