The Door interviews Scott Rubin, editor of the National Lampoon website. The Door is a Christian humor magazine (or is it humorous Christian magazine?). The interview is a good read, even if you’re not into religion. (Pretty funny photos of Scott, too.) It makes me realize just how far the NL website has come in the last few years, no doubt in part due to Scott’s persistence and perserverence through some pretty rough times there. Update: The Door closed its doors in 2008, so that interview is no longer online. Update #2: I found it on the Wayback Machine. The link redirects to that now. 

Richard Belzer, who appeared regularly on National Lampoon Radio Hour, has said he will be involved in starting up the program again. According to reader Melissa, he mentioned this recently on an ABC morning show.

National Lampoon 1964 High School Yearbook Parody, 39th Reunion Edition is out. This special hardcover edition includes a bonus “Where Are They Now?” section written by co-editor of the original edtion P.J. O’Rourke. They kind of messed up the front and back covers. And you would think they could get hold of the actual National Lampoon logo for the book. The inside is less lavishly printed than the original, which used different paper stocks to simulate the various ephemera from the life of Larry Kroeger. In the new edition, everything is printed on your basic coated stock. Still, for all the people dying to get a copy of this classic, and with copies of the original going for over $100, it’s not a bad deal.

National Lampoon’s Vacation 20th Anniversary DVD is out. This special edition includes loads of bonus materials featuring many of the original cast members and others including Chevy Chase, Randy Quaid, Matty Simmons, Harold Ramis, and Christie Brinkley. To promote the release, Warner Bros. has set up a special site where you can watch clips from the movie and find out more about the special edition.

Update: The special site is long gone, but I found it on the Wayback Machine. To be honest? You’re not missing much. But if you do want to see it, you’ll need the Ruffle plug-in, since the site was Flash-based and Flash is also long gone.

Animal House Double Secret Probation Edition DVD is out. This special edition includes a bonus “Where Are They Now?” segment directed and produced by John Landis (and co-produced by Matty Simmons) in which many of the original cast members (Kevin Bacon, Tim Matheson, James Widdoes, Bruce McGill, James Daughton, Karen Allen, DeWayne Jessie and Stephen Furst) reprise their Animal House roles. To promote the release, Universal Home Video has set up a special sound board where you can hear sound clips from the movie.

Update: The “sound board” page is long gone, but I’ve redirected to an archive of it on the Wayback Machine. Also, since it was Flash-based, and Flash is also long gone, you’ll need the Ruffle Flash-player plug-in to access it on a modern computer. Bonus: You’ll hear the title of Josh Karp’s 2005 book about Doug Kenney if you click on the “Go All Out” button.

The Onion Interviews P.J. O’Rourke, erstwhile editor of National Lampoon, here.

Update: Unfortunately, that page is long gone. And there’s nothing the Wayback Machine archive, either.

Did you work at National Lampoon between 1970-1980, or did you know Doug Kenney, Henry Beard or Michael O’Donoghue? An author working on a biography/history of Doug Kenney and the National Lampoon has asked for my help, hence this item. If you answered “yes” to any of the preceeding questions, please contact Josh.

Uproar Entertainment has acquired the rights to release a number of National Lampoon comedy albums on CD. Up for September release will be “That’s Not Funny, That’s Sick!” (1977) and a new title “Rules of the Road.” Other titles, such as “Radio Dinner” (1972) and “Goodbye Pop” (1975) are slated for release in early 2004.

On a related note, Uproar is also releasing a Harvard Lampoon CD called “No Sense of Danger.”

See the Uproar site for details.

Update: Actually, it appears that Uproar no longer carries Lampoon albums. However, they are not hard to find on Amazon and even streaming services.

For years, I have quoted Mr. Mike in my email signature (“One thing led to another and, before we knew it, we were dead.”—from The National Lampoon Encyclopedia of Humor). Prof. Karl Petruso has compiled a whole page of them, here.

Update: The original page is long gone, but I’ve redirected the link to a Wayback Machine archive of the page. Good stuff!

The Italian Ghostbusters Fan Club has announced that they will be posting an interview on July 7 with Michael Gross, former National Lampoon art director who also happened to be the associate producer on Ghostbusters. Update: Sadly, the site no longer seems to exist.