LARRY MULLEN (SLIGHTLY) ONE-UPS BONO AND THE EDGE

I'm not a big fan of the Seth McFarlane TV shows: Family Guy, American Dad or The Cleveland Show. I watched the first two minutes of the first episode of Family Guy and thought it was a Simpsons knock off. I realize that that isn't totally the case, and a lot of people who I respect watch it, but it just isn't my thing, and neither or his other shows.

But I may have to check out The Cleveland Show: Larry Mullen has recorded two seperate characters for upcoming episodes: a mobster and a bad Elvis impersonator. Apparently, he is such a big fan that he reached out and asked to be involved. The BBC reports that besides Mullen, Kanye West, Will.I.Am and David Lynch (!) have also recorded guest spots for the show.

So, even though I'm not a huge Cleveland Show fan, it sure beats the Spider-Man musical that Bono and The Edge are involved with!

SPIDER-MAN UPDATE

The Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark official website (for those of you who don't know, this is the Broadway production featuring music by Bono and The Edge that is the bane of my existance and probably Larry Mullen's as well) says that the show starts previews on February 25. But Alan Cummings, who was so great as Nightcrawler in X-Men 2 and who is playing The Green Goblin in this mess, tells The New York Times that that is not the case. You want to see a cool music production on Broadway? Try Fela, about the life of Fela Kuti, or the upcoming Green Day inspired American Idiot. I say this as a huge U2 fan, this Spider-Man thing is just corny!

COMING TO BROADWAY: GREEN DAY'S AMERICAN IDIOT

According to Playbill (not a source I often quote), Green Day's American Idiot is coming to Broadway. The show was originally staged in Berkley, California, by Tony winning director Michael Mayer. It was supposed to only be in September, but due to popular demand, it was extended through November!

So, to those of you who think I am hating on Broadway because I've been complaining about Bono and The Edge's involvement in the ill-fated Spider-Man musicial... well, I'm not anti-Broadway (not that I go very often!). I just think that the idea of a Spider-Man musical is a "naff" idea as the Brits say (i.e. silly, corny). And U2's Larry Mullen agrees - Bono wanted to have U2 record the album of Spider-Man songs that he and Edge wrote, and Larry, thankfully, said "Over my dead body" or something like that.

Back to Green Day, they've just released an iTunes exclusive 6 track live EP, Last Night On Earth: Live In Tokyo. They sound like superheroes on the album, and I mean that (in this case) as a compliment.

MORE TROUBLE FOR SPIDEY?

It looks like Spider-Man, the Broadway musical -- with songs written by Bono and The Edge -- is experiencing more troubles, according to a New York Times blogger. I was no fan of the idea in the first place, and I'm not surprised. For the record, I totally loved "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me," the song that U2 did for one of the (bad) Batman films in the '90s. And The Edge even did a pretty cool title theme for a Batman cartoon after that. I don't have a problem with this kind of stuff. But a superhero musical that's not done as kitch? I don't see how it will work, and it kind of goes to show you what sort of stuff Bono and The Edge (and I am a huge fan of both) will come up with without Larry Mullen Jr. around for quality control. I mean, really, this is an idea that had to have come up at some dinner party where $5000 bottles of wine are the norm. It seems to embody all the '70s and '80s rock bloat that U2 were always against.