Beneath the Planet of the Twains

February 10, 2012 10:57 AM

Two months ago, writer/humorist/TV personality/podcast judge/deranged millionaire John Hodgman was inspired to commission a work of art from the internet. On January 20th, 2012 Hodgman's impossible dream became reality: Presenting Dana Gould as Doctor Zaius as Hal Holbrook as Mark Twain.
posted by Strange Interlude (26 comments total)

Hodgman, Gould, Zaius, Holbrook, Twain... Five of my top 7 favorite things!
posted by The Deej at 11:02 AM on February 10

Wow, this is uncanny. It really is Dr Zaius Twain.
posted by DU at 11:04 AM on February 10

You maniacs!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:07 AM on February 10 [2 favorites]

Ah, I see. The entire transformation was brought about by 4-Loko. Now I understand the madness.
posted by justalisteningman at 11:08 AM on February 10 [1 favorite]

Re: post title, I would have gone with "Twain the Planet of the Apes"
posted by dammitjim at 11:08 AM on February 10 [1 favorite]

Dana Gould is obsessed with Planet of the Apes. In fact, he lives in Roddy McDowell's old house, and owns both an original ape mask and Heston's loincloth from the original film. In fact, from what I hear, his collection has expanded exponentially, assisted by the fact that his wife is president of HBO and they are probably richer than god.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 11:09 AM on February 10 [2 favorites]

This is what the internet is for.
posted by KokuRyu at 11:10 AM on February 10 [3 favorites]

Forty-five minutes before seeing this I dropped $2 on a Powerball ticket with an estimated jackpot of $310 million. And after seeing this, I've just found an inspiration for the proverbial 'what would I do with that kind of money?'

Even with that kind of money, I'm not sure I could top it, but if my numbers come up on Saturday, keep an eye out for me in Projects and you'll see me try.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 11:21 AM on February 10 [4 favorites]

I can't check here at work -- is it as good as Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau in disguise as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec singing Maurice Chevalier's "Thank Heaven For Little Girls"?
posted by Capt. Renault at 11:23 AM on February 10 [2 favorites]

Re: post title, I would have gone with "Twain the Planet of the Apes"
posted by dammitjim at 2:08 PM on February 10

Given that my first name is Jim, this is personally eponysterical.
posted by Strange Interlude at 11:27 AM on February 10 [1 favorite]

No, Hodgman makes it very clear, the internet failed in this endeavour. This video is proof positive that we sometimes still need professionals, as much as it pains me to admit it.
posted by Chuckles at 11:35 AM on February 10 [1 favorite]

Finally! A mash-up I can respect and actually enjoy!
posted by Thorzdad at 12:10 PM on February 10

This post prompted me to look up John Hodgman on CelebrityNetWorth.com. Unfortunately he's not listed there.
posted by slogger at 12:26 PM on February 10

This is the best thing ever. I have no words.
posted by steambadger at 12:28 PM on February 10 [1 favorite]

This is sort of one of those dancing bear situations - it's cool that exists but you don't really need to watch 7 minutes of Zaius Twain.
posted by whir at 12:32 PM on February 10

This post prompted me to look up John Hodgman on CelebrityNetWorth.com. Unfortunately he's not listed there.

A friend of mine was at a really amazing "Truth or Dare" show with Hodgman, Eugene Mirman and others, where the performers had to choose Truth or Dare and perform the deeds or answer the questions given to them.
Hodgman went for Truth, and his question was, "What did you make last year?"
He met the question head on, explained what a weird career path he had had, how he had never really expected to make any money, and how his appearance on the Daily Show and subsequent Mac ad, tv and film appearances had really sort of taken him by surprise. And then he gave a figure, which I am not going to share here because it seems like sort of a breach. Suffice it to say that it is a nice figure, but not a crazy nice figure. He does okay.
And then he said, "And that is why I am buying a round for everyone in the bar." And he did.
posted by 235w103 at 1:14 PM on February 10 [5 favorites]

Dana Gould is obsessed with Planet of the Apes.

I worked on a student film that Dana was in about 20 years ago and even then he loved to spout: 'You damn dirty ape!" Very funny guy.
posted by Rashomon at 1:15 PM on February 10

whir: This is sort of one of those dancing bear situations - it's cool that exists but you don't really need to watch 7 minutes of Zaius Twain.

I don't think I've needed anything more than 7 minutes of Zaius Twain.
posted by mhum at 1:33 PM on February 10

If I died right now, I would die happier than if I had died before this moment, happier than I will ever be.
posted by steef at 1:55 PM on February 10

Going forward, every time I hear someone ask for something implausible, in my head I will tack on "...and to be a steamboatman."
posted by davejay at 1:59 PM on February 10 [3 favorites]

This made my day. Thanks.
posted by Daddy-O at 2:03 PM on February 10

Having this clip lodged in your mind when reading brings an interesting new dynamic to the Riverworld novels.
posted by JHarris at 4:04 PM on February 10 [3 favorites]

This is...happymaking.
posted by Miko at 7:37 PM on February 10

Is a Twain impression that lacks satire really Twain at all? Maybe that's part of the meta-humor of John Hodgman.
posted by bugmuncher at 6:06 AM on February 11

How does this lack satire?
posted by Miko at 6:13 AM on February 11

Toms River doesn't really feel like south Jersey to me

Good point.
posted by Miko at 6:14 AM on February 11