The News From Mel Brooks

OK! My interview is now online as a special edition and with a full transcript on TheStripPodcast.com. You can hear it here or right-click here to download it and listen to it whenever you want. (FYI, Brandon Flowers of "The Killers" is next week's guest.)

The Newsweek piece should be up by mid-day Friday, but here are some of the news highlights, some of which won't make it into that version because of space and will only be found via "The Strip" podcast:

* "Young Frankenstein": "Desperate Housewives" guest star Roger Bart will play Dr. Frankenstein, Christopher Fitzgerald is Igor, Cloris Leachman was not cast because she's too old and not because they were trying not to repeat any actors from the 1974 film. Andrea Martin will play Frau Brucher. The role of Elizabeth, small in the film, has been greatly expanded. The show will open around Halloween at the Hilton Theater. Brooks expects it to play Vegas eventually. There will be 17-18 songs, including "We're The Happiest Town in Town" and "There's Nothing Like The Brain." The workshop will take place in Seattle this summer.

* "The Producers" in Vegas: Brooks believes the show will close next March after one year. He also expects Tony Danza to replace Brad Oscar when Oscar leaves the cast later this year, which confirms a rumor reported by Norm Clarke in the R-J last month.

* Hasselhoff: Brooks says the management never knew about his drinking issues and denied Hasselhoff's daughter's videotaped warning that he could be fired from "The Producers."

* Personal: Brooks explained (for the first time that I've seen anywhere) that he goes by "Brooks" because the former Melvin Kaminsky was going to use his mother's less-Jewish maiden name, "Brookman" but it wouldn't fit on a set of drums he wanted to write it on, so he altered it to "Brooks."