Mel Brooks - Today

I'm 40 mins away from my exclusive interview with Mel Brooks, which explains why I've been quiet on the blog the past day. I've been going over his two best films, "Young Frankenstein" and "Blazing Saddles" as well as interviews with Terry Gross from NPR's "Fresh Air."

The results of this interview will include airing the audio by 11 pm PT tonight on this week's episode of "The Strip," posting a Q-and-A for Newsweek probably tomorrow and writing a long piece for next month's Vegas magazine.

I've fought hard (ok, begged hard) for many months for this opportunity; he gave no interviews that I know of to anyone in Vegas as "The Producers" debuted and spoke only at a 20-minute press conference. From what I gather, this may be one of his only interviews before the media blitz to open "Young Frankenstein," the musical adaptation of his film, which is expected to star "Will & Grace" alum Megan Mullally, "Desperate Housewives" and "The Producers" star Roger Bart and "Thoroughly Modern Millie" Tony winner Sutton Foster. I'm hoping to find out more about the rest of the cast, including who's playing the Gene Wilder character of Frederick Fronkensteen.

And, of course, any insight into hamburger-eater David Hasselhoff, formerly of the Vegas company of "The Producers."

Wish me luck.