‘South Park' creators to launch new series

The current kings of juvenile humor on Comedy Central, “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, are pitching in to bring a series of silly competitions to the cable channel.

Comedy Central has acquired rights to a Canadian series, “Kenny vs. Spenny,” and fans Parker and Stone agreed to help produce new episodes. The series essentially consists of two friends, Kenny Hotz and Spencer Rice, who engage in all manner of silly competitions for bragging rights. Some of the challenges: Who can stay naked the longest? Who can sell more Bibles? Who do gay guys like more? Who can wear a dead octopus on their heads the longest?

An episode about which man could stay awake the longest - Spenny ate health food for help, Kenny (the winner) kept gobbling caffeine - caught Parker and Stone's eyes as they were pulling all-nighters to finish the movie “Team America: World Police.” Parker and Stone essentially gave Hotz and Rice advice on which ideas would work best and are lending their comedy cachet. Comedy Central has agreed to make 10 new episodes of the series and acquired 10 old ones. It will premiere Nov. 14.

Scorsese to direct film on George Harrison

Martin Scorsese will direct a documentary film on the late Beatles guitarist George Harrison.

“Harrison's music and his search for spiritual meaning is a story that still resonates today and I'm looking forward to delving deeper,” Scorsese said in an e-mailed press release Thursday.

“It would have given George great joy to know that Martin Scorsese has agreed to tell his story,” Harrison's widow, Olivia, said.

Scorsese, who won his first Academy Award this year for directing “The Departed,” has made other films focusing on music stars, including the 2005 documentary “No Direction Home: Bob Dylan” and 1978's “The Last Waltz.”

Harrison, born in Liverpool, England, and the youngest of the Beatles, died at 58 in Los Angeles on Nov. 29, 2001, after battling lung cancer and a brain tumor.

Broadway stagehands contract deadline looms

Is there a possibility the fall Broadway season will stop before it starts?

Talks between the League of American Theatres and Producers and the Broadway stagehands union, Local One, have been inching along this month but are approaching a League-imposed deadline. No one is talking on the record, but the League reportedly will make its last offer Monday. What happens next is up in the air. If an agreement is not reached, the producers could decide to lock out the stagehands, effectively shutting down most theaters.

- From w ire reports