Quick Takes - April 15, 2010

South Park, N.Y.

The creators of the cheeky animated TV series “South Park” are taking aim at Broadway.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone have written a musical comedy called “The Book of Mormon” that will open on Broadway in March 2011. The two wrote the show’s book, music and lyrics, along with Robert Lopez, one of the creators of the Tony-winning “Avenue Q.” The musical will be directed by Parker and Jason Moore, the latter of whom directed “Avenue Q.”

Producers Scott Rudin and Anne Garefino said Wednesday that a theater, casting and other production details would be announced later.

The Emmy-winning “South Park” premiered in 1997 on Comedy Central.

—Associated Press

Fox again sings with ‘Glee’

The “gleeks” were out in force Tuesday night.

The return of Fox’s “Glee” drew its biggest audience yet with 13.7 million viewers singing along. The show also posted a 5.6 rating among adults ages 18 to 49, which is the highest rating in that demographic for any new show this season except the premiere of CBS’ “Undercover Boss,” which made its debut after the Super Bowl. Each rating point in that demographic equals 1.3 million viewers.

Having “American Idol” as a lead-in didn’t hurt. Simon Cowell & Co. delivered 20.6 million viewers.

— Joe Flint

Larsson’s novels go Hollywood

Columbia Pictures has bought the English-language movie rights to the popular Millennium trilogy by late crime novelist Stieg Larsson, a Swedish film production company said Wednesday.

More than 12 million copies of Larsson’s trilogy, which starts with “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” have been sold globally.

Yellow Bird AB, which made Swedish-language movies based on the books, will work with Columbia Pictures on the Hollywood versions, for which filming is expected to start next year. “Schindler’s List” scriptwriter Steve Zaillian will adapt the books for the big screen.

—Associated Press

The ‘Plus 8’ get

a trust fund

Child-labor permits should have been obtained for the children appearing on the TLC television show “Jon & Kate Plus 8,” but the state will not take legal action against the producers, Pennsylvania regulators have concluded.

No action will be taken provided a portion of the proceeds from the now-canceled reality show is put into a trust fund for Jon and Kate Gosselin’s children and child-labor permits are obtained for future filming, the state Department of Labor & Industry said in a five-page letter obtained Wednesday by the Associated Press.

The letter was signed by a government attorney and sent to Figure 8 Films and Discovery Talent Services last month.

The agency said that at least 15% of the gross proceeds, due to the children, must be placed in trust funds until they reach the age of 18 or unless needed for their safety, education, welfare or health.

Laurie Goldberg, a spokeswoman for Discovery Talent Services and TLC, said Wednesday that the trust was established in November and that the amount placed in trust exceeds the 15% level.

—associated press

‘Onion Sports’ to play Central

Comedy Central is picking up “The Onion Sports Network” series, a satire on the world of sports. The half-hour series will premiere in the first quarter of 2011.

The series is based on the Onion Sports Network’s online videos.

—Associated Press

Ode to Eleanor Ross Taylor

The $100,000 Ruth Lily Poetry Prize will be awarded to Virginia-based poet Eleanor Ross Taylor, who was born in 1920.

Christian Wiman, editor of Poetry magazine, cited the strong reserve in Taylor’s poems and praised their “sober and clear-eyed serenity” and authority.

Taylor’s work has been receiving a lot of attention lately; she was a finalist for the 2009 National Book Critics Circle Award for her collection “Captive Voices: New and Selected Poems, 1960-2008.”

—Carolyn Kellogg

Broadway game plan for NFL

The NFL is taking Vince Lombardi to Broadway.

For the first time, the league will help produce a Broadway play, its first venture into live theater. The league will serve as a special producing partner of “Lombardi,” which will star Dan Lauria, who played the father on the TV series “The Wonder Years” and is a former college football player and high school coach.

“Lombardi” is scheduled to open Oct. 21 at the Circle in the Square Theatre. It will be directed by Tony Award nominee Thomas Kail.

The league also is involved with a film project on the Hall of Fame coach that will star Robert DeNiro.

—Associated Press