New Comedy Karaoke Movie

Ben Stiller is slated to star in the Tom Shadyac ("Patch Adams") comedy "Karaoke Knights" for Universal Pictures. The actor, whose portrayal of the agony of zip-locked franks and beans in "There's Something About Mary" was cruelly overlooked by the Academy, will stay away from bodily harm (and fluids) this time around by playing a singer with charisma to burn but a voice that wouldn't even get him on "The Gong Show." He finds renewed hope and success through the miracle of karaoke.

Stiller himself is no stranger to the karaoke culture. He directed 1996's "The Cable Guy," in which Jim Carrey, with typical restraint, bounds through a psychotically hilarious karaoke version of Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love."

Karaoke singing is sweeping the nation, but the Buzwycki brothers' Faded Legends" bar is located in an ordinary neighborhood. It is staffed by a crew of wacky characters who are, themselves, refugees from the "lounge circuit" or, show-business hopefuls who should NOT quit their day jobs: Proprietor "Ronny Buzwycki" packed away his Elvis act when his lost love "Little Debbie Smeltz" left him. She's back now to start a school for the tonally impaired: would-be singers who couldn't find a note if their lives depended on it! His brother, "Donny" is soliciting from customers for phony charities. Powerhouse headwaitress, "Lola Deville" plots and plans to advance the careers of her hideous, no-talent daughters, "Droxilla" and Anesthesia" while her sweet stepdaughter, "Cindy" slaves away in the kitchen, washing dishes and studying for her S.A.T. exams.

Things are going nowhere, slowly, until savvy soul "D.J. Guy Biggs" perceives an opportunity to make his big career move by involving his radio station in a big promotion to be held at the bar! Add to this an odd string of neighborhood Karaoke acts, IRS agents, businessmen and a radio station manager with sagging ratings, and you have Karaoke Knights, a fast-paced spoof on the popular bar-based entertainment phenomenon known as Karaoke