Somebody put these Little Fockers out of their misery. Steven Zeitchik at The Hollywood Reporter details the latest behind the third Meet the Parents installment, noting that John Hamburg, who helped hash out the scripts for the other two films, is now working on the screenplay for Little Fockers, said to focus on Ben Stiller’s on-screen offspring. Meanwhile, Universal is looking at Paul Weitz (In Good Company), David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer, Role Models) and Peyton Reed (Yes Man) as director candidates. De Niro and Owen Wilson are in talks to return.

Can’t Universal just release us from this Focker Chamber? Stiller runs hot and cold from picture to picture, De Niro can’t be bothered to show up for comedies (and arguably, non-comedies) anymore, and unless we’re talking Larry David quality writing and execution, this franchise can’t carry cringe-comedy any further.  I never made it past the second reel of Meet the Parents.  It left me all itchy and blotchy - something like missing the bus after trailing it for three city blocks in full business gear, just waiting for the next one to approach so I could jump in front of it.